A youth team mentored at UL Lafayette earned third place in a recent competition for a research project that illustrated how mealworms can safely annihilate polystyrene, commonly called Styrofoam™.
The material, used for insulation, flotation and protective packaging, is the bane of environmentalists.
“It’s a huge ecological problem. Polystyrene doesn’t biodegrade. It becomes ‘white pollutants’ in rivers, lakes and oceans, which is harmful to wildlife,” said Dr. Doug Williams, a professor of education at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette.
He guided Team Phoenix, composed of six boys ages 9 to 14, who competed at the First Lego League Razorback Invitational last month in Fayetteville, Ark. The event featured 72 teams from over 30 states and 13 countries.
As part of the contest, students complete research projects that propose solutions to a problem that’s based on a theme. This year’s theme, “Trash Trek,” addressed recycling and sustainability issues.
Williams said Team Phoenix focused on “creating an efficient and non-toxic way to biodegrade polystyrene.” Its members looked to nature for solutions and found one, he explained. They uncovered studies published last year that detailed how mealworms, which are the larval form of the darkling beetle, can ingest and break down polystyrene.
Team Phoenix members pored over scientific journals and watched documentaries on the subject. They discovered that 2.3 million tons of polystyrene end up in landfills each year. One local business alone, they learned, uses about 650,000 Styrofoam™ cups each year.
After consulting with a biologist, team members fed polystyrene to mealworms over several months to understand how microorganisms inside the worms convert polystyrene into carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide.
They also built a prototype of a bioreactor, a small flask in which they combined bacteria from the stomachs of mealworms with polystyrene.
“They were actually able to break down polystyrene just using those microbes from the gut of the mealworm,” Williams said.
Team Phoenix members are: Ben Chopin, Jacob Landreneau, Jack MacFadyen, Miguel Pagan, Aaron Williams and Joseph Williams. The boys, who are homeschooled, train at UL Lafayette’s Center for Innovative Learning and Assessment Technologies.
FLL competition is intended to teach students about science, technology, engineering and math skills.
In addition to the research component of the competition, students design and build autonomous robots that consist of a standardized motor covered in Lego toy pieces. Robots must be programmed to navigate small playing fields and complete a variety of tasks.
Teams are judged in areas such as robot performance, programming, design, teamwork and sportsmanship.
Team Phoenix earned the right to compete by placing second overall in the First Lego League Louisiana championship held in December in New Orleans. The contest featured 60 teams of elementary and middle school students.
Learn more about first Lego League at firstlegoleague.org.
Photo: Team Phoenix, composed of six boys ages 9 to 14, who competed at the First Lego League Razorback Invitational last month in Fayetteville, Ark. The team’s project, which illustrated how mealworms can safely annihilate polystyrene, commonly called Styrofoam™, placed third in the research category. Shown, from left, are: Ben Chopin, Aaron Williams and Jack MacFadyen.