HUNTINGTON BEACH, Calif. (March 25, 2010) – A team of six students and their science teacher from Kamehameha High School in Honolulu learned tonight that they had won first place in a science challenge based in Southern California. Their winning entry in the QuikSCience Challenge—a competition sponsored by Quiksilver, Inc., the well-known producer and distributor of surfing apparel, and the Quiksilver Foundation—was the first in the seven-year history of the challenge that was submitted by students from outside California.
The Kamehameha students focused their entry on invasive marine plants, particularly the problematic seaweed known as “gorilla ogo.” They sent their project to judges in Los Angeles by mail and email, and earlier this year judges at the University of Southern California interviewed the students using videoconferencing on Skype. Tonight the students used Skype to follow the award announcements at Quiksilver’s headquarters in Huntington Beach, Calif., and that’s when they learned they had won first place in this year’s competition for high school students.
The QuikSCience Challenge is co-sponsored by the USC Wrigley Institute for Environmental Studies, and the prize for the Kamehameha High School students will be a weeklong trip to the USC Wrigley Marine Science Center on Catalina Island off the California coast.
“The winning project was outstanding,” said Lynn Whitley, education director for the USC Wrigley Institute. “The students wrote an excellent research proposal and organized a public service project that had a direct connection to the local community. The quality of the project was clear even though the students were 2500 miles away. We’re excited to think this might be a sign that we can widen the geographic scope of the QuikSCience Challenge.”
The QuikSCience Challenge uses a “team competition” to spark the interest of middle school and high school students in science and in marine and freshwater environments and to enhance the students’ capacity for leadership. Teams of up to six students create projects and portfolios on a science subject related to marine or freshwater environments. High school teams that enter the challenge choose an environmental issue and propose ideas for scientific studies and creative solutions. They also organize a community service project and create a lesson plan that they teach to other students.
The team from Kamehameha High School created a three-part lesson plan that taught other students about the ecological impact of invasive marine plants, particularly the prolific seaweed known as Gracilaria salicornia or “gorilla ogo,” and their work was featured during their school’s Sustainability Fair and in preparation for a community service project at the local He`eia Fishpond. More than 80 people showed up on February 6 to clear “gorilla ogo” from the ancient fish pond, and the initiative of the Kamehameha students led to the removal of almost three tons of invasive seaweed from the pond. The seaweed was given to a family that lives nearby for use as compost in their taro gardens.
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
About the students from Kamehameha High School and their winning entry
Lea Arce, biology teacher
Cell phone: (808) 271-6069
Email: learce@ksbe.edu
Notes: Lea Arce also is the adviser to a service club
Kamehameha Schools Surfers Give Back Club
About the University of Southern California and the QuikSCience Challenge
Lynn Whitley, Director of Education
USC Wrigley Institute for Environmental Studies
University of Southern California, Los Angeles
Office Phone: (213) 740-1964
Email: lwhitley@usc.edu
About Quiksilver, the Quiksilver Foundation and the QuikSCience Challenge
Ryan Ashton, Director
Quiksilver Foundation
Office phone: (714) 889-7132
Cell phone: (714) 331-7854
Email: ryan.ashton@quiksilver.com
