A team of three freshmen from GPS placed second in the state eCyberMission competition. For their success in the U.S. Army-sponsored event, Allyce Buniak, Gabrielle Hughes and Darrah Dunagan will each receive $500 savings bonds.
eCyberMission is a web-based STEM competition for 6th-9th grade teams with the goal to challenge students “to explore how science, technology, engineering and mathematics work in their world.” The teams are given the mission to propose a solution to a real world problem in their communities.
Administered by the National Science Teachers Association, the competition promotes teamwork, creativity and problem solving as a way to encourage students in grades six through nine to become more involved in STEM education.
The GPS team’s project centered on the issue of obesity, and the problem and solution involved a way to “encourage people to participate in extra physical activity and be healthier.” Their hypothesis was, “If athletes participate in after-school sports, then their percent change in heart rate before and after aerobic exercise will be lower than for those who do not participate in sports.” Measuring students’ heart rates before and after a two-minute stair climb guided their hypothesis.