Student Challenges

Share your entry by December 31st

For the 2nd year, and inspired by student contests in other school districts, we're please to showcase the entries and winners in our Student Challenge Contest!

Winners from each grade band will be selected randomly from entries that meet the criteria of the rules and challenges.


CSEdWeek 2021 - Student Contest Winners and Entries

The 4 Challenges

Open to students in All Grades

  • Use ScratchJr or Scratch to make a game or animation. The more details, the better! Try and make your game or animation tell a story, tell us about something you care about, or teach something. Use the built-in drawing tools to create or modify the characters and backgrounds to make it your own! Keep your project educationally-focused (no fighting/violent games and projects).

Note: If you don’t have a Scratch account yet, get permission from your grownups before creating one.

Submit your entry here! Get a copy of the challenge entry slides.

If you've already made a copy, check your Google Drive for your copy called "Copy of Student Contest Entry for CSEdWeek - ScratchJr/Scratch"

Open to students in All Grades

Be creative in this open-ended challenge. Read one or more of these computer science stories posted on the CPS CS Ed Week website. Check your grade-level pages. Share your thinking by creating a drawing, writing response, poem, cartoon, recording a video, etc. with your reaction to the story. Some ideas to get you started:

  • What wonders do you have?

  • How does the story make you feel about computers and technology?

  • What are some things you noticed in the story?

Submit your entry here! Get a copy of the challenge entry slides.

If you've already made a copy, check your Google Drive for your copy called "Copy of Student Contest Entry for CSEdWeek - Stories"

Open to students in Grades 3-12

Design an app, either a sample or describe it in writing or drawings, that will inform and engage others about a social issue you care about. Pick one of the options below.

Rough Draft/Prototype of Your App

  • Use a program such as Scratch, MIT App Inventor, Google Docs, Google Slides, or another programming language to make a rough draft of your app.

  • If you are able to share your draft, do that for your entry, or make a screencast video explaining how it works.

Google Slides App Template

  • In the Challenge Entry slides, use the slides that are set up as a mobile device template.

  • Complete the slides to show how your app will function. You’ll need at least 5 slides for your App template.

Submit your entry here! Get a copy of the challenge entry slides.

If you've already made a copy, check your Google Drive for your copy called "Copy of Student Contest Entry for CSEdWeek - App Challenge"

Open to students in Grades 3-12

  • Read What does Social Justice mean?

  • Investigate at least 3 boxes in the choice board.

  • Develop a Public Service Announcement (PSA) video/podcast or a #CSforSocialJustice Project Proposal for addressing a present-day social justice issue you want to change in Computer Science.

Submit your entry here! Get a copy of the challenge entry slides.

If you've already made a copy, check your Google Drive for your copy called "Copy of Student Contest Entry for CSEdWeek - Social Justice"

How to Submit Your Entry

  1. Start working on your entry by clicking on the Google Slide link in the individual challenges above. Note: if you already started working on your entry, check your Google Drive first. You only need 1 Google Slide file for each challenge.

  2. Keep working on your entry up from now until December 31st. Remember, go back to your Google Drive account and look for your copy of the challenge slides to keep working where you left off.

  3. Submit your entry by December 31st. To submit your entry, click the yellow "Share" button in the top right-hand corner. Share your completed Google Slide entry with CPS Instructional Technology Specialist Ingrid Gustafson

That's it! Email any questions to Ingrid Gustafson (igustafson@cpsd.us)

Rules

  • Any Cambridge Public Schools student can participate!

  • Only one entry allowed per challenge, per student.

  • All entries should be individual work. Sorry, no team/partner submissions.

  • Submit your own work. Your entry should be completed by you, the student, and not someone else (no grown-ups and siblings).

  • Make sure your entry doesn't have any copyrighted or trademarked materials, including images, videos, and sounds.

  • Winners will be selected randomly on January 4th from entries that meet the criteria of the rules and challenges.

  • All entries that follow the contest and challenge rules will be eligible to be featured on the CPS website!