Canonsburg Middle School Students Explore Natural Gas Options, Win Award

Canonsburg Middle School students Samuel O’Bryan, C.J. O’Shell, Dimitri Pihiou, and Robby Sanders Jr. placed second in Pennsylvania for the seventh-grade division of the U.S. Navy-sponsored competition eCybermission.

As a second-place team, each member of the team will be awarded a $500 U.S. Savings Bond.

eCybermission is a web-based Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics competition for 6^th-, 7^th-, 8^th and 9^th-grade teams.

The teams propose a solution to a real problem in their community and compete for state, regional and national awards.

While taking the standard science fair out of the auditorium and into cyberspace, eCybermission challenges students to explore how ccience, technology, engineering and mathematics work in their world.

Starting in the fall semester, the four boys decided to investigate the mission challenge category of alternative sources of energy. The team, CMScientists, solved an energy problem in the community, determining what source of energy is better now, and which will be better in the future. The team chose their topic because natural gas energy has recently moved into the local area opening up a plethora of job and research opportunities.

Additionally, the CMScientists set forth the goal of creating a modern city run by natural gas and comparing it to cities powered by coal and other fuels. To accomplish this goal, the CMScientists determined the amount of energy a building uses in kilowatt hours.

Through researching the cost of producing one kWh with coal and natural gas, the students were able to conclude the daily cost incurred by the buildings and compare the resources.

The young scientists concluded that in addition to being more environmentally friendly, natural gas is a more cost effective resource both now and in the future.