Whither the water

Frontiersman reporter

PALMER -- A pair of Teeland Middle School students recently proved there's wonder in water at the national Science Olympiad competition in Pennsylvania. Tillermann Kroon and Lexie Krell, both students at Teeland, put together a hand-crafted model showing the circulation of an Alaska water table.

The duo's design involved an old gold mine releasing potentially harmful chemicals and other contaminants into the water table, causing cyanide poisoning. Kroon said this effect hasn't happened in the Valley, but old mines in the area have the potential to cause it.

The exhibit, made of a large plastic box, filtered the cyanide-polluted water through one layer of gravel, one layer of sand, and one layer of modeling clay to simulate the manner in which water enters the water table from above ground. Small "wells" made of plastic tubing delivered water back to the surface, and were sealed with caulk.

A number of wells situated around the exhibit filled with water during the demonstration, and the pair used some hand-operated pumps (taken from bottles of moisturizing lotion) to remove the polluted H20. If it were to be expanded to full-size, the tubes would be called "remediation wells," and would be pumped by a professional. This demonstration was accompanied by a presentation given by Krell and Kroon in which they adopted the roles of a news reporter and scientist discussing water table issues.

The Pennsylvania trip, which lasted from May 18 to May 26, was partially paid for by independent fund-raising by the students involved, a school car wash and garage sale and some donations from local businesses. The students' parents footed the rest of the bill.

At the competition, Krell and Kroon competed against 53 other teams in the Aquifers event, and pulled down a third-place finish.

"It was awesome," said Kroon of the national competition. "I met a whole lot of people and got their e-mail addresses." Kroon also said the Alaska middle school team played Ultimate Frisbee against other competitors and won against a high-school team.

"Science is really interesting to me," said Krell, who will become a freshman at Colony High next year. She said she enjoyed the independence and hands-on activities that the extracurricular group afforded her.

"I especially like Science O because you get to work with your friends and because you get to choose what events you participate in," she said. "It's really different from a normal science class."

For Kroon, the opportunity to interact with other young scientists was the best part of the competition.

"It's great to meet people in a challenging experience like this," he said. Kroon, a seventh-grader, will enter the eighth grade at Teeland next year.

Krell said she and Kroon visited Catherine Inman at the Palmer Soil and Water Conservation District Office at least three or four times to revise and improve their design. It took several weeks of brainstorming, testing and revision to get the model right.

"We pretty much just played around with this model," Kroon said. The team drew on Inman's advice, input and knowledge base in creating their water scenarios.

"I am tremendously proud of them and the rest of the Alaska team," Inman said. "It's wonderful that kids from the Valley can compete nationally and do well like this. And they are dealing with a real Alaska resource issue."

The Awesome Aquifer event, a relatively recent addition to the Science Olympiad repertoire of competitions, is designed to increase middle and high school students' understanding of groundwater concepts by providing hands-on, experience-based education on groundwater issues.

This year, the competition was in its trial stages, meaning that any points earned by the team in the event wouldn't be officially tallied, and the Kroon/Krell team didn't compete in it on the state level. However, it was so popular among Science Olympiad participants that next year it will be official.

The competition involves the creation of a groundwater flow model according to certain rules given by Science Olympiad officials. This model is expected to demonstrate an understanding of the hydrologic cycle, the physical makeup of an aquifer, and changes to the groundwater system.

Bonus points can be earned for demonstrating possible contamination remediation techniques, techniques that include using an intervening well to intercept a contaminant plume or chemical, physical or pump and aeration treatment.

Contact Daniel Spoth at daniel.spoth@frontiersman.com.