Media Credit: Dave Martinez Cooper Barnes watches his mother and brother demonstrate the model they made. The model is similar to Oregon State's wave energy model, harnessing the power of the ocean to lift buoys for energy.

Media Credit: Dave Martinez

University students in Mike Garling's Educational Leadership 213 class collaborated with preschool and elementary school students Wednesday. The result was a unique class lecture.

When four students from Veneta Elementary School won the national Toshiba ExploraVision technology competition, they decided to practice their presentation skills before heading to Washington, D.C., for their all-expense-paid trip to the ExploraVision Awards Weekend. Each student winner will also receive a $10,000 savings bond for college.

The four students - Tucker Barnes, Cooper Barnes, Connor Magid and Steven Parker - built their own technological innovation and submitted it under the support of their teacher, Michelle Beller.

"We got involved when our teacher gave us a Toshiba brochure," said fifth grader Tucker Barnes. "Then we brainstormed a lot."

The students, who refer to themselves as the Wave Master Team, built a wavemaster, which used recycled flashlight parts to generate energy from wave movement. Their design is based off Faraday's law of induction.

"They worked on this for about 70 hours total, from the end of October until the end of January," said Scottie Barnes, mother and mentor to the group. "They even worked on it a lot over Christmas break."

Wave power comes from the energy of ocean surface waves. The students said they believe wave power could greatly influence the future.

University students took advantage of the opportunity to learn from the students and asked questions. One student even commented, "You fellas are really smart, and I never would've thought of that."

Scottie Barnes said she only helped a little and that the boys worked hard to come up with good ideas.

"There were lots of experiments at my kitchen counter," she said.

"I don't remember being that smart at their age," said University freshman Katie Sneed, a member of Garling's class. "I wouldn't have expected these kids to be that smart."

Sneed said the presentation made her think back to when she was that age.

"I wouldn't have talked much, but they were outgoing," said Sneed. "This is a big deal, and it's a tremendous thing to be a part of."

Toshiba will fly the four students and Scottie Barnes to Washington, D.C., in early June for the awards ceremony where the boys will get to meet Bill Nye the Science Guy.

Children from the Eugene Water and Electric Board preschool attended the presentation and later worked with University students on a science experiment.

"I think it's real important to reach out to the community," said Garling. "We have a lot of resources out there, and making connections is good for everybody. When you think about it, you have kids from Veneta, UO - everybody was getting something out of it. It's neat when you can pull those intersections together."

tschmidt@dailyemerald.com

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