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Honors Biology Students Present Designs to Solve Environmental Issues

3/28/2017

Collegiate School students in Sandra Marr and David Fahey’s Honors Biology class presented prototypes of design projects today that aim to solve an environmental issue.

The students, who have been working on their projects all year, gathered in the Saunders Family Library to discuss their long-term experiments and research and design process with students, faculty and other guests.

The displayed designs featured “The Stream Machine,” a series of nets connected to a raft that can catch trash in waterways but allow fish to weave through; a robot designed to combat coral bleaching by releasing a substance to rebalance the pH level; a shark screen that uses magnets to prevent attacks, complete with a virtual reality model; a beehive attachment created to protect bees against varroa mites; and “Propeller Cage 3000,” a device that covers boat propellers to protect manatees and dolphins from injury.

The projects, which often began with one idea but, after experimentation, morphed into something else, included students’ scientific methods, data and results.

“It was interesting to see the progression of the project,” said 10th Grader Sammy Mortensen, who worked on saving bees. “We thought we were going to start with one thing and went in another direction.”

Unlike a regular science fair, these projects are ongoing, Mrs. Marr says.

“We don’t have a nice, complete story,” she said. “The beauty of this type of project is that students see how real engineers, real scientists ask questions and answer them and every new answer leads to more questions.”

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