Independent Day School students win 1st place in STEM contest

MIDDLEFIELD — The Independent Day School Team “Gannah” won first place in the eCYBERMISSION sixthgrade division for the state of Connecticut.

All students will receive $1,000 in U.S. EE Savings bonds, according to a press release.

The competition is a free, online STEM program for students in grades six through nine. Students are challenged to work in teams of two to four to identify a problem in their community to explore using scientific practices or solve with engineering design, the news release said.

eCYBERMISSION is a part of the Army Educational Outreach Program competition and administered by the National Science Teaching Association.

Team Gannah included advisor Rebecca Latour, and students Ginger Graham and Hannah Crocker

The team conducted a study to determine the amount of plastic on the beach, the statement said. In their words, “we collected 37 species of trash in one-half mile along the shore of Hamonasset beach,” the statement said. The experiment was conducted at the end of low tide and beginning of high tide.

“Our experiment started at 10 feet up from the water. We went back and forth vertically; after about 20 minutes, the tide came in and our spot was reduced to five feet,” the students said. “After this we went back a did the math on the amount of trash we collected. For every mile there was an estimate of 72 pieces of trash.

Independent Day School / Contributed photo Independent Day School’s Team “Gannah” won first place in the sixth-grade division for Connecticut. Students on the team will each receive $1,000 in savings bonds.