25th Annual County-Wide Technology Fair

Save the Date!

The 25th annual county-wide Technology Fair will take place on Monday, February 26, 2018, at the FCPS Career and Technology Center from 6-8pm (snow date February 28).  The 2018 Tech Fair showcases the skills that middle school students develop in Technology Education classes.  Previously held at the Francis Scott Key Mall, the CTC venue allows access to internet which eliminates the need for computer based challenges to be held at an alternate site and exposes students and parents to hands on demonstrations and activities of CTC programs.  CTC is located at 7922 Opossumtown Pike, Frederick, MD 21702.

Here’s a description of the contests being held:

• All Wound Up: two sixth-grade students from each middle school’s Technology Exposition classes construct rubber-band cars and adjust the specifications to travel the greatest distance.
• Constructing a Hovercraft: a one-hour challenge for two eighth-grade problem-solving teams from each middle school. The students put their crafts through a timed trial across a specified distance; the fastest Hovercraft wins.
• Straw Bridge Engineering Challenge: an eighth-grade problem-solving competition. Teams from each school design and build a soda-straw bridge that can span 20 inches and support a 6.5-pound toy truck for one minute. Design drawings, an oral presentation to a panel current CTC students, and the bridge’s weight factor into this contest.
• Grade 6 and Grade 7 Design Challenges: teams of sixth-grade Technology Exposition students and seventh-grade Invention and Innovation students have one hour to solve a design-challenge problem using only the materials provided.      
• Video Public Service Announcement Advertising Promo: seventh-grade students in Communication Techniques classes write and record a three- to five-minute public-service announcement on a given topic.
• Video Game Design Challenge: seventh-grade students use a Gamestar Mechanic computer program to design a video game.
• *NEW* Food Challenge: eighth-graders will be required to make a dish and be judged on food presentation, cooking skills, kitchen performance, and food taste.  
• *NEW* Breakout EDU: challenges sixth-graders with an Escape Room-type growth mindset problem solving activity.  

Winners from all events will receive recognition during an awards ceremony beginning at 8 p.m. in the CTC Spires Cafe. Come out and watch the fun as students from FCPS compete!  For more information, please contact Career and Technology Education Coordinator Norm McGaughey or his administrative secretary, Julie Carter, 301-644-5188.