Design Competition
For Educators
Your Role during the design competition is to:
Over the course of the spring semester, you will support your students as they brainstorm, problem-solve, research, and implement the engineering design process. NWAY will work with you to connect your students with STEM mentors who will provide students with feedback on their projects. Together, this STEM-ecosystem helps students build 21st-century skills including creativity, communication, teamwork, problem-solving, and much, much more!
Learn more by downloading these important documents
Make sure to check out the FAQs below. You can also access this Contact Form and an NWAY team member will answer all your questions.
Overview Flyer
Download the PDF
Competition Handbook
Download the PDF
Ready to register a team?
Contact us to Register!
The first 30 organizations can enter for free!
How Can I lead my team to success?
Successful teams will implement the Engineering Design Process and Project Management cycle. These two processes work very well together and are perfect tools for this Design Competition. To help you lead your team to success, NWAY’s project partner, Future City, has created these short videos.
FAQs
What will my students do?
The NWAY Design Competition is a flexible, project based learning experience that can be adapted for any learning environment. Whether it be a classroom, after-school club, homeschool group, or informal learning organizations (museums, science centers, libraries, etc.).
Students will apply their science, engineering, mathematics and technology knowledge and skills as well as learn more about the Moon and space exploration.
They will create a physical 3D model of their habitat from simple materials (recyclables).
Students will interact with STEM mentors, learn to receive feedback and incorporate mentors’ feedback into their design.
A variety of skill sets and interests are addressed like creativity, problem solving, building scale models, researching, writing, technology applications and presenting.
Is there a set curriculum to follow?
NWAY provides an optional curriculum – you can choose to use all, part, or none of it. Curriculum guide coming soon!
Is the NWAY Design Competition aligned with educational standards?
Does the NWAY Design Competition accommodate gifted and/or exceptional children?
Who can participate?
How many students are on a team?
Do I have to register?
Yes. Every organization needs to register. An organization can have multiple teams in the design competition. By registering, you will have access to STEM mentors, virtual guest speakers, and support by the NWAY team.
To get started with registration, complete this contact form. The first 30 organizations can register for free!
How much does it cost?
The first 30 organizations can enter for free!
$25.00 registration fee per organization. Each organization can register up to 20 teams for the $25 fee. If you have more than 20 teams another $25 fee will apply. The fees collected will offset the cost of the virtual platform that will be used for the competition.
Additional costs at your organization’s expense include supplies for the model and presentation. This cost is limited to a $100 budget and most teams offset it by using recycled materials for the habitat model construction.
What is the competition timeline?
For the specific timeline refer to the Competition-Handbook. A general timeline is provided below:
Teams must be registered by mid-February. Teams work on the project throughout the spring semester (Feb. – May).
In mid-March, teams submit a video presentation introducing their team and outlining their design and approach. STEM mentors will provide feedback to each team.
A preliminary competition will be conducted at the end of April. Students will prepare and submit a video showcasing their model (see the competition handbook for details). The top 10% of teams will be invited to compete in the Final Round which will be held in early May.
What is the time commitment?
The program runs from February to May. You choose how often your students will meet and work on the project.
Educators may spend approximately 30 hours while students may spend 40 to 60 hours on the project. Educators can partner with colleagues to help lead the team – the technology teacher to oversee the production of the video presentations, and the art and/or math teacher to lead the 3D Model building, etc.
What resources are available?
TheCompetition-Handbook details everything about the competition including the scoring rubrics.
The NWAY curriculum guide (coming soon) contains classroom activities aligned to the engineering design process. This curriculum guide is optional. You can use all, part, or none of it as you see fit!
Additional online and print resources related to the current year’s theme can be found in the NWAY curriculum guide. Photos and videos of previous years’ projects and presentations are posted here and can serve as examples.
What support will I have?
You will be assigned a STEM mentor who can provide feedback on your students’ design prior to building the 3D model.
Can parents and the community participate?
Students will do the brainstorming, researching, and building. Use the rest of the ecosystem to provide feedback, encouragement, building materials (recyclables). You can also ask STEM businesses in your community to provide mentorship to the students.
How do I help my students with...?
Remember, you don’t always need to have the answers! Set a good example by doing the research along with your students.
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