STEM Contest Challenges Students to Imagine Future Technology
Budding futurists of tomorrow are being invited to enter a science competition, from Toshiba and the National Science Teachers Association, that asks them to propose a new technology based on a problem that exists today for a shot at a $10,000 savings bond and other prizes.
Open to K-12 students in the United States and Canada, the ExploraVision program, now in its 23rd year, challenges entrants to think 20 years down the line at what future technologies may need to address while simulating real scientific research to outline how they plan to test their idea. Students also create a mock website to illustrate their concept.
Previous winners have conceptualized devices designed to help protect children and animals from hot cars, de-ice planes, and sustainably power medical implants.
Working in teams of two to four, students--with the help of a teacher and adult mentor, if they so choose--compete in age-level groups, first at a regional level. Top regional teams get Toshiba technology and move on to the national stage where they may win travel to Washington D.C. and a savings bond.
Students in grades 8-11 who enter the contest can also apply for the TOMODACHI Toshiba Science & Technology Leadership Academy, a week-long STEM exchange program held in Tokyo.
Contest registration is open until January 30, 2015
About the Author
Stephen Noonoo is an education technology journalist based in Los Angeles. He is on Twitter @stephenoonoo.