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Sophia Nobles

Dim those lights — and sleep better at night

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Imagine creating a device that would help people sleep better at night.

A trio of local girls came up with a prototype for an invention that would do just that.

Their idea – and the entry it generated — garnered a second place prize in the the Bright Schools Competition, a national contest co-sponsored by the National Sleep Foundation and the National Science Teachers Association.

Sarah Szymanski, a teacher at Pine View Middle School, left, coached Grace Nobles, Catie Tomasello and Sophia Nobles in the Bright Schools Competition. The team finished second in a competition that included students from across the U.S. and Canada. (Courtesy of Heather Tomasello)
Sarah Szymanski, a teacher at Pine View Middle School, left, coached Grace Nobles, Catie Tomasello and Sophia Nobles in the Bright Schools Competition. The team finished second in a competition that included students from across the U.S. and Canada.
(Courtesy of Heather Tomasello)

The team of middle schoolers, made up of Catie Tomasello, of Land O’ Lakes and Grace and Sophia Nobles, of New Tampa, called themselves Team iLUMENate and submitted a project called “The iLUMENate Prototype.”

In essence, the prototype uses a light tracker, a cell phone app and a Smart Home system to monitor the amount of light a user receives throughout the day. The device adjusts the user’s environment to provide the proper amount of blue light exposure, for optimum light and sleep.

Besides creating the prototype, the team wrote a brief research paper and created a video for their prototype.

“Blue light is essential for regulating your circadian rhythm. You get too much of it at night, it prevents the body’s producing of melatonin. It makes it hard to sleep,” 14-year-old Grace Nobles explained.

“They say an hour or two before bed to stop using your devices. Teenagers, especially, have an issue with getting enough sleep,” she added.

Twelve-year-old Sophia Nobles designed the virtual floor plan that was used to demonstrate the concept in the project.

Catie Tomasello created a video to show how their prototype would work. It shows a Smart House, where lights are dimmed to reduce light exposure.

The girls began working on their entry at the beginning of the school year and invested between 40 and 50 hours on the project, said Heather Tomasello, Catie’s mom.

They bounced their ideas off of Sarah Szymanski, a teacher at Pine View Middle School, who was their coach. She also reviewed their research and their video, Heather Tomasello said, noting Szymanski was Catie’s former teacher.

The girls, who are homeschooled, decided to enter the contest after Heather Tomasello saw it on a list of contests sponsored by the National Science Teachers Association.

The Bright Schools Competition was open to students in sixth- through eighth-grade in the United States and Canada.

For their second-place finish, the girls each earned a prize of $2,500.

Their coach will receive an all-expense paid trip to the NSTA conference and membership to the NSTA.

The moms were delighted with the contest results.

“I was very excited,” said Shawn Nobles, who is Grace and Sophia’s mom.

“I was blown away,” Heather Tomasello said.

These girls are no strangers to achievement in academic circles.

Sophia took part in the White House Science Fair last year.

And all three girls have been on successful teams in the Toshiba/NSTA ExploraVision competition.

Both Sophia and Grace have competed in ExploraVision three times and their teams have won honors twice. Catie competed on five teams and won honors four times. Last year, her team took the top national prize.

Published May 11, 2016

Creativity wins local kids trip to Washington, D.C.

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The trio jetted to Washington, D.C., to meet with a member of Congress, to hear remarks from the chief executive of an international company, and to take part in television interviews. And they are all still in elementary school.

Sophia Nobles, left, Catie Tomasello and Joey Santana have their picture taken with U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson while visiting the nation’s capital. The kids won the trip by placing second nationally in the 22nd annual Toshiba/NSTA ExploraVision STEM competition. (Courtesy of Heather Tomasello)
Sophia Nobles, left, Catie Tomasello and Joey Santana have their picture taken with U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson while visiting the nation’s capital. The kids won the trip by placing second nationally in the 22nd annual Toshiba/NSTA ExploraVision STEM competition.
(Courtesy of Heather Tomasello)

Joey Santana, Sophia Nobles and Catie Tomasello recently returned from a trip to the nation’s capital, and a whirlwind of appearances there. The Countryside Montessori Charter School students took the trip to receive their second-place honors in their age division in the 22nd annual Toshiba/NSTA ExploraVision STEM competition, provided by the electronics company and the National Science Teachers Association. STEM is an acronym for science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

The team, coached by Lorna Cohen, finished among the top eight in the country. The contest itself drew more than 4,900 entries, representing nearly 15,300 students and 550 schools across the United States and Canada, according to the contest website.

It is the world’s largest science and technology competition for students from kindergarten through 12th grade. It encourages them to develop problem-solving, critical thinking and collaboration skills.

Contestants are asked to imagine what technology might be like in 20 years. They work in teams to propose ideas for innovative future technology based on what already exists. They simulate scientific research to outline how they plan to test their idea, and they build websites to further illustrate and communicate their concepts.

For their entry, the Countryside Montessori students envisioned WateRenew, a concept that uses the technology of Wave Wings  — which are wings that sway back and forth in the ocean, creating mechanical energy that can be converted to electricity. That electricity would then be used to power a leading edge desalination plant, which in turn creates clean drinking water for homes and businesses.

Florida’s water shortages inspired the team to search for a solution, Nobles and Tomasello said. The team began meeting in September, and team members spent at least a couple of hours each week working on the project.

The team worked well together because they are friends and they respect each other, the girls said. The team divided the project into pieces, and each team member became an “expert” on one part of the project.

Nobles also noted that the team benefited from the help of Lee Marcum, of Clean and Green Enterprises, who took the time to talk to the team about his invention, the Wave Wing.

While in Washington D.C., team members met with U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson, and went a tour of the Capitol Building led by staff members of U.S. Rep. Gus Bilirakis. Santana’s family also dropped by the office of U.S. Rep. Dennis Ross, where they posed for photos.

The kids also took part in two television interviews with Bill Nye the Science Guy, and they participated in a science showcase. Other highlights included hearing remarks from Atsutoshi Nishida, chairman of Toshiba Corp., and doing some sightseeing.

Other winners in the competition also proposed creative solutions to challenging issues, according to the competition website. Third-grade students from Merion Station, Pennsylvania, developed a system designed to save people who are stuck in rip currents.

An entry from second-graders from Edmond, Oklahoma, aimed to save lives of babies, toddlers and animals left accidentally in a car. A team of fifth-graders from Locust Valley, New York, created an innovative plant power de-icing system for planes, while 10th graders from Toronto created a new technology that uses light signals to boost optical computing.

Besides the expenses-paid trip, the young students also each received a $5,000 U.S. Savings Bond.

Since its inception in 1992, more than 330,000 students have participated in the ExploraVision program.

Published June 25, 2014

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