I See Icy Worlds: Titan & Europa Essay Contest

For students in the United States in grades 5-12, NASA will soon be holding an essay contest about Saturn's moon Titan & Jupiter's moon Europa. The contest deadline will be February 28, 2013. The contest website is here: http://icyworlds.jpl.nasa.gov/contest/. Questions about the Titan & Europa essay contest can be sent to: titaneuropa@jpl.nasa.gov

The topic of the Titan & Europa essay is either a mission to Saturn's moon Titan or to Jupiter's moon Europa. Both of these missions would study a world that is exciting for astrobiologists(*).

Your assignment is to decide which of the proposed missions would be more interesting to you, and why. Be creative, be original, and ask good questions that you hope the mission would answer.

The Titan mission would include a Titan orbiter and a Titan balloon. The Europa mission would include a Europa orbiter and a Europa lander. The orbiters, balloon, and lander would each have science instruments to study either Titan or Europa.

In your essay, you can include information about what science instruments you would put on the orbiter and balloon or lander, if you wish, based on what you hope to find on Titan or Europa.

Winning essays will be posted on a NASA website, and winners and their classes will be invited to participate in a videoconference or teleconference with NASA scientists.

Contest videos about Astrobiology, Titan, and Europa can be found here:
http://icyworlds.jpl.nasa.gov/contest/videos/

(*) Astrobiologists are scientists who study the origins, evolution, future and distribution of life in the universe. The main question astrobiologists are trying to answer is: "Is there life beyond Earth?"

fMRI and THINKing sySTEMically

fMRI and THINKing sySTEMically

an essay by Sam Smith, Age 17

A school of sociology called functionalism recognizes crime as a necessary part of society. There are some sociologists, such as Emile Durkheim, who would go so far as to say crime has positive benefits to society as a whole.  While it may be hard to believe that crime is beneficial, the majority of people would agree that every society has crime, and nearly everybody has first or secondhand knowledge of what being the victim of a crime is, like I do.  Two days before Halloween when I was in second grade, someone had broken into my home and helped himself to whatever he wanted.  It brought my mom to tears, and it was the first time I had ever seen her cry. Traumatic hardly begins to describe the experience.  However, crime does not go unpunished.  Innovations in technology, such as the fMRI, can help protect us today and have the potential to completely revolutionize tomorrow. Thinking systemically, we scoff at the impossible.

Announcing NASA's Cassini Scientist for a Day 2012 Essay Contest for Grade 5-12 Students

Announcing NASA's 2012 Edition of the Cassini Scientist for a Day Essay Contest

The Cassini spacecraft launched in October 1997 and has been orbiting Saturn since 2004.

The essay contest is open to students in grades 5-12.  Essays must be under 500 words.  

There are three essay topics to choose from: 

1.  Saturn's small shepherd moon, Pan

2.  Saturn's F Ring

3.  Saturn

Students choose one of these topics and write an essay about why they think this image should be taken by the Cassini spacecraft.  What questions do they hope will be answered by taking this picture?

The essay contest meets U.S. National Science and Language Arts Standards.

For contest rules, videos about each essay topic, a downloadable contest flyer, frequently asked questions, and more information, visit:

http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/scientistforaday/

The contest deadline is Wednesday, October 24, 2012.  All essays must be submitted by the student's teacher.  If the essay contest is used as a class assignment, please send the top 3 essays from each class, along with a list of other students who wrote essays for the contest.

All students who write essays will receive a certificate of participation.  Winners and their classes will be invited to participate in a teleconference with Cassini scientists.  Winning essays will be posted on the Cassini website.

For questions about the contest, e-mail scientistforaday@jpl.nasa.gov

Good luck!

Best wishes,

The Cassini Outreach Team

scientistforaday@jpl.nasa.go

AES Engineering scholarship

AES Engineering
AES Engineering is pleased to be able to continue offering scholarships to motivated students to help in the furthering of their education.


Scholarship Criteria

Our belief is that achieving a high grade point average should not be the only criteria for determining who deserves to be helped. For that reason we are offering a scholarship that will be awarded on the basis of character, as determined by evaluated the essays that are submitted.

Scholarships are intended for our future leaders across a wide spectrum of fields of study. This award is available to high school seniors and all students attending a post secondary educational facility.

You are not required to be taking Engineering courses to be eligible.

How to Apply

Students must submit an essay of no more than 1000 words in answer to the following question:
What are your dreams for your future? When you look back on your life in thirty years, what would it take for you to consider your life successful?

Amount of award: $500.00
Deadline for entry: October 5, 2012

Submit essay to: scholarships@aesengineers.com

There is no application packet for this award. Please do not include your resume at this time.

Be sure to include your full name as well as the name of the school you are attending this year and your plans for next year.

Polo Park 8th-grader wins 4-year college scholarship for Black History Month essay

Polo Park eighth-grader wins four-year college scholarship for essay

Nya Jones, an eighth-grader at Polo Park Middle School, recently found out that she was one of three student essay contest winners to receive a four-year Florida College Plan scholarship provided by the Florida Prepaid College Foundation.
The full story can be viewed at: http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/palm-beach/wellington/fl-wf-nyajones-0229-20120229,0,7352527.story

SECME Helped Her Plan It. SECME Helps Her Live It!

senior Caitlin Miller

SECME: Plan It - Build It - Live It!
- by Caitlin Miller, Seminole Ridge Community High School Class of 2012

I want to unlock the keys to the Universe, answer seemingly impossible questions, discover innovations, and so much more. As a kid I’ve always strived to understand the mechanics of everything around me. I constantly asked questions, rattling my other’s minds for the countless things I wondered- “Why is the sky blue? How do birds fly? How did people float on the moon?” It was all so mysterious to me.

When I started school I was relieved because my curiosity was finally beginning to be quenched. Little did I know my mind had only just started growing and soon enough every answer led me to a new question and more observations. I noticed that while other kids were occupied by their games, dolls, and action figures, I was out catching caterpillars and trying to make them turn into butterflies or trying to make new games to play and toys to play with. Even that was not enough for my wandering mind.

It wasn’t until my Junior year that I had found the perfect way to “STEMulate” my mind. It was that booming voice coming from one of my crazy new science teachers that led me to one of my favorite hobbies today. “Have fun! Get Smart! Win Prizes!”- that was the phrase that drew me in.

EngineerGirl! Essay Contest 2012 - Food Engineering

Dear EngineerGirl! Visitor:

We are pleased to announce the National Academy of Engineering’s EngineerGirl! website’s 12th annual Essay Contest. Students are asked to write about the role of engineering in providing safe and nutritious food.

Shopping at your local supermarket is a different experience today than it was even 50 years ago. Today the food we eat comes from around the world and is often already prepared in a wonderful variety of ways. Engineers are actively involved in every step of the process—they design the specialized machines used to plant and harvest crops and develop unique manufacturing processes to prepare, package, and transport foods in safe and secure ways.

Consider these popular foods:
- Applesauce
- Ice cream
- Peanut butter
- Potato chips
- Sandwich bread
- Spaghetti sauce

Grades 3-5: (No more than 500 words)
Choose one of the foods from the list and explain how it is produced, from the planting and harvesting of raw material to being ready to eat. Describe how engineers are involved in different steps of the process.

Grades 6-8: (No more than 750 words)
Choose one of the foods from the list and explain how it is produced, from the planting and harvesting of raw material to being ready to eat. Choose a technology critical to one or more steps in the process and explain how it works. Describe how different types of engineers (e.g. civil, mechanical, electrical, etc.) might have contributed to the design of the technology as well as key elements of that design.

Grades 9-12: (No more than 1500 words)
Choose one of the foods from the list and explain how it is produced, from the planting and harvesting of raw material to being ready to eat. Choose a technology critical to one or more steps in that process and explain how it works. Describe how different types of engineers (e.g. civil, mechanical, electrical, etc.) might have contributed to the design of the technology as well as key elements of that design. Talk about what engineers are currently doing to improve this technology. Be sure to include your references.

Details and rules can be found on the EngineerGirl! website: http://www.engineergirl.org/CMS/Contest/food2012.aspx. Participation is open to both girls and boys in grades 3-12 and submissions must be entered by 6:00 pm (EST) on March 1, 2012. All winning entries will be published on the EngineerGirl! website and winners will receive cash prizes: first place winners $500, second place winners $250, third place winners $100. The 2012 EngineerGirl! Essay Contest was made possible by the generous support of Lockheed Martin Corporation.

The EngineerGirl! website is designed to spark the curiosity of young people, girls in particular, and encourage them to consider careers in engineering. EngineerGirl! provides career descriptions, profiles of successful women engineers, information about exciting engineering projects, and interactive tools for girls, parents, teachers, and guidance counselors, all designed to encourage girls to pursue an engineering education and career. Launched in 2001, the site is visited by more than 18,000 unique visitors a month and has been featured by the Girl Scouts of America, the Society of Women Engineers, and local and national media in the United States and around the world. The #1 website on Google for “girls + engineering,” Engineer Girl! is a trusted and entertaining resource for young girls, parents, educators, and volunteer engineers involved in student outreach. In a 2011 poll, girls’ reported that viewing the EngineerGirl! website or participating in its annual essay contest caused 63% of them to consider a career in engineering and 81% to consider studying engineering in college. Please visit www.engineergirl.org to learn more.

We look forward to reading some exciting and creative essays and we hope you will help us to spread contest announcement. If you have questions, or seek clarification, please contact the EngineerGirl! team at engineergirl[at]nae[dot]edu.
Best,
Vickie
Victoria Gunderson, Ph.D.
Mirzayan Science & Technology Policy Fellow
National Academy of Engineering
vgunderson[at]nae[dot]edu

EngineerGirl! Essay Contest 2011 - Relief from a Disaster

The National Academy of Engineering sponsors an annual essay contest for precollege students dealing with the importance of engineering and its impact on our world. Boys and girls ages 8-18 compete for prizes up to $500, as well as an opportunity to publish their entries on the EngineerGirl! Website.

This year, the theme is "Engineering & Human Service – Relief from a Disaster." Flood, famine, earthquake, tsunami, oil spill, blackout, building collapse, mining accident, wildfire, hurricane, tornado, terrorist attack—all have been headline news in recent years. Disasters, both natural and man-made, can take many forms. Every disaster presents unique challenges and requires fast and decisive action to save lives and limit damages. Engineers are involved in designing many products specifically for use in disaster zones such as portable medical equipment, oil skimmers, or basic shelters. Identify an item designed specifically for use in disaster relief, and then do some research on it to write your essay.

Contestants must in 1500 words or fewer, describe an item that is used for disaster relief. Explain how it works. Point out key elements of the design and why it was designed that way. Describe how different types of engineers (e.g. civil, mechanical, electrical, etc.) might have contributed to the final design of this product. Discuss the constraints designers faced in the creation of this product and potential changes/improvements needed if it were used in a different disaster relief scenario. Be sure to include your references.

You can find the announcement, guidelines, and related information about the contest on the EngineerGirl! website:
http://www.engineergirl.org/CMS/Contest.aspx

Entries must be received by 6:00 PM on March 1, 2011. Essays will be judged on the basis of creativity, feasibility, and usefulness of the design as well as the author’s ability to communicate ideas. All entries are read by a panel of judges, whose selections are final.

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!

Book It! Most Improved (Week 10)

MOST IMPROVED STUDENT RANKING

Seminole Ridge High has proudly implemented a school-wide reading initiative since 2005 called Book It! All students at SRCHS are required to read a book of their choice during a designated 20-minute block of time every day. Students must acquire a certain amount of points each quarter by passing a Reading Counts quiz for each book they read. The program was developed and monitored by the media specialist and supported fully by administration.

Below is a chart of the students who have increased their Book It! points the most - thus the Most Improved. We looked at the students points from the second nine weeks and then compared the points to this nine weeks. The increase in points was the measure used in the ranking.

MOST IMPROVED STUDENT RANKING

Tenth Week- March 8-12, 2010

Ranking this week	Student Name	Grade Level	# of pts from 2nd nine weeks	# of pts for this nine weeks	INCREASE from 2nd nine weeks
1st	Ralph Regis	12th	31	309	278
7th	AJ Fandrey	11th	33	217	184

NASA Life And Work On The Moon Art And Design Contest

NASA Life And Work On The Moon Art And Design Contest
Entry deadline April 15th (High School Students)

NASA, is inviting high school and college students from all areas of study, including the arts, industrial design, architecture, and computer design, to submit their work on the theme "Life and Work on the Moon." Artists are encouraged to collaborate with science and engineering students. Such collaboration is not required but would help to ensure that the work's subject is valid for the moon's harsh environment. Entries will be accepted in three categories: two-dimensional, three-dimensional, and digital, including video. For the first time, entries in literature (poetry and short stories) will also be accepted. Judges will evaluate entries not only on their artistic qualities, but also on whether they depict a valid scenario. Prizes include awards and exhibit opportunities. International students are encouraged to participate, but they are not eligible for cash prizes. Entries are due no later than Thursday, April 15, 2010. For more information about the contest and to register online go to, http://artcontest.larc.nasa.gov/

Rocket Boys Trivia

Sonny receives an autographed picture of Dr. Von Braun for which occasion?
a. Christmas
b. His birthday
c. Winning the national science fair
d. The successful launch of Auk XXX to a height of six miles

In Chapter 9, Sonny asks his father what was the hardest thing he’d ever learned. "He smiled. 'Because even though I know it to be true, I don't want it to be true. I hate that it's true. I just can't imagine," he concluded heading back inside his office, "what God was thinking.'" The thing that Homer's dad is talking about in this quote is _____?
a. enthropy, the thermodynamic tendency of everything to move toward confusion and disorder as time passes.
b. the closing of the Coalwood mine when the coal was gone
c. the suspension of the Big Creek High School football team after the football fathers unsuccessful appeal
d. none of the above

In Chapter 24, "A Suit For Indianapolis” Sonny and a friend meet which important person after they go shopping in Welch for an outfit for the big science fair?
a. Senator John F. Kennedy
b. Dr. Wernher Von Braun
c. rock and roll singer Little Richard
d. none of the above

In Chapter 15, Mr. Turner, the Big Creek High School principal says which of the follow when explaining why Sonny is not allowed to take calculus?
a. Life is ironic. “Mr. Hickham , you have just learned a great lesson of life and it is this: Life is quite often ironic. You worked to get this class and now you will not be able to take it.”
b. The odds are against him. “Once in a while a lucky one will get out [of high school] on a football scholarship.”
c. He is out of luck. "In the queer mass of human destiny, the determining factor has always been luck."
d. He doesn’t need calculus. "You come from the best, hardest-working people in the world. You come from the toughest state in the Union. The Russians? I pity them. If they knew you like I know you, they'd be shaking in their boots!"

"One by one Sherman, O'Dell, Roy Lee, and Quentin placed their hands on top of mine. 'Rocket Boys,' I said. 'Rocket Boys forever!'" In chapter 10, a new boy joins them for the launch of Auk X. His name is _____?
a. Billy Rose
b. Calvin Suggs
c. John Eye Blevins
d. none of the above

In Chapter 13, Geneva Eggers saves Sonny from freezing to death when he attempts to sled back home from school during a snow storm. All of the following statements about Geneva are false EXCEPT for which true one?
a. After the rescue, Sonny looks for Geneva as the school bus goes by, but never waves and never mentions her to his mother.
b. Geneva saved Homer, Sr. when he was an infant. She rescuing him from a burning building, but did not save anyone else in the house.
c. As the town prostitute, Geneva teaches Sonny about having sex, in the backseat of an old Dodge.
d. Geneva is a widow who never remarried after her husband was killed in the mine. This lets her be one of Jake Mosby’s many “girlfriends” who he brings to watch launches.

“Until I began to build and launch rockets, I didn't know my hometown was at war with itself over its children and that my parents were locked in a kind of bloodless combat over how my brother and I would live our lives. I didn't know that if a girl broke your heart, another girl, virtuous at least in spirit, could mend it on the same night. And I didn't know that the enthalpy decrease in a converging passage could be transformed into jet kinetic energy if a divergent passage was added. The other boys discovered their own truths when we built our rockets, but those were mine.”
Identify the pair who break and mend Sonny’s heart on the same night.
a. BREAK: Dorothy Plunk, MEND: Valentine Carmina
b. BREAK: Dorothy Plunk, MEND: Emily Sue Buckberry
c. BREAK: Miss Freida Riley, MEND: Geneva Eggers
d. BREAK: Esther Bykovski, MEND: Dorothy Plunk

Wear your t-shirt!

2010 Yearbook photo for Seminole SECME
Time: 3:00PM Wednesday, January 27th
Location: Seminole Ridge Community High School
Seminole Ridge Yearbook will take our picture on the staircase. Be sure to wear your t-shirt.

Also

The DuPont Challenge Science Essay competition encourages students in grades 7-12 to get to the edge of scientific discovery by writing about a technological or scientific development that captures their imagination. Essay deadline is Sunday, 1/31/10 with winners announced 4/16/10. Grand prize winners receive cash awards plus expenses-paid trips to Walt Disney World in Orlando and the Kennedy Space Center! See the DuPont Challenge website for more information today

DuPont Challenge© Science Essay Competition

DuPont Challenge© Science Essay Competition gets students writing about science! Students in 7th through 12th grade research and write a 700 to 1,000-word essay about a scientific discovery, theory, event or technological application that has captured their interest. Created to honor the Challenger astronauts, students can win savings bonds up to $5,000, and a trip to Walt Disney World and to the Kennedy Space Center.

Teachers win too! Along with the trips with their students, teachers can also win $500 grants. Students have the opportunity to be inspired, to be creative, and to tell a story in this essay about any scientific topic. Teachers can use this competition to motivate students to reach beyond themselves and push the limits! To learn more about the competition, check out the website at http://thechallenge.dupont.com. Entries will be accepted from December 1, 2009 until January 31, 2010.

EngineerGirl! 2010 Survival Design Challenge

The National Academy of Engineering sponsors an annual essay contest for precollege students dealing with the importance of engineering and its impact on our world. Boys and girls ages 8-18 compete for prizes up to $500, as well as an opportunity to publish their entries on the EngineerGirl! Website. This year, contestants must describe in 1000 words or fewer how they’d survive being lost in a national forest using the contents of their backpack along with clothing or accessories worn and items in the environment to either (a) create a shelter, (b) gather food and water, or (c) try to get the attention of a rescue party. You can find the announcement, guidelines, and related information about the contest on the EngineerGirl! website: 
http://www.engineergirl.org/CMS/Contest.aspx

Entries must be received by 6:00 PM on March 1, 2010. Essays will be judged on the basis of creativity, feasibility, and usefulness of the design as well as the author’s ability to communicate ideas. All entries are read by a panel of judges, whose selections are final.

Lord of the Rings

Seminole Ridge student is first ever to twice win NASA essay contest to explore Saturn.
Anthony Bass, Class of 2010
A Seminole Ridge student is once again the winner of NASA‘s annual "Cassini Scientist for a Day" essay contest. And—once again—it‘s the same student! NASA‘s Jet Propulsion Laboratory delivered the out-of-this-world congratulations to Hawk senior Anthony Bass, the first-ever essayist to win their contest twice.

"Cassini Scientist for a Day" challenges students to 'become NASA scientists' studying the planet Saturn through the robotic spacecraft Cassini. Participants examine three target images taken by Cassini and choose the one they think will yield the best science, supporting their choice in a 500-word essay.

Nearly 400 students nationwide entered the contest, but NASA researchers were impressed most—for the second year in a row—with Bass‘ entry. Here‘s an excerpt: "If we could analyze the composition of the impurities and isotopes of Saturn‘s rings, they could provide us with clues as to where they came from. When we look for clues in the composition of the main rings and compare this data to the composition of Saturn‘s other moons, is it really possible that these rings started as a moon?" This view of Saturn, its rings and the moon Tethys represents "Target 1" in the fall 2009 edition of the Cassini Scientist for a Day contest online at http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/photos/imagedetails/index.cfm?imageId=3704

Target 1

Mr. Landstrom uses the NASA contest as teaching opportunity for his students to practice their FCAT Writes persuasive essay skills, and encourage excellence in FCAT Science. Seminole Ridge students learned about possible images that the cameras on Cassini could take on October 11, 2009. Students needed to weigh all the factors and choose one of the targets. What do we already know about Saturn, its rings, and its moons? What do we hope to learn from the image selected? The decision is based on which image would yield the most scientific results, but the artistic value of the image can be an added bonus. The cameras on NASA Cassini-Huygens Mission have been taking stunning images of Saturn for the past five years. These images have helped planetary scientists learn more about this amazing planet.

The award certificate is to be mailed to the school. “A copy of the certificate and his essay hang in my classroom” said Mr. Landstrom, Seminole Ridge High School science teacher. Anthony is applying for admission to the Air Force Academy so that he may pursue a career in the field of aerospace/aeronautical engineering.

Great job, Anthony! Winning a national essay contest for an interplanetary mission is impressive. Winning that contest twice in a row is simply amazing!

-----

UPDATE: Anthony receiving plaque during the March 10, 2010 school board meeting of the School District of Palm Beach County
In the picture, to Anthony's right is his principal Dr. Lynne McGee and board member Dr. Monroe Benaim, and to his left his physics teacher Erich Landstrom and board member Dr. Debra Robinson. The School District of Palm Beach County is the eleventh largest public school district in the United States, and the fifth largest school district in Florida.

From Seminole Ridge High to Saturn 2: CSfaD Spring 2009 Essay Contest Winners

Cassini Outreach has released the names of the Cassini Scientist for a Day Spring 2009 Essay Contest winners. And the winners are:.

Grade 9-12 Category Winners:

Katherine McCarthy, a 12th grade student at Seminole Ridge Community High School in Loxahatchee, FL, for her essay on Dione.
Chelsea Kraynak, a 10th grade student at Montgomery Blair High School in Silver Spring, MD, for her essay on Prometheus and Saturn¹s Rings.
Anthony Bass, an 11th grade student at Seminole Ridge Community High School in Loxahatchee, FL, for his essay on Janus and Epimetheus.

Congratulations to all of the contest winners, as well as to the finalists and to all of the students who took the time and effort to research and write about Saturn¹s moons for this contest.

From Seminole Ridge High to Saturn: Student Semi-Finalists in NASA Contests

Seminole Ridge High School Science teacher Erich Landstrom received out-of-this-world congratulations in May. NASA emailed to say that his physics students in a national contest for an interplanetary mission were semi-finalists. At least one of his students’ essays passed the first round of selection in the Cassini Scientist for a Day essay contest, and they were invited in June to teleconference with scientists studying the planet Saturn remotely by robotic spacecraft.

The Cassini Scientist for a Day contest challenges students to become NASA scientists studying the planet Saturn. Participants examine three target images taken by Cassini and choose the one they think will yield the best science. This choice must then be supported in a 500-word essay.

Mr. Landstrom used it as teaching opportunity for his students to practice their FCAT Writes persuasive essay skills, and encourage excellence in FCAT Science. Juniors Anthony Bass, Alex Cohen, Kris Hansen, and Jessie Twigger are now invited to teleconference with the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Using the Distance Learning Classroom in Seminole Ridge’s Biotechology Academy, they can participate in a scientific debate by deciding which imaging target brings the most scientifically interesting results.

Jessie Twigger in his essay wrote in part, “Not every satellite we launch or every telescope we point towards the sky is searching for another Earth but if the chance to learn more about Earth-like planets presents itself, why not seize this opportunity? That is the reason we should be photographing Dione. No – that that is the reason we should be exploring space. Dione is worth all its scientific merit just for the smallest chance that we will discover something that we never even dreamed possible, just for the shear enjoyment of discovering that a distant moon is similar to Earth, and most importantly just for the challenge it presents in understanding such a mystery.”

All semi-finalists’ essays are now being judged to determine the overall contest winners. Winners will be announced in mid June, after the end of the school year for Seminole Ridge. Please visit http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov to see the winners list online when it becomes available

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

The cameras on NASA Cassini-Huygens Mission have been taking stunning images of Saturn and its rings and moons for the past five years. These images have helped planetary scientists learn more about this amazing planet Saturn. For most of its tour, Cassini has a chance to point its cameras at various targets, but only one image can be taken at a time. Before each imaging opportunity, Cassini scientists have to decide which image they think would yield the best science. They make a case for specific images, and debate why one image would be better than another. Finally, they agree on which image will be taken. The command to take the image is uplinked to the spacecraft. The image is downlinked to Earth, a billion kilometers away.

In the Cassini Scientist for a Day contest, students get to be the scientists. Seminole Ridge High School physics students learned about possible images that the cameras on Cassini could take on May 25, 2009. Students needed to weigh all the factors and choose one of the targets. What do we already know about Saturn, its rings, and its moons? What do we hope to learn from the image selected? The decision is based on which image would yield the most scientific results, but the artistic value of the image can be an added bonus.

Seminole SECME Results for 2008 SECME Palm Beach District Olympiad

Science, Engineering, Communication, Mathematics and Enrichment (SECME) students at Seminole Ridge High School competed in the 2008 Palm Beach County School District Olympiad on March 29, returning with several honors:

• In the category of Balsawood Bridge Building, Liz Camp and Vicki Glass’s structure held 68 pounds before breaking.

• In the category of Water Bottle Rocket, Nick Moore’s and T.J. Gipe’s rocket was airborne for 7.8 seconds.

• In the category of Brain Bowl, the Hawks fell to second-place winners Forest Hill High School.

• Kelsey Chase (essay) and Kaitlin Kilpatrick (poster) earned honors for submissions on the theme “Lighting the Torch to Empower Future Leaders.”

SECME coaches Erich Landstrom and Alison Baird thank the team for a great job.