The LEGO Corporation is running its 2011 LEGO Smart Creativity Contest for K-12 educators living in the United States. It is open to teachers in public, private, or home-based schools.
To enter the competition, teachers must create a video that is no longer than 150 seconds (2 and 1/2 minutes) that demonstrates how they have used LEGO products in an educational way. However, the focus is on creativity, so the company isn't looking for a dry, academic explanation of a LEGO-based lesson plan. Instead, they encourage skits, songs, rapping, stop-motion animation, or other fun ways to excite fellow educators about using LEGO in the classroom (even if the classroom is your kitchen table)!
Winners in five categories: Public/Private Schools K-2, 3-5, 5-8, 9-12, and Homeschools, will each receive LEGO Education gift certificates worth $2,500, with one grant prize winner receiving a $5,000 gift certificate. All winners will also get an expense-paid trip to the LEGO Education Summit on November 16, 2011.
However, if you are an early applicant, you may get a prize just for participating! The first 8,000 public and private school entries, and the first 2,000 homeschool ones, will receive a FREE LEGO Smart Kit. So it is best to get your contest video in as soon as possible. The deadline for the competition is October 14, 2011.
For more information, or to access the complete rules and registration materials, visit the 2011 LEGO Smart Creativity Contest homepage.
Good luck to all competitors. Let us know if you win!
Showing posts with label competition. Show all posts
Showing posts with label competition. Show all posts
Thursday, September 1, 2011
Tuesday, August 16, 2011
Curriculum Resource: Who Wants to Win (REAL) $1,000,000--Math Edition
Yesterday we talked about a science game based on the TV show, Who Wants to Win $1,000,000? Today, we are talking about a site that is offering $1,000,000 (to be split with their most inspirational math teacher) for people who solve 13 great math questions, one for each K-12 grade level.
Just one caveat--the sponsors of these competition, Math Pickle and the Pacific Institute for the Mathematical Sciences, haven't yet gotten the funding for the puzzle winners. But I guess they don't have many people claiming to be winners yet, either, so perhaps they've got a while to raise the money.
Here is a video that presents the unsolved problem for the 8th grade, which is based on the ancient Greek myth of the Minotaur in the labyrinth:
Even if you don't expect to win $1,000,000, you should definitely check out Math Pickle. It has a bunch of different videos, all geared to specific grade level, about ways to spice up your math teaching. In particular, it features puzzles, exploratory questions, and hands-on activities that draw students into problem-solving and applying the math they are learning, rather than doing rote exercises. The problems and ideas are quite interesting, and I've tried a few of them with my own son.
It is this kind of approach to math (also a hallmark of the work we have done with Maria Droujkova of Natural Math) that has turned around my son's attitude towards math, which he used to hate but now thinks is neat. And that is worth more than $1,000,000 to me. So it is worth your while to visit Math Pickle and pick up a few ideas for getting your students engaged in math problem solving.
Just one caveat--the sponsors of these competition, Math Pickle and the Pacific Institute for the Mathematical Sciences, haven't yet gotten the funding for the puzzle winners. But I guess they don't have many people claiming to be winners yet, either, so perhaps they've got a while to raise the money.
Here is a video that presents the unsolved problem for the 8th grade, which is based on the ancient Greek myth of the Minotaur in the labyrinth:
Even if you don't expect to win $1,000,000, you should definitely check out Math Pickle. It has a bunch of different videos, all geared to specific grade level, about ways to spice up your math teaching. In particular, it features puzzles, exploratory questions, and hands-on activities that draw students into problem-solving and applying the math they are learning, rather than doing rote exercises. The problems and ideas are quite interesting, and I've tried a few of them with my own son.
It is this kind of approach to math (also a hallmark of the work we have done with Maria Droujkova of Natural Math) that has turned around my son's attitude towards math, which he used to hate but now thinks is neat. And that is worth more than $1,000,000 to me. So it is worth your while to visit Math Pickle and pick up a few ideas for getting your students engaged in math problem solving.
Sunday, July 24, 2011
Curriculum Resource: Body Systems Survivor
I ran across a creative idea for a human health class for middle schoolers--a curricular idea entitled Body Systems Survivor. This program, which was created by a school in Long Island, NY, covers a typical human anatomy topic--the six body systems in the human body--by presenting it as a contest between the competing body systems a la reality TV competition Survivor (or that's what I assume, at least....I'm never actually seen the TV show). Students work together in six competing teams, performing various challenges, and ultimately producing a multimedia work to argue why their body system is the most important system in the human body.
The Body Systems Survivor website is not a curriculum per se, but it demonstrates what the school did, and shares many components, resources, and student output. So it can provide you with assistance if you would like to do something like this in a group setting.
The Body Systems Survivor website is not a curriculum per se, but it demonstrates what the school did, and shares many components, resources, and student output. So it can provide you with assistance if you would like to do something like this in a group setting.
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
Happy Birthday Jules Verne!
Today Google has what I think may be my favorite ever of all of its famous Doodles! It is an INTERACTIVE undersea portal. You can move the lever up and down and see marine creatures that live in the different layers of the ocean. They even have my son's favorite cephalopod, the nautilus!
When I investigated why Google had done this, I found out that today is the 183rd birthday of the original science fiction writer, Jules Verne. Born in France on February 8, 1828, Verne was famous for his imaginative novels involving technology ahead of its time. And in our house, we are glad to see that Google chose our favorite Verne book, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, as its inspiration for its Verne Doodle. Kudos to Google for its imaginative nod to a wonderful writer! Check out the real thing on the Google home page.
Quiz question for the day: Does anyone remember the name of the underwater vessel in Verne's 1870 deep sea adventure?
Also, a reminder that Google is running a student Doodle design contest, but you must register by March 2, which will be here before you know it. See the details in my previous blog post.
And as long as I am doing reminders, remember that I am running a book giveaway for Valentine's Day. If you haven't already entered, you can do so in the comments section of this blog post.
UPDATE: Ooooh, we just found the Treasure Chest! Has anyone else found it? Or any other neat
surprises we might have missed?
FEBRUARY 9 UPDATE: The Doodle has left the home page, but here is a YouTube video that lets you see it, in case you missed it:
When I investigated why Google had done this, I found out that today is the 183rd birthday of the original science fiction writer, Jules Verne. Born in France on February 8, 1828, Verne was famous for his imaginative novels involving technology ahead of its time. And in our house, we are glad to see that Google chose our favorite Verne book, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, as its inspiration for its Verne Doodle. Kudos to Google for its imaginative nod to a wonderful writer! Check out the real thing on the Google home page.
Quiz question for the day: Does anyone remember the name of the underwater vessel in Verne's 1870 deep sea adventure?
Also, a reminder that Google is running a student Doodle design contest, but you must register by March 2, which will be here before you know it. See the details in my previous blog post.
And as long as I am doing reminders, remember that I am running a book giveaway for Valentine's Day. If you haven't already entered, you can do so in the comments section of this blog post.
UPDATE: Ooooh, we just found the Treasure Chest! Has anyone else found it? Or any other neat
surprises we might have missed?
FEBRUARY 9 UPDATE: The Doodle has left the home page, but here is a YouTube video that lets you see it, in case you missed it:
Thursday, October 14, 2010
Video Game Development Contest for Middle Schoolers Announced
For all those middle school students out there who want to design video games....
The White House has recently announced a video game development competition as part of its Educate to Innovate campaign to improve student achievement in STEM disciplines (that is, Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathmatics education). In the Youth Division part of the competition, U.S. middle school students--those enrolled in grades 5-8 or for homeschoolers, students aged 9-13--are invited to submit their best game designs dealing with STEM topics. There are three ways students can submit their ideas: (1) a written game design document; (2) a playable game that uses the design features in the free version of Scratch, Gamestar Mechanic, or Gamemaker 8; (3) a playable game than runs for free on any open platform (for example, using something like Flash). There are over $50,000 in prizes available for the middle school contest, which is actually split into two sections: submissions from 5th-6th grade, and those from 7th-8th grade. But even if they don't win, or even end up submitting an entry, this is a great place for middle school students who want to design video games to check out, because there are lots of resources available on the competition submission platforms and other options. Those who want to compete have until January 5, 2011 to submit their design documents or playable games.
For more information, see the competition site at http://www.stemchallenge.org/Default.aspx
The White House has recently announced a video game development competition as part of its Educate to Innovate campaign to improve student achievement in STEM disciplines (that is, Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathmatics education). In the Youth Division part of the competition, U.S. middle school students--those enrolled in grades 5-8 or for homeschoolers, students aged 9-13--are invited to submit their best game designs dealing with STEM topics. There are three ways students can submit their ideas: (1) a written game design document; (2) a playable game that uses the design features in the free version of Scratch, Gamestar Mechanic, or Gamemaker 8; (3) a playable game than runs for free on any open platform (for example, using something like Flash). There are over $50,000 in prizes available for the middle school contest, which is actually split into two sections: submissions from 5th-6th grade, and those from 7th-8th grade. But even if they don't win, or even end up submitting an entry, this is a great place for middle school students who want to design video games to check out, because there are lots of resources available on the competition submission platforms and other options. Those who want to compete have until January 5, 2011 to submit their design documents or playable games.
For more information, see the competition site at http://www.stemchallenge.org/Default.aspx
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