BOWLING GREEN, Ky. –Western Kentucky University’s Ogden College of Science and Engineering and the Green River Regional Educational Cooperative will host the 2^nd Annual STEMshot! rocketry competition for students in grades 4-12.

STEMshot!, a compressed air rocketry competition giving students the opportunity to engage in a challenging real-world problem based activity designed to enhance student’s critical thinking skills and understanding of next generation science content, will be held Oct. 24.

The competition will begin at 9 a.m. at WKU’s Center for Research and Development (2413 Nashville Road) as teams compete head to head in a horizontal range competition.  Rockets will launch from a double launcher at the same time, same angle, and same pressure.  The winning rockets (longest distance) will continue to compete in a single elimination contest to determine first place through fourth place winners.

Weather permitting, at 1 p.m. the competition will continue at the Aviation Heritage Park (1825 Three Springs Road) as students launch rockets again in a head to head maximum time of flight competition. This will also be a single elimination contest with rockets launched side by side vertically at the same pressure.  Contest will again determine first place through fourth place winners.

The STEMshot! initiative is a collaborative effort between WKU’s Department of Engineering and SKyTeach program and the Green River Regional Educational Cooperative. GRREC serves 41 school districts providing professional learning opportunities to teachers and administrators with the purpose of increasing student success. 

For information, contact Brian Womack at GRREC at Brian.Womack@grrec.ky.gov or (270) 563-2113 or John Inman in WKU’s Ogden College of Science and Engineering at john.inman@wku.edu or (270) 745-3048.