Every year, the science department at Riverside Secondary School launches a special project week. This year, things are different from usual. Normally, students spend most of their time in classrooms listening to teachers explain theories. However, this week the whole school is working outside. Groups of students are observing insects in the school garden, measuring the growth of plants, and recording their findings in notebooks.

Maya is one of the most dedicated students in. She usually studies alone at her desk, but today she is collaborating with three classmates on a biology experiment. They are comparing the height of two groups of sunflowers — one group is growing in direct sunlight and the other is growing in the shade. The sunflowers in the sunlight are getting taller faster, and the difference between the two groups is increasing with each passing day.

Their science teacher, Mr Harris, is moving from group to group, checking progress and answering questions. He normally teaches indoors, but this week he is clearly enjoying the fresh air. At the moment, he is helping a student who is having difficulty understanding why the shaded plants are growing more slowly.

A synonym of "dedicated" as used in the text: