All of the 22 math and science wizards that Española Valley High School sent to a regional math and science competition last month qualified for the statewide competition.
The students won first place in four categories and second place in three others in the MESA (Mathematics, Engineering, Science Achievement) competition held Jan. 16 at New Mexico Highlands University in Las Vegas, despite being caught off guard by unexpected problems to solve.
The science team, for example, had been told by MESA officials to study Native American plants, and that’s just what they did, science teacher Olivia Lujan said. At the event, students were instead asked to clean a dingy cloth with an organic bleach they were expected to create on the spot, Española Valley High School junior Adriana Avila said. Though the ingredients they were provided for the task included yucca extract — drawn from a Native American plant — the contest was altogether unrelated to their study guide.
“Basically, we made it up as we went along,” Avila said. “We found baking soda and lemon juice works great.”
Junior Cassandra Valdez and her group took first place in a “surprise” competition they never could have studied for — MESA officials unveiled their task just minutes before the competition, Lujan said.
The team was given tubes and clay, which they used to build an irrigation system that diverted water from one main water supply to six separate reservoirs, Valdez said.
Valdez said her team had completed a similar experiment during a training session at Northern New Mexico College, and won the contest by building a miniature network of acequias with the clay.
The school’s veteran robotics team took first place in a competition that required building and programming a robot made from Lego building blocks to drive through an obstacle course. A team of younger students new to robotics took second place in the same contest.
Junior Nick Espinoza and three classmates drew from their experience in the robotics contest in last year’s MESA competition to build a robot that successfully drove up a ramp, backed down the ramp after hitting a wall, then turned 180 degrees to drive out a small racetrack.
The robot, which was equipped with touch-activated sensors, brought the team first place. And the other robotics team already started tinkering with its robot to make sure it succeeds in the state competition.
“Basically we made it shorter, and now it has two motors in the back and one in the front, which is more than before,” freshman Steven Gonzales said. “We did that because we noticed it was getting stuck.”
MESA students from the high school, Española Middle School and Mesa Vista Middle and High School will participate in the MESA statewide championship. That event is scheduled for April 28 in Albuquerque.