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REGISTRATION IS CLOSED
Due to overwhelming response the competition is completely full and we are not able to accommodate any additional registration requests. We deeply appreciate your interest in the first Washington State Middle School Computer Science Competition and we hope to see you next year. [To stay informed about future events, please send us an email at info@www.computingforall.org, include your name, contact information and the student’s grade. We are planning other similar events and will send you information about them via email]
This spring Computing For All is organizing a computer science competition for elementary and middle school students in the great State of Washington. Ritu Bahl, the co-director of the competition said “this competition will challenge young students to collaborate with one another as they apply their rapidly evolving intellectual abilities towards solving problems that require computational thinking.” Referring to the idea popularized by Dr. Jeanette Wing (Corporate Vice President at Microsoft and former Head of the CS Department at Carnegie Mellon University), she went on to say, “like reading, writing, and arithmetic, computational thinking is a fundamental skill for everyone, and not just for computer scientists.“
COMPETITORS
Students from all Washington State elementary and middle schools, 5th – 8th grades, are invited to participate in the competition, which is designed to test their skills in computer programming and basic problem solving, as well as their general knowledge of computer science.
FORMAT
The competition is comprised of three separate events: the individual test, team test, and the original project contest. Individual and team tests will be judged in two separate age divisions: 5th/6th grade and 7th/8th grade.
- Individual Contest: This is a paper-based 30 min. test including approximately 36 questions. The questions will test the student’s knowledge of Scratch, basic problem solving skills and logic using computer science methodology (computational thinking).
- Team Contest: This is 90 min. test including teams of 2-3 students. The test will challenge students to recreate a popular game on the computer. Students will receive points for each feature of the game they successfully recreate.
- Original Project Contest: Individuals or teams can bring their Scratch projects for consideration for an award in the Best Design Project category. At check-in, contestants will be required to hand in 6 copies of a single-sided 8.5″ x 11″ flyer describing their project. During the contest phase, contestants will present their project in front of a panel of judges. Entries will be judged on aesthetic and entertainment appeal, originality, technical merit, and good programming practices. Contestants should be prepared to answer technical questions about the project.
REGISTRATION DEADLINE
Registration closes at 5:00 PM PT on Friday, May 22, 2015.. (due to space constraints we may not be able to accommodate all registration requests, first-come, first- serve will apply. Please register as soon as possible.)
FREE PREPARATORY WORKSHOPS
We are organizing two Scratch workshops to help students prepare for the competition. The workshop are on Saturday, May 16th at Forest Ridge School of the Sacred Heart in Bellevue from 10 – 12 noon and on Friday, May 22th at Kimball Elementary in Seattle from 5-7 PM. We will provide snacks (salad, fruit and veggies) and have 2-3 (depending on student attendance) instructors to go over full-length sample tests. Students will have the opportunity to take an individual test and participate in a team test, and the instructors will provide in-depth explanations of the solutions.
Please contact us at info@www.computingforall.org if you would like to enroll your student(s) in one of these workshops. Space is limited, you must contact us and register to attend. if you are not registered we will not be able to accommodate your student(s).
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