I recently had the pleasure of meeting with a group of very intelligent students from Pearl City Highlands Elementary School who have qualified for this Saturday's State FIRST Lego League "Trash Trek" Championship Tournament at Blaisdell Arena. The students wanted to share their recyclable project that will be entered in the FLL State Championship. The team of 4th and 5th graders developed an automatic sorting trash can using 'Optical Sorting Technology".
"The FLL theme this year is "Trash Trek", so each team had to identify a problem related to trash, then come up with an innovative solution, said advisor Jan Lee. "One of our teams felt that too much recyclable material is being thrown away and not getting recycled. So they want to create an automatic sorting trash can, that would separate the recyclable cans/bottles from the non-recyclables. They think it would be a good idea to place these automatic sorters in public places, like shopping centers and parks."
I represented the Pearl City Shopping Center (PCSC) at our meeting. The students asked me questions related to the amount of recyclable trash that is collected at the PCSC and how often it is picked up for disposal. The students also asked me if I thought their automatic sorter would be a fit for the PCSC and the best placement on the property for each box. Also, the size of each automatic sorter to accommodate the capacity of recyclables collected at the PCSC.
The students worked really hard in collecting their project data while conducting interviews with industry business professionals and also exceled in their research and development skills and design creativity. The team is well prepared to represent their school at the championship level with their entry at the 2015 State FLL State Championships.
Mahalo to team advisor Jan Lee and the students for inviting me to PEACHES to learn about their recycling project and for allowing me to share my thoughts and ideas as well.
Good Luck and Bring Home The Championship!
Photo by Barry Villamil | [email protected]
(Pictured with their automatic sorting trash can, from left to right)
Brittany Ann Nozaki, Joshua Taufahema, Farrah Velasco, Lauren Tapat, and Jayna Lua.
Photo by Barry Villamil | [email protected]
Team members Lauren, Farrah, and Brittany Ann demonstrate their
automatic sorting trash can three-step recycling process as Jayna looks on.