ExploraVision Student Science Competition

NEW YORK — There is a good chance the next Thomas Alva Edison, Alexander Graham Bell, or Marie Curie is sitting in a classroom right now, and Toshiba/NSTA ExploraVision Awards program wants to make sure they get all the encouragement they need. ExploraVision, which is celebrating its 15th anniversary this year, has motivated more than 210,000 students in kindergarten through twelfth grades to discover the fun and excitement of science, and to learn how to see its wonders in the world all around them.

Sponsored by Toshiba Corporation and its affiliates and administered by the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA), the ExploraVision program is one of the world’s largest K–12 science and technology competitions, in which student teams choose a current technology, research and explore its background, then imagine what it might be like in 20 years. Students ground their creative ideas using real science and present their invention using written descriptions and artwork. They also discuss the possible positive and negative consequences that could occur should their vision become reality — just like real scientists.

Some past winners imagined a world where special boots would convert the energy created by footsteps into heat and where a healing pressure face mask could help alleviate suffering for severe burn and scar victims. Others have imagined advancements such as satellite landmine detectors, vision enhancement devices, and snow tires with retractable studs.

ExploraVision is also a great way for students to begin planning for their future. Winning students on the four first-place teams each receive a $10,000 US Savings Bond. Students on second-place teams each receive a $5,000 US Savings Bond.

Participating in teams of two to four and guided by a coach, and optional mentor, students select a technology that is currently used, whether as simple as a pencil or as complex as a quantum computer. Teams research and explore what the technology does and how, when and why it was invented.

The deadline for ExploraVision entries is January 30. For more information about Toshiba/NSTA ExploraVision Awards program or to obtain entry materials and a copy of the official rules, visit the ExploraVision Web site at exploravision.org; email exploravision@nsta.org; call 800-EXPLOR-9; or write to Toshiba/NSTA ExploraVision Awards, 1840 Wilson Blvd., Arlington VA 22201.