02 March 2012
Posted in Kinetic Challenge

Congratulations to this year's Kinetic Challenge winners:

Division 1

Most Scientific: Xtreme Team from Rock Lake Middle School (Grade 8)
Sculpture - Water Popper Fiesta

Team
Ally Pickering
Austin Oubre
Lindsey Spalding - Teacher

27 February 2012
Posted in Kinetic Challenge

Kids Compete with Quirky Creations

Kinetic Challenge Inspires Student Teams

The Orlando Science Center hosted the Kinetic Challenge on Saturday, February 18, 2012 - a science competition geared toward 5th, 6th, 7th and 8th graders in eight Central Florida counties. Kinetic Challenge allows students to use their creativity and science knowledge to win money for their science class or club.

Projects at the Kinetic Challenge resemble those made famous by American cartoonist and inventor Rube Goldberg. Machines are assembled using household, store-bought and found items and are designed to perform a simple task in complex fashion. By utilizing kinetic energy, a single action sets events in motion that result in a domino effect.

Past projects included a Barbie in a hamster wheel that generated electricity and a toy car used to raise an American flag. The competition fosters teamwork and hands-on learning while motivating students to stretch the capacity of their imaginations by transforming ordinary and found objects into a kinetic sculpture. Kinetic Challenge focuses on Florida Sunshine State Standards for Science including energy, force and motion, and the nature of science. The event is sponsored by the Stephen H. Goldman Foundation, Inc.

Awards were given based on the complexity of motion, best use of found materials, mechanical innovation and artistic expression. Best in Fair winners received a $500 prize for their school and a trophy. Prizes of $250 were also awarded to Most Artistic and Most Scientific and to the winning school’s sponsoring teacher. The competition was open to student teams from schools that resided in Brevard, Lake, Marion, Orange, Osceola, Polk, Seminole or Volusia counties.

14 February 2011
Posted in Kinetic Challenge

Fourteen teams comprised of 64 kids from grades 5^th – 9^th came to show off their  innovative displays during the annual Kinetic Challenge on February 12. Projects like the “Very Complicated Toaster” and the “Frosty Eruption” lined the Science Center Clubhouse as judges reviewed the entries.

Students in grades 5th to 9th were asked to create unusual sculptures and wacky inventions using combinations of movable parts, everyday objects, and independent sources of energy. Teams used objects found, donated, or purchased for less than $100 dollars in the engineering and construction of their sculptures. The competition requirements incorporate the Florida Sunshine State Standards for Science. The Orlando Science Center Kinetic Challenge is presented by The Stephen H. Goldman Foundation, Inc.

Best in Fair for the Senior Division was awarded to The Mind Flexors from St. Mary Magdalen with their “Smarticle Particle Math Machine.” Traveling through obstacles and pathways, the final reveal in this creative project was a banner with the message “Math is Cool.”

Best in Fair in the Junior division was awarded to The Neon Blue Boys from Hillcrest Elementary with their “Sock-O's Food Chain Reaction.” This team had animal well-being in mind with their project designed to send a marble down a ramp to push a cup of food over to feed a fish below.

Each Best in Fair winner received a $500 prize for their school, and all other award winners received $250. Other award categories included Most Artistic and Most Scientific for both the junior and senior divisions. The Teacher Award went to both Debbie Gordon of St. Mary Magdalen and Heather Teager of Hillcrest Elementary.

For more photos from the competition, click here

25 February 2010
Posted in Kinetic Challenge

Presented by Stephen H. Goldman Foundation

WINNERS ANNOUNCED

Motivating students to stretch the capacity of their unlimited imaginations, the Orlando Science Center challenged students to transform ordinary and found objects into artistic kinetic sculptures. More than 100 students in 30 teams from six schools in Orange, Seminole, Lake, and Polk counties displayed their movable works of art on Saturday, February 20 during the Orlando Science Center Kinetic Challenge.

Students in grades 5th to 9th were asked to create unusual sculptures and wacky inventions using combinations of movable parts, everyday objects, and independent sources of energy. Teams used objects found, donated, or purchased for less than $100 dollars in the engineering and construction of their sculptures. The competition requirements incorporate the Florida Sunshine State Standards for Science. The Orlando Science Center Kinetic Challenge is presented by The Stephen H. Goldman Foundation, Inc.

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