Future Air Quality Experts
Today’s students are learning more about air quality than in past years. They understand the impact cars and other transportation options have on air and are eager to encourage change that will have a positive affect on their future.
Clean Air Team members recognize the efforts of students during the annual county science fairs in Orange, Osceola and Seminole Counties. Students are judged on their projects that are related to air quality and receive special student awards.
2010 Student Clean Air Award Winners
Arthur Santos
The Hybrid House
Orlando Science School
Orange County
"The Hybrid House consisted of combining many renewable energy sources and eco-friendly resources and objects that would eliminate 90 % of harmful items we use today. i.e. Led bulb vs. incandescent bulbs, biomass disposal vs. common waste disposal, solar energy vs. fossil fuels, etc. These improvements would allow the common modern objects to be incorporated in the Hybrid House. They would also help families preserve funds as well as cut the environmental foot print of a common household tremendously. "
In addition to the Clean Air Award, Arthur also received the second place award in the Dr. Nelson Ying Science Fair and two gold medals at the state level Science Olympiad.
Jacob Renfrow
Reduce, Reuse, Recycle Paper
Westside K-8 School
Osceola County
“I decided to do this project because I knew something could be done with the scraps of items that would normally be thrown away. Too many trees are being cut down and our landfills are filling up. By finding alternative ways to make paper, we can help counteract the problem. I noticed that some items usually served no purpose, (i.e., shredded paper, hair, dryer lint, onion skins, and pencil shavings) but they could be used as material for something recycled.
The items used for paper in the project are available to everyone and could lower the amount of trash in landfills drastically. I plan on starting a brand new project for next year, but as of now that is the only information that can be given. I prefer to be spontaneous with my works."
Ethan Kuchma
Green Energy: Production of Hydrogen Gas from Water
Tuskawilla Montessori School
Seminole County
"There is a need to produce clean and inexpensive energy. This study investigates different conditions to produce hydrogen gas (H2) from water using solar energy.
The hypothesis is the type of metal used for the electrodes and the types of ions dissolved in the water affect hydrogen gas production. Two metal electrodes, either nickel-chromium or platinum, were attached to a solar panel. The electrodes were submerged in solutions of different concentrations of either sodium chloride (NaCl), cerium nitrate (Ce(NO3)36H2O), or sodium phosphate (Na2HPO4). Light was shined on the solar panel for 40 minutes to generate an electrical current in the water solution. Hydrogen gas volume was measured by displacement of water from an inverted tube placed above the cathode.
Control experiments included using non-conducting electrodes and water alone. The metal used for the electrode seemed to have a greater effect on the amount of hydrogen gas produced than the type of ions dissolved in the water. The platinum wire did very well because it did not oxidize. Platinum wire is very expensive, and people would like to find a way to produce H2 without using precious metals. Nickel-chromium electrodes in 0.1 Molar (M) NaCl solution produced the greatest volume of hydrogen gas, producing so much gas the experiment had to be stopped at 30 minutes because the collection vial was not large enough. The average amount of H2 production for this reaction was 8.3 mL, and the rate of H2 production was 0.2(8) mL H2/minute."
