2012-2013 Palm Beach County SECME Design Seminars

In the SECME program, students are required to design, build, and test a variety of engineering research projects throughout the year. SECME student teams construct balsawood bridges for structural strength, cars powered solely by the spring from a mousetrap to race across gymnasiums, and two liter bottle rockets to launch for maximum hang time. Essays and artwork communicating student interpretations of this year’s theme, “Think it’s impossible? Think sySTEMatically. THINK SECME!” will be displayed and judged. The engineering Olympiad competition in February is the culmination of projects completed as a result of classroom activities, and of students, parents, teachers and partners participating in Saturday engineering design seminars. Design seminars familiarize students with the events in the annual Olympiad completion. They provide the people, the place, and the parts to work on SECME submissions. Students also interact with practicing engineers who help them understand the importance of education in the global economy with the ultimate goal of encouraging students to pursue postsecondary degrees in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics). Please plan on attending!

Coach Ed Batchelor and Captain Sam Smith
Above: Seminole SECME Coach Batchelor and Captain Sam Smith during a Mousetrap Vehicle Design Seminar.

The School District of Palm Beach County and the SECME South Florida Industry Partners are hosting the following design seminars in 2012-2013. Seminars last approximately 2-4 hours. Students are responsible for their own transportation to and from the seminars:

• Thurs. Sept. 20 @ 4:30 PM PM—Mousetrap Vehicle Design at Fulton-Holland Educational Services Center.
Directions: I-95 to Forest Hill Blvd. Go west on Forest Hill past Congress Ave. Turn left at Davis Road. Building is on left.
• Sat., Sept. 24 @ 9 AM—Mousetrap Vehicle Design at Lantana Middle, 1225 W. Drew St., Lantana, FL 33462
Directions: I-95 to Hypoluxo Rd. East to 14th St. and turn left. Go to West Drew St. and turn right. School on right side.
• Thur., Oct 11 @ 5 PM—Bridge/Truss Design at Fulton-Holland Educational Services Center.
Directions: I-95 to Forest Hill Blvd. Go west on Forest Hill past Congress Ave. Turn left at Davis Road. Building is on left.
• Sat., Oct 20 @ 10 AM—Water Rocket Design at Acreage Branch Library, 15801 Orange Blvd., Loxahatchee, FL 33470
Directions: Take Northlake Blvd. west to Seminole Pratt Whitney Rd. Turn south (left). Proceed south for 2.2 miles to Orange Blvd.
• Thur. Oct 25 @ 5 PM—Technical reports and drawings drafting at Fulton-Holland Educational Services Center.
Directions: I-95 to Forest Hill Blvd. Go west on Forest Hill past Congress Ave. Turn left at Davis Road. Building is on left.
• Sat., Nov. 3 @ 9 AM—Mousetrap Vehicles and Bridges at H.L. Johnson Elementary, 1000 Crestwood Blvd. N., Royal Palm Beach, FL 33411 Directions: I-95 to Okeechobee Blvd. West to Royal Palm Beach Blvd. Turn north on Royal Palm Bch. Blvd. School on west side of street.
• Sat., Nov. 17 @ 9 AM—Bottle Rockets Design at Palm Springs Middle, Address: 1560 Kirk Rd., West Palm Beach, FL 33406
Directions: I-95 to Forest Hill Blvd. West to Kirk Rd. School on NE corner.
• Thurs. Nov. 29 @ 5 PM—Mousetrap Vehicle Design at Fulton-Holland Educational Services Center.
Directions: I-95 to Forest Hill Blvd. Go west on Forest Hill past Congress Ave. Turn left at Davis Road. Building is on left.
• Tues. Dec. 4 @ 5 PM—Banner/Poster/Brain Bowl at Fulton-Holland Educational Services Center.
Directions: I-95 to Forest Hill Blvd. Go west on Forest Hill past Congress Ave. Turn left at Davis Road. Building is on left.
• Thur. Jan 24 @ 4:30 PM—DEADLINE: Registration, Rocket Patch, Essay, Technical reports and drawings due at Fulton-Holland Educational Services Center.
Directions: I-95 to Forest Hill Blvd. Go west on Forest Hill past Congress Ave. Turn left at Davis Road. Building is on left.
• Sat., Feb 9 @ 8 AM—SECME Elementary Olympiad at Santaluces High, 6880 Lawrence Rd., Lantana, FL 33462
Directions: I-95 to Hypoluxo Rd. West to Lawrence Rd. School is on NE intersection of Hypoluxo and Lawrence Rd.
• February TBA—Florida Atlantic University Engineers Week Event
Directions: I-95 to Hypoluxo Rd. West to Lawrence Rd. School is on NE intersection of Hypoluxo and Lawrence Rd.
• Sat., Feb 23 @ 8 AM—SECME Secondary Olympiad at Santaluces High, 6880 Lawrence Rd., Lantana, FL 33462
Directions: I-95 to Hypoluxo Rd. West to Lawrence Rd. School is on NE intersection of Hypoluxo and Lawrence Rd.
• April TBA—SECME Annual “Celebration of Achievements” Awards Banquet
For directions starting from Seminole Ridge High, visit http://tinyurl.com/SeminoleRidgeHigh

Seminole SECME Demo Day Aug 29, 2012

Seminole SECME is having a demonstration day to recruit for the 2012-2013. Students interested in science, engineering, and math are asked to attend the 1st meeting Wednesday, August 29, 2012 from 3- 4:30 PM in room 5-107. Or see Mr. Landstrom for more information. Seminole SECME is an after-school engineering club with hands-on projects. Get creative with contests to race robots, rockets, and mousetrap powered rovers! Join SECME! Get Smart! Have Fun! Win Prizes!

20120818 Freshmen Invasion

Click on the first picture to flip through the photoalbum of Seminole Ridge SECME on Saturday, August 18, 2012 at the Freshmen Invasion for the Class of 2012. 

Drop It, Build It Engineering Competition 2012

Drop It, Build It, Fly It, Launch It, Thrill It 2013

Di-Bi-Fi-Li-Ti is a design competition for cash prizes challenges kids to build an unbreakable balsawood bridge, create the perfect carton to protect a raw egg from a 3-story drop, fold and fly the farthest-flung paper airplane, blast off the best water bottle rocket for max time airborne, and create a thrill-packed roller coaster. The South Florida Science Museum in partnership with the Florida Engineering Society provides a premiere out-of-school STEM competition to elementary, middle and high school students offering substantial cash prizes for the top four finishers in each of the five engineering categories:

1. Drop It: Design and build a shipping container that will prevent an uncooked egg from breaking when dropped from two successive heights, up to 50 feet.
2. Build It: Given a range of physical dimensions and using appropriate building materials, construct the lightest truss-frame bridge capable of supporting the greatest weight.
3. Fly It: Given a sheet of paper, design an airplane that will fly the longest distance.
4. Launch It: Construct a rocket propelled by “fuel” (12 ounces of water) and air compressed to 60 psi that will be launched at a predetermined angle to reach the maximum height and flight time possible.
5. Thrill It: Design a roller coaster to convey a marble or steel ball within designated parameters, so that it stays rolling the longest, is the most interesting to view and has a theme.

Enjoy a fun filled family day of science and engineering exploration on Saturday, March 9, 2013 from 8 AM to 3:30 PM. Students are responsible for their own transportation to and from the event.

More information is available online at http://www.sfsm.org/

We're NASA and We Know It

Danny Forster – Discovery Education Channel Host – Kicks Off 2012 Palm Beach County Science Symposium

Danny Forster, chief architecture and engineering expert for Discovery Education and host of the SCIENCE series Build It Bigger, will address more than 1,000 science teachers to kick off the 2012 Palm Beach County Science Symposium that will take place on Thursday, August 16, 2012 from 8 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. at Park Vista High School - 7900 Jog Road, Lake Worth, FL. 

Forster will share his experience traveling the world in search of incredible feats of architecture and engineering and his work on Discovery Channel’s documentary, Rising: Rebuilding Ground Zero. He also will discuss what inspired him to pursue a career in science.

Seminole SECME 'Hawk Talk' newsletter August 2012

In the Autumn 2012 issue of the Seminole SECME 'Hawk Talk'  newsletter

- Obama Calls Curiosity landing at Mars' Gale Crater "Examples of American know-how and ingenuity...really an amazing accomplishment"
- Mechanical Mayhem at the Museum of Discovery and Science in Ft. Lauderdale
- Figure This! Metric Mathletes - Can Athletes Run Faster Than Cars
- Save the Date!
Wednesday, August 22, 2012 at 3 PM —Seminole SECME Demo Day. New recruits welcome to join!
Saturday, September 8, 2012 at 10 AM-“Robot” Car Wash fundraiser at Burger King
- SECME Spotlight on Captain Sam Smith
- XCKD.COMics “1050—Algebra”
- Hawks Solve to the Fourth Place at PBAU Math Competition

Click here to download the attached PDF copy of our Seminole SECME 'Hawk Talk' newsletter Autumn 2012 issue

Hawk Talk Autumn 2012