STEAM

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December 4, 2021 High Ropes Challenge at Georgia College

Jasper County Charter System (JCCS) students in grades 2-12 participated in a system wide Hydropower STEAM Design Challenge.  Students were challenged to construct a water wheel that would raise a paperclip attached to a string on a straw.  The main design constraint was the limitation of types of materials.  All materials were common household items.  Students had to prove that their system worked independently when a flow of water was released.  The Jasper County High School (JCHS) research team Dam Exam created the challenge and packed more than 300 bags with supplies.  The Dam Exam team also released an instructional video for participants to view.  Students entered the challenge by submitting videos and explaining their design.  Students pictured are category winners from each school.  Categories included:  Highest RPM, Best Design, Best Explanation, Best Special Effects, and Best Construction.  Jasper County Middle School (JCMS) students Layla Melton, Abi Garland, and Selena Harvey were the overall JCCS winners.   Click on the links below to watch the video entries and video instructions about the Hydropower STEAM Design Challenge. 

JCHS Dam Exam Research Team

Julia Proctor, Kate Schilling, Angel Bell, Will Garvin, Marley Sands, & Abby Whittle

Jasper County High School hosted its Third Annual Social Studies Fair (December 2020) directed by Bonnie Garvin. Prior to the Fair, the class learned about Civil Liberties and Civil Rights. Projects this year focused on the fight for Civil Rights in America, namely voting or suffrage rights. Projects included Women’s Suffrage, Latino Suffrage, the Twenty-sixth Amendment (changing the voting age), and African American Suffrage, including the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. In addition, some of the Fair projects focused on school integration. Students learned about and applied what they were taught concerning United States Supreme Court cases Plessey v. Ferguson (1896) and Brown v. the Topeka Board of Education (1954). The Social Studies Fair is a requirement for all Honors American Government students. This year, twenty-six student participated in the local fair. First place winner were Jorden Reed, Naomi Griffis, and Trenton Durham for their project “The Doll Test” which showed how psychological evidence lent itself to repealing “Separate but Equal.” Also, Cortney Wyman and Loralye Irwin earned first place recognition with their project “Vietnam Grooves.” They addressed protest music from the 1960s Vietnam War era and how it affected the Twenty-sixth Amendment. The Twenty-sixth Amendment changed the age to vote from twenty-one to eighteen.

In past years, JCHS sent the four highest scoring projects to the Region Social Studies Fair in Gainesville. However, as a result of COVID, the Region and State fairs were cancelled this year. Mrs. Garvin plans to take these projects to the region fair next year as they have earned the right to attend.

Georgia Council for Social Studies Regional Fair Information

The Water Wars team formed in June 2019 and created on an amazing project!  Students implemented their project during the 2019-2020 school year. 

• Team Members: Kedarius Hill, Tionna Clowers, Gavin Jacobs, Zion Weise, Spencer Hamblin, Julia Proctor, & Nykeria Greene
• Team Coaches:  Ms. Proctor & Ms. Garvin 

This team competed in the Lexus Eco Challenge and won 10,000 as the Southeast Regional Winners.

The team advanced to the National competition.  The team placed as one of the top 4 teams in the Nation. The team was awarded $15,000 by Lexus Eco Challenge as National WINNERS!  

Project Summary

For the first challenge, this resourceful group learned that: 80% of Atlanta’s water comes from the Chattahoochee River—one of the smallest rivers serving a major city; there is a moratorium on drilling wells in South Georgia; and that Georgia’s water issues are not an official part of state educational standards. In addition, they discovered 2019 data that showed Atlanta at the medium-to-high water stress level, which means the state of Georgia needs to prevent a water crisis. They decided to take action. Their answer: education. They predict that, in the next decade, water rights between Georgia, Florida, and Alabama are going to be a hot topic in the court system. Their theory: If students are educated about local water issues in school, they will be more involved with creating water-usage solutions and conservation efforts to prevent future shortages. After researching Georgia educational standards, the students concluded that this topic could be taught easily in Science and Social Studies curriculums for second, third, fourth, sixth, and eighth grade classes. The team strove to teach younger students the background of water issues in their state, featuring historical information about the Tri-State Water Wars, the basis of much of the current problem. They used Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube—as well as the classes they visited—to get the word out about their research. They prepared educational materials and had them translated into Spanish so teachers could help inspire English Language Learners to participate too. In the final challenge, the team got their message out further, and presented their project to the Department of Education, future high schoolers at a High School Your Way event, at regional science and social studies fairs, to the local Civic Club, and to the State Curriculum staff at the Georgia Department of Education. They also led a water activity at their local elementary school parent night, linking local and global water issues. The students visited the state capitol and learned about the legislative process and the legal issues surrounding water rights, and researched water concerns in other states, like California, to study how they have addressed water scarcity.