The 2012 ROV (Remote-Operated Vehicle — underwater robot) Competition process is underway! The "mission" details will be announced soon, and will be posted here. In the meanwhile, here are some resources to get you started:

• The ROV website is www.materover.org; the MATE Center website is www.marinetech.org.
• The Monterey Regional Competition will be held Saturday, May 12, 2012, at Monterey Peninsula College.
• For PVUSD teachers coaching ROV teams in grades 5–8, there will be a FREE teacher workshop on Saturday, February 4, 9am–5pm at MPC (more info and registration). Teachers will learn how to coach a team and build an ROV, and will receive free materials to build several ROVs. More details coming soon.
• There are several workshop opportunities for students to get help designing and building their ROVs.
• ROV coaches (teachers) can register their teams now.

Here's a simple template (Word doc) for students to use to type up their project. Following the section templates are large titles. You can of course change fonts, font sizes, etc. but this should help save time for you and your students. When a student clicks on the link, have them then click on the Open button, and then Save the file into their U:\ drive — the networked file storage every student is provided. (Whether they're on a Mac or Windows machine, if they login as themselves, they should see their U drive. And since most school computers are "frozen" with DeepFreeze software, it's essential that they save their work in their U drive. The U drive also has the advantage of "following them anywhere," so that they can access their files when logged into any PVUSD computer.)

Let Ted Altenberg know what other resources you'd like to see posted here!

The Synopsis Outreach Foundation supports a number of wonderful science education projects. They also provide annual grants to teachers in the form of free science fair display boards.

Go to http://www.outreach-foundation.org/cgi-bin/other_cc1.cgi? c=Santa_Cruz, fill out the form, and you may get up to 150 free science fair display boards. They’re a bit smaller than the usual $4–$5 boards, but quite adequate; they’re white cardboard—and the price is right! UPDATE: They're now accepting requests on a "waiting list" basis... But several PVUSD science teachers have extras...

As of November 2, we have the following schools enrolled to promote science fair projects and/or ROV teams:

Elementary:

• Amesti (SF)
• Calabasas (SF)
• Hall District (SF)
• H. A. Hyde (SF & ROV)
• Landmark (SF)
• Mar Vista (SF)
• Mintie White (SF)
• Ohlone (SF & ROV)
• Radcliff (ROV)

Secondary:

• Aptos HS (ROV)
• Aptos JHS (SF & ROV)
• E. A. Hall MS (ROV)
• Lakeview MS (SF)

Teachers: There's still room for more schools to get involved! Please consider stepping up to coach students — complete the application form today!

(10/6/2011)   Have you ever wished you had a Science Fair at your school, or that your students would compete in the County Science Fair? Do you wish you had some support to help make it happen? Well here you go: money and support to help you coach students and organize a school Science Fair!

Or, coach a team of students to compete in the Monterey Bay Regional ROV (Underwater Robots) Competition! This can be especially relevant to former Science Fair students who have now moved on to middle or high School.

Read about the program and complete the application today! (Elementary or Secondary)

For the fifth year, the MAIA Foundation (www.maiafoundation.org) is offering stipends to teachers to serve as science fair coaches, school Science Fair and/orMATE/ROV Teachers/Coaches/Coordinators. 

The MAIA Foundation’s mission is to support the academic success of students from migrant and immigrant backgrounds, and is especially interested in seeing these students participate in science fairs and the ROV competitions.

PVUSD Science TOSA (Teacher on Special Assignment) Ted Altenberg will work closely with you to help you coach and assist students, as well as plan and coordinate a school science fair and/or ROV team.

Science fairs and ROV competitions can be exciting and inspiring events for kids, and in some cases are life-changing experiences. We look forward to helping you bring these exciting opportunities to your students!

Contact Ted Altenberg if you have any questions.