World Maths Day is the world’s largest education event where students compete in real time against other students from around the world, using the World Maths Day website.
In 2010, World Maths Day will be held on Wednesday 3rd March 2010, and more than two million students between 5-18 years from more than 200 countries are expected to log on take part in the free global event. Johannesburg will be flying the flag as host city for the 2010 event.
The best thing about World Maths Day is that you don’t have to be a mathematical genius to get involved. World Maths Day is designed for students of all ages, backgrounds, and all levels of ability. Students are encouraged to get involved in maths and ‘have a go’, and even have the chance to be a part of setting a world record – it’s free and all you need is internet access.
You can also take part in World Maths Day from your iPhone and iPod Touch. The World Maths Day mobile app now lets you answer questions while you’re out and about and still have them added to your online score.
Sunday, February 28, 2010
Saturday, February 27, 2010
Elementary SECME Olympiad Draws Gladiators of Science
Over 350 students from 43 elementary schools participated in Palm Beach County Elementary SECME District Olympiad today, Saturday, February 27, 2010 at Jeaga Middle School. 
Congratulations to the competitors! SECME (Science, Engineering, Communication, and Mathematics Enrichment) is a national organization with the goal of increasing the pool of students who will be prepared to enter and complete post-secondary studies in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, thus creating a diverse and globally competitive workforce. 
Congratulations to the competitors! SECME (Science, Engineering, Communication, and Mathematics Enrichment) is a national organization with the goal of increasing the pool of students who will be prepared to enter and complete post-secondary studies in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, thus creating a diverse and globally competitive workforce. 
Friday, February 26, 2010
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/
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/
Thursday, February 25, 2010
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Gear Up for SECME 2010 Engineering Competition
Students from 43 elementary schools, 25 middle schools, and 15 high schools will participate in one of two Palm Beach County SECME District Olympiads this spring.
The Elementary SECME District Olympiad will be held Saturday, February 27, 2010 from 8:00 am – 3:30 pm at Jeaga Middle School located at 3777 N. Jog Road, West Palm Beach, FL, 33411. Jeaga is 2 miles north of Okeechobee Blvd, right by the Turnpike. Seminole SECME students can volunteer to assist and earn community service hours.
The Secondary SECME District Olympiad will be held Saturday, April 10, 2010 from 8:00 am – 3:30 pm at Santaluces High School. Santaluces is located at the intersection of Hypoluxo and Lawrence Road, 6880 Lawrence Road, Lantana, FL 33462. It is the responsibility of all students to arrange their own transportation to and from competition. Seminole SECME students please wear your black “Igniting The Mind Through STEM Education” t-shirts. For lunch we are arranging for Papa John’s pizza to be made on-site in their mobile kitchen.
The Elementary SECME District Olympiad will be held Saturday, February 27, 2010 from 8:00 am – 3:30 pm at Jeaga Middle School located at 3777 N. Jog Road, West Palm Beach, FL, 33411. Jeaga is 2 miles north of Okeechobee Blvd, right by the Turnpike. Seminole SECME students can volunteer to assist and earn community service hours.
The Secondary SECME District Olympiad will be held Saturday, April 10, 2010 from 8:00 am – 3:30 pm at Santaluces High School. Santaluces is located at the intersection of Hypoluxo and Lawrence Road, 6880 Lawrence Road, Lantana, FL 33462. It is the responsibility of all students to arrange their own transportation to and from competition. Seminole SECME students please wear your black “Igniting The Mind Through STEM Education” t-shirts. For lunch we are arranging for Papa John’s pizza to be made on-site in their mobile kitchen.
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Drop It, Build It, Launch It, Fly It, Thrill It
Saturday, April 24, 2010
The South Florida Science Museum and the Florida Engineering Society are proud to present the annual engineering competition that challenges students to build an unbreakable bridge, create a container to protect an egg from a 3-story drop, design the most aerodynamic paper airplane, blast off the ultimate water bottle rocket, and, NEW this year, design and build an operational roller coaster. Click here for more details and to register for the competition.
Monday, February 22, 2010
Book IT! Most Improved (Week 6)
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
Fifth Week- February 8-12, 2010
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
Fifth Week- February 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 |
8th | Ralph Regis | 12th | 309 | 283 | 26 pts |
Sunday, February 21, 2010
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
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
Saturday, February 20, 2010
The credit goes to the Hawks in the arena!
Congratulations to the inaugural National Science Bowl team from Seminole Ridge High. SECME students Kayleigh Previte, Ralph Regis, Zack Wiggin, and Robert Botkin drove down to Miami to compete in the regional match of the US Department of Energy NSB!
We lost in overtime on a technical foul -- our team's captain buzzed in fastest on the tossup question but responded to the question without first being recognized by the judge, so the team from Ft. Myers got the win from penalty points. The regional was double elimination. In the next match, the team from Plantation had, in the words of Zack, "ninja-fast reflexes." We knew the answers, but the other team beat us to the buzzer. If only we had had one more practice round to familiarize ourselves with the lock-out buzzer system.
Let's see: this is a simple tool to measure your reaction time with. The median reaction time is 215 milliseconds so far.
THE GOOD NEWS: Paeans of praise
"It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again; because there is not effort without error and shortcomings; but who does actually strive to do the deed; who knows the great enthusiasm, the great devotion, who spends himself in a worthy cause, who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement and who at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly. So that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat."
- Theodore Roosevelt, "Man in the Arena" Speech given April 23, 1910
26th president of US (1858 - 1919)
THE BAD NEWS: We still lost.
THE OTHER GOOD NEWS: Just wait until the Brain Bowl at SECME Regionals on April 10th.
The U.S. Department of Energy National Science Bowl encourages high school students to excel in math and science. By raising the visibility of academic achievement in math and science, the program has succeeded in placing young people on par with their peers who excel in athletics. The Science Bowl is a fast-paced, exciting, and challenging competition.
DOE has partnered with SHPE and AHETEMS to bring this enriching competition to Hispanic serving areas across the country. The SHPE Regional Science Bowls engage Hispanic middle school and high school students in an enriching, challenging and competitive environment to motivate and heighten their interest in math and science. The competition is an intense and fun "Jeopardy"-style round-robin session preceding a double-elimination tournament. Teams, composed of four competitors and an alternate, are challenged to answer a range of multiple-choice and short answer questions in math, chemistry, biology, physics, astronomy, earth science and general science.
The winning team - participants and coach - from the SHPE Regional Science Bowls receives an invitation consisting of a complementary 4-day trip, to compete at the U.S. Department of Energy National Science Bowl, hosted in Washington DC.
As SHPE and AHETEMS continue to serve the needs of the Hispanic community and be a resource for the educational advancement and sucees of Latino youth, teams participating in the SHPE-sponsored Regional Science Bowls should strive to have at least 50% Hispanic participation (2-of-4, or 3-of-5). By increasing access to this competition, SHPE hopes to help inspire Hispanic youth see science, math and engineering as an exciting, challenging and fun career with lots of opportunties
Friday, February 19, 2010
Battle by the Bay of the Bots!
Battle By the Bay of the Bots!
Hello Everyone,
Here are a few points of information for you.
I've attached the Program Schedule:
8am Doors open, Team Check In, Robot Inspection, Practice Field open in Pit Area
8:30am Judging Interviews in Pit Area, Programming and Robot Skills Challenge on Competition Fields
9:45am Drivers Meeting
10am Opening Ceremonies
10:15am Qualification Rounds
12:30pm-1:30pm Lunch
2:30pm Alliance Selection followed by Elimination Rounds
4pm Awards Ceremony
Berkeley Preparatory School is located at:
4811 Kelly Rd.
Tampa, FL 33615
Parking:
Teams can enter from Kelly Rd. (the west entrance) and drop off their equipment at the Buc Stop. To get there follow around to the right going along the side of campus. At the stop sign take a left and you'll see the Buc Stop on your left before you get to the bridge. The large building you'd be facing is the Gym and Field House where our event will take place. The Field House will be our Pit Area and the Gym is where the Competition Fields are.
Concessions:
Our Bistro will be open with some breakfast items as well as other snacks and drinks.
Please Bring:
Remember your consent forms for the team to turn in at the Team Check In. Also remember your safety goggles.
Please email me if you have any questions. We will see you soon!
Keith Walka
Robotics Instructor
Help Desk Technician
Hello Everyone,
Here are a few points of information for you.
I've attached the Program Schedule:
8am Doors open, Team Check In, Robot Inspection, Practice Field open in Pit Area
8:30am Judging Interviews in Pit Area, Programming and Robot Skills Challenge on Competition Fields
9:45am Drivers Meeting
10am Opening Ceremonies
10:15am Qualification Rounds
12:30pm-1:30pm Lunch
2:30pm Alliance Selection followed by Elimination Rounds
4pm Awards Ceremony
Berkeley Preparatory School is located at:
4811 Kelly Rd.
Tampa, FL 33615
Parking:
Teams can enter from Kelly Rd. (the west entrance) and drop off their equipment at the Buc Stop. To get there follow around to the right going along the side of campus. At the stop sign take a left and you'll see the Buc Stop on your left before you get to the bridge. The large building you'd be facing is the Gym and Field House where our event will take place. The Field House will be our Pit Area and the Gym is where the Competition Fields are.
Concessions:
Our Bistro will be open with some breakfast items as well as other snacks and drinks.
Please Bring:
Remember your consent forms for the team to turn in at the Team Check In. Also remember your safety goggles.
Please email me if you have any questions. We will see you soon!
Keith Walka
Robotics Instructor
Help Desk Technician
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