SPOKANE, Wash. – Seventy young scientists will vie for top honors in an annual science contest next week, and the top three teams will participate in the first annual Spokane STEMposium in May.
The Mathematics, Engineering, Science Achievement (MESA) Science Competition will be 8 a.m.-1:45 p.m. Wednesday, March 26, at Eastern Washington University (EWU) in Cheney.
“This competition is a culminating event for students who have been part of the Spokane MESA program from grades seven through nine, “ said Joanna Moznette, Spokane MESA Center director. “It provides them with the opportunity to build on what they’ve learned while exploring a topic in which they have an interest, rather than a topic that was handed to them.”
Tenth-grade teams will be judged on their scientific inquiry projects on a topic of their choosing. Projects will be judged on a technical paper that documents the experiment and an oral presentation that summarizes project details.
The judging panel consists of Spokane area business and industry professionals.
Preliminary oral presentations will be 8:30 a.m.-noon in the Pence Union Building. Finalists will compete 12:30-1:15 p.m. in the JFK Auditorium with an award ceremony following. See event schedule below.
Team winners will receive awards and prizes from Spokane MESA and its cosponsors, Washington State University Spokane and EWU. The top three teams will participate in the first Spokane STEMposium, a one-day science, technology, engineering and mathematics conference for middle and high school students on May 28 on the WSU Spokane campus.
This year’s Spokane MESA Science Competition is made possible with support from Avista Corporation and EWU.
Learn more about MESA at http://www.spokane.wsu.edu/mesa. Find a map of EWU at http://www.ewu.edu/Documents/Locations/Cheney/CampusMapNew.pdf. Event Schedule: 8-8:30 a.m.: Welcome & plan for the day 8:30 a.m.-noon: Oral presentations & performance competition Noon-12:30 p.m.: Lunch 12:30-1:15 p.m.: Final competition 1:15-1:40 p.m.: Awards 1:45 p.m.: Depart for schools
Contact:
Joanna Moznette, Spokane MESA, 509-358-7966, moznette@wsu.edu