Techno Science Supersite: Contests

Contests & Competitions: General, Math, Science, Technology, & National Competitions

General

INTEL Northwest Science Expo

This is it: the end all be all science and engineering fair for the state of Oregon. This is the place where you can see how your research and engineering skills stack up against the rest of the state in one of 16 different categories, from Behavioral and Social Sciences to Zoology.

Note: In order to qualify, you'll need to fair well (get it? fair well?) in your regional competition. For information on which regional competition to attend, please see NWSE System Information.

Ages: 5th - 12th Grades
Contact: Email nwse@pdx.edu or call: (360) 696-9939

Helpful Science Fair Links

• Super Science Fair Projects Ideas, Topics & Experiments
• Science Fair Central
• The Exploratorium
• Science Buddies
• Scifair.org
• Science Project Ideas

Engineering Education Service Center (EESC) - Poster Contest

"Engineers Make a Difference" is the theme for the Engineering Education Service Center's Fall 2008 Poster contest. This year's winning entry can be found in a display of inspiration, excitement, wonder and curiosity. Posters should be fun, motivational and inspire students to pursue a degree in engineering, technology and/or science.

Ages: 9th - 12th Grades
Contact: Email questions@engineeringedu.com or call: 541-988-1005

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Math

Math Counts

Calling all number crunchers, derivative doctors, theorem provers and partakers of polynomial peculiarities! If you're good with numbers, why not impress your friends and teachers as a you train to compete as a mathlete in Math Counts. In February, you'll compete in a regional competition, and if all goes well, you'll move on to the state competition and beyond. Hone your math skills and be recognized as a math force to be reckoned with.

Note: if you live in the Klamath region, be sure to check out information on MATHCOUNTS from the OIT website; otherwise, you will need to check with your math teacher for more information, and if your math teacher doesn't know anything about it, take a look at the official Math Counts web site, click on the students page.

Ages: 7th & 8th Grade
Contact: Email precoll@oit.edu or call: (541) 885-1815

Oregon Invitational Mathematics Tournament

The Oregon Invitational Math Tournament hosts the best student mathematicians of the state in one of six levels: pre-algebra, algebra I, algebra II, geometry, advanced I (precalculus) and advanced II (calculus and above). Winners receive advanced graphic calculators and the top winner will receive a scholarship as well.

Ages: 9th - 12th Grade
Contact: Email Joe Ediger

Pentagames

Math has never been so much fun! Math Tac Toe, 35-minus, CR2 (Compare, Revise,Revise), Solve That Problem and the Math Relay all combine to form the Pentagames, the wackiest combination of math and sports competition in the state of Oregon.

Ages: 7th - 8th Grade
Contact: Call: Cheryl Klampe-Van Hess, (503) 749-1918

SOML - Southern Oregon Mathematics League

Local high schools form up to 3 teams of 6 junior and senior advanced math students. The competition includes three individual events followed by a team collaboration. Competitions occur in October, November, February and March.

Ages: 11th & 12th Grade
Contact: Call: Virginia Gray (541) 552-6579

Math League Contests

Check with your math teacher to see if your school already competes against other schools in our league, if not direct your teacher to the website, and see if you can get enough students to participate in this contest.

• 4th and 5th Grade: Each contest (30 multiple-choice questions in 30 minutes) covers basic 4th and 5th grade topics
• 6th - 8th Grade: these contests (40 multiple-choice questions in 30 minutes) cover a wide range of topics appropriate to the grade level. Students compete with other students, and schools compete with other schools in their league
• Algebra Course 1: This contest (30 multiple-choice questions in 30 minutes) covers basic to difficult algebra skills for first-time Algebra students
• High School: In the High School division, students compete in six separate contests (30 multiple-choice questions in 30 minutes) between October of 2006 and April 2007

Ages: 4th Grade - High School
Contact: Talk to your Math teacher or email Mathematics Leagues

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Science

Science Bowl

Science Bowl is a one-day tournament, a one day science extravaganza as it were. Competing in a team of four, your knowledge of science, math, computer technology, and current events will be tested in a rapid-fire question and answer tournament against other schools and clubs in your region.

Ages: 6th - 12th Grade
Contact: Email Jason L. Hairston or call: (360) 418-2906

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Technology

Oregon ETIC Video Challenge

GetReal.ous.edu presents a video competition about engineering and technology. Students need to submit videos that answer the questions: Why study Computer Science? and Why study Computer Science in Oregon? For more information, go straight to the contest site at the Get Real website

Ages: 9th - 12th Grade
Contact: Email GetReal Contest

Oregon Robotics Tournament and Outreach Program

Students! Design, build and program a robot on a team with your friends! No experience is needed! Three levels of programs:

• Jr. FLL 1st - 3rd grade - (simple machines, no robots)
• FIRST LEGO League 4th - 9th Grade
• FIRST Tech Challenge 7th - 12th Grade

Find out about careers in engineering and technology! Join robotics teams. Each team has 4 to 10 members. Team members can be designers, builders, programmers, documentors, and team leader. Starting in September, each team will design their robot to solve this year's challenge. Be sure and check out the ORTOP web site for detailed program information.

Ages: 4th - 12th Grade
Contact: Send an email message to questions@ortop.org or call 503-821-1136

FIRST Robotics Competition Pacific Northwest Regional

Whoever said engineers don't live exciting lives? Try telling that to NASA, or a genetic engineer, or even Disneyland. If you don't believe me, ask any one of the 20,000 participants of FIRST from all over the world. FIRST is a high octane, adrenaline pumping competition where you and a team of fellow high school students, coaches, and mentors are given a kit of materials, a set of game rules, and six weeks to design and build radio-controlled robots that will compete in a sports-based competition.

Ages: 9th - 12th Grades
Contact: Email robotics@imtech-or.com or call: 541-757-2047 x202

Oregon Game Project Challenge

Attention all future game developers and problem-solvers! Now you can learn to design an original game using Gamemaker, a fun, free, and easy to use tool that creates amazing, interactive games. Each year, at the end of February, a theme and challenge is announced, and teams of 4 to 7 have until mid-May to design their games and present them at the competition. No experience is necessary.

Ages: 7th - 12th Grades
Contact: Email ogpc@techstart.org or call: 503-228-5440

Willamette–TechStart Programming Contest

High school students from around the state will compete in small teams to solve challenging problems, using only a single computer, their programming skills and their wits to succeed.

Ages: 9th - 12th Grades
Contact: View their contact page

National Contests

Below is a list of some of the other national contests that exist but don't happen to have a major regional event here. Of course, teams from Oregon can compete, but students who are interested in participating will need a teacher &/or mentor to sponsor their team

Team America Rocketry Challenge

Have you ever wanted to say, "as a matter of fact, I am a rocket scientist?" In the Team America Rocketry challenge, you can compete against other high school design teams in building a rocket to go higher and stay up longer than all the others. Teams must be registered by the beginning of December and build and launch a qualifying rocket by April in order to compete at the national level. The top teams split a prize in cash and scholarships, not to mention get the attention of NASA, Boeing, Lockheed Martin and other aerospace corporations.

National Science Decathalon

Teams compete in a variety of events, such as bridge breaking, water rocketry, and Ick (thyology). In order to compete at the national level, teams will need to compete at a regional competition first.

For a more comprehensive list of national competitions, view the Entineering Education Service Center's list of Pre-Engineering Competitions.

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