A Meeteetse High School science project is now a finalist in a national teaching contest. The teacher and some students are on their way to New York to try to win the 120,000 dollar prize.
Meeteetse’s high school science students based their project on the Pitchfork ranch. The students used math, science, engineering, and computer skills to perfect self cleaning gates to keep Yellowstone cutthroat trout in the Greybull river, and out of irrigation ditches.where they often die.
Their teacher, Michael Power, says their project can affect the entire ecosystem.
Power explained, “And when those Yellowstone cutthroat leave, other predators leave that area which then effects the herd animals, such as deer, elk, which then effects populations of grasses and native cottonwoods.”
Meeteetse's project was one of four thousand in the national contest. In December, it won the State Award. The project is now a national finalist and one of only fifteen in the nation.
The contest solicits votes for video productions about the projects. The video with the most votes gets a prize, and moves up in the competition for the grand prize.
The project is online at www.samsung.com/solve
