March 18, 2024

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Teams of students from Century Middle School and Eastview Elementary participated in the Minnesota Zoo’s ZOOMS STEM Design Challenge Exhibition during the week of March 4-8. The program challenges 3rd-12th grade Minnesota students to engineer a solution to a real problem faced by zookeepers and staff at the Minnesota Zoo. 

This year’s challenge was to develop an innovative enrichment or exhibit design solution for the zoo’s bison and black-tailed prairie dogs. With both prairie dogs and bison having unique group social dynamics, zookeepers were looking for new ways to provide safe group-based enrichment while ensuring each member of the social group can benefit. 

Of the 1,520 enrichment and exhibit design solutions that were submitted, only 134 projects were selected to present to the zoo’s staff and Flint Hills Resources engineers (sponsors of the event) during the exhibition week. Among those selected included five teams from Century Middle School and three teams from Eastview Elementary. Two teams from Century even won awards for their projects! 

All of the Century and Eastview student projects can be viewed below. In each presentation, students explained the problem, their research, the constraints they had to work with, their ideas, prototypes and redesigns, and the ultimate solution they came up with. 

Century Middle School Presentations (7th Grade)

Teachers: Mrs. Jennifer Bolson and Mrs. Jessica Borsenberger, Life Science Teachers

Project:

AWARD: 1st Place in Middle School Enrichment Design

Student Team:

• Daphne Adams
• Vivian Byre
• Riley Eichten
• Isla Rath

Project:

AWARD: 3rd Place in Middle School Enrichment Design

Student Team:

• Liam Austin
• Lohithaksh Pabbisetti
• Aarush Tiwari

Project: 

Student Team:

• Addison Schlukebier
• Srinika Srikakulam
• Ashriya Sundarapalli
• Haylee Ramirez

Project:

Student Team:

• Kanarian Bekan
• Ella Gullion
• Grace Gullion
• Kalesia Jamie

Project:

Student Team:

• Adelaide Mlodzik
• Michael Morton
• Lily Swenson

Eastview Elementary Presentations (5th Grade)

Teacher: Mrs. Jennifer Noreault, STEM Specialist

Project: 

Student Team:

• JJ Beukelman
• Georgia Gerving
• Cameron Kroeger
• Eliza Pothen
• Hannah Stoltz

Project:

Student Team:

• Aiza Affan
• Amisha Bissoon
• Anna Rozmarin
• Chloe Ma

Project:

Student Team:

• Liam Lindquist
• Andrew Pacovsky
• Stella Davis
• Yonah Gatuz

Learn more about the ZOOMS STEM Design Challenge Exhibition on the .