Schools Kick Off Year Three of Cyber-Challenge
Students let the chips—and eggs—fall where they may
Nearly 130 teens gathered at the Connecticut Science Center on Dec. 5 to see who could drop a raw egg from the building’s sixth-floor bridge—100 feet—without cracking it.
The students were freshmen from New Britain High School, East Hartford High School, and Wilby High School in Waterbury, and Monday’s competition kicked off a yearlong project in which they’ll use academic, interpersonal, and multimedia skills to solve real-world problems.
The event marked the start of the third year of Cyber-Challenge, a program that places high school students in teams to answer complex questions posed by four of Connecticut’s leading STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) companies: General Electric, Northeast Utilities, Pfizer, and United Technologies Corp.
Questions center on issues in healthcare and energy, and students must work collaboratively, using social media, wikis, video, and animation tools to develop and showcase their findings.
Students will present their final projects at the Connecticut Science Center in May 2012. Engineers and education specialists will serve as coaches and judges.
Winners of the Single Pringle Potato Chip Challenge were also announced at the Dec. 5 kickoff event. Cyber-Challenge teams were tasked with sending a Pringle’s brand potato chip through the U.S. Postal Service so that it arrived at the Connecticut Science Center in one whole, edible piece. Mailing packages had to weigh less than four ounces, be made from common household materials, and contain no special handling instructions.
Winners were “Team UTC” from New Britain High School.
Cyber-Challenge is a project of the Connecticut Business & Industry Association’s (CBIA) Education Foundation. By supporting activities that build young people’s interest and proficiency in STEM subjects and align classroom learning with real-world issues, Cyber-Challenge addresses concerns about the growing demand for workers with strong STEM skills. It also prepares students for rigorous eleventh- and twelfth-grade Advanced Placement courses offered at their schools.
The program is funded by the National Science Foundation’s Innovative Technology Experiences for Students and Teachers (ITEST) grant, a three-year grant administered by CBIA’s Education Foundation in collaboration with the Connecticut Science Center, the Connecticut Community Colleges’ College of Technology’s Regional Center for Next Generation Manufacturing, and EASTCONN, a public, nonprofit agency that has been serving the educational needs of schools, organizations, communities, and individuals in northeastern Connecticut since 1980.
