TAYLOR - Before they put on lab coats, strapped on safety glasses or conducted water tests, the four scientists at Riverside Elementary West needed their parents to sign a permission slip.
From there, the team of first- and second-graders embarked on a mission to prove filtered tap water could be as clean as bottled water - a project that placed first in nationwide environmental sustainability challenge.
Dubbed "The Aqua Busters," the young scientists were named national winners in the kindergarten through fifth-grade bracket in the Siemens We Can Change the World Challenge.
Designed to get students to focus on an environmental problem in their community, the challenge pushes students to use their science, math and reading/language skills to develop sustainable improvements.
The boys, all part of Riverside's gifted program, reviewed test samples of three of the leading bottled water brands and Riverside's filtered tap water and found the school's water to be just as good.
"One brand's water was stripped of its minerals," said Gavin Hartman, 7.
Based on their data, the boys concluded that it's cheaper, just as good and less wasteful to drink filtered tap water, 8-year-old Gary Mrozinski said.
"A lot of bottles are thrown out and not recycled, and it creates a lot of waste," said Dominick DeAngelo, 7. "We need that to stop."
By winning the challenge, the school will receive a grant of $5,000 to create an outdoor classroom.
"This is something I think we will all remember for the rest of our lives," Trevor Balcerzak, 7, said. "We need to raise awareness and tell others in the community what we found."
Contact the writer: miorfino@timesshamrock.com, @miorfinoTT on Twitter