Vernier Software & Technology sponsors a contest for educators who innovatively use Vernier sensors to introduce engineering concepts or engineering practices to their students. The prizes for the winners include $1,000 in cash, $3,000 in Vernier technology, and $1,500 toward expenses to attend either the NSTA STEM conference or the ASEE conference.

Congratulations to the 2018 Winners!

Chris Berg, a science, engineering, and math teacher at Montgomery High School in Santa Rosa, California, created a framework to investigate collisions using our Dual-Range Force Sensor, a cart and track system, and student-designed 3D-printed bumpers. Berg aligned the activity with NGSS HS-PS2-3 (Apply science and engineering ideas to design, evaluate, and refine a device that minimizes the force on a macroscopic object during a collision.).

Tate Rector, an engineering and Project Lead The Way teacher at Beebe Junior High in Beebe, Arkansas, had his students define a problem facing their school or community, and determine a solution. The students used the engineering design process to develop an automated lighting system that activates when someone enters a crosswalk in a dark portion of the school’s parking lot.

Honorable mention goes to

Jen Rushing, a teacher at Central Coast New Tech High in Nipomo, California, had her physics students incorporate the Digital Control Unit and Vernier sensors into the design of their Rube Goldberg machines.