2023-2024

Kansas-Missouri Winners

Elementary School

Aarul’s Artist Statement: “My name is Aarul Sharma and I am in 1st grade. I live in Troy, Michigan, USA. I love all the animals in the universe but jaguar is my favorite. My hobby is I like to draw. I have had three blackouts for now in my life plus snowstorms. It does not scare me at all, it should not scare you either. In my art I have written four conditions of extreme weather - too much heat and tornados plus bad weather like lightning and snowstorms. The things that you will need to survive are staying inside your house or any building, if you are outside, rush to safety but in your normal speed. Always have emergency stash of food in canned bottle otherwise it will get fully spoilt. Don’t forget to keep water, first aid, flashlight, batteries, phone and charger. Listen to the government and parents. I think even in storms you can spend time with your family and play a lot of games. Don’t play with sharp things if a blackout happens, you will get injured. Do not panic and take care of your pets and don’t let them run out. Get them distracted and give them toys to play and give them food to eat. I hope people know that there are lot of weather conditions, if they get combined, they can create a great force on earth. I learnt that there are lot of extreme weather conditions that are super strong and we need safety items. Be Brave.”

Rosalie’s Artist Statement: “My question for cool science is what simple thing could you do now to better prepare for extreme weather in the future. I answered that question by making my paper be a short comic about someone who was watching the news and saw the weather report that there was a tornado coming in an hour. Then the character watching the news gets very scared. But then the character gets an idea and goes into their basement so they are safe. Then an hour later the tornado comes and they are safe. This shows that you can go in a safe place like a basement so you don't get hurt. I created my artwork to be very colorful and have a variety of dark and bright colors. This is because I want my artwork to be appealing to many different kinds of people so that if someone has a specific favorite color my artwork could have that color.”

Tvisha’s Artist Statement: “In my artwork I addressed what simple things we can do to prepare for extreme weather. In my art first, I drew a phone and a radio so people would check the weather daily. Next, I drew an emergency kit which have medications, first aid kit, nonperishable food, extra clothes for all seasons, bottled water and personal hygiene items. Then I drew energy efficient home with a reinforced. door, windows with impact resistant glass also I drew an evacuation route in case of emergency. Lastly, I drew a picture to show how to keep our environment should look and other side what we shouldn’t do so extreme weather impacts us less. I created my art to be simple and realistic for people to understand so people would not have to suffer because of extreme weather. I mostly use color pencils and markers but for this I used color pencils and oil pastel. I learned different ways to use them and tried things like blending. I don’t usually draw something like this, so this also improved my art skills. I learned many simple ways to prepare for extreme weather, but I listed the most important ones. What inspired me was that since I was little my dad showed me pictures of extreme weather destroying trees, houses, vehicles and many more things. I realized what people had to go through and felt bad I couldn't imagine being in that situation. With this art I can tell people how to stay safe and what to do to keep our environment safe.”

Dhairya’s Artist Statement: “Dhairya’s Net Zero CO2 Home. I addressed the challenge question in my artwork by making a house showing the easiest and most efficient way to make your house closer to net zero. In my artwork, I’m trying to say that people can make their homes better for the environment through big and small changes. I made a big change by adding a portable biogas plant to create natural energy to power a stove that runs on kitchen waste and compost. Another big change I made to make my house closer to net zero is adding solar panels to generate energy for the home. Some small changes I made were someone turning off the water to save water and energy. Another small change I made is including the switch to LED lights. I created my artwork the way I did, to show the most direct, easiest, and efficient way to make my house net zero through big and small changes. The art competition did encourage me to work with art materials in a new way since I learned to color specific things that I would’ve left blank otherwise. I also learned to use color to symbolize the meaning behind my artwork. For example, I colored the biogas plant orange to indicate that people should be aware of it and to show that it is an improvement to homes. I hope people learn that they can make small investments to make homes closer to net zero and big investments to help the environment and ecosystem healthier.”

Middle School

Katelyn’s Artist Statement: “In my artwork I displayed how to prepare for a forest fire. I used vibrant colors to display how dangerous forest fires are and the simple steps you can take to prepare for one. To stress how dangerous their fires are I drew a vivid picture of a forest fire and bold box filled with bullet points on how to prepare for this natural disaster with instructions you can take to protect yourself in case you ever find yourself in this situation. I created my piece in a way that would hopefully draw people in, so that they could learn, and hopefully, execute these precautions. My hope for this drawing is that people can use these simple instructions and stay safe and be aware of these dangerous fires. Even though I don’t live right next to a big forest I learned how to stay safe if I am ever in the dangerous situation of a forest fire.”

Natalie’s Artist Statement: “The challenge question I addressed was: What is a simple thing you could do now to better prepare for extreme weather in the future? I addressed this question in my artwork by showing how one would build a shelter before a storm and be prepared for a thunderstorm. In my artwork, I want to say that when a thunderstorm strikes, you must find safe shelter indoors away from electricity and electrical equipment. From my artwork, I hope people will learn how important it is to be safe during a dangerous storm. A way the art competition encouraged me to work with art materials in a new way was by spending more quality time making it look good. Overall, I learned that being prepared can have a lot of advantages.”

Kansas-Missouri Runner-Ups

Elementary School

Aydin’s Artist Statement: “In my artwork, “Solar Disruption,” I wanted to show that the sun is a powerful force that we take for granted in relation to our atmosphere and weather. I wanted to demonstrate how human activities involving intensifying the sun’s exposure affects the water cycle and this leads to disruptions in the form of severe weather. The intense beaming sun is central in my poster. I drew the fragile polar ice caps melting under the intense sunlight and a polar bear stranded on a small ice sheet. Also, the increase in sea levels caused by once solidified water melting causes floods. It also throws the water cycle off balance causing cyclones, tornadoes, and heavy rains. I showed the destruction caused by these types of severe weather in my work. I was inspired by the research I did this past year on hurricanes and their frequency in my homeschool classes. I hope that people will learn that we must be more responsible in taking care of the planet because the extreme weather will only worsen causing more death and destruction.”

Middle School

Divya’s Artist Statement: “My challenge question is “Sunlight is the largest source of energy on the surface of the Earth. How does sunlight fuel extreme weather?” I addressed this challenge question by making 4 different sections in my poster. One section is a banner across the top of my artwork saying, “Too much sun is no fun.” Three rectangular sections underneath the banner represent the extreme impacts the sun has on our Earth through different weather conditions. Namely, droughts, floods, and thunderstorms. In my artwork, I am trying to convey the message that sunlight, while being helpful, also has a detrimental impact on our ecosystem by fueling extreme weather. I created my artwork in the way that I did to make an uncomplicated, riveting poster with a memorable slogan so viewers remain captivated while learning. I made a drought section to depict that an excessive amount of sunlight can cause plants to wither and die, leaving them with frail roots, crumbly leaves, and wispy petals. My flood section shows that sunlight fueling the water cycle, combined with uprooted trees resulting in soil erosion, causes floods. Sunlight plays an important role in thunderstorms, which I portrayed by showing warm air heated from the sun rising and turning into cool air which condenses into a cloud. This unstable atmosphere causes a thunderstorm. The art competition encouraged me to combine acrylic & watercolor paints and colored pencils to create my artwork. I hope people will learn that the sun has dire impacts that fuel extreme weather.”