Garden City Students Win National Science Contest

Sara Mikalus, Amanda Bressingham and Nick Fasano, Garden City High School sophomores and National grand prize winners in the You Innovate 21 contest sponsored by Scholastic, Inc, the American Museum of Natural History and the National Governor's Association. Three talented students in the tenth grade Science Research Program at Garden City High School are grand prize winners in the "It's Your Environment Challenge," a science innovation contest sponsored by the American Museum of Natural History (AMNH), Scholastic, Inc., and the National Governor's Association.

The contest required students to develop an innovative idea for solving an environmental problem. The winners - Nick Fasano, Amanda Bressingham and Sara Mikulas - created a plan for the "Grass Cow, a biodiesel lawnmower that would convert waste grass into biodiesel fuel to power itself. The design for the machine is based on the four-chambered stomach of a cow. It calls for the lawnmower to be built with four chambers in which fermentation of cut grass would occur.

"With the price of fuel reaching all-time highs, this is an interesting, manageable idea that could very well be a small but important step towards solving he energy crisis, "Science Research Teacher Steve Gordon said.

Dr. Steve Gordon receives the award from Scholastic Inc. as Sara Mikalus, Amanda Bressingham, Nick Fasano and Dr. Bennington look on. They are joined by scientists from the Museum of Natural History and the University of Washington. Another Garden City team - Brianne Shannon, Katie Harrington, and Kate Odell - was runner up. They designed the Avi-Safe windmill, which would be safe for birds and bats.

The winning students traveled to Manhattan with classmates to receive a behind-the-scene tour of the AMNH and to discuss with an AMNH scientist how to develop their design. The grade prize winners also received $2,000 to be used to support more work on the Grass Cow and a library of science books for the school district valued at $2,500. The students and their project were featured in the April 21 issue of Science World.

The contest is part of You Innovate 21, a partnership among Scholastic, AMNH and the National Governor's Association to encourage student interest in science, technology, engineering and mathematics.