Solar Power Irrigation Eagle Project - now that is STEM

[RememberSchiff]

http://patch.com/massachusetts/chelmsford/boy-scout-create-install-solar-powered-irrigation-system-0

 

Tyler Fleming's Eagle Project is a solar-powered, computer controlled irrigation system for a community garden of hos own design. He hopes to raise $1000 thru Gofundme.  

 

https://www.gofundme.com/xjtbasek

 

I am impressed!

 

[Tiger Foot]

That's really cool. Looks like he's over the halfway mark on his fundraising.

[qwazse]

I sat in on Pitt's freshman engineering seminars. Student teams research a future invention they have been thinking about (possibly since high school), and research its current feasibility, including energy efficiency, health and safety, and sustainability.

 

One team presented a self-sustaining bio-fueled autonomous pond-scrubber bot. (Think water flea scaled-up to have ping-pong ball feet.) Quite impressive. If kids across the country come through on 1/10 of these designs, the future will be awesome.

 

Son #2 and his buddy pitched invisibility cloaking. Don't expect to see a full-scale prototype any time soon.

[Beavah]

Awesome!

 

I wish we had some way to share great projects like this nationally, eh?   A regular feature in Boys' Life on an exemplary project, perhaps?   Sorta like "Eagle Scouts in Action".   A regular blog on great scout projects?   Somethin' to inspire kids who are comin' up to Star and Life to tackle a real need and not go for da de minimis approach to Eagle projects.  Somethin' to prod troop and district adults to challenge lads to think creatively big.

 

Beavah

[CalicoPenn]

Looks like a great project

 

But let's not try to use it to prod adults to put even more roadblocks on the path to Eagle because they're challenging their Scouts to think creatively and big. 

 

I've seen small projects that had just as big of an impact on the community that other Scouters complain about.

[Stosh]

Are Eagle projects meant to demonstrate a boy's leadership or showboat BSA?

[Krampus]

Awesome!

 

I wish we had some way to share great projects like this nationally, eh?   A regular feature in Boys' Life on an exemplary project, perhaps?   Sorta like "Eagle Scouts in Action".   A regular blog on great scout projects?   Somethin' to inspire kids who are comin' up to Star and Life to tackle a real need and not go for da de minimis approach to Eagle projects.  Somethin' to prod troop and district adults to challenge lads to think creatively big.

 

Beavah

 

Bryan on Scouting does a great blog on such projects. That kid from Texas had an awesome project.

[Beavah]

But let's not try to use it to prod adults to put even more roadblocks on the path to Eagle because they're challenging their Scouts to think creatively and big. 

 

Yah, @@CalicoPenn, I reckon that we want lads to be challenged, think creatively, and all the rest, eh?   Character, Fitness, Citizenship, Service, right?   Leaders in their community?  One of da rare 5%?  Somethin' worthy of special consideration for college admissions, military promotion, job hiring?

 

Challenges aren't roadblocks, they're challenges. 

 

I reckon we want Eagle projects to do a few things, eh?

 

We want 'em to be a leadership challenge for the boy, so that he gets to apply those skills we tried to teach him - budgeting and planning and communication and leadin' others and safety and such.   That way he will stretch and grow.  He'll also see that all those things aren't just arbitrary required hoops we had him jump through.

 

We want 'em to be a genuine service to the community.  Somethin' that others will benefit from and that a boy will feel some genuine pride and satisfaction in accomplishin'.

 

And, too, I reckon we do want 'em to represent Scouting.   Somethin' that his troop and council and all da rest of us can point to and say - "That's what Eagle Scouts do!".  That's why we ask 'em to input projects into the Good Turn site, after all, and why we brag about da numbers of service hours given in da BSA's Annual Report.

 

Beavah

[qwazse]

.... And, too, I reckon we do want 'em to represent Scouting.   Somethin' that his troop and council and all da rest of us can point to and say - "That's what Eagle Scouts do!".  That's why we ask 'em to input projects into the Good Turn site, after all, and why we brag about da numbers of service hours given in da BSA's Annual Report. ...

 

I don't know about other parts of the country, but of grateful beneficiaries, community garden folks around here seem to top the list. A lot of neighbors, in spite of relocating here because of new jobs/school opportunities, etc ..., have lost their sense of place, and find it in these gardens. But they are often overwhelmed with no time to seriously improve their patch of land to the point of sustainability. Our scouts come in and hack at one particular problem, or simply mobilize the community ... get the ball rolling ... then at CoH's the person who donated the land comes and tells the audience how he/she almost lost hope in grandpa's lot being anything but everyone else's dump or parking lot. ...

 Counts for WAY MORE than service hours.