Rani Iyer and Isha Laad of Lexington, MA won the 3rd Prize in the National Middle School 2010 Siemens We Can Change the World Challenge! organized by Siemens, Discovery Education and NSTA.

Team Name: Lex Green Clean

Teacher/Mentor: Vidhya Iyer

Description: After visiting the dry cleaners, Lex Green clean noticed a stench so powerful it irritated their noses and eyes and gave them nausea. They wondered what the smell was from and found out that dry cleaning uses a chemical called perchloroethylene (Perc), a very harmful chemical that is labeled by the EPA as a likely human carcinogen and is toxic to the nervous system. The chemical is also harmful to the environment-Perc effluence spilled or mishandled could ruin the environment for generations to come. An alternative is wet cleaning. The team tested and compared water discharge for wet cleaning and regular household detergent to see if wet cleaning discharge is at least as safe as household detergent. Wet cleaning was better for the environment and cleaned just as well as drycleaning. The team worked to convince dry cleaners to switch to wet cleaning and gave presentations to town officials and at the library to raise awareness about Perc and introduce people to eco-friendly wet cleaning. Survey results showed that people were likely to switch to wet cleaning.

The Siemens We Can Change the World Challenge! offers a unique way for middle school student teams to create sustainable local solutions that can have global impact. It’s the first and only national sustainability education initiative aligned to national standards and classroom objectives. Other unique features include:

* Just as real scientists work collaboratively, the challenge is designed for a team approach and encourages students to build on the ideas and successes of other scientists.
* The contest is not limited to “typical” environmental problems. Any urban, rural or suburban environmental issue can be selected. In doing so, students are encouraged to explore a wide range of environmental issues, perspectives and positions in their research.
* Teams are encouraged to select and study an issue that they truly care about, not one that is assigned. In doing so, they will practice civic skills and learn to become leaders in understanding and addressing relevant environmental issues.
* Teams are challenged to use measurable data including evidence that their issue is a problem in the community and proof that their solution worked.
* Teams will learn from real scientists and authentic experiments and then apply that knowledge to their own solutions. Collaborations within the community are encouraged.
* Students will share what they learn with others in an online repository, thereby continuing the important scientific process of new ideas building on old ones.

The Challenge is open to students in K-12. For further details, visit:
http://siemens.discoveryeducation.com/community/about-challenge/challenge-description/

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