The Brazoria County Library System will host a STEM Challenge on May 14, 2016 at the BG Peck Soccer Complex in Angleton. This will be a catapult building contest with four divisions, three for schools and one open to the general public, with trophies presented to the most accurate catapults in each division. Building catapults is a fun way to learn many important scientific principles and math skills, such as velocity and acceleration. In an effort to foster this learning, the catapult challenge will allow schools to compete against each other to build the most accurate catapult. The open division can be entered by any group that wishes to show off their engineering prowess.
There are divisions for Elementary, Middle and High School teams. Each team is limited to four students and each school can enter only one team. The teams will be judged for accuracy at different targets. Elementary and Middle School teams will fire paint balls at targets 15 feet and 30 feet away, respectively. The High School and Open division will fire one-pound sand bags at a target 100 yards down range. Each team will have four shots and the most accurate of the four shots will be counted.
Detailed rules and registration information can be found on the Brazoria County Library System website at http://bcls.lib.tx.us/STEM, or at any of the branch libraries. Teams must register to compete and there is no fee to enter.