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May 3, 2019 / Volume 7, Issue 16
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Diving into STEM Learning
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"I learned how to solder!" bragged an elementary school student during the engineering presentation portion of the 2019 MATE Arizona Regional ROV (Remotely Operated Vehicle) competition organized by Arizona Project WET (APW). This year's challenge, Innovations for Inshore: ROV Operations in Rivers, Lakes, and Dams, was answered by 27 teams of 2nd-12th-grade students on Saturday, April 27 at the UA Campus Rec Center. The competition required students to demonstrate how the underwater robots they designed and built could perform a set of tasks in the pool. Additionally, teams provided engineering presentations discussing their ROV's design features and lessons learned, and a marketing display showcasing their robots. Judges consisted of 30 volunteers including engineering professionals, UA students, teachers, and high school students. One judge remarked,
"I was very impressed with the levels of creativity and dedication shown by students of all ages. The competition is a great way to get students involved in STEM."
The journey to this competition begins with teachers and coaches in APW's summer
Underwater Robotics and Engineering Design Academy. During this academy, participants develop an understanding of buoyancy, energy, electrical circuitry, soldering, and control systems while engaging in the engineering design and building of ROVs. They leave with tools, an ROV kit, and the skills and confidence to work with student teams. Students learn so much more than just soldering through APW's ROV program; they are becoming the next generation of problem solvers. Learn more about the MATE (Marine Advanced Technology Education) ROV competition on their
website.
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Dr. Tanya Quist |
 Enhance Your Yard and Your City with Desert Landscaping
On April 24, the WRRC hosted a full house for our final brown bag of the academic year, featuring Dr. Tanya Quist, Director of the UA Campus Arboretum and Associate Professor of Practice in Plant Sciences. Dr. Quist began by describing the importance of plants in the urban setting and how trees benefit society by adding to an area's economic prosperity, quality of life, and environmental health. For example, trees not only support wildlife, but they also improve air quality, protect soil from erosion, expand opportunities for recreation and community, and increase retail foot traffic and property values. She pointed out that Tucson's average canopy cover is only 8%, which falls far short of the 20% canopy cover that is the baseline target for desert cities. Using the newly improved Desert Landscaping Website, she illustrated how people can improve their yard plantings by planning thoughtfully, planting properly, and managing landscapes sustainably. The prototype for this website was developed as a CDROM by the Water Resources Research Center in 1996. It was subsequently updated in 2005 and released as a website in 2016, before being taken over by the Campus Arboretum. Dr. Quist highlighted the many students that contributed to revising content and photographs on the site. She emphasized that special care must be taken in the desert in order to select the right tree for the right place and to implement sustainable maintenance practices to improve gardening success.
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Arizona Project WET Hosts Southern Gila Water Festival
Project WET hosted the 6th annual Southern Gila Water Festival, which took place on Thursday, May 2, in Globe. Nearly 360 4th graders participated. through hands-on learning activities. Students learned about different aspects of the hydrological cycle, such as watersheds and groundwater, as well as water management and conservation. Before the festival, teachers attended a one-day Arizona Project WET workshop to get lessons and other teaching material to supplement student learning and to prepare their students for the activities. Students were assessed both before and after the festival to gauge the effectiveness of the teaching curriculum and learning gains.
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Help Map San Pedro River Flow
On Saturday, June 15, The Nature Conservancy will host its annual San Pedro River Wet-Dry Mapping. Citizen scientists will take to the river on what is typically the driest day of the year to document where surface water is present in the San Pedro River and add to a 20-year long dataset. On the same day, volunteers will map all the way from the river's headwaters in Sonora, Mexico, to its confluence with the Gila River in Pinal County, AZ, as well as many major tributaries. These are used by water managers and scientists to gauge the health of the river and compare year-to-year changes. To participate you must take part in a mandatory training event held on Friday, June 14.
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Summer Wave Begins May 17
The Weekly Wave will resume on Friday, August 23. Have a safe and relaxing summer!
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Meteor Showers Bring Moon Geysers
A research article originally published in Nature Geoscience suggested that extra water around the moon was released by tiny meteorite impacts after the moon passed through streams of cosmic dust. These results, spotted by a lunar orbiter, indicate that water is buried under the top layer of dust covering the moon's entire surface, as opposed to just craters.
Though initial samples of lunar soil that were taken during the Apollo missions did not show water, several space missions within the last ten years found evidence of water deposits in the moon. UA planetary scientist Erik Asphaug was quoted in ScienceNews as saying that the finding is "plausible and certainly provocative."
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