Duracell Issues An Invention Challenge

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Duracell and the National Science Teachers Association are inviting sixth through twelfth grade students nationwide to participate in the Eighteenth annual Duracell/NSTA Invention Challenge. The millennium Challenge will reward 100 entries with $160,000 in savings bonds.

To enter, students must design and build a battery-powered device and submit an official entry form, essay, wiring diagram, and photos of the invention by January 12, 2000.  Entry forms are available by calling the NSTA at 888/255-4242 or on the World Wide Web at http://www.nsta.org/programs/duracell.shtml and at http://www.duracell.com/Fun­­_Learning/index.html.

All sixth through twelve grade students who are US residents and 21 years of age or younger are eligible, and may enter as individuals or in pairs.  Entries are judged in two categories: sixth through ninth grade and tenth through twelfth grade.

In each category there is a first place $20,000 savings bond, two second place $10,000 savings bonds, five third place $3,000 savings bonds, 12 fourth place $1,000 savings bonds, and 30 fifth place $500 savings bonds.  In all, 100 inventions will be rewarded with savings bonds, and every student who enters will receive a gift and a certificate of participation. The 100 teachers who sponsor first through fifth place winners will also receive gifts.

Eligible student inventions should be educational, useful, or entertaining and powered by one or more Duracell batteries. Judging is based on creativity, practicality, energy efficiency of the invention, and clarity of the written description.

The 18th annual Duracell/NSTA Invention Challenge will culminate in April in Orlando during the 48th annual convention of the National Science Teachers Association where the first and second place winners, their teachers and parents will be honored. The six teachers who sponsor first and second place winners will each receive $2,000 gift certificates for computers and related equipment.

“The Duracell/NSTA Invention Challenge shows that students have great ideas and are eager, when motivated, to put their creative energies into positive work,” says judging chair Arthur Eisenkraft, PhD. “We are especially gratified at the enormous range of ideas we receive each year — everything from devices to aid the physically challenged to unique technological advances, to safety gadgets, as well as zany toys.”

As the world’s largest and oldest student invention program, since 1983 the Duracell/NSTA Invention Challenge has generated at least 12,000 new ideas and rewarded more than 1,000 student inventors with over $1 million in savings bonds, scholarships and cash awards. Some winning devices have been commercially marketed.

Ask The Experts

To encourage those who are new to electronics, Duracell and NSTA have created an Ask the Experts service for teachers and students.  Two engineers are available by e-mail to answer design and technical questions about devices which are being developed for the challenge. They are Mark Yeary at mbyeary@gte.net and Gordon Isleib at gfisleib@prodigy.net.

 

Duracell Starter Kit

Working with electronics expert Forrest Mims, III, Duracell and NSTA have also developed a Starter Kit made up of electronics parts and instructions for completing a circuit. Starter Kits are distributed free of charge to teachers at NSTA national and regional conventions and demonstrated during special workshops.  Directions and a parts list are available for students on the NSTA Web site.

Sponsored by Duracell Inc. and administered by the National Science Teachers Association, the Duracell/NSTA invention Challenge rewards innovative thinking. It is based on the understanding that students learn best when they do science, not just when they are told about it.  Student inventors retain all rights to their devices.

As a division of the Gillette Company, Duracell is the world’s leading manufacturer and marketer of high-performance alkaline batteries. Duracell is headquartered in Bethel, Connecticut, and sells its batteries throughout the world, primarily under the Duracell trademark.

The National Science Teachers association has 53,000 members and is the largest organization in the world dedicated to promoting excellence in science teaching and learning.