The Challenge
What is the challenge for 2024??
Pennsylvania agriculture contributes $132.5 billion to our state economy annually and supports more than 593,600 jobs, paying wages of $32.8 billion. Did you know that farmers use robots to help them? “High-tech Farming” is important especially as our population grows and food demand increases. Your team is being challenged to help our Pennsylvania farmers by creating an agricultural robot or other type of “high-tech farming” equipment that they could use.
Additional Middle School Challenge
Teams competing in the grades 6-8 division will also be asked to present a budget for their project. They will need to inventory each K’Nex piece they use and list a price for each piece. They will need to present their inventory and the overall cost of their project.
Rules:
• A team of 2-4 students will work together on the project.
• Students must create their prototype using K’Nex including at least 1 motor.
• Each team will need to create and submit a design notebook and a blueprint.
• Each team will need to prepare a presentation (max 2 minutes) on their model and how they answered the challenge.
Judging Criteria:
• Creativity
• Teamwork
• Challenge Success
• Design
• Presentation
Parts of the competition:
Design Notebook
• This should be a journal of the team’s progress from start to finish.
• The Notebook should include elements of the Engineering Design Process.
• Resources for Design Notebooks
Blueprint
• A blueprint is a technical drawing or design plan for a project. It is used to represent the final product.
• Blueprints for the STEM Design Challenge can be a drawing, cad drawing, online sketch, etc. Be creative!
• Resources for blueprint ideas
Prototype
• Teams will answer the challenge by creating a prototype of their idea. K’Nex pieces must be used including at least 1 motor.
• Teams may include a backdrop or artwork, but judges will not consider this in their scoring.
Presentation
• Teams are asked to share their ideas in a presentation for the judges.
• Each presentation will be 2 minutes or less.
• Every student on the team should be a part of the presentation.
• Judges may ask questions of the team after the presentation.
History of Challenge
“The idea began with a conversation over coffee between a pair of friends and former colleagues, and in less than five years, it turned into a statewide phenomenon. “What if we could design a program that provides materials and training for educators and helps generate student interest in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM)?” they asked. That was at the heart of the conversation early in 2010 between Amy Cribbs and Jill Jones, who share a passion for science education dating back to their tenures working at Carnegie Science Center.”
Read more from the article “A Homegrown STEM Challenge Goes Statewide in Pennsylvania,” ThermoFisher Scientific, Thermofisher.com, which describes the origins of this fantastic student event.