[Vision2020] Students Tackle Field-Burning Invention

[Tom Hansen]

>From Today's (November 22, 2005) Moscow-Pullman Daily News with appreciation
to Kate Baldwin.

A high-five congratulations to Jade Francetich and her fellow students.
Your school and community are very proud of you.

At a time when public schools are experiencing unwarranted criticism, it is
pleasing to realize that every cent spent is well worth the investment.

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Students tackle field-burning invention; Moscow High School one of 17 in the
nation to receive MIT grant

By Kate Baldwin, Daily News staff writer

It began with a few articles about field burning in the newspaper this fall.
The stories inspired Moscow High School senior Jade Francetich's idea for a
smokeless field-burning machine. Francetich, her fellow physics class
students and teacher are transforming that idea into a working prototype
with the help of a $4,600 grant from the Massachusetts Institute of
Technology. 

"There was a lot of field burning going on around here," Francetich said. "I
thought it would be nice if we could prevent pollution and the uprise from
that ... I know there's been issues, of you know, people having health
problems because of it." 

At the time of the grant application, a class-action lawsuit headlined
Idaho's newspapers, detailing the case of 70 farmers defending their right
to burn their fields and accelerate their harvests. Last week, the
plaintiffs settled for a payment of $616,450 from the farmers - after
litigation and court costs - on the basis of negative health effects caused
by the burning. 

Francetich's interest didn't stem from a connection on either side of the
fence. She said nobody in her class has much of a background in agriculture.


"I wish that one of us did," she said. "Because it would help if we
personally knew more about it." 

Her class joins just 17 others across the nation selected by MIT to design
and create their inventions, which will be finished by May. 

Teacher Pat Blount said he believed their idea was selected because it was
directly related to the community. Also, the school's proximity to the
University of Idaho and community support played a role. 

"It's quite interesting that it can be used in the area," said Bob
Celebrezze MHS principal. "The Palouse is in great need for environmentally
friendly ways to continue providing wheat, peas and lentils." 

Becoming inventors is proving to be a fast process for the 22-person class
that submitted its application Sept. 28, received notice of the MIT award
Oct. 24 and submitted the first progress report to MIT on Friday. 

Members of the class joined specific teams according to certain areas of the
process including: filter, burn, structure, design, test and public
relations. 

"It's hard to get started on it because we've got a good-sized class and I
don't think everyone is quite as into it as I am yet," Francetich said. "But
once we start building the actual field burner and the class realizes this
is way cooler than doing assignments out of the book, they'll be as hyped as
I am. 

"As far as physics goes, once we get more involved, he (Blount) can set up
labs that will apply to the project and we can focus our learning that way,"
she said. 

Blount said many of the students have never had physics before, though some
have taken high-level math classes like trigonometry and some are concurrent
in calculus. 

"I'm apprehensive about the whole thing. It's really a big project and it's
going to take a lot of work," Blount said. 

Still, he said the student-driven nature of the project provides his class
with "a way better understanding of the creation process, and what's
involved to complete something." 

"I can't think of a better way to hook in my physics to their experience,"
he said. "To me, it's just kind of fascinating lately, I've been thinking
about how physics applies to almost everything in the world," Francetich
said. "If you understand the basic concepts of physics you can apply them to
nearly everything." 

Blount wanted this kind of reaction from his students. He compared the
importance of physics to appreciating a rainbow: it's beautiful on its own,
but physics offers a different level of understanding. 

"It's almost a deeper appreciation than just appreciating the colors of the
rainbow," he said. 

For now, the class is in the research phase. "Once we get physical
apparatuses it will be more concrete for them."

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Congratulations again, Jade.  

Take care, Moscow.

Tom Hansen
Moscow, Idaho

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"Feminism is the radical notion that women are people."

- Unknown 
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