Engineering for Sea Lions: Eden Lake students win first place in the Minnesota Zoo’s design challenge

What do sea lions and dogs have in common? They’re not closely related, but they do share some common ancestors and characteristics. They both have long snouts and claws that can’t be retracted. They also like to play. Eden Lake fifth graders Samantha Anderson, Maddie Quinn and Alice Bittencourt had this in mind when they designed Squidward 2.0, a large, pink remote-controlled squid toy for sea lions in captivity that recently won first place in the Virtual Elementary category of the ZOOMS STEM Design Challenge hosted by the Minnesota Zoo. The zoo tasked the Eagles with a problem to solve: How could they improve life for the zoo’s five California sea lions?

“The first thing that popped into my mind was a fish [toy for the sea lions],” said Samantha, who was inspired by dog toys that dispense food each time a dog bites or turns them the right way. Maddie also pictured a fish. But the group soon learned that a squid was a more realistic hunting option for sea lions in the wild and pivoted to Squidward 2.0. The papier-mâché prototype they designed is 27 inches long, nine inches wide and bright pink. The sea lions would chase the squid as it swam through the tank, and each time they’d catch it with their mouth, food would be dispensed from the eye at the center of Squidward’s head. The toy would encourage natural hunting behaviors, provide exercise and decrease boredom for the animals.

Recently, the winning team sat in Jamie Lent’s classroom, opening their newly arrived award packets from the zoo. Lent teaches KeyScholars, a weekly program for students in grades 2-5 that centers problem-solving, high-level thinking skills and advanced topics across multiple academic subject areas, nurturing potential in students from all populations. Lent had been incorporating the ZOOMS challenge into her KeyScholars curriculum for several years. She watched with a smile. Suddenly, Maddie’s hands shot up over her head in excitement. “It says I’m a member!” she exclaimed. Each of the students had received a household membership to the Minnesota Zoo, a winner’s certificate and a green ZOOMS t-shirt. Lent was so proud. When she first watched the students’ 10-minute video presentation, which they’d written, edited and presented themselves, she was blown away. “I just thought it was so incredibly exemplary,” she said.

Analyzing a sea lion’s habitat considerations, natural behaviors, nutritional requirements and more, Samantha, Maddie and Alice’s presentation outlined the steps they took to design Squidward 2.0. The ZOOMS challenge requires creative thinking, collaboration, engineering design and problem solving to create improvements in enrichment opportunities and habitat design for Minnesota Zoo animals, and the Eagles were ready to tackle the challenge. “By making captivity feel more like the wild, that would make [the sea lions] more comfortable,” Alice explained in the presentation. The students utilized the green screen capabilities of their iPads to project facts and photos behind them as they spoke. Lent was amazed by what her students had been able to do on their own. She offered support along the way, she said, “but it’s really them…. We need problem solvers. We need kids like this.”

Across the district, other students had also taken on the challenge, and there were other winning teams from Forest Hills, Cedar Ridge and Prairie View, plus a second team at Eden Lake that received an Innovation Award (see all the winning teams on the Minnesota Zoo's website!). Not only were students given the opportunity to learn about sea lions, but they were able to help them as well. “It’s authentic learning for everybody,” said Lent.

Ultimately, Samantha, Maddie and Alice hoped their design would be useful to Minnesota Zoo staff. “I’m hoping this will actually become a real thing,” said Alice, “and I will feel really proud if so, because the sea lions will have fun.”