(539e) Aiche's K-12 Outreach STEM Module Competition: Results from the First Event and Future Plans

AIChE is holding the first iteration of the K-12 Outreach STEM Module Competition on November 10, 2019 at the Annual Meeting. The competition will share and support the outreach work being conducted by many companies, universities and individuals.

Over 100 regional K-12 students, educators, and parents will be invited to observe and interact with STEM modules in the competition. Modules can address any concept within the range of STEM, but will ideally connect to concepts or applications within chemical engineering. During this two hour event, competitors will showcase their module to K-12 students for the first hour, and present the module to any interested AIChE professional meeting attendees for an additional hour.

Each module should have an experimental component and a corresponding written component. The experiential component will include:

• Connection to at least one concept taught in K-12 STEM courses
• Clearly defined objectives and expectations for student involvement
• Sufficient supply of materials based on estimated participation of 100 students / AIChE members
• Proper safety precautions for all contingencies

The written component of the module should have:

• A list of necessary materials / equipment
• Clear procedure
• Safety analysis, with identification and mitigation

All modules will also be evaluated based on accessibility and cost. All module equipment and supplies should cost less than $100 per module. Modules should be accessible enough for K-12 educators to use in classrooms, and a low overall cost will help to achieve this goal.

All competitors will also develop a handout highlighting the K-12 concepts addressed that attendees will be able to take home and further learn from. All competing modules will be saved into a central digital repository for free access by K-12 educators and AIChE members.

This presentation will discuss the results of the first iteration of the competition, and the plans for the competition at future annual and student AIChE meetings.