Science teacher Dave Clark talks with 6th grader Daniella Urbania about a science kit she won from the Kids Science Challenge (by Rebecca White / February 3, 2012) |
Dave Clark, a 6th grade science teacher at Wichita’s Wilbur Middle School, was surprised to find out he won an award from the National Science Foundation last week. He was chosen because his students submitted the most entries into a national science contest called the Kids Science Challenge (KSC). The KSC is run buy the National Science Foundation.
“I had no idea there was a contest for teachers,” says Clark. “It was a real surprise when I got that e-mail last week.”
The KSC is for students in 3rd through 6th grade. Each year the KSC asks kids to submit an experiment on three topics. Grand prize winners in each category will win a trip to work with scientists and engineers to build and test their experiment.
This year’s topics asked kids to invent a package that never ends up in a landfill; design a toy that enhances the life of a pet or zoo animal and demonstrates its intelligence; or create a new way to preserve food for a space flight or a trip to Mars.
Clark assigned each of his students to create an experiment for the contest. The 6th graders were then required to present their idea to the class.
“Part of my job is to create the next generation of science communicators,” says Clark. “They need that practice to get up and talk about something in scientific terms and put it in layman’s terms so their peers and counterparts can understand what they’re saying.”
12-year-old Daniella Urbania submitted a plan to create a sustainable toy for polar bears at the zoo.
Urbania said the bears have been crushing and denting toy balls. She proposed a retractable toy cylinder that compresses when a bear lands on it but is able to bounce back to its original shape.
She wants to encourage other students to become interested in science. “You get to learn new things every day,” said Urbania.
116 of Clark’s students submitted an experiment for the contest, the top number of entries by one teacher so far. Wilbur Middle School will receive a garden kit worth $3,500 from Naturalyards from the National Science Foundation. The company will help the school plant the garden in a few weeks.
Each of the students at Wilbur Middle School have already received a science kit for simply entering the contest.
Students can enter the competition until February 29th. You can learn more at www.kidsciencechallenge.com.
