CONTEST EMAIL ARCHIVES

Date: 03/13/2007

Subject: Rocket Lesson Plan Competition

Team America Rocket Challenge

Rocket Lesson Plan Competition

The American Association of Physics Teachers (AAPT), in cooperation with AIA’s Team America Rocket Challenge (TARC), is interested in identifying best practices for implementing model rocketry into both the formal instructional classroom as well as the informal activities of clubs such as the 4-H, Boy & Girl Scouts, and other after school programs. AAPT invites the teachers and/or coaches of teams participating in the 2007 TARC to submit lesson plans or similar documents describing their team’s activities, planning, and experiments undertaken while preparing for the 2007 TARC competition. The lesson plans and other documentation should address the following:

• How do the activities described in the lesson plans and other documents address the local, state, and national STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) standards?
• How do the activities described in the lesson plans and other documents encourage a cooperative working atmosphere among the team members?
• How do the activities described in the lesson plans and other documents encourage participation by females and minorities who are underrepresented in STEM disciplines at the professional level?

There will be two divisions for the competition:

• Division I for the formal instructional classroom teams.
• Division II for the informal instruction teams.

All materials should be submitted to the AAPT at the address below by April 20, 2007. The first place winner for Division I will receive an all expenses paid trip to the 2007 AAPT/PTRA Summer Institute and the AAPT Summer Meeting in Greensboro, North Carolina, July 21-August 1, 2007, and a one year membership in AAPT. The first place winner for Division II will receive an all expenses paid trip to the 2007 TARC finals in The Plains, Virginia, May 18-20, 2007. In addition, first place winners in both divisions will receive $200 gift certificates to purchase supplies from ESTES Rockets. Second and third place winners will receive $100 and $50 gift certificates respectively to purchase supplies from ESTES Rockets. All six winners will be recognized in AAPT publications, in an AAPT press release, and on the AAPT website.

Submit entries by April 20, 2007, to:

AAPT TARC

ATTN: Warren Hein

One Physics Ellipse

College Park, MD 20740-3845

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