Unique Program Connects the "Innovation Generation" with Science and Community Service

The Bayer/NSF Award motivates kids to learn and have fun while helping others. Entering its sixth year, the competition encourages teams of middle-schoolers to address a community problem using science and technology. Finalists teams win an all-expense paid trip to Walt Disney World.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Melissa Amour, melissa.amour@verizon.net
Photos: http://www.bayernsfaward.com/ (select "News" and click on any press release)

WASHINGTON, D.C., October 10, 2001: What are today's young people doing in their spare time? Thousands of sixth, seventh, and eighth graders participating in the Bayer/NSF Award are identifying problems in their communities and using science and technology to develop innovative solutions.

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The Innovation Generation Is Making a Difference
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Now calling for entries for the 2001-2002 school year, the Bayer/NSF Award is a nationwide program that challenges students of all interests and ability levels to solve a real-world problem. Past participants have tackled issues ranging from helping deaf athletes to communicate with their coaches to identifying low-cost, efficient housing for a Native American Reservation.

With the guidance of an adult coach, teams of three or four students solicit input from community leaders and mentors, conduct research, test and refine their solutions, then prepare a written entry. Throughout the process, students use their curiosity, creativity and critical thinking skills to help to solve a real problem.

Many of the entries are non-conventional, showing students' ingenuity in utilizing everyday materials/innovative ideas to create something new. 2001's first-place team member Mike Schottenstein worked with his group to identify a new way to warm water by using heat generated from compost piles. "We realized this untapped heat could be used to heat water, benefiting people all over the world," Schottenstein explained.

Other unique solutions developed by past winners include a "kids teaching kids" approach to improving science learning, an awareness campaign to protect an endangered bat species, inventions to enhance school bus safety, and a special toothbrush to clean teeth with braces. The award gets students interested in science and technology in their everyday lives. "The Bayer/NSF Award has become a very big deal at our school," says Jo Ella Allen, a teacher from Sacramento, CA, and Bayer/NSF Award coach. "I've never seen my students so excited about science."

The Bayer/NSF Award, now in its sixth year, is open to all sixth, seventh and eighth graders in the United States. Sponsored by the Bayer Corporation, the National Science Foundation and the Christopher Columbus Fellowship Foundation and endorsed by the National Middle School Association, the program incorporates many recommendations of the National Science Education Standards.

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Kids Can Win a $25,000 Community Grant, Trip to the Walt Disney WorldÒ Resort
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Team entries are judged by independent panels of scientists, community leaders and educators at the regional and national levels. 30 semifinalist teams will be identified. 10 finalist teams and their coaches will receive a one-week, expenses-paid trip to the Walt Disney Worldâ Resort to participate in the Bayer/NSF Award National Championship. First, second and third place teams will win $5,000, 3,000 and 1,000 per student in U.S. Savings Bonds, respectively. One team will receive the $25,000 Columbus Foundation Community Grant, seed money that will help to bring its idea to life.

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For More Information
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Deadline for entries is January 31, 2002. For more information, students, teachers, youth and community leaders and parents should call 1-800-291-6020 or visit http://www.bayernsfaward.com/.

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