Banner Brainstorm: a smART stART to inspire ART imagination

Click on the banner brainstorm template PDF. It may be useful starting point to plan the SECME banner. I give each student a copy of the banner brainstorm and let them work out their ideas of placement, proportion, and use colored pencils. Here's a banner brainstorm template that opens in Microsoft Word for editting.

If someone tells you to write a poem on a piece of paper, it helps you when they say specifically make it a sonnet of 14 lines and an alternative abab rhyme schem. It's a lot easier to ensure the quality of the end product. So when beginning the banner with Seminole SECME, I share the following mathematical concepts. You might find them interesting:

BrainPOP: Scale Drawing
Like to draw in a big way? In this BrainPOP movie, Tim and Moby show you how to resize images and use scale drawing to make pictures larger and smaller! They’ll guide you through a sample problem to help you figure out how to use ratios to find the scale of your original image and that of the final product. You’ll also see what can happen if your height and width scales are different. Lastly, you’ll discover how using a grid can help you keep things nice and neat. Anyone can be an artist!
Watch the Math movie about Scale Drawing


BrainPOP: Proportions Losing your sense of proportion? Regain it with this BrainPOP movie, as Tim and Moby teach you all about ratios or proportions! You’ll find out how to figure out the price of a movie ticket in proportion to average monthly income — and how to compare it to prices from earlier decades. You’ll also learn how to set up a proportion problem, including where to put the ‘x’ and how to cross-multiply in order to get the right answer. Finally, you’ll see how proportions can be used in any number of real-life situations!
Watch the Math movie about Proportions

[ED NOTE: post originally published September 11, 2009. Revised March 18, 2013]

"IM" IS OUT - THINK IT'S POSSIBLE! Hawks Fly 2nd Place Finish

THINK IT'S imPOSSIBLE? THINK sySTEMatically. THINK SECME! Seminole Ridge SECME takes second place during district engineering Olympiad

Seminole Ridge SECME is the winner of five trophies and ribbons at the 2013 SECME Olympiad engineering competition, including second place overall for Palm Beach County! Teams from sixteen high schools in Palm Beach County participated in the engineering contests at Santaluces Community High School in Lantana on Saturday, February 23, 2013. Students squared off in competition to race mousetrap powered model cars, launch model rockets, build and break model balsa wood bridges; in general knowledge games during the "Brain Bowl"; and in literary and artistic competitions with essays, banners, and posters.

(Photo: the SRHS SECME team; front row, L-R: Mr. Ed Batchelor and Mr. Erich Landstrom; back row: Nicholas Smith, Kimberly Smith, Kyle Reilly, Patrick Dickson, Kyle Whirlow, Victoria Simmons, James Carter, Cody Summerlin, Jarrett Rimel, and Sam Smith.)

The competition of cogitators was fierce. And the Hawks soared high: honorable mention - balsawood bridge; second place - banner; second place - water rocket (Team Seniors); first place - water rocket (Team Osprey); second place overall in the entire district! Coaches Erich Landstrom and Ed Batchelor, the school SECME coordinators, and principal James Campbell congratulate the Hawks on their awesome achievements.

(Click on the first picture to flip through the Seminole SECME team competing at Santaluces High School for the 2013 Palm Beach County School District SECME Olympiad on Saturday, February 23, 2013)

20130213 SDPBC SECME Olympiad

This Is Why We Will Win The Olympiad This Year, Part I

Banner Brainstorm: THINK, ADAM!

The Creation of Adam is part of a painting by Michelangelo in the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel.

The Creation of Adam
Michelangelo Buonarroti (Italian, 1475–1564)

Banner Brainstorm

Never met a scientific illustrator? Meet Carol.

Image of the Week #20, December 5th, 2011:


Original source: Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 1992 cover illustration of the reconstruction of the skull of Stegosaurus stenops in left lateral view. Ink on paper, by Carol Abraczinskas.

Never met a scientific illustrator? Meet Carol.
by Kalliopi Monoyios at Symbiartic.

Stipple is a pen and ink technique used in scientific illustration that utilizes millions of tiny dots to create areas of shadow and light. This stipple drawing of the skull of Stegosaurus stenops by Carol Abraczinskas appeared on the cover of the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology in 1992. It’s a favorite teaching tool of Abraczinskas’s because it tests students’ observational skills. One missing dot prevents this illustration from being complete. Can you find it? To check if you got it right, see the original post for an enlarged view of that detail.

Seminole SECME wins silver

2nd place overall Olympiads in the district!
Seminole Ridge SECME won four trophies at the 2011 SECME regional Olympiad, including second place overall for the county! Teams from twenty high schools in Palm Beach County participated in the engineering contests at Santaluces Community High School in Lantana on Saturday, February 26, 2011. Students squared off in racing mousetrap powered model cars, launch model rockets, build and break balsa wood bridges; in general knowledge games during the "Brain Bowl"; and in literary and artistic competitions with essays, banners, and posters.

The competition of cogitators was fierce, but the Hawks, those gladiators of grey matter, came in third in the poster competition, second in the water bottle rocket competition, and first in the banner competition. This put overall Olympiad performance second in the entire district! Principal Lynne McGee, and Erich Landstrom and Ed Batchelor, the school SECME coordinators, congratulate the Hawks on their awesome achievements! Team captain Cindy Dosch commented “Proud of you guys! We did awesome against all odds.” Freshman Sam Smith posted “Today, those months of work on that mousetrap car came into fruition, and the hard work showed. It destroyed the competition without a problem, and couldn’t have done better on the test run. Even though it didn’t place, and we have our suspicions as to why it didn’t, I’m proud of Murphy’s Law, because it has overcome every one of the obstacles it was presented with.”

2011 Seminole SECME Olympiad

POSTER: Students create posters based on the Olympiad's theme “SECME: STEMulating Minds”
• Third Place: Seminole Ridge

Poster, 3rd place: senior Brie Codner Poster, 3rd place: senior Brie Codner

BANNER: Students create banners based on the Olympiad's theme. Banners must contain the school mascot and SECME logo.
• First Place: Seminole Ridge

WATER ROCKET: Students build a model rocket around a standard 2 liter soda bottle. All teams must have: rocket (constructed and launch-ready); design drawing blueprint of rocket; technical report on rocket; and mission patch design. At the Olympiad, rockets will be "fueled" with 355 milliliters of water and 60 PSI of air pressure. The rocket with the greatest combined "hang time" airborne and score will be declared the winner
• Second Place: Seminole Ridge

Water bottle rocket, 2nd place: Chris Garrett (retired rocket engineer with Pratt & Whitney) Damian Coleman, Cindy Dosch

Water bottle rocket, 2nd place: Damian Coleman, Cindy Dosch

OVERALL HIGH SCHOOL PALM BEACH COUNTY CHAMPION:

• Second Place: Seminole Ridge High

• First Place: Suncoast High Seminole SECME - 2nd place Olympiad overall in the county!

MOUSETRAP CAR: Students build cars that are propelled by the spring of a mousetrap. All teams must have a mousetrap car (constructed and running), design drawing blueprint of mousetrap vehicle (MTV), technical report on MTV construction and operations. A combination of the scores from the race, the report, and the drawing is used to determine the winner.
Mousetrap Vehicle: Sam Smith and Cody Summerlin

Inspecting the Mousetrap Vehicle: (left to right) Sam Smith, Cody Summerlin, Dr. Thelma Jackson, and AJ Fandrey

BRAIN BOWL: Students compete against the clock and each other in a quiz show style contest filled with science and math questions.
left to right: Arnold Banner, Joe Pavicic, Yiro Shimabukuro, Robert Botkin



SECME is too serious to be taken seriously
SECME is too serious to be taken seriously
Seminole SECME Captain Cindy Dosch holding aloft our trophy
GO HAWKS!

Best. Meeting. Ever.

Seminole Ridge symmetry

Technical drawing - mousetrap vehicle
VEX Round Up practice
technical drawing - water bottle rocket
technical drawing - water bottle rocket
banner
banner
banner
I heart SECME

Popsicle Stick Bridges and Banner Brainstorm

Seminole SECME meeting minutes for September 9, 2010
Meeting called to order at 3 PM by Captain C. Dosch.

Reminders:
- $15 dues are due! Dues cover the costs of t-shirts and materials for projects
- permission slips for Saturday SECME design seminars field trips are due, signed by your parent/guardian next week.
- Banner Brainstorms are due next week, completed and colored, for judging.

New Business

Fibonacci Squares and Golden Spirals
Purpose:
SWBAT plot a mathematical relationship that defines a spiral
SWBAT use technology (graphing calculator) to plot a set of ordered pairs

SWBAT use technology (graphing calculator) to create spirals similar to that found in shells, hurricane storms, and spiral galaxies

Popsicle Stick Truss Bridge
Purpose:
- SWBAT (students will be able to) build a bridge spanning twelve inches that will hold 50 lbs. The bridge is to be made of only popsicle sticks and glue. By being limited to only two allowable materials - wood popsicle sticks and white glue - students will need to use creativity, ingenuity, and resourcefulness in order to maximize the strengths and minimize the inherent shortcomings of each material.
- SWBAT read drawings and models made to scale. As a part of the SECME engineering design competition, each team is required to prepare a scaled drawing depicting the project that they have designed and built.

Banner Brainstorm: a smART stART to inspire ART imagination

Engage: display Seminole SECME 2009 “Igniting Minds” Banner (2nd place trophy winner!)
Explain: powerpoint on Banner Competition
Explore: Complete Banner Brainstorm worksheet. Student plan placement, proportion, and use colored pencils.
NEXT WEEK Evaluate: smArt Gallery Walk. Banner Brainstorms are posted in different parts of the hallway. Teams rotate around, and reflect on work down by other groups.

Success for Students at 2010 Seconday SECME Olympiad

On Saturday April 10, 2010, over 275 students from Palm Beach County Secondary schools participated in the Secondary SECME (Science, Engineering, Communication, Mathematics, Enrichment) Olympiad hosted by Santaluces High School. Students participated in a variety of competitions which included banners, brain bowl, bridges, essays, mousetrap cars, posters, and water rockets.

The 2010 overall district champions for both High School and Middle School are:

High School:
• 1st Place Overall – Suncoast High School
• 2nd Place Overall – Seminole Ridge Community High School
• 3rd Place Overall – Boca Raton High School
• Honorable Mention Overall – Royal Palm Beach High School

Seminole SECME wins silver!

Seminole SECME won five trophies in the 2010 Palm Beach SECME regional Olympiad! We were awarded the 3rd place trophy, mousetrap car competition + 2nd place trophy, banner competition + 2nd place trophy, poster competition + 2nd place trophy, brain bowl competition =
2nd place overall Olympiads in the district!

Dr. Lynee McGee, principal of Seminole Ridge High School, and Erich Landstrom and Ed Batchelor, school SECME coordiators, are soaring on the Hawks awesome achievements!

Seminole Ridge SECME at the 2010 engineering Olympiad for the School District of Palm Beach County

Football practice
The object of VEX Clean Sweep is to attain a higher score than your opponent's alliance by moving as many balls as possible onto their side of the field and by "locking up" small balls in the triangular goals.
VEX Robotics
Students, with guidance from their teachers and mentors aim to build the most innovative robots possible and work together to obtain the most points possible. In addition to just having a great time and building amazing robots, through their participation in the VEX Robotics Competition and their work within their team, students learn many academic and life skills.

POSTER: Students create posters based on the Olympiad's theme.
• Third Place: Forest Hill
• Second Place: Seminole Ridge
• First Place: Suncoast
Senior Shelby Weininger with poster

Poster, 2nd place: Cindy Dosch (left) and Shelby Weininger (right)

MOUSETRAP CAR: Students build cars that are propelled by the spring of a mousetrap. All teams must have a mousetrap car (constructed and running), design drawing blueprint of mousetrap vehicle (MTV), technical report on MTV construction and operations. A combination of the scores from the race, the report, and the drawing is used to determine the winner.
• Third Place: Seminole Ridge - Silver
• Second Place: Boca Raton – Roaring Cats
• First Place: Suncoast – Exponential Engineers

Juniors AJ Fandrey (left) and Ryan Hamilton (right) in MTV competition

Junior Ryan Hamilton

Junior AJ Fandrey in MTV competition

WATER ROCKET: Students build a model rocket around a standard 2 liter soda bottle. All teams must have: rocket (constructed and launch-ready); design drawing blueprint of rocket; technical report on rocket; and mission patch design. At the Olympiad, rockets will be "fueled" with 355 milliliters of water and 60 PSI of air pressure. The rocket with the greatest combined "hang time" airborne and score will be declared the winner.
Seniors Carlos Monesar and Kate Woodbury with Mr. Chris Garrett from Pratt Whitney Rocketdyne

Juniors Brian Bartles and Cindy Dosch with Mr. Chris Garrett from Pratt Whitney Rocketdyne

BRAIN BOWL: Students compete against the clock and each other in a quiz show style contest filled with science and math questions.
• Third Place: Suncoast
• Second Place: Seminole Ridge
• First Place: Royal Palm Beach

SECME Olympiad - brain bowl Ralph Regis, Zack Wiggin, Daniel Lowenthal, Robert Botkin


Brain bowl 2nd place: Ralph Regis, Zack Wiggin, Daniel Lowenthal

Seminole SECME's five trophies from the 2010 Olympiad

Seminole SECME - 2nd place Olypiad overall in the county!

GO HAWKS!