BCPS’s STEM Challenge has proved to be a success – for the eighth year in a row! This STEM Challenge is held for secondary students, and each year the event changes; this year’s event was an Egg Drop Challenge.
There are two STEM Challenges held across the district each year, one for secondary grades (6-12) and one for elementary grades (K-5). Each school across Bullitt County holds a school-wide STEM challenge to determine the students who will represent their school at the BCPS district event for what is at that point an unknown challenge.
This year, eggs were dropped at three different heights, and the participants were tasked with removing the raw egg from their container to see if it withstood the impact of the fall. Students worked in teams representing their schools to design and build a device that would ensure the egg’s safety during the falls. Students were required to use the engineering design process and apply principles of physics in their designs and construction.
Teams received a score during their testing phase determined by how well their egg withstood the impacts, and another score based on their explanations of their engineering design process form for why they chose to protect their egg in the way they did. The two scores were then averaged to get a final score and reveal the winning schools.
This district-wide STEM Challenge was implemented when the Kentucky science standards were updated in the last ten years.
“Engineering is now a standard at every grade level, and our district tries to implement opportunities for students to be college- and career-ready,” explains District STEM Coordinator and Elementary Robotics Coordinator Jaymee Clemens. “That’s why we made the transition from traditional science fair projects that you remember doing as a kid to the STEM Challenge: to better meet the new science standards.”
BCPS prides itself on #MovingForward, constantly ready to try out new methods of instruction and implement new curriculum to help our students be as prepared as possible in the future. We are proud to bring this inclusive mastery event challenge to our students year after year.
Congratulations to this year’s winners:
High School
- 1st Place: BAMS
- 2nd Place: BCHS
Middle School
- 1st Place: Discovery School
- 2nd Place: BMS
- 3rd Place: BVLA
Keep an eye out for the district-wide Elementary STEM Challenge, which will be March 24, 5:00-8:00 PM at Maryville Elementary.
