Seminole SECME 'Hawk Talk' newsletter Spring 2012

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

- Guard the Gateway, Win the Game! Hawks Take Trophy in VEX Robotics Clash
- Figure This! See the Center Sona? What's Missing in the Middle
- SECME Spotlight on Audrey Miller
- Drop It, Build It at Science Museum
- SECME at Science Bowl in Miami
- Hawks Take Third Place Trophy in SECME Olympiad

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

>Hawk Talk Spring 2012

Figure This! Every Second Counts When It’s Leap Day

Why do we have leap year in 2012, but not in 2011 or 2013? The issue is the length of time it takes the Earth to circle the sun. There is no reason in nature to expect the length of the year for a planet to be divisible evenly by its length of the day, but this failure has created a challenge for calendars throughout history. To account for the fact that it takes Earth 365.242196 days to orbit the sun, the ancient Roman implemented a system by which every fourth year would have an extra day (366 instead of 365). This “leap day” falls on the last day of February in 2012, as it did in 2008 and will in 2016, but not in-between. Later, during the Renaissance, this system was made more precise by omitting one leap day every four centuries; we leap a leap year if it is evenly divisible by 100 but not 400 (like 2100), giving us the "Gregorian" calendar that is now used throughout the world.

Figure this! On average, how many seconds does the month of February have? Assume a day is 24 hours (it isn’t but that’s for another column). Since 3,600 seconds are in an hour, 3600 × 24, or 86,400 seconds are in a day. But the answer isn’t an average of 2,419,200 seconds!

Hint: February usually has 28 days, except during leap years, when it has 29 days.

Get Started: In a 400-year span, how many leap versus non-leap Februarys occur?

Kavli Science Video Contest: Save the World through Science and Engineering

CALL FOR ENTRIES FOR THE KAVLI SCIENCE VIDEO CONTEST

The Kavli Foundation is challenging Grades 6-12 students across the world to brainstorm and share their ideas!

This year's central theme, or driving question, is how to "Save the World through Science and Engineering".

Grades 6-12 students make a short video ( :30 - :90) that shows how scientific discoveries and inventions can improve our lives and change our world, either right now or in the future.

Students compete for the chance to win $2000 (first prize) and a travel stipend to Washington DC to attend the festival.

The winners are also honored in an awards ceremony, hosted by Bill Nye, as part of the festival.

Entries are due no later than March 21, 2012.

For more information contact Stacy Jannis, USA Science & Engineering Festival
Student Contests and School Programs Outreach Coordinator, jannisprods@earthlink.net, 301.585.3981, or visit the website: http://www.usasciencefestival.org/2012festival/contests/kavli-video-contest

PLAN IT – BUILD IT – LIVE IT – WIN IT!

PLAN IT – BUILD IT – LIVE IT – WIN IT! Seminole Ridge Hawks take third place during district engineering Olympiad

Seminole Ridge SECME is the winner of six trophies and ribbons at the 2012 SECME Olympiad engineering competition, including third place overall for Palm Beach County! Teams from fifteen high schools in Palm Beach County participated in the engineering contests at Santaluces Community High School in Lantana on Saturday, February 25, 2012. 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.
Seminole SECME takes 3rd place in 2012 Olympiad
The competition of cogitators was fierce. And the Hawks soared high: honorable mention - brain bowl; honorable mention - mousetrap powered vehicle; second place - water rocket; second place - poster; first place - banner; third 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 2012 Palm Beach County School District SECME Olympiad on Saturday, February 26, 2012)

20120225 SDPBC Secondary SECME Olympiad

FPL Engineer Shares Love of Engineering with Under-Served Youth

“It’s important to me to be able to give back to my community by promoting science and engineering fields to children who have limited exposure to them,” said FPL Production Assurance Engineer Melanie Roger. “If I can help get young children interested in the sciences and have a desire to enter into the field, than I feel as though I've been successful. We should all do our part in ensuring the success of our future leaders.”
Juno Beach, FL, February 25, 2012 — Florida Power & Light's Melanie Roger has a passion for her profession.

FAU Owls host 2012 Engineering Week Expo

Seminole Ridge SECME was welcomed to Florida Atlantic University by Dean Mohammad Ilyas, head of the College of Engineering and Computer Science on Tuesday, February 21. High students from Palm Beach and Broward counties were on the Boca campus for a pre-college presentation for National Engineering Week.
Engineers Make a World of Difference: (l to r) Ronit Liberman, Kris Cousins, and Summer Roque with our winning banner.
The event began with a parade of banners the students had created on the theme “Engineers Make a World of Difference,” followed by speakers from the US Air Force on new technologies and the Australian outback, and the US Navy on nuclear energy and submarines. Students toured the campus laboratories, with demonstrations on the different types of engineering classes and research projects conducted at FAU, including electrical, civil, mechanical and ocean engineering and computer science on the cloud.
2nd place banner winners (l. to r.) Ronit Liberman, Kris Cousins, and Seminole SECME Captain Caitlin Miller with Jessica Lewis and Brenda Simmons from the FAU Deparment of Engineering Students Services
The day ended with Seminole SECME winning second place in the banner competition. The Hawks then explored the exhibits at Science Explorium in Boca Raton.

(Click on the first picture to flip through the Seminole SECME team at Florida Atlantic University for National Engineering Week 2012 and the Children's Science Explorium on Tuesday, February 21, 2012)

20120221 FAU E-Week

Brain Games – Seminole Ridge SECME Competes in Science Bowl

The brightest Seminole Ridge SECME students were fast with facts on physics, chemistry, earth science, energy and math. But they needed to be fastest with their fingers to buzz in before their equally intellectual competition. Twenty-four teams from across the state competed for a spot at the National Science Bowl in the regional qualifiers at Florida International University main Miami campus on Saturday, February 19, 2012. Seminole Ridge SECME was represented at NSB by Captain Caitlin Nicole Miller, Ronit Liberman, Qwynn Burch, Gabriel Pinder, Patrick Eden, Mitchell Herrmann, Zach Chmielewiez.

(Click on the first picture to flip through the Seminole SECME team at United States Department of Energy National Science Bowl South Florida Regional Qualifier 2012 at Florida International University on Saturday, February 18, 2012)

20120218 US DOE NSB at FIU

National Science Bowl (NSB) is an academic competition sponsored by the United States Department of Energy that offers a chance for teams of high school students to match their mental abilities in STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) subjects. Teams compete in this fast-paced "jeopardy" style, head-to-head competition, which includes preliminary and double-elimination matches. In this competition students answer either multiple-choice or short-answer questions relating to STEM facts or concepts. Each 16-minute match has a two-minute intermission. Questions are read aloud by a moderator. Any player can buzz in to answer a “toss-up” question. Points are awarded for a correct answer, and the team can then answer a bonus question. At the end of the match, the team with the most points wins.

For example, the energy category of the NSB focuses on energy in its many manifestations: sources of energy, energy applications, energy production, energy efficiency, and other areas related to this field. Energy is a cross-disciplinary category, integrating topics from physical sciences, life sciences, earth and space sciences, and environmental sciences. When studying other disciplines, focus on certain strands that apply to energy: biology contains energy when examining: chemical reactions in cells, cellular functions, photosynthesis, and food energy; earth and space sciences include energy sources as well as environmental science topics (such as: human usage of energy, finite resources, and natural systems as resources). Physical sciences are chock full of energy topics, including: atomic and nuclear energy, motion and forces, electricity, conservation of energy, potential and kinetic energy, heat and temperature, and interactions of energy and matter.

This year, the silver Hawks failed to advance to the double elimination bracket with four losses and one bye during the round robin. The winning school will go on to the 22nd National Science Bowl in Washington D.C., Apr. 26-30, where they will compete for the national title against more than 450 students from 68 high schools. But even the students who don't earn a trip to the finals agree that competing in Science Bowl bolsters their understanding and their outlook. Last year, First Lady Michelle Obama congratulated every single student who participated in the NSB. Said Mrs. Obama, "We want young people energized in the way that you all are, because we know that American brainpower in science and math has always driven this country's prosperity, helping us make the discoveries and to build the industries that have transformed the way we live and work."

South Florida FIRST Robotics, March 29th – 31st

This year Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton will be the site of South Florida’s FIRST Robotics Regional competition where high school teams from the entire state of Florida, North America, and Central America will compete. Over 40 teams will bring 1,600 high school students and 1,000 mentors, family members and supporters to this event in March of 2012. For more information about FIRST: http://firstinflorida.wordpress.com. For inquiries or questions directly about FIRST activities in south Florida, please send your emails to: robosofl@gmail.com.

Seminole Ridge Robotics Team Wins “Clash in Clermont”

Seminole Ridge Robotics Team Wins “Clash in Clermont”

Seminole Ridge SECME students won first place at the “Clash in Clermont” on Saturday, February 18, 2012. The Hawks took home the trophy from VEX Robotic Competition Gateway tournament, and qualified for spot at the VEX Robotics High School World Championship in April!

VRC Team 1614 consisted of robot driver Bert Sivongsay, field scout Jesse Mendheim, and programmers Brendon Gearty, brothers John and Joe Swierzko, and coach Ed Batchelor. To prepare for the competition, the group has designed, built, and programmed a robot that could quickly and efficiently solve the specific obstacles and challenges in playing VEX Gateway.

Assistant Principal John Hay looks on as Seminole SECME students Joe Swierzko, John Swierzko , Bert Sivongsay, and Jesse Mendheim of VEX robotics team 1614 program their robot for autonomous operations.

Our students competed with and against 30 teams from across the state—Melbourne to Miami, Loxahatchee to Leesburg. At the end of qualifying rounds, we ranked sixth with four wins and two losses. Advancing into alliance selection for the playoffs, the Hawks put together the winning trio of teams made of team 880A Wolverine Robotics from Belen Jesuit Preparatory School in Miami, team 1365A ERM Robotics from East Ridge Middle School and team 1614 Seminole SECME from Seminole Ridge High School in Loxahatchee. Our alliance won the best two out of three against the previously undefeated Carver Crazies and the Red Raider Robotics from Carver Middle School.

Our SECME VRC team must now raise funds to cover the cost of robot parts, competition entry fees, and transportation expenses. Support them this spring — make a matching gift at http://seminolesecme.blogspot.com

The 2012 VEX Robotics World Championship is a gathering of greatest robotics teams from around the world to celebrate their accomplishments and compete with/against the best of the best. Held in Anaheim, California on April 19-21, 2012, it will include top-ranked teams from over 230 VEX Robotics Competition Gateway tournaments happening in cities around the world from May 2011 to March 2012.

The goal of VEX Gateway is to attain a higher score than the opponent by scoring ‘barrels’ and ‘balls in goals. Two alliances—‘red’ and ‘blue’—are composed of randomly paired teams to compete during a twenty-second autonomous period followed by two minutes of driver-controlled play. The allies work both independently in the isolation zones behind the Gateway and together in the interaction zone.
Clash in Clermont qualifying round
Giving SECME students the opportunity to work with the VEX robotics systems promotes education in the areas of science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) and teaches critical life skills such as teamwork, project management and problem solving.

Each week, Seminole SECME students apply what they’ve learned about science, technology, engineering, and math in order to build the semiautonomous VEX machines. And through the competition students learn an equally important skill set: communication, project management, site management, and composure, working together on a variety of challenges and obstacles requiring problem-solving skills.

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.