Science Olympiad is proud to announce that winners from the 2012 National Tournament will be honored at the Third Annual White House Science Fair in Washington, DC, today, April 22, at a ceremony beginning at 2:25pm EST. At approximately 11:30am, live streaming video of exhibits will begin at the site below (Science Olympiad does not have an exhibit). Solon High School and Solon Middle School are represented by Coaches Donna Ross and Drew Kirian, along with students Stephanie Zhu and Achuth Nair. Watch for them in the crowd wearing their Science Olympiad medals with the red, white and blue ribbons!
Find out more here, where we’ll be adding photos and video throughout the day.
Registration Extended For BioQUEST Summer Workshop
Looking for an exciting summer workshop? The BioQUEST Summer Workshop offers participants an opportunity to explore new tools, resources and pedagogies with peers and develop materials for the classroom. The 2013 summer workshop combines the best of the BioQUEST experience with an opportunity to attend the HHMI Quantitative Biology Conference. The HHMI Quantitative Biology Conference offers a choice of ten working sessions from introductory statistics to gaming. Featured speakers include David Asai from HHMI, and Lou Gross from NIMBioS. BioQUEST participants will then have an opportunity to develop new materials for the classroom or to work on funding proposals using resources supporting quantitative reasoning, biological data, problem based approaches, and global STEM connections. Ten Years After Using Data in the Classroom: Problem Based Approaches with Data, Tools, Simulations, and Games June 10-15, 2013 Emory University, Atlanta GA Workshop Fees: The $475 fee covers registration, housing, and all meals during the workshop. On campus housing in a new dorm with individual rooms is provided for all participants from Sunday arrival through Saturday departure.The deadline for application has been extended to April 12th. To apply, visit http://bioquest.org/bq2013-registration/. Previous workshop participants have included biology, math, physics, and other STEM faculty, so bring a colleague!
Latest HHMI Holiday Lectures Available On DVD
Get ready to celebrate Earth Day with a new holiday lectures DVD from HHMI. Changing Planet: Past, Present, Future, HHMI’s 2012 Holiday Lectures on Science, featuring Andrew Knoll, Naomi Oreskes, and Daniel Schrag, discussing the history of life on Earth and present-day concerns about climate change, is now available for pre-order in the HHMI online catalog. Visit www.BioInteractive.org and click on the blue “Order” button to reserve your free DVD copy today. The lectures are also available by streaming, on-demand f rom the BioInteractive website.
Einstein Fellows Announced
The Triangle Coalition for Science and Technology Education has announced the 27 STEM educators who have been selected for the 2013-2014 Albert Einstein Distinguished Educator Fellowship Program. Selected educators will serve in Washington, D.C. for 11 months beginning September 1, 2013 at sponsoring federal agencies which include the Department of Energy (DOE), National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and the National Science Foundation (NSF). Einstein Fellows provide practical classroom insight in guiding education programs and policies, especially those related to STEM education. Founded in 1990, the Albert Einstein Distinguished Educator Fellowship Program is a paid fellowship for K-12 science, technology, engineering, and mathematics educators with demonstrated excellence in teaching. Fellowships aim to increase understanding, communication, and cooperation between the legislative and executive branches of the government and the STEM education community. The 2013-2014 Einstein Fellows were selected through a rigorous application and interview process from a competitive, nationwide pool of nearly 200 applicants. Of the 27 fellows in the 2013-2014 cohort, five are returning fellows invited to serve for a second year in their sponsoring agencies. Congratulations to all of the 2013-2014 Fellows , and to NABT’s Kathy Hoppe, who will serve at the NSF Directorate for Engineering (ENG).
Participants Sought For STEM Attitudes Study
Kimberly Howard, Ph.D. and Amy Wendt, Ph.D., current faculty members at the Boston University and University of Wisconsin – Madison are seeking your participation in a research study focusing on teachers’ attitudes and beliefs about science, technology, engineering, and math. If you currently teach in the elementary, middle, or high school level(s), you are eligible to participate in this study. They are asking you to be a part of a study that examines the relationship between math and science learning and interest in math, science, and engineering careers. This project may help identify strategies for increasing middle school students’ engagement in science, technology, engineering, and mathematic courses and activities. This study will take no longer than 20 minutes to complete and will be comprised of a self-report survey. Participation is completely voluntary and all responses will remain confidential. You may ask questions about the study at any time. If you have questions about the study you may contact Kimberly Howard, Ph.D. at (617) 353-3378 or Amy Wendt, Ph.D. at (608) 262-8407. If you have questions about your rights as research participants you may contact the Education Research IRB at (608) 262-9710, edirb@education.wisc.edu. Once again, your participation in this study is voluntary. If you do not want to be a part of or withdraw from the study it will not negatively affect you in any way. If you wish to participate, please click on this link: http://tinyurl.com/UW-NATB This research study has been approved by the University of Wisconsin – Madison Institutional Review Board. We appreciate your time and consideration. If you would like further information, please do not hesitate to contact the researchers.
2013 International Student Carbon Footprint Challenge
You and your students are invited to participate in the April/May 2013 International Student Carbon Footprint Challenge (ISCFC). This innovative program [part of the Inquiry-to-Insight (I2I) climate education project of Stanford University and the University of Gothenburg in Sweden] fosters communication among students across the globe and can spark visionary solutions to global environmental problems using an innovative social learning network. In the ISCFC, secondary school students first measure the impact of their transportation, home energy, food, and personal purchase choices using our student-oriented carbon footprint calculator, with results calibrated for every country in the world. ISCFC teachers then share class data with classes around the globe and use the social learning network to engage students in meaningful and in-depth international conversations about carbon footprints and possible solutions to shared environmental problems. As students scrutinize their own carbon production they look for ways to minimize their impact. All of the tools in the ISCFC are always free to access on the web. You can try out the footprint calculator at http://footprint.stanford.edu/calculate.html More information about the Einztein social learning network and the ISCFC discussions there can be found at the ISCFC website: http://footprint.stanford.edu. The next session of the ISCFC will begin the week of April 29, and if this date coordinates well with your curriculum, we invite you to join the ISCFC, and ask you to please let organizers know no later than April 15 by filling out the online ISCFC participation form.
This is just a sample of the news and information available to members of the National Association of Biology Teachers. Develop your professional expertise and expand the opportunities for yourself and your students. Join today at NABT.org
NBC has a regular TODAY Show feature called Class of 2020 where they are following a class of students in a particular classroom through their 13 years of schooling. Now 5th graders, the class recently participated in their school district’s Division A Science Olympiad. (See the posting giving details about the Division A Tournament recently held in Putnam City that hosted over 270 participants from 15 teams)
TODAY Show cameras were there as students prepared for the Egg Drop and GUNK competitions in advance of the tournament which they also covered in the story. They picked up the story 2 weeks out from the Tournament that the students began preparing for two months in advance.
The report also gave a shout out to the Division B and C Science Olympiad.
Feel free to share this story with administrators and teachers (friends, family, school board members, students…). It gives a very quick look at the excitement for learning generated by a tournament as well as the student engagement in the practices of science that make Science Olympiad such a valuable part of any STEM Education program.
Last year, over 12,000 students learned about sun safety and UV radiation by submitting posters to the SunWise with SHADE poster contest. We are looking forward to another great contest this year and invite your students to participate for the chance to win a shade structure for their school and a family trip to Disney World. Poster submissions are due April 1, 2013.
The contest is organized by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency SunWise program and the SHADE Foundation of America to teach children about the science of UV radiation and sun safety. Please join us in spreading the word about this contest and raising awareness of the importance of sun safety. More information is available atwww.shadefoundation.org/poster-contest.php.
Please feel free to contact me anytime regarding the poster contest or the SunWise program. Thank you in advance for your efforts to educate children about UV radiation and skin cancer prevention.
Julie Kunrath,
MPHASPH Public Health FellowSunWise Program, U.S. Environmental Protection AgencyPhone: 202-343-9378www.epa.gov/sunwise
SunWise is a national environmental and health education program that teaches children and their caregivers how to be safe in the sun through the use of classroom, school, and community components. Over 31,000 schools and 5,700 community partners have joined the program since its launch in May 2000. For more information, please visitwww.epa.gov/sunwise.
National Event: April 25 – 29, 2013 in Washington, DC.
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) National Science Bowl is a nationwide academic competition that tests students’ knowledge in all areas of science. High school and middle school students are quizzed in a fast paced question-and-answer format similar to Jeopardy. Competing teams from diverse backgrounds are comprised of four students, one alternate, and a teacher who serves as an advisor and coach.
A featured event at the National Finals for middle school students, the Model Car Challenge invites students to design, build, and race model cars. This competition tests the creative engineering skills of many of the brightest math and science students in the nation as they gain hands-on experience in the automotive design process and with electric battery technology.
The Department of Energy (DOE) created the National Science Bowl in 1991 to encourage students to excel in mathematics and science and to pursue careers in these fields. More than 225,000 students have participated in the National Science Bowl throughout its 22 year history, and it is one of the nation’s largest science competition.
This year, more than 9,500 high school students and 4,500 middle school students will compete in 70 high school and 50 middle school regional Science Bowl tournaments.
The Oklahoma qualifying team will be selected Saturday January 19th at Redlands Community College in El Reno. Start time will be 9:00. Tentative schedule is pool play in the morning – 9:00 – 12:00 then the top two teams from each pool will advance to the finals at 1:00 finishing around 3:00. The pools and the finals will be round robin.
The National Academy of Engineering (NAE) has officially launched a new EngineerGirl website along with the 13th annualEngineerGirl Essay Contest. The contest is entitled, “Engineering: Essential to Our Health,” and it can be found on the new website (EngineerGirl.org). Students are encouraged to write about the role of engineering in helping to prevent and treat the most deadly conditions in the world today. Details and rules can be found on the contest page.
Participation in the contest is open to both girls and boys in grades 3-12 and submissions must be entered by 6:00 pm (EST) on March 1, 2013. All winning entries will be published on the EngineerGirl website and winners will receive cash prizes: first place winners $500, second place winners $250, third place winners $100.
The EngineerGirl website is designed to spark the curiosity of young people, girls in particular, and encourage them to consider careers in engineering. Using input from 135 girls across the country, the NAE re-designed its popular website with several new features and an entirely different design and organization. This is the first major redesign since EngineerGirl premiered in 2000.
For the past 29 years, Science Olympiad has led a revolution in science education. What began as a grassroots assembly of science teachers is now one of the premiere science competitions in the nation, providing rigorous, standards-based challenges to nearly 6,400 teams in 50 states. Science Olympiad’s ever-changing event lineup provides a variety of career choices and exposure to practicing scientists and mentors. In the words of a Science Olympiad alumnus: “I consider Science Olympiad the most important and influential activity I participated in during my middle school and high school career.”
Science Olympiad competitions are like academic track meets, consisting of a series of 23 team events in each division (Division B is middle school; Division C is high school). Each year, a portion of the events are rotated to reflect the ever-changing nature of genetics, earth science, chemistry, anatomy, physics, geology, mechanical engineering and technology. By combining events from all disciplines, Science Olympiad encourages a wide cross-section of students to get involved. Emphasis is placed on active, hands-on group participation. Through Science Olympiad, students, teachers, parents, principals and business leaders bond together and work toward a shared goal.
Teamwork is a required skill in most scientific careers today, and Science Olympiad encourages group learning by designing events that forge alliances. In Elevated Bridge, an engineering whiz and a kid from wood shop can become gold medalists. Similarly, a talented builder and a student with a good science vocabulary can excel in Write It Do It, one of Science Olympiad’s most popular events.
Interested in forming a Science Olympiad team? Need more information? Contact Bob Melton, Director of the Oklahoma Science Olympiad and go to the Oklahoma Science Olympiad website and the National Science Olympiad website.
The 2012 Oklahoma Science Olympiad coaches meeting and training will be Saturday, August 18th beginning at 1 PM. We will meet in the teaching lab at the Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History (maps here).
The meeting will start with an overview of Science Olympiad and some tips and advice for forming and maintaining a team. A significant part of this discussion will be led by current Science Olympiad Coaches, including coaches from the 2012 Oklahoma Champion Casady school team that attended the National Science Olympiad in Orlando. One aspect of that meeting will be scheduling of this year’s events, including the State Tournament at UCO
We will also review all of the 2012-13 events and try our hand a couple of them. Download the list of this year’s events here.
This will be a fun time for all and will give you the jump start to developing your school’s Science Olympiad team. Please email Bob Melton to RSVP or to find out more information about the Science Olympiad in Oklahoma.
We will also have a Coaches follow-up meeting at the OSTA Conference on November 10th at UCO. Please plan to be there for both of the meetings!
The Intel ISEF is the world’s largest international pre-college science competition and was held May 13-18, 2012 in Pittsburgh, PA. It is the premier global science competition for students in grades 9–12. Each year more than 1,500 high school students from about 70 countries, regions, and territories display their independent research and compete for over $3 million in awards.
Jack Andraka, 15, of Crownsville, Md. was awarded first place for his new method to detect pancreatic cancer at this year’s Intel International Science and Engineering Fair (Intel ISEF), a program of Society for Science & the Public. Based on diabetic test paper, Jack created a simple dip-stick sensor to test blood or urine to determine whether or not a patient has early-stage pancreatic cancer. His study resulted in over 90 percent accuracy and showed his patent-pending sensor to be 28 times faster, 28 times less expensive and over 100 times more sensitive than current tests. Jack received the Gordon E. Moore Award, of $75,000, named in honor of Intel co-founder and retired chairman and CEO.
Nicholas Schiefer, 17, of Pickering, Ontario, Canada and Ari Dyckovsky, 18, of Leesburg, Va., each received the Intel Foundation Young Scientist Award of $50,000.
“Team Oklahoma”, a group of twelve 9th to 12th grade students from across Oklahoma competed in the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair 2012 in Pittsburgh, this past week (May 13-18). The Oklahoma students displayed their research beside 1,500 of the best 9th to 12th science and engineering project from 446 ISEF affiliated fairs in approximately 70 countries, regions and territories. Fair participants competed for more than $3 million in awards. Three Oklahoma students walked away with a significant portion of these awards.
Jenna Reed Huling, the big Oklahoma winner is a senior from Ada High School in Ada. She received two awards for her environmental science project. The first was $8000 tuition scholarship from the Office of Naval Research on behalf of the United States Navy and Marine Corps. Her project entitled “Enhanced Adsorption of Arsenic on Aquifer Solids and Soil, Phase II: Oxidative Treatment and Feasibility Assessment” also won the ISEF third place award in her category. For this she received $1,000.
The second winner was Joseph Christopher Woodson, an 18 year old home-schooled student from Tulsa. He was recognized by the American Meteorological Society. His research earned him a $2000 award plus a certificate, an AMS Journal/Bulletin Archive DVD, and a one-year student membership to the AMS. Joseph’s computer science project is “Efficient Automated Generation and Dissemination of Meteorological Data Representations.”
Samantha Elizabeth Grace Curran was the third winner. She received a United States Army Award of $1,500, a certificate of achievement, and a gold medallion. Her biochemistry research is entitled Sweet Poison: A Second Year Study. Samantha is a senior from Southmoore High School in Moore.
The other Oklahoma students who displayed their science and engineering projects at ISEF were: Chandler Holliman and Catherine Hine, 9th graders from Bartlesville Mid-High School; Hayden Allen and Gage Holleman from Cascia Hall Preparatory School, Tulsa 10th graders; Hannah Pagels a 10th grader from Grove High School; Mishana Ellison, a Latta High School 10th grader; Mattie Dragoo an 11 grader from Muskogee High School; and Jake Evans and Dakota Keys 10th graders from Vici Public Schools. All twelve students earned the right to attend ISEF by competing in one of the eight ISEF affiliated Oklahoma regional fairs and Oklahoma State Science and Engineering Fair. Over 5000 student projects competed at school fairs that lead into the Oklahoma fairs.
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