eSTEM Challenge
The Center for Pre-College Programs at NJIT is proud to announce our fourth annual Elementary STEM challenge for elementary school students (3rd - 5th grade), focusing on engineering and design.
This year's challenge will feature an "Emerging Technology" question (involving topics such as Big Data, Artificial Intelligence, Virtual Reality, or Internet of Things) that student teams will solve using the Engineering Design Process (EDP). Student teams will design, build, and demonstrate their working models.
Challenge Date: March 20th, 2024 from 8:30am-2:00pm (Snow Date: March 22nd, 2024)
Eligibility: 3rd - 5th grade students
# of Team Members: 4 - 6 student members per team (Limited to 1 team per school)
*We are no longer limiting the number of schools in a school district from participating!
Registration Deadline: December 1st, 2023
Registration Fee: Payment method must be by check or school purchase order
Early Bird Registration: $250 per team (must register by November 6th)
General Registration: $300 per team
Costs includes:
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Supply kits
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Engineering Logbooks (one per student)
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A teacher-coaches live, online professional development workshop
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An opportunity for teacher-coaches to participate in a hands-on session with the provided technology that will be used for the challenge prior to challenge kick-off
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An NJIT student mentor who will meet with the team on a weekly basis for seven weeks prior to the on-campus competition
Challenge Components:
- Engineering Design Device Demonstration (40% of the overall score):. The first component of the challenge will require students to demonstrate the devices they worked on for the six weeks leading up to the competition. Judges will time, observe and evaluate the students using a score sheet during the device demonstration.
- Game Show Challenge (15% of the overall score): The second part of the challenge will be a game show style question and answer challenge where the teams will use a Computer Application to answer questions.
- Oral Presentation (30% of the overall score): The third part of the challenge will feature team members’ presentations of project overviews that include their design processes, concepts and evidence of teamwork. The presentation will include a board/slide display and provide information on Engineering principles used as well as methodology and scientific reasoning.
- Engineer's Logbook (15% of the overall score): The Fourth part of the challenge will require the team members to complete and submit an Engineer’s Logbook.
NJIT Student Mentors:
Each team will be assigned an NJIT Student Mentor that will meet with the team on a weekly basis for seven weeks prior to the challenge to answer questions regarding rules and logistics, and provide overall guidance to the team.
Teacher (Coaches) Professional Development:
Wednesday, January 10th from 3:30pm-4:30pm (virtual)
Awards & Prizes:
The challenge will culminate with an award ceremony that will include the announcement of first, second and third place challenge winners based on overall scores. Additional awards will be given to the teams for best building / design, best presentation and best Engineer's Logbook. Other special awards will include best teamwork, most innovative design and a sportsmanship award. Medals will be given to each team member in the award categories, while the top placing teams will receive a trophy.
If you have any questions or need additional information, please do not hesitate to contact us at eSTEM-group@njit.edu.