Freebee Friday: Five Top Reasons …

What are your top five reasons for using a document camera in the classroom? If you tell Epson what they are, you could get a $700 DC-20 document camera. The entries will be judged on the creative use of the technology, practical real life examples and applications of the ideas as well as the impact it has on instruction. You’ll need to enter by May 10 to be eligible. 

Doodle Day

Google’s sixth annual doodling contest has already started but it’s not too late to get your students to create submissions. The contest is open to K-through 12 students and the theme this year “My Best Day Ever.” There will be winners in five age categories, with the winner’s artwork will be displayed on the Google home page for a day. They each also get a $30,000 scholarship as well as $50,000 of technology and gadgets for the school. The deadline is March 22.

Wanted: Classroom Innovators

Along with National Instruments, Vernier is sponsoring a contest to find high school teachers who can best demonstrate an innovative use for the digital lab equipment. Applications need to be in by January 15 and the judging takes place on March 11 with the winner getting $1,000 in cash plus $3,000 towards the purchase of Vernier gear as well as $1,500 in travel money to attend the 2013 American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE) conference in Atlanta, Georgia.

Freebee Friday: Science that Pays

Teachers and imaginative classes can try to get a share of $1 million worth of techno-goodies that Samsung is giving away. Sponsored by the National PTA, Samsung’s Solve for Tomorrow contests is open to 6^th through 12th grade teachers who make a video that answers the question: How can science or math help improve the environment in your community? The deadline is October 31^st.

Freebee Friday: Next Year’s Tech Winners

Every year Vernier honors those tech teachers who not only know their stuff but know how to teach it to students. Along with the National Science Teachers’ Association, they give out the Vernier/NSTA Technology Awards and are now gearing up for the 2013 awards. Seven enterprising teachers will win $1,000 plus $3,000 in Vernier gear as well as expenses to get them to the award ceremony at the next NSTA conference in San Antonio. This year’s winners did everything from building a wind turbine to creating a walking robot. The deadline for entries is November 30.

 

 

 

Freebee Friday: Up, Up and Away

Samsung's contest to see which student can create the most interesting video about a famous (or infamous) historical hero is underway and a great way to introduce characters from the past to a class. It’s open to all primary and secondary students and the videos should be between 1- and 3-minutes long. The winner gets $500 and a SamCam 860 document camera for the school. 

 

 

 

Freebee Friday: Game On!

If there’s a better way to get kids interested in programming than by getting them to create video games, I haven’t found it. The AMD Foundation has teamed up with Brain Pop, the Boys and Girls clubs and others to sponsor the 2012 National STEM Video Game Challenge, a contest for the best student-written video games. The kids can win $200,000 in cash and prizes. For those who don’t know where to start, there’s a ton of resources for teachers interested in doing it as a class project.  

 

 

Freebee Friday: BLAST OFF

Lenovo and YouTube are sponsoring a contest that is out of this world. It challenges physics and biology classes to design a zero-gravity experiment that will actually fly on the International Space Station (ISS) 250 miles above earth. All you need to do is come up with a good idea for a low gravity experiment, create a 2 minute video and post it on YouTube before December 7 describing the idea and what it will show. 

Finalists will be chosen by a panel of judges that includes distinguished physicist Stephen Hawking. Early in 2012, the finalists will go to Washington, DC for the announcement ceremony, get to ride a zero-G plane flight and receive a Lenovo tablet. There will be two grand prize winners, who will have their experiments created, rocketed to the ISS and carried out. They will also travel to Russia for the same training course that prospective astronauts get and will spend time in the ISS simulator to get an idea what their experiments will experience. Blast Off is next summer.

 

 

Freebee Friday: Classroom Makeover

Does your classroom make the most of the technology at hand? It can be your ticket to raise its digital horizons. eInstruction’s Classroom Makeover Video Contest seeks to find the most deserving class for a digital makeover. The class needs to submit a music video showing off how technology is used and can improve education by October 25, and the winner could get $75,000 of interactive instructional equipment.

 

 

Freebee Friday: Spare Change

If you’re looking for a way to invigorate a science curriculum and make it relvant, look no farther than the Siemens We Can Change the World Challenge. In it, science classrooms think up and carry out their own green scientific research. It’s open to all K through 12-th grade classrooms and are divided into three groups based on age: K-through-5, 6-through-8 and 9-through-12. The application deadline is March 15, 2012 and it’s free to enter.