Competitions for Educators
Educator competitions increase students’ interest and excitement for science
For the summer, ORISE is hosting mulitple educator competitions. Please scroll down for more information about each competition.
#DigitalClassroom Lesson Plan Competition
Deadline: on or before 11:59 P.M. Eastern Time, Friday, July 31, 2020
Throughout the spring semester, teachers have put their flexibility to use in the digital classroom. The Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education wants to reward you for all of your hard work! Throughout the months of June and July, ORISE is asking teachers to submit a digital resource with a lesson or activity plan to go with it. The digital resource could be a video of a lab or experiment, creative video, virtual breakout, or anything that you have developed to teach online! Teachers should also submit the activity, lesson, or lab plan to go with the resource. THREE teachers will win up to a $1,500 mini-grant for classroom equipment!
Prizes:
1st Place: $1,500 mini-grant for classroom equipment!
2nd Place: $1,000 mini-grant for classroom equipment!
3rd Place: $500 mini-grant for classroom equipment!
The digital resource should supplement the activity, lesson, or lab plan. For instance, if the teacher makes a music video about clouds, what are the students doing after the video?
To avoid plagiarism, please a submit lesson plan that you have written. We understand that many activities are developed by other teachers; just make sure that you put your own spin on the activity.
Activity, lesson, or lab plans should include the following:
lesson title
teacher name and school
target grade level
time required for lesson
standards/objectives
materials required
instructional steps for introduction, activities, and closure
assessment strategies
differentiation strategies
Lesson plans will be scored using a rubric, and winners will be announced by mid-August.
Mini-grant money can be spent on any materials for the classroom, excluding furniture (seating, desks, rugs, etc.).
Examples of items previous teachers have bought are a dishwasher for their lab, ice machines, fossils, and electrophoresis kits.
Teachers must teach in the United States, a U.S. Territory, or a DoDEA school to be eligible to win.
Teachers are eligible to win two ORISE competitions in a 12-month period.
Note: Lesson plans submitted for the competition may be shared with other educators via the ORISE website. Plans are subject to revision and edits by ORISE staff before they are shared, so please submit in an editable format (Not PDF).
View the ORISE lesson plan library, which includes winning entries from previous educator competitions.
Social Media Contest
Deadline: on or before 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time, Friday, July 31
Time for another social media competition! Throughout the month of July, ORISE wants to hear more about your experience in the virtual classroom. Last month, we found out about the resources that were helpful to your experience. This month we want to know what resources, tools, or platforms did you look for or need during the last two months but were unable to find? To enter the contest, comment your answer on the ORISE competition pose on Facebook, follow ORISE on social media, and fill out this (very short) survey!
Prizes:
THREE randomly selected teachers will receive a box full of school supplies to start the school year!
Details:
The contest closes at 11:59 p.m. EST on Friday, July 31, 2020.
Teachers must teach in the United States, a U.S. Territory, or a DoDEA school to be eligible to win.
Teachers are eligible to win two ORISE competitions in a 12-month period.
What a crazy year this has been! Throughout the month of June, ORISE wants to hear about your experience in the virtual classroom. What resources, tools, or platforms did you find most helpful in the last two months?
Prizes:
THREE randomly selected teachers will receive an Apple TV!
How will you engage your students in exciting ways when you return to school in the fall? The Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education wants to see your best interactive lesson plans! Throughout the month of May, we are asking teachers to submit lesson plans that will engage students in hands-on, interactive learning. Think outside the box by not using traditional worksheets or online projects! THREE teachers will win a Touchjet Pond Touchscreen Projector!
2nd Place: Lauren Wilmoth, Oak Ridge High School, Oak Ridge, TN Lesson Plan: Demographic Data Dive
3rd Place: Patricia Lawrimore, Riverwood International Charter School, Sandy Springs, GA Lesson Plan: What can we do to improve the air quality at our school?
Let’s get 3-Dimensional! ORISE supports educators teaching using the 3-Dimensional Framework of NGSS (Next Generation Science Standards). ORISE wants to see your best 3D lesson plans! Teachers of any grade level are invited to submit a science or STEM lesson plan incorporating each of the three dimensions (Science and Engineering Practices, Crosscutting Concepts, and Disciplinary Core Ideas). Each should be thoroughly identified in the lesson plan. THREE teachers will win mini-grants to purchase supplies for their classroom!
Winners:
1st Place: Rebecca Van Duker, Griffin Creek Elementary School, Medford, OR Lesson Plan: Sounds All Around
2nd Place: Emily Curtis, Van Buren County High School, Spencer, TN Lesson Plan: An Argument Driven Inquiry for the Law of Conservation of Matter
3rd Place: Abby Cornelius, Blue Valley North High School, Overland, KS Lesson Plan: SuperPowered Plushies
Ready, set, GO! The Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education (ORISE) is hosting a lesson plan competition for just math teachers! Throughout the month of March, ORISE wants to see your best math lesson plan! The lesson plan can be any math topic or grade level.
Congratulations to the Winners:
1st Place: Hannah Painter, Bethany Christian School, Oxford, PA Lesson Plan: The Interactive Coordinate Plane
2nd Place: Nicholas Corrigan, Jefferson Middle School, Oak Ridge, TN Lesson Plan: A Mathematical Inquiry of Oak Ridge Cemesto Homes
Welcome to the New Year! Can you see it? A classroom filled with students eager to learn, engage, and explore... but as teachers, we know that is not always the case after Winter break, so here’s the challenge: The Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education (ORISE) wanted you to engage students using phenomena! For example, what are the molecular characteristics of water that cause it to form a “water hat” when dumped on a person’s head, and why does someone’s tears in space look different than someone’s tears on Earth?
Congratulations to the Winners:
1st Place: Anne Lavelle, St. Edward High School, North Olmsted, OH Lesson Plan: How Low Can You Go?
2nd Place: Sheri Caine, Dwight D. Eisenhower High School, Oak Forest, IL Lesson Plan: Friction Activities
3rd Place: Jessica Suri, Vista Del Sur Accelerated Academy, Laveen, AZ Lesson Plan: Why are iguanas falling from the sky?
November 2019: Makerspace Lesson Plan Competition
As teachers, we know that one of the best ways for students to learn is to create! The Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education (ORISE) wanted to see how you incorporated Makerspace in your math or science classroom!
K-6 Winners:
1st Place: Rebecca Van Duker, Medford, OR Lesson Plan: Space Odyssey Making Challenge: Mission Mars
3rd Place: Jessica Suri, Laveen, AZ Lesson Plan: Mesopotamian Filter Project
7-12 Winners:
1st Place: George Hademenos, Richardson, TX Lesson Plan: Oh the Places You’ll Go… to do Science with ROAVEE
2nd Place: Edward Gunkle, Middleburg, PA Lesson Plan: Rube Goldberg Machines
3rd Place: Christine Lauer, Marietta, GA Lesson Plan: Energy is Everywhere
September 2019: Social Media Contest
EUREKA! As teachers, we know that one of the best ways for students to learn is to discover it themselves. ORISE wanted to see how teachers incorporate inquiry based learning in their math or science classroom!
“Water Movement” by Linda Lohner, 10th grade teacher at Wallenpaupack Area High School in Hawley, PA
“Ocean Acidification” by Eleanor Williamson, 9th grade teacher at Urban Assembly School of Design and Construction in Yonkers, NY
“The Martial Arts and Science of Rotational Inertia” by Jose Rivas, 11-12th grade teacher at Lennox Math, Science and Technology Academy in Lennox, CA
August 2019: Social Media Contest
Throughout the month of August, we wanted to know how has inquiry based learning benefited your students? Or if it is new to you, how do you imagine inquiry based learning benefiting your students?
Winners of the social media contest:
Jacqueline Creasy, Union Elementary School, Gallatin, TN
Emily McDonald, Red Bank High School, Chattanooga, TN
Luke McKinley, King Toledo Public Schools, Toledo, OH
Melany Stawnyczji, Windy Hill Elementary, Owings, MD
Throughout the month of July, we wanted to know what does/can inquiry based learning look like in YOUR classroom that may be different from another classroom!
Winners:
Stephanie Austin, Pontotoc, Mississippi, South Pontotoc Elementary
Brittany Weeks, Lilburn, Georgia, Trickum Middle School
Vanessa Wentzloff, Auburn Hills, Michigan, Avondale High School
June 2019: Inquiry-Based Learning Social Media Contest
Teachers! School may be out, but summer social media contests are just beginning! Throughout the month of June, we wanted to know what does inquiry based learning look like in science and math classrooms!
Congrats to our June Social Media Contest winners Stephanie Schlimgen, Crystal Bigham, and Wendy Smith!
Mini-Grant Lesson Plan Competition for NSTA St. Louis Attendees
ORISE participated in the National Science Teaching Association (NSTA) National Conference. To enter, teachers submitted their best STEM lesson plan.
Winners:
1st Place: Lydia Tate, Bolivar Middle School, Bolivar, MO Lesson Plan: The Power of Waves
2nd Place: Alicia Miller, Lewiston Elementary School, Evans, GA Lesson Plan: Fossil Recovery Team
For May, ORISE wanted to see your best science or math review game. The activity covered the materials with which you are preparing your students for end of year assessments.
1st Place: Linda Bugg, Bess T. Shepherd Elementary, Chattanooga, TN Lesson Plan: Escape Room Science Review
2nd Place: Kim Nickell, Midway Middle School, Kingston, TN Lesson Plan: Buzzword Review Game
3rd Place: Katherine Kirby, John Early Middle School, Nashville, TN Lesson Plan: Clue-ology
April 2019: Drop Everything and Read About Science Lesson Plan Competition
In honor of Drop Everything and Read April 12, ORISE asked to see teachers most engaging and hands on lesson plan that integrates science and literacy!
Winner: Greta Shipman, Green Acres Elementary, Smyrna, GA Lesson Plan: Seeds All Around Us
Runner-up: Rachel Cahill, Penn-Mont Academy, Hollidaysburg, PA Lesson Plan: Can You Help Me?
Judges’ Choice: Kellene Colin, Kay Carl Elementary, Las Vegas, NV Lesson Plan: Rapunzel Needs Your Help!
March 2019: You, Me, and ISTE Lesson Plan Competition
In March, ORISE four teachers to ISTE! These teachers submitted two lesson plans, one in each of their content areas.
Congratulations to the winners:
1st Place: Michael Buerstner and Peter Lauzon, Irmo, SC Lesson Plans: Point and Non-Point Water Pollution and Freshwater Environment Assessment
2nd Place: Barbara Dunham and Mildred Henderson, Birmingham, AL Lesson Plans: Anemometers on the Move and Incredible Matter
January 2019: Math and Science Lesson Plan Competition
ORISE is sending four teachers to the National Science Teachers Association Conference or the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics Conference!
3rd place tie: Sarah Jackson, Lenoir City Intermediate/Middle School, Lenoir City, TN Lesson Plan: Roller Coaster Math
October 2018: Classroom Makerspace Lesson Plan Competition
In October, teachers shared a lesson plan incorporating the use of a makerspace into their content area class. First place winners in each category were awarded a Makerspace Easy Pack, an Invention Easy Pack, and a Tool Kit Easy Pack. Second place winners in each grade band were awarded a Makerspace Easy Pack, and second place winners in each grade band were awarded a Makerspace Basic Supply Easy Pack! See the full list of winners below:
3rd place: Sonya Hatfield, Oliver Springs High School, Oliver Springs, TN Lesson Plan: Wind Turbines
September 2018: Drone On!
In September, teachers shared with the Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education their best hands-on STEM lesson plans for the opportunity to win drones for their classrooms. Frist place awarded a set of Parrot mini-drones and accessories. Second- and third-place winners received one Parrot mini-drone. In all, there were entries from teachers in 10 different states and Japan. See the full list of winners below:
3rd place: Philip Ackland, Nile C. Kinnick High School (Department of Defense Education Activity), Yokosuka, Japan Lesson Plan: Create Your Own Fidget Spinner
August 2018: Kids Can Compute: Learning with Raspberry Pi
In August, teachers shared how they were using Raspberry Pi for a STEM lesson. Winners will be announce mid-September and will receive a Pi-Top modular computers for their classrooms.
Congratulations to our winners!
Amanda Callahan-Mims, Spring Hill Elementary School, Knoxville, Tennessee
Gary Cipinko, King Arts Academy, Evanston, Illinois
June 2018: Learning in 3 Dimensions
In this contest, teachers had the opportunity to submit a lesson plan that integrates 3D printing into their classroom. Congratulations to our winners!
Silver Winner: Lisa Hill, Grainger County High School, Rutledge, Tenn. Lesson Plan: Winter Paralympics (Physical Science)
Bronze Winner: Kimberly Brasel, Dyllis Springs Elementary School, Oliver Springs, Tenn. Lesson Plan: Bobsledding into the Olympic Games (5th Grade Science)
