Team Marine – Page 9

September 26, 2013October 25, 2013

Alt Car Expo

For the past four years we have been working on the conversion of a 1971 Volkswagen Super-Beetle (donated to us by the Poon-Fear family in 2009) from a combustion engine into an all-electric vehicle. On September 20^th and 21^st we had the debut of our car “Wattson” at the Santa Monica Civic Center for the Alt-Car Expo. This two-day event was filled with entertaining interaction and education. Alt-Car Expo gave us the opportunity to turn our car into a “lesson plan on wheels”. We were able to teach people about the effects of combustion engines in our environment and health as well as showing our conversion process and techniques. We also got to learn a lot and share thoughts with the other electric car companies that were in the event. It was very pleasing to see how thrilled everyone was to learn about our car and the benefits of electric cars. Even toddlers liked our car (image below)! Thank you to all the supportive people at the event including Christine Dzilvelis for coordinating, Rick Sikes for managing the City of Santa Monica,and Roy Persinko, Fabian Lewkowicz, and Valerie Macon for their beautiful photography. A very special thanks to Alt-Car Expo for giving us this wonderful opportunity to debut our all-electric car.

Additional Press:

Santa Monica Daily Press

Santa Monica Close-up

The Corsair

September 20, 2013September 26, 2013

Electric Car Conversion Complete!

This past Monday, Team Marine completed the gas to electric conversion of a 1971 convertible Volkswagen Super Beetle. The project started in 2009, when the Poon-Fear family donated the car to Team Marine for a conversion project. The car will publicly debut at the Santa Monica Alternative Car Exposition, which takes place today and tomorrow (September 20 and 21). We hope to see you there!

Full Press Release: High School Students Convert Classic Combustible into EV

Teen Nick Post on Car

August 14, 2013August 14, 2013

Splash into Science Cigarette Study

On August 4 and 5, eight students from Beijing, China investigated cigarette butt pollution in Santa Monica. Following a real scientific protocol using belt transects, their study compared the number of cigarette butts found in commonly littered areas of a residential neighborhood, beach boardwalk, and open sandy beach. In total, 1,922 butts were counted and collected from the three study sites. The eight student team, aged 12-13, were among 26 Chinese middle and high school students taking part in a new environmentally-themed international summer science program called Splash in Science, founded by Team Marine advisor Benjamin Kay. Other student projects, which focused on plankton, shore birds, and sand crabs, were led by Samohi teacher, Ingo Gaida, and marine scientist and Get Inspired Inc. founder, Nancy Caruso. Students presented their research to all program participants and SMMUSD school board member, Ben Allen. Splash into Science’s three teacher team was contracted by Sunny International Exchange Inc., which establishes and facilitates youth study abroad and professional development programs between China and the US. Check out additional links and press release below.

http://smdp.com/exchange-students-uncover-cigarette-butt-pollution/125625

http://www.surfsantamonica.com/ssm_site/the_lookout/news/News-2013/August-2013/08_12_2013_International_Students_Discover_Santa_Monicas_Community_Ashtray.html

Splash Into Science Cigarette Study_press release 2013

June 9, 2013June 9, 2013

Team Marine Seniors Graduated!

This past Friday, June 7th 2013, Team Marine’s nine seniors graduated. Stoles were made by junior Katie Oran’s mom and the graduates wore them proudly at the ceremony. Mr. Kay and the rest of Team Marine wishes them the best of luck for next year and beyond!

Adrian Gibson will be attending Cal State Northridge.

Ivan Morales will be attending Fordham University.

Jorge Castillo will be attending San Francisco State University.

Franny Pezzullo will be attending UC Santa Barbara.

Juliet Jimenez will be attending Hawaii Pacific University.

Adrienne Hino will be attending Scripps College.

Candace Narvaez will be attending University of Massachusetts Dartmouth.

Matilda Mead will be attending UC Santa Barbara.

Edie Cote will be attending Boston University.

Congratulations Class of 2013! Good luck next year!

June 6, 2013

Thank You Klean Kanteen!

Special thanks to Klean Kanteen! Team Marine was rewarded for our recent preview in an upcoming documentary film—Each of us were sent our very own Klean Kanteen re-usable water canister; yet there’s a catch! These awesome eco-friendly bottles have NO plastic cap, in addition to no paint. Instead, they replaced it with bamboo tops, and reframed from using paint full of chemicals. We are all so thrilled to add this special addition to our collection of re-useables. This one’s a keeper! Thanks once again Klean Kanteen.

May 25, 2013June 6, 2013

Recycling Sorting Event

On Friday, May 24^th, Team Marine, Marine Biology, as well as SMC students helped sort many of the collected recyclables contributed this year. With set goals and deadlines to reach, students from Team Marine were able collect at least 10 bottles for a remainder of the time. As for the process, each of us distributed them into different categories i.e. (#1 Plastics, #2 Plastics, Glass) and used hand counters to help aid in us counting each item. In total, we collected exactly 7,238 glass, cans, and plastic bottles! This year has been the first to successfully complete this activity in such a short amount of time. We overall earned $361.90 in lifestraws making it out to approximately 66 lifestraws!

May 23, 2013May 25, 2013

Tree Planting at Topanga!

This past Sunday we won a Tree People competition by sending in ten pictures of us doing environmental activities within the past year. Tree People awarded us with a beautiful trip to plant trees! After hiking through the lower Topanga Canyon we helped water and give mulch to developing native plants and trees. This was an eye opening experience because acts like these are rare but important towards our environment and Mediterranean Ecosystem. We thank Tree People for giving us the opportunity of giving back to the trees and plants that give us oxygen and reduce carbon dioxide.

Special thanks to Mollie Stephens and Ana Maria Sanchez from Tree People for this special opportunity.

May 22, 2013May 22, 2013

Alt Build Expo 2013

Seven Team Marine students presented on a panel at the AltBuild Expo in the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium last Saturday, May 11, sharing the results of their scientific research and service-learning projects, including the Water Fountain Audit at Santa Monica High School, the gas-to-electric conversion project, and plastic-bag ban data. This panel provided students an opportunity to share the results of their projects with members of the broader community: an audience including high school students, teachers, community college students, and community and business leaders. Other presenters, including advisor Benjamin Kay and chemistry teacher Ms. Chacon, talked about the importance of service learning both to education and the environment, and in their own communities. Attendees at this year’s AltBuild exposition were exposed to a new perspective on sustainability – from the generation that will benefit from its implementation. We expect to return to present when we can soon.

May 3, 2013May 3, 2013

“The Epic Story of Team Marine” Blog Post on ACE Website!

After competing at the LA County Science Fair and then the State Fair, Team Marine captains Edie, Ivan and Angelina were interviewed by Kristina von Hoffman for a blog post for the ACE website. Here is the post detailing our experience:

http://www.acespace.org/blog/2013/04/team-marine/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=team-marine

Thank you Kristina for the feature and for the continuous partnership with ACE!

Learn more about Alliance for Climate Education: http://www.acespace.org/

April 22, 2013May 18, 2013

Team Marine in the California State Science Fair!

This Tuesday April 16, Team Marine captains Angelina, Edie and Ivan won 4^th place out of 24 entries in the senior division of Behavioral and Social Sciences in the California State Science Fair for their bag ban research project. The research focused on the consumer bag choices and how they were affected by the plastic bag ban and the age and gender of the patrons.

The Fair was held at the California Science Center, home to many great exhibitions, including a kelp forest, an exercise bike that shows light bulb energy efficiency and the Endeavour space shuttle! They got to check out these great exhibitions the day before, when they registered their project.

A revised version of the report will be published on our website soon. We are also conducting another month of observations this April (a year and seven months after the ban) and we plan on doing more surveys this coming September, two years after the ban.

Thank you again to Dr. Lisette Gold and Dr. Thomas Belin for their guidance on the project!

UPDATE: brianlouxpro at the Water Main blog has done a post on our research. Thank you!

http://thewatermain.wordpress.com/2013/04/01/santa-monica-high-school-does-environmental-econometrics-like-the-pros/