LAST CALL FOR ENTRIES FOR SCIENCE MUSEUM ’S ANNUAL ENGINEERING COMPETITION
Entry deadline approaching and elementary school age group added for competition
( West Palm Beach ) – The South Florida Science Museum ’s 26th Annual Drop It, Build It, Fly It, Launch It, Thrill It Engineering Competition will be held on May 5, 2012. This year’s competition has been opened up to elementary aged children, in addition to middle and high school students and the deadline to register is Friday, April 27. The community is invited to watch the May 5 competition, which runs from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. at the Museum.
Participants will celebrate science engineering ingenuity while showing off their creative skills through five different design contests. Competitors will see if they have a good egg or Humpty Dumpty after their container created to protect an egg takes a 3-story drop from a cherry picker in the Drop It competition; or if their bottle rocket will blast off or fizzle out during the Launch It competition. Bridges will be built, aerodynamic paper airplanes will be flying and roller coasters will operate as students compete for more than $4,600 in prize money to be awarded to the first through fourth place winners in each category. The competition will be judged by the Florida Engineering Society.
“Drop it, Build it is the Museum’s premiere out-of-school science competition offering substantial cash prizes for the top four finishers in each category, free food for the competitors, and recognition on our web site,” said Lew Crampton, President and CEO of the South Florida science Museum. “With over 100 teams actively participating in five science categories, this Museum is a beehive of activity on contest day. We’re very pleased with our 26-year partnership with the Florida Engineering Society and with the excellent support we have received from many of our long time sponsors. Our mission is to open every mind to science and, over the many years of this competition, we have seen lots of our winners move on to successful careers in engineering, science and math.”
The engineering competition is in partnership with the Florida Engineering Society. Title sponsor is Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne and the event is presented by Alvin I.Brown and Peggy S. Brown Charitable Foundation. Sponsors include Chick-fil-A, City Place , FPL, JetBlue, Modernizing Medicine and Sunny 104.3. Vendors for the event include Costco, Disinfecting Environmental Solutions, Ham Radio, Macaroni Kid, Palm Beach State College and Puttin’ Around.
To register and for competition rules and regulations, please visit www.sfsm.org. The competition is open to elementary, middle and high school students individually or in teams with a maximum of 2 people per team. Competition entry and Museum admission is free for all Drop It, Build It, Fly It, Launch It, Thrill It Engineering Competition registrants. Museum admission will be reduced for visitors that day to $6 for adults and $4 for children.
Beginning 51 years of science in the community, the South Florida Science Museum recently kicked-off expansion plans with a groundbreaking ceremony. The South Florida Science Museum delivers entertaining and educational journeys through the many worlds of science and technology for curious minds of all ages. Located just off I-95 and Southern Blvd. in West Palm Beach , the Museum features more than 50 hands-on exhibits, a digital planetarium, fresh and saltwater aquariums, as well as natural history exhibitions. Each year the Museum welcomes more than 125,000 visitors and reaches more than 45,000 students through workshops at the Museum and outreach programs to local schools.
For more information or to register for the Drop It, Build It, Fly It, Launch It, Thrill It Engineering Competition, contact the South Florida Science Museum at 561-370-7723 or visit www.sfsm.org.
