(28) 90 in 90: Stepping outside the box and creating something great

If there has been one thing that I have experienced as my time as a teacher in Korea, its that fact that if given the opportunity, your students will continue to amaze you in different ways. Sometimes its  a funny remark. Other times its a insightful comment or thought that you never expected. Sometimes its sometime so far beyond a simple comment or excellent example of knowledge, its something that combines knowledge and dedication to make something so incredible and so beyond the years of these students in terms of age, it makes the accomplishments, or rather what you considered accomplishments as a child, pale in comparison.

A group of students along with their science teacher took on a project of working with algae, and seeing the different effects the algae can produce in different conditions. For months this small and dedicated group of students set up a makeshift laboratory complete with testing and measuring equipment where students would make observations and test the algae under different lighting conditions.

What the students discovered was that the algae was able to reduce CO2 in the air as well as refresh the oxygen and create a more hospitable environment. Further research and study revealed the potential of using algae as a potential bio diesel fuel, and only by comparing their data to other scholarly articles and research, did they find that their research and hypothesis was correct.

Their hard work has gotten the attention of the Korean government and the the Ministry of Education as our school, or rather these students in particular have won a national award for having the best project idea as well as having the best results.

The students still have a long road ahead of them. They have a few more contests, one of which requires them to present in English. While their project isn't quite over yet, their effort and hard work is still miles beyond anything kind of project I participated in during high school.

Hearing about them talk about their project, hearing the enthusiasm and excitement behind their voices as they shared their data was a reminder of just how exciting and inspiring new alternatives to learning can be to students. These students were left to their own plans and devices with minimal guidance and not only ended up creating a interesting experiment, but also found some interesting new evidence in a field that is almost certainly going to become more popular and more necessary as our need for alternative fuels increases.

I am incredibly proud of these students and have assisted them with the English portion of their project as much as I could within my ability. When you have a daily routine of enforcing strict study habits and memorization, seeing students work outside the established system and discovering something fantastic in the process is such a great thing to see.

I expect this project to go far. I expect these students to go far. I cannot wait to see where they all end up. 

The finished result

The students (scientists) hard at work