Students have a gas in science bowl

Courtesy Cecilia Dickinson

Elton M. Garrett Junior High School student Rebecca Adams works on a model car for the Nevada Regional Science Bowl.

Wednesday, May 6, 2009 | 5:52 p.m.

This group of students are passionate about science.

Students in the Science Club at Elton M. Garrett Junior High School worked diligently after school and on weekends for two months to design model cars with hydrogen fuel cells to compete against other middle school clubs at the 2009 Nevada Regional Science Bowl last month.

The children first had to learn the science behind hydrogen fuel technology. Armed with that knowledge, they planned, measured, drilled, split water into its hydrogen and oxygen and sent their cars off.

One of the cars didn't stop until it placed high in the regional event at UNLV.

Seventh-grader Bryann Pluta's car took second out of cars from 15 schools — each school could enter up to three cars — to earn Garrett a trophy and $500 stipend for the science program. Grant Sawyer Middle School of Las Vegas won the competition. Adams worked with classmate Rebecca Adams to work on the car.

"The children built these cars, not me or their parents," said Ceil Dickinson, one of the program's advisers. "They did the planning together."

The cars were roughly 1 foot long and powered by the hydro fuel cell. Pluta's car crossed the finish line on the 10-meter course in under 6 seconds — several cars stalled and didn't make it across the line.

The competition also called for students to answer questions about fuel technology. They could not race their cars unless they were able to explain how they operated during the questioning.

The hydro cell extracts hydrogen and oxygen from distilled water to power the vehicles. It is a complicated process for some to understand, but the students had no troubles in using that science to construct their cars.

"For me, that was just common sense," Pluta said of the technology.

There cars were constructed from scratch as the children had to follow engineering principals, keep good records and communicate together as teammates. The fuel cell, which runs about $120, is donated.

"They took the time to be careful and precise about it," Dickinson said.

Tyler Hinson and Jacob Piper also raced cars during their event, but their vehicles didn't make it out of the preliminary heat.

Other students who participated in the event included: Eric Gros, Clint Hatch and Connor Nichols.