A Science Contest for Central Oregon's K-12 students
CLICK HERE TO SEE THE FLYER FOR THE 2008 CONTEST 2008 PRESS RELEASE
THIS YEAR'S CONTEST PAST CONTESTS FUTURE CONTESTS JUDGING ABOUT INVENTERPRISE SCHEDULE FLYER & ENTRY FORMS MAP FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS HOW TO WIN SCIENCE NIGHT PHOTO GALLERY Previous Winners CONTACT US TEACHER INCENTIVE PROGRAM
Inventerprise 2008: Central Oregon Students To Be Inspired By Rivers
Their banks have seen civilizations rise and fall, and even today you can hardly find a town or city without one. We are referring to rivers, which are the central topic for Inventerprise 2008, the annual science contest sponsored by Bend Research Inc., the Bend-La Pine School District, and Central Oregon Community College.
Central Oregon students in Grades K‑12 will compete for cash and prizes by addressing this year's challenge: Invent or design something that will allow people to better use, preserve, and coexist with rivers--a vital natural resource.
At stake are cash prizes of up to $1,000 for the best high-school entries; a choice between a digital camera, iPod®, mountain bike, or season ski pass to Mt. Bachelor for the top middle-school entry; and dozens of prizes for the lower grades. Several students in each grade from kindergarten through eighth grade will receive specially designed T-shirts. Winners will also be invited to a special Science Night presentation at Bend Research.
In addition to prizes for the students, Grade K-5 teachers whose classes have greater than 50% participation will share in at least $1,800 in gift certificates for classroom supplies. Click here for details about the teacher incentive program.
The contest is open to all Central Oregon students in kindergarten through 12th grade, including home schooled students. Last year about 500 students entered, individually or in groups, and 92 of them won awards. Entries included models, essays, videos, computer programs and posters. Students may use any appropriate format that best conveys their ideas.
This year's contest asks students to use their imaginations to design better river cities or to improve ways of using our freshwater streams for agriculture, aquaculture, industrial uses, energy generation, recreation, fish management, or just better waterway stewardship. See the flyer for more details.
Entries must be received at Bend Research's offices in Tumalo by 5 p.m. Friday, November 14. Students may enter as individuals or, in Grades K-8, in groups of up to three people. Entries will be judged on originality, usefulness, and development of concept.
The Inventerprise contest is an outgrowth of a 1992 conference sponsored by the Jacob Javits Foundation, designed to build business/education partnerships to enrich students' education experiences. Since then Bend Research and the Bend-La Pine School District have been cooperating to present this contest. In 2003, Central Oregon Community College joined the effort, including providing this contest website. (For information about previous contests, including winners, click here.)
| November 12, 2008 | First day that entries may be delivered to Bend Research |
|
November 14, 2008 |
Final entries are due at 5 p.m. at Bend Research |
|
December 1, 2008 |
Winners are announced |
All entries must be delivered to the Bend Research Tumalo Facility at
64550 Research Road. (see
map).
Entries will be judged on originality, usefulness, and development of concept. No live insects can be submitted! Since students are not allowed to be present during the judging, supporting explanatory text and graphics are important in helping the judges evaluate entries.
Entries will be judged behind closed doors by a panel of scientists and engineers. Judges, like other humans, appreciate brief and clear explanations and are open to new ideas, especially if the ideas appear to be workable and/or the ideas are cool. Judges are science and education professionals (do not try this at home!).
Inventerprise 2008 is the 17th in a series
of creative science contests for students in Central Oregon. Each year, the contest
poses a question to spark the imaginations of would-be scientists, challenging them to
pursue inventive solutions to pressing problems.
The contest is sponsored by Bend Research Inc., with assistance from the Bend-La Pine
School District and Central Oregon Community College.
The contest is open to all Central Oregon students, from kindergarten through 12th
grade. This year, the top high-school entrant will compete for $1,000. The
student submitting the top middle-school entry will choose between a digital camera, iPod®, mountain bike
or a season pass to Mt Bachelor. In grades K-8, top entries at each grade
will receive specially designed T-shirts and all participants will receive Inventerprise
pencils. K-8 winners will also get to attend a special
Science Night program at Bend Research.
K-5 teachers whose classes have more than 50% participation will share at least $1800 in gift certificates for classroom supplies. Click here for details about the teacher incentive program.
The Inventerprise contest is an outgrowth of a 1992 conference sponsored by the Jacob Javits Foundation, designed to build business/education partnerships to enrich students’ education experiences. (For information about previous contests, including winners, click here.)
All entries must be delivered to the Bend Research Tumalo Facility at 64550 Research Road.
MAP to Bend Research's Tumalo Facility where the entries must be taken. (printer-friendly version)
Questions?
For more information, call Heidi at 382-0212, ext. 242, or Chris at 382-0212, ext. 113.
If you are a teacher or other interested adult who wants to offer suggestions about the contest for next year or volunteer to help, send the project director a note. Help us make this the type of project for which students can receive class credit! if you are interested in the Teacher Incentive program, click here.
Inventerprise is sponsored by Bend Research Inc., with help from the Bend-La Pine School District and Central Oregon Community College.
This web site is provided by COCC and maintained by Zelda Ziegler. Last Update 09/21/2008
Inventerprise Cartoon by Jake LaChapelle