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A Houghton Middle School science team is celebrating its 3rd win of the Lexus Eco Challenge land and water category.
The annual science competition has awarded the 10 member 8th grade team a $10,000 prize.
Students are given a couple of guideline categories and they then identify a problem in their local ecosystem within those categories and then present a solution.
This year’s project for the Houghton Middle School team is named the “Backyard Backlash” and it has generated a 3rd win for Sarah Geborkoff’s team of 8th graders.
The goal of the project was to prevent nitrate run off from excessively entering the Lake Superior watershed that could potentially harm fish and other wildlife. Nitrates come from fertilizers used in grass seed, gardening and agriculture.
The team’s solution was to surround its test garden with a barrier of a local plant that would absorb the run off nitrates.
Team member Seth Hyslop said, “We took samples before we did the project of our garden and then we planted long wooded perennials around the garden. Then after that we tested for its amount of nitrates. They definitely were reduced.”
Another step of action from the team was reaching out to large volume users of seed and fertilizers to discuss alternative seed mixtures.
Team member Davin Evans said, “We talked to MDOT about changing their grass mixes so that they could absorb more nitrates. They use a non-native plant so we recommended a blue stem, which is a native plant here that would remove nitrates more effectively.”
Science teacher Sarah Geborkoff said, “The team has won round one which is the land and water challenge. They currently have brought in $10,000, a portion of which they get to keep as individuals, and some that goes to the school for use, also which is great that these kids have done something for their district and they had a lot of fun learning.”
Geborkoff’s team will now be advancing to Round 2 of the competition, to be held in the spring.
Geborkoff’s team also won Round 1 of the Lexus Eco Challange in 2014 with their invasive species education project and again in 2015 with their project to identify a grass species that could grow on stamp sands left behind from the days of copper mining.
Geborkoff credits much of the team’s success to NECI of Lake Linden, the Lake Superior Stewardship Initiative, and scientists of Michigan Tech.
