Have you ever visited a science or engineering museum? Well, this year's IBM EWeek Design Challenge gave teams of students the opportunity to design and build an exhibit for a science museum.

The IBM EWeek Design Challenge organizing committee envisioned a FICTIONAL science museum, which we called the "Watson Hall of Science and Engineering." As in previous Design Challenges, teams were evaluated on various criteria by a panel of judges. In particular, the judges took the perspective of visitors to our FICTIONAL museum.

"My students and I feel that participating in this competition grants students the creative freedom to learn more about whatever science topic they're especially interested in; they can compete against other schools to see how well they did in their project design; they get the opportunity to talk to professionals about their careers at IBM; and they begin to get experience in a field of science."
Leslie Hoellger (teacher), Lakeland Copper Beech Middle School

• Introduction
• Types of Exhibits
• Detailed Deliverables and Guidelines
• Restrictions and Conditions
• Judging
• Scoring Breakdown
• Timetable Review
• Useful Information and Websites
• Contact Information

Registration by your school representative was due by February 15, 2008
See "Contact Information" at the end of this document for registration details.

Introduction

Types of Exhibits

The Watson Hall of Science and Engineering sought exhibits from engineering and science disciplines including, but not limited to the following themes:

• Mechanics: pulleys, levers, strength of structures (bridges)
• Physics: gravity, conservation of momentum, light phenomena, sound (music), astronomy (celestial motion)
• Mathematics: optimization, geometric principles, probability (genetics)
• Computer Science: computations, algorithms
• Electricity: batteries, LEDs, circuits
• Magnetism: levitation systems
• Materials: strength, properties
• Chemistry: electroplating, catalysts, color, pH, chromatography
• Environmental Science: renewable energy, reducing carbon footprints, water purification, novel transportation ideas

"In the several years that I have been involved with the IBM DC, I have watched many students dedicate themselves to research, experimentation and consideration at a level I've never seen in my classroom. The children take this challenge very seriously, as there is competition to determine who will represent our school at this event. I am very pleased to have witnessed the intellectual and personal growth of the finalists regardless of the competition's outcome. The IBM staff is very supportive of all student groups and has appropriately high expectations for their work. As a result, I fully intend to remain involved in this challenge in the coming years."
Andreas Sturm (Grade 6 Science Teacher), Seven Bridges School

Detailed Deliverables and Guidelines

1. Teams are made up of 3 middle school students (i.e. grades 6,7 & 8) and 1 mentor (i.e., teacher, teacher's aide, parent). Each school may nominate one team.
2. Choose an exhibit theme that is
   • educational and can be demonstrated in an interactive and entertaining fashion
   • at an appropriate educational level for you, so that you can understand it and effectively explain it to the judges
   • at an appropriate educational level for the intended audience of elementary and/or middle school students that the judges are representing
   • not the same as any previous theme your school has submitted to IBM EWeek Design Challenge; each year an original concept must be developed by each school
3. Submit your proposed exhibit theme by March 3, 2008 via email or Fax to the IBM EWeek Design Challenge 2008 organizing committee. For safety reasons, it is imperative that we pre-approve all proposed exhibits. We will communicate our decisions to the team mentors within one week. In the event that we do not approve your proposed theme, we will help you to either identify a way to re-work this theme or encourage you to select a new theme.
   Find Contact information at the END of this document.
   

   Note that your emailed or faxed proposal contributes up to 3 points of your overall potential team score of 100 points.

4. Once your exhibit is approved by the IBM EWeek Design Challenge committee, your team should submit an essay by April 16, 2008. The essay must include these three elements:
   • A brief description (500-1000 words) defining the scientific or engineering principle and how it is demonstrated by the exhibit
   • List of contributors to the project and their individual responsibilities
   • A source list (bibliography) that contains at least 3 authoritative sources that were used in the project
   The essay must be received by IBM no later than April 16, 2008.
   Find Contact information at the END of this document.
   

   Your essay's three elements, as well as submitting on time, contribute up to 12 points of your overall potential team score of 100 points.

5. Build the exhibit, which includes your interactive model and your poster display.
   • Model should be
   • an interactive/hands-on, physical (not virtual) representation of the scientific or engineering principle you are trying to explain
   • safely usable by the judges
   • intended for repeated use; if you are using consumable components, you must bring enough of the consumable components for 10 people to try it and whatever else you need to set up your exhibit.
   • Poster display should
   • describe the science and/or engineering portrayed by your exhibit
   • use an aesthetically pleasing and creative design (including font size, layout, etc) intended for viewing by multiple people standing in front of your exhibit
6. Present your exhibit to each team of judges at the EWeek Design Challenge "Watson Hall of Science and Engineering Gala Opening" on Wednesday, May 7, 2008.
   Your presentation consists of
   • Demonstrating the science and/or engineering principle by using your interactive model and poster display
   • Accurately explaining the science and/or engineering principle to the judges who are representing the intended audience (elementary and/or middle school students)
   • Answering questions from the judges about your exhibit
   • Your team will have approximately 10 minutes for your presentation and questions for each team of judges

Note that all student members of the team should contribute to the presentation made to the judges.

"Participation in the EWeek Challenge is a great opportunity for middle-schoolers to show their imagination and creativity. The local opportunity for students to research, design and construct an exhibit for the "Watson Museum" is not to be missed. The added element of display and competition is icing on the cake!!!!"
Fred DePalma (science teacher), Louis M. Klein Middle School

Restrictions and conditions

• If you submitted a theme in a previous IBM EWeek Design Challenge, we will not accept the same theme for this year's challenge. You will be required to develop a new theme.
• For safety reasons, your model cannot include the use of open flame, explosives, radiation, living organisms (animals, insects, bacteria, viruses, etc.)
• Your exhibit is intended for use by children, so safety is paramount
• The model and poster display must be conceptualized and constructed by the student members of the team, with guidance from the team mentor
• Should you choose to use a computer in your exhibit, its application should be either to enhance or support the overall physical model
• The model and poster display must either fit on one or more tables (nominally 30" deep by 72" wide by 36" high) or stand on the floor (and be less than nominally 30" deep by 72" wide by 72" high)
• The model may incorporate electric, electronic and/or software elements
• The total cost of all materials used to construct the model may not exceed $100 (both hardware and software)
• Tools used for construction are not subject to the $100 budget limit. Such tools might include wood or metal shop tools, personal computers and/or the application software (e.g. editors and compilers) used to construct the model
• Software components (if present) should be used in a way that demonstrates significant creative design effort

Judging

• Overall exhibit
1. The originality and creativity in your exhibit's portrayal of the scientific and engineering concepts exhibited by your model
2. The applicability to the intended audience of elementary and/or middle school students
3. The educational value offered by your exhibit
4. The entertainment value offered by your exhibit
• Presentation
1. Your level of understanding of the principle the exhibit is portraying
2. Your ability to communicate this understanding through the use of your interactive model and poster display
3. The level of teamwork exhibited amongst your team (e.g., did everyone contribute equally?)
• Model
1. The level of interaction offered by your model
2. The level and quality of construction of your model
3. The level of robustness (ability for repeated use) demonstrated by your model

Scores consist of

• 85 points: At the event itself, your exhibit, presentation, and model will contribute up to 85 points of your team's overall potential score of 100 points.
• 15 points: Prior to the EWeek Design Challenge event, the submission of 1) your proposed exhibit theme as well as 2) your essay contribute up to a total of 15 points to your team's overall score.

Timetable Review

• February 15th, 2008 - School registration was due
• March 3rd, 2008 - Submission of theme was due
• April 16th, 2008 - Submission of essay was due
• May 7th, 2008 - The challenge was held at IBM.

Useful Information and Websites

• N.Y. Hall of Science
• Ontario Science Centre
• San Francisco Exploratorium
• Franklin Institute in PA
• Liberty Science Center in NJ
• The Tech Museum of Innovation in CA

1. Gardner, Robert. Light, Sound, and Waves Science Fair Projects: Using Sunglasses, Guitars, Cds, and Other Stuff. Enslow Publishers, 2004
2. Phillips, Greg, Lorraine Hoffman and Janet Ambrust. Middle School Science Fair Projects. Instructional Fair/Ts Denison, 1997
3. Rhatigan, Joe and Heather Smith. Sure-to-Win Science Fair Projects. Lark, 2002

Lisa Costantino

lacosta@us.ibm.com - preferred method of communication

Phone: (914) 945-2822

Daniel Connors

dconnors@us.ibm.com

Phone: (914) 945-3095

Loredana Pullano

pullano@us.ibm.com

Phone: (914) 945-4142

Fax: (914) 945-2297

The Watson Hall of Science and Engineering is a FICTIONAL entity used as the theme for EWeek 2008.

Top two teams selected by judges

• Isaac E. Young MS, New Rochelle, NY - "Electricity: Circuits, LEDs, and Batteries"
• St. Ann's Parish School, Ossining, NY - "Force and Motion"

Team selected by the student participants as the "People's Choice"

• Louis M. Klein MS, Harrison, NY - "Rube Goldberg Machine"

Other participating schools

• Anne M. Dorner MS, Ossining, NY
• Blue Mountain MS, Cortlandt Manor, NY
• Valhalla MS, Valhalla, NY
• Woodlands MS, Hartsdale, NY

Click Here to learn about last year's special event, IBM EWeek Design Challenge 2007