Welcome!
We are delighted that you’re interested in participating in the STEM Challenge and hope that it offers your students a wonderful learning experience.Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) is dedicated to supporting STEM education programs to fuel students’ creativity and prepare them to pursue STEM careers.
The STEM Challenge gives students the opportunity first to learn about LANL, and then take that knowledge and propose their own imaginative project through a poster, video, app, or essay. Through this process, students enhance their collaboration, writing, critical thinking, and communication skills.
As you explore this website, you will find many resources to help you get started.
Sincerely,
Kurt Steinhaus
Director, LANL Community Programs office
Built to engage Northern New Mexico middle and high school students in the STEM disciplines (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) and to encourage innovation in our schools, the Los Alamos STEM Challenge invites students to…
» DESIGN an original STEM solution for the future.
» RESEARCH the feasibility of their proposal.
» SUBMIT their idea through one of the media formats:
- Poster
- Video
- App
- Essay
Student teams of 4-6 will collaborate to answer questions like…
- What changes can you imagine for yourself and your community?
- What social or ecological problems need to be solved?
- What new technology or STEM innovations would you like to see in the next 10 years?
- What would it look like if you could design the future of travel, commerce, communication, or just the everyday house?
- What could careers and vacations be like if space exploration continues?
There is lots more inspiration over at Explore Ideas.
Prizes
Six School awards of $300 will be awarded for each category for their Science/Math class;
poster, video, app, and essay, in two groupings, middle school and high school.
The “Best of Show” for each group will win a Kindle Fire or IPad Mini for each of their team members (up to six students per team).
Awards will be presented to the team by the school’s Superintendent and Principal.
Encourage your students to enter the Challenge to have fun, win prizes, and develop valuable 21st century STEM skills.
21st Century Innovators
21st century students need to be both critical thinkers and creative producers.
In addition to having a strong grasp of the STEM concepts radically transforming their everyday lives and future careers, young learners need to be able to apply their knowledge and literacy skills to media and technology messages: visual, auditory, and linguistic.
These skills are essential in the new economy and emerging global marketplace.
The 2nd Annual Los Alamos STEM Challenge offers your students the tools and the opportunity to think, innovate, and create media products to effectively communicate their ideas.
How It Works
The concept is simple.
Organized around LANL projects and 21st century skills, the STEM Challenge engages students in a real world project.
Students start by learning as much as possible about the Laboratory and the work performed here as a springboard for their own ideas and creations.
The end result is a polished model of their idea presented as a poster, video, app, or essay.
Resources
Student Workspace provides step-by-step tools and resources to guide students through the process of creating and submitting their project.
Teacher Workspace offers lesson plans, handouts, and tons of resources to make the projects fun and easy to implement.
Scientist Portals highlights three LANL scientists and the projects that they are working on. Students can read about real-world innovations.
STEM Design Tool guides students through the entire project, from brainstorming and research to troubleshooting and getting feedback, to the final design submission process.
Choose Media outlines the four media categories that students choose from to enter the Challenge. A rubric and checklist for each category is provided so that students know how their entries will be evaluated and use it as a guideline throughout the design process.
Guidelines and Tools collects all the guidelines and tools for participating in the Challenge in one place. Here you can quickly access and download all the available PDF files and links.
Los Alamos STEM Challenge Pinterest board is a new way to share resources with you and your students. In this years’ Challenge we are requiring that students submit a Pinterest board documenting their research and design process. We will be repinning the highlights from their entries on this board at the completion of the Challenge.
As a supporter of local businesses in our community, the Los Alamos STEM Challenge was created in partnership with local business owner and STEMArts founder Agnes Chavez, who is providing these exciting, 21st century web platform and curriculum tools.
The STEMArts research project explores innovative ways to engage students in meaningful STEM + Art collaborations that help them explore innovative new mediums, while developing valuable STEM skills for the 21st century.
