Two Pleasant Valley Elementary sixth-graders who comprise the team Energy Torus competed in the STEAM Tank Finals on June 1, where they gave a digital presentation on how to solve the energy crisis.
Patton Feldman and Nolan Stanwood are students in Natalie Markey’s class.
“Every year,” she explained, “students in my Innovation and Design class at Pleasant Valley School have the opportunity to compete in the statewide STEAM Tank Competition. The New Jersey School Boards Association (NJSBA) program gives students the chance to invent, modify or use problem-solving skills to solve real-world problems.”
STEAM is short for science, technology, engineering, the arts and mathematics. Students in Markey’s class each form their own teams and come up with concepts for inventions and/or ideas to address an issue of their choosing.
For their concept, Feldman and Stanwood pitched magnets as a way to create an environmentally clean, long-lasting source of energy to combat the pollution that results from other forms of energy production. Energy Torus was the only team this year to advance to the finals.
Feldman and Stanwood pitched their idea in a presentation reminiscent of the reality show “Shark Tank,” parts of which were posted on the Harrison Township School District’s Facebook page.
“One such problem is pollution,” one of their presentation slides describes as an issue facing Earth. “Particularly due to a lack of reliable, clean sources of energy. The solution to this problem would be to find a cleaner and more efficient source of energy to rely on.”
Energy Torus was among teams from across the state competing in the STEAM finals. Though they failed to qualify for the fall showcase in Atlantic City, Feldman and Stanwood still received special recognition from the event’s judges, who were volunteer experts. They included business leaders; entrepreneurs; Army engineers; and university staff, teachers and professionals from sponsoring organizations.
“The group received three special recognition awards for the categories of sustainability, innovative tech and design and human-built environment,” Markey explained.
“Great job to Team Energy Torus and all other teams that participated,” the school district said in a statement.
Patton Feldman (left) and Nolan Stanwood, students in Natalie Markey’s sixth-grade Innovation and Design class, had a strong showing at the NJSBA’S STEAM Tank Challenge finals on June 1, where they won awards in three categories.
