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Fifth and sixth graders are on a mission to improve the lives of Hawaiian Monk Seals at the Minnesota Zoo. The Westwood Intermediate and Middle School students designed, built and presented enrichment prototypes as part of this year’s ZOOMS STEM Design Challenge.

The ZOOMS STEM Design Challenge is an annual project at the Minnesota Zoo. It enlists the help of students in grades 3-12 in engineering a solution to a real problem occurring at the zoo.

This year, students were challenged to help enrich the lives of Hawaiian Monk Seals Paki and Ola. They were asked to find creative ways to encourage the seals' natural behaviors to result in less work for zookeepers and more entertainment for visitors.

“My main goal for the ZOOMS challenge was for students to use our district’s 3D Design Process (including steps to Discover, Design, Deliver a result) to engage in an authentic STEM/design project,” says Amanda West, gifted & talented specialist at Westwood Intermediate and Middle School.

Students moved through the Discover phase by doing research and learning about constraints and potential problems with this challenge.

“In the Discover phase of the SLP 3D Design Process, I wanted students to really learn about and try to approach the project from the seals’ unique needs and the zookeepers’ wants for enrichment,” says Amanda. “I then wanted students to work through the Design and Deliver phases by ideating, creating and refining their prototypes multiple times based on feedback and insight gathered.”

Fish Vending Machine and Rattle Tube

Westwood Spanish Immersion 6th graders Henry, Anders, Greta, Annika, Kieran (Gus) and Aiden designed and created their prototype with seal Ola in mind.

“We noticed that Ola was just sitting in the corner and not being active or entertaining for visitors,” says Gus. “She knew the zookeepers would bring food directly to her, so she really didn’t need to move around or hunt for food.”

The group considered the needs of all the stakeholders. Ola needed more exercise. The zookeepers needed to spend less time putting on gear in order to go into the exhibit to bring food. The visitors needed more entertainment. From this, the group designed the Fish Vending Machine.

“The Fish Vending Machine is a long tube with a button attached that Ola would need to press in order to get food,” says Greta. “She has to dive down, press the button and then chase the fish, which shoots out the top of the tube into another part of the water area.”

For students Callie and Allie, one of the most important parts of designing their prototype, The Rattle Tube, was making sure it accommodated Paki’s severe sight restriction.

“We knew Paki was almost blind, but she can see shadows, so we designed the Rattle Tube to make sure she is able to see it and play with it in the water,” says Callie. “It was cool to turn our idea into a reality and design the prototype specifically for Paki in order to fit her needs.”

Connecting classroom projects to real-world problems

The ZOOMS challenge helped students see how their learning within the walls of the school connects to and impacts the world around them.

“Instead of hoping students see the importance of what they’re learning or doing in class, connecting things to real-world problems, issues and projects helps them really see and understand why they are asked to do it,” says Amanda.

Sixth grader Aiden, who was part of the Fish Vending Machine group, realized he could help make a difference and that enhanced his learning experience.

I realized my thoughts and ideas could actually play a role in making the life of a seal or zookeeper easier. It changed how I approached the project and kept me more invested. Aiden

Next Steps

Students presented their prototypes to friends, family and judges at a showcase event on February 10. Three groups were chosen to continue to the ZOOMS Design Challenge Exhibition in March at the Minnesota Zoo for a chance to win a backstage pass experience with the animals.

Grade 5:

• “The Strapinator 3000” by Sophia and Dante

Grade 6:

• “Magnetic Kelp Wall & Sound Ball” by Maria and Bella
• “Ice Shaker & Squid” by Grace, Ainsley, Grace and Maddie

In addition to Westwood, several other schools and student grade levels in the district participated in the challenge.