Each year, participants are required to focus on a different problem. In 2019, the central question was: “How can you guarantee clean water for your city?” The question was inspired by the sixth of the United Nations’ 17 Sustainable Development Goals: “Ensure the availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all.” Based on this theme, teams of up to six students were allowed to sign up in two Challenge Tracks: the Experimental Track, which involves creating a prototype, and the more flexible Exploratory Track, a new option this year.<\/p>\n
The participants of both tracks were able to enroll in three categories: \u201cTraquitaninhas\u201d (little gizmos), elementary school students up to the 6th<\/sup> grade; \u201cTraquitanas\u201d (gizmos), students in 7th<\/sup> through 9th<\/sup> grades; and \u201cTraquitan\u00f5es\u201d (big gizmos), high school students. All the steps necessary for participation were explained in the Grand Challenge Handbook. In all, there were 19 participating schools, with 21 teams receiving awards this year, in criteria such as originality, creativity, impact, development process, and presentation. The event was attended by 25 evaluators, including faculty, doctoral students, postdoctoral interns, and university researchers, all volunteers. In addition to trophies and medals, the teams received invitations to attend a workshop at the museum to build a turbidimeter, which measures water turbidity using the Arduino automation platform.<\/p>\n In the Experimental Track, students needed to solve a predefined problem based on a fictional story: a rural community temporarily needs to collect water from a local stream for its own consumption. How might this water be treated using available methods and materials? Each team had to develop filters capable of treating simulated stream water. Since May, students have been working on project development and holding meetings with museum staff, until they arrived at the Grand Challenge arena.<\/p>\n The experimental way<\/strong> Jess\u00e9 Romero, 18, a student at Severino Moreira Barbosa State School in Cachoeira Paulista, S\u00e3o Paulo, also used natural products. A member of the \u201ci9\u201d team, which won for \u201cBest Solution\u2014Traquitan\u00f5es Group,\u201d Romero explains how the prototype was assembled: \u201cWe used the filter we learned about in the 6th<\/sup> grade and concepts that we saw in the classroom, but we exchanged the standard components for other, more ecological ones. Our solution featured banana fiber, which we used to trap heavy metals using an ionic bond, since the metals are positive and the banana fiber is negative. In addition, when we noted that the water was descending very slowly, we used a compressed air filtration system,\u201d he concludes.<\/p>\n Event organizers collected samples that were analyzed in a lab set up in the gym. \u201cThis is the first time we’ve had quantitative analysis. In other years evaluators looked at the creative results. Now, in addition to looking at the whole process and the creativity, we’ve added scientific data on the characteristics of the water. Some teams have achieved very good water quality,\u201d comments the physicist responsible for the museum’s experiments, Claudecir Ricardo Biazoli. In the samples, three factors were analyzed: turbidity, pH, and water color.<\/p>\n \u201cOur goal is to give these children and young people the opportunity to experience how science, or the scientific method, can be used to solve problems relevant to society by using tools and thinking about how to make a plan, hypothesize, and validate results,\u201d explains Andr\u00e9 Santanch\u00e8, director of the Exploratory Science Museum. The event is supported by the Office of the Dean of Extension and Culture.<\/p>\n
\nAs in the scientific process, students were encouraged over the months of preparation to test the results of their projects in order to improve what wasn’t working, or create a new approach. In the Experimental Track, the team \u201cASU \u2013 Until We Are One,\u201d from the Professor Antonio Dutra State School in Itatiba, S\u00e3o Paulo, invested in less conventional elements and was given the \u201cMost Creative Solution\u2014Traquitan\u00f5es Group\u201d award. \u201cI learned that we can use more than just the chemical products we’ve seen in class,\u201d says 16-year-old student Ingrid Pelarin. The experiment they developed also used two filters, one embedded in the other. \u201cThe first, in addition to gravel, and coarse and fine sand, also uses coriander and banana powder\u2014which help get the heavy metals out of the water\u2014as well as coffee filter paper and a sieve. The second filter contained banana peel powder, lemon balm, filter paper, and cloth,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/053-055_campinas-1-1140px.jpg\")