AllentownSchool District

2018 K'NEX STEM Design Challenge

2018 K'NEX STEM Design Challenge
Posted on 05/03/2018
McKinley Team Presenting to Judges

The Allentown School District is excited to recognize a number of incredible students and schools who participated in the K’NEX Challenge at the CLIU21 on Tuesday, May 1, 2018. 

There were 24 schools who competed at the elementary (grade 4-5) level, and represented 8 school districts from the CLIU21 area.  The Allentown School District had 6 elementary schools who participated with 10 teams.  The schools were Central (1 team), Cleveland (1), McKinley (2), Mosser (2), Muhlenberg (2), and Ramos (2).

The STEM Design Challenge is a competition for students in grades 4-8 where they build a project out of K’NEX pieces.  Students work in teams of 3-4 to design and build their project. The top team in each division (grades 4-5 and 6-8) will be eligible to compete at the state competition.

Below is a description of the challenge issued to students: 
Thermo Fisher Scientific has asked your team for help developing a new product for your home.  This product can be anything that you can use in your home and it must be environmentally friendly.  Thermo Fisher Scientific is working to make the world healthier, cleaner and safer.  This product could be (but not limited to) a new way to power your home, a new type of appliance, or a new gadget for home entertainment.  Be creative!

Students planned their creations in the classroom and came to the event with all of their K’NEX pieces disassembled.  They had two hours to recreate their project and then to present it to judges in a 2-minute narrative presentation. Judges also questioned the students about the details of their projects.  Projects were judged in the areas of creativity, teamwork, challenge success, design and presentation.  Three awards were given:

 - 3rd place—Willow Lane School, East Penn School District
 - 2nd place—Luis Ramos Elementary School, Allentown School District - The Perfect Plant Waterer                     
 - 1st place—McKinley Elementary School, Allentown School District -The Anti-Combustible Charging Station 

The first place team from McKinley is invited to compete in the State Level competition! This year’s competition will be held at Harrisburg University in Harrisburg, PA on Friday, May 18th.

Our ASD K’NEX STEM Challenge creations will be able to be seen once again at the ASD Showcase of Academic Excellence to be held on Thursday, June 7th from 5-7:00 PM at the Renaissance Hotel. 

Special thanks to all of the teachers who supported our students at the K’NEX Challenge: Natalie Delp (Muhlenberg), Jennifer Voorhees (Mosser), Lisa Noll (Cleveland), Keri Mittura (Ramos), Adrienne Perrett (McKinley), and Katie Seagreaves (Central).  Check out great photos from the day below!