Inspired by kids, built by Burns & McDonnell. It’s Kansas City’s most exciting K-12 STEM competition — Burns & McDonnell Battle of the Brains. Metro area schools can earn a piece of $155,000-plus in grants for STEM education by dreaming up an exhibit concept for Science City — and one student team sees its idea come to life in a big way! It’s a fantastic, no-cost experience for students and teachers — thinking big, exploring new things, collaborating and having fun. So far, more than 25,000 students have benefited from this immersive educational opportunity. Battle of the Brains operates on a two-year cycle: one for competition and one for exhibit build-out. The next competition cycle will take place in 2021.

Each team must design a STEM exhibit focused around a single topic or main idea of their choice. Battle of the Brains has two divisions: elementary (kindergarten through 6th grade) and secondary (7th through 12th grade). THERE IS NO LIMIT TO THE NUMBER OF ENTRIES A SCHOOL MAY SUBMIT. The same teacher may lead multiple teams. Each team should have a maximum of two co-leaders. While there are no defined limits on team size, learning objectives diminish with teams of more than 20 students.

Burns & McDonnell Battle of the Brains is judged in a vigorous process by three groups.

• Round One

  Science City and Burns & McDonnell screen all entries for compliance.

• Round Two

  The top entries are judged by a Science City/Burns & McDonnell panel of experts in science, engineering and academia. The panel evaluates and ranks the entries according to the criteria, and based on the ranking selects the Top 20, 10 entries from each division. The judges’ ranking of the top 20 accounts for 70 percent of the final rankings. All decisions of the panel are final.

• Round Three

  The remaining 30 percent of the final rankings are determined by a public vote at botbkc.com. Everyone in Kansas City and across the country has an eligible email address can vote.

The public vote will affect the final rankings. Getting out the vote can make a difference! Entries are judged in the following categories:

• Creativity & Inspiration (30 points)
• Interactive Exhibit Engagement (35 points)
• Visual & Written Presentation (15 points)
• Social Media (5 points)
• Constructability (10 points)
• Student Involvement (5 points)

 

Website: http://battleofthebrainskc.com/

Managing Organization: Burns & McDonnell Foundation

Contact:

botbkc@burnsmcd.com

Eligibility:

Entrants must:

• Be full-time K-12 students.
• Be currently enrolled in and attending a public, private, parochial or home-based school in any of the following counties:
  • Kansas: Atchison, Douglas, Franklin, Jefferson, Johnson, Leavenworth, Miami, Shawnee and Wyandotte.
  • Missouri: Bates, Buchanan, Caldwell, Cass, Clay, Clinton, Jackson, Johnson, Lafayette, Livingston, Platte and Ray.

Inspired by kids, built by Burns & McDonnell. It’s Kansas City’s most exciting K-12 STEM competition — Burns & McDonnell Battle of the Brains. Metro area schools can earn a piece of $155,000-plus in grants for STEM education by dreaming up an exhibit concept for Science City — and one student team sees its idea come to life in a big way! It’s a fantastic, no-cost experience for students and teachers — thinking big, exploring new things, collaborating and having fun. So far, more than 25,000 students have benefited from this immersive educational opportunity. Battle of the Brains operates on a two-year cycle: one for competition and one for exhibit build-out. The next competition cycle will take place in 2021.

Each team must design a STEM exhibit focused around a single topic or main idea of their choice. Battle of the Brains has two divisions: elementary (kindergarten through 6th grade) and secondary (7th through 12th grade). THERE IS NO LIMIT TO THE NUMBER OF ENTRIES A SCHOOL MAY SUBMIT. The same teacher may lead multiple teams. Each team should have a maximum of two co-leaders. While there are no defined limits on team size, learning objectives diminish with teams of more than 20 students.

Burns & McDonnell Battle of the Brains is judged in a vigorous process by three groups.

• Round One

  Science City and Burns & McDonnell screen all entries for compliance.

• Round Two

  The top entries are judged by a Science City/Burns & McDonnell panel of experts in science, engineering and academia. The panel evaluates and ranks the entries according to the criteria, and based on the ranking selects the Top 20, 10 entries from each division. The judges’ ranking of the top 20 accounts for 70 percent of the final rankings. All decisions of the panel are final.

• Round Three

  The remaining 30 percent of the final rankings are determined by a public vote at botbkc.com. Everyone in Kansas City and across the country has an eligible email address can vote.

The public vote will affect the final rankings. Getting out the vote can make a difference! Entries are judged in the following categories:

• Creativity & Inspiration (30 points)
• Interactive Exhibit Engagement (35 points)
• Visual & Written Presentation (15 points)
• Social Media (5 points)
• Constructability (10 points)
• Student Involvement (5 points)

 

Website: http://battleofthebrainskc.com/

Managing Organization: Burns & McDonnell Foundation

Contact:

botbkc@burnsmcd.com

Eligibility:

Entrants must:

• Be full-time K-12 students.
• Be currently enrolled in and attending a public, private, parochial or home-based school in any of the following counties:
  • Kansas: Atchison, Douglas, Franklin, Jefferson, Johnson, Leavenworth, Miami, Shawnee and Wyandotte.
  • Missouri: Bates, Buchanan, Caldwell, Cass, Clay, Clinton, Jackson, Johnson, Lafayette, Livingston, Platte and Ray.