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Samsung Solve for Tomorrow produces student STEM solutions for environmental issues.

The global challenges that we’ll face in the future necessitate ideas from the pioneering minds of today. With levels of carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide concentrations now more abundant in our atmosphere than any time in the last 800,000 years1, the key question is what we can do now to mitigate our impact. Sparked by Samsung’s Solve for Tomorrow STEM competition, middle and high school students from public schools across the country have led the charge in the fight against climate change. They have been recognized for their innovative solutions that address a wide range of sustainability topics, including global warming, water shortages and extreme temperatures.

Here’s a look at three student submissions that were recognized for their environmental solutions, as well as the 2023 Solve for Tomorrow Sustainability Innovations Award winner.

Over a picture of Blue Ridge High School, a student starts talking about their school project. We see his face as he explains that climate change has affected their local environment, while in the background, we see footage of snow covered forests. We see shots of their town and on screen we see "Hybrid Solar Cooker" appear behind him. Another student appears with the words "Blue Ridge applied physics" behind him. He continues to explain the project. We see them start to put the solar cooker together. We cut back and forth between the two students explaining the project intercut with shots of them testing the efficacy of the cooker. Over a picture of Blue Ridge High School, a student starts talking about their school project. We see his face as he explains that climate change has affected their local environment, while in the background, we see footage of snow covered forests. We see shots of their town and on screen we see "Hybrid Solar Cooker" appear behind him. Another student appears with the words "Blue Ridge applied physics" behind him. He continues to explain the project. We see them start to put the solar cooker together. We cut back and forth between the two students explaining the project intercut with shots of them testing the efficacy of the cooker.
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1

Addressing global warming, water shortages and extreme temperatures with a hybrid solar cooker

Students from Blue Ridge High School in Lakeside, Arizona have firsthand experience with global warming as they confront water shortages and extreme temperatures. As a result, the price of utilities in their area has increased, pushing more families to resort to cheaper coal and wood to heat their homes, exacerbating the emission conundrum. By examining the largest users of energy, they identified household cooking and heating as responsible for nearly 50% of utility costs nationally and 25% of black carbon emissions. In Asian and African countries, the percentage jumps dramatically to 80% of black carbon emissions. Their idea is to make small changes to how the world heats and cooks on a large scale in order make a big decrease in fossil fuel usage.

Modifying a traditional passive solar cooker design by adding solar panels, a battery backup, PTC (positive temperature coefficient) heating elements, a cooktop and thermal mass, the students created a solar cooker and thermal device capable of continually heating a small room for 24 hours that also works as a stove top and oven for cooking as needed. The heat from cooking can be stored in the thermal mass and radiated back into the room. The design is easy to replicate from readily available materials and can be constructed for less than $100, making it an achievable alternative for literally billions of households across the planet.

2

Restoring insect and bird ecosystems, one green roof at a time

With the idea to restore the school’s green house, students from Alice Drive Middle School in Sumter, South Carolina identified an architectural feature present on many of their city’s buildings —flat roofs. That led them to an even greater notion: create green roofs to encourage local bird and insect life. To get started, they collaborated with local organizations that included state agencies, community colleges, local experts and, of course, Samsung, to get started on a working prototype. Businesses came together to help too, donating an old shark-diving cage, soil strata and local fauna for use in the prototype. The students split into four specialized teams to get the project done: conservationists, structural engineers, computer-based software designers and website designers. Each team worked separately but came together to create a working prototype, plus a fully functioning website complete with live streaming capabilities. Though the project is not complete yet, the team has plans to continue developing the prototype and updating their website with their findings.

"Think outside of the box. Do not limit what you see others do. Take an idea and put your own spin on it"

— Marina Mosneauguta, Ed.D. In Curriculum and instruction, U of SC

We open on news coverage around the country from reporters talking about climate change and this year being the hottest on record. Students voice over the background of the project and give statitsticsm, including the introduction of 'heat islands" in urban centers. We see charts and graphs illutstrating their findings. We see a student on camera begin to explain the use of Barium Sulfate with microspheres paint. We then see them start to create it in a lab. We see a montage of the students in the lab creating the paint and using a centrifuge. Under a microscope we see they are successful. We see then watch them test the efficacy of their heat reducing paint - and see it's successful in reducing the temperature absorption. Next we see them working in. the classroom with local officials and business owners. We end on a still phoograph of the whole team celebrating. We open on news coverage around the country from reporters talking about climate change and this year being the hottest on record. Students voice over the background of the project and give statitsticsm, including the introduction of 'heat islands" in urban centers. We see charts and graphs illutstrating their findings. We see a student on camera begin to explain the use of Barium Sulfate with microspheres paint. We then see them start to create it in a lab. We see a montage of the students in the lab creating the paint and using a centrifuge. Under a microscope we see they are successful. We see then watch them test the efficacy of their heat reducing paint - and see it's successful in reducing the temperature absorption. Next we see them working in. the classroom with local officials and business owners. We end on a still phoograph of the whole team celebrating.
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3

Addressing climate change and global temperatures with radiative-cooling public art

Climate change has seen global temperatures rise steadily throughout the world. This change is most pronounced in urban centers due to the prevalence of heat-absorbing areas called heat islands — areas with a high number of man-made structures like roads and buildings. Given the negative health effects associated with higher temperatures, students from Bloomington High School South in Bloomington, Indiana (the national winner of Samsung’s 2023 Sustainability Innovations Award) were particularly concerned about the most vulnerable populations within their communities. They posited that they can reverse the heat-sink effects of man-made structures in heat islands with radiative-cooling public art. Focusing on their town’s public plaza as a proof-of-concept, the students proposed and then actually created a heat-reflecting, structural color mural on the south- and west-facing wall of their downtown public library. Themed around the beauty of rich local ecosystems, the climate-resilient installation combines art and engineering, using barium sulfate microspheres to maximize UV reflectance to provide passive cooling to the building. Following strict safety guidelines, students formulated and created the heat-reflecting paint in their school’s lab. They even tested its efficacy, which showed a 6-degree reduction in heat absorption, proving out their stunning hypothesis. With the local arts-involved youth pitching in to help design the mural, the project doubles as a reminder to the community of the power of STEM-based education.

"A lot of people are worried about studying STEM because it seems challenging or it seems like only people who are very good at school or very smart end up studying it…[but] our lives are full of the same type of thinking that scientists, technologists, engineers and mathematicians use."

— Kirstin Milks, Faculty Sponsor, Bloomington High School South

The climate crisis is particularly resonant to Gen Z, who feel equal parts responsible and anxious about their future. Samsung Solve for Tomorrow rallies the collective activism of this group, coalescing into a meaningful gathering of ideas and actions that Samsung can help make into realities.

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