![\"3M](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wellconnectedmom.com\/blog\/p-content\/themes\/atahualpa342\/images\/articles\/2014\/04\/3M-Young-Scientist-Challenge-Logo.jpg?resize=367%2C334&ssl=1\"){kind=logo}
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
My daughter just turned 11 last week, she’s a 5th grader. \u00a0She’s bright and has so much going for her. \u00a0She is surrounded by technology at home and yet I find it interesting when I ask her what she wants to be when she grows up, she is interested in a more traditional female role of teaching. \u00a0Now, don’t get me wrong, I think the teaching profession is an awesome career choice and I already know she’s great at teaching. \u00a0What I find interesting is that at her age, I wanted to be either a nurse or a teacher. \u00a0In fact, most of my girlfriends did too.<\/p>\n
With so many career options out there today, I can’t help but wonder if our daughters…or even our sons…even know \u00a0about the multitude of choices out there. \u00a0That’s why I am such a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) fan for anything that inspires my children to learn more about these fields of study.<\/p>\n
Recently, I became aware of the\u00a0Discovery Education 3M Young Scientist Challenge <\/a>which targets kids in grades 5 – 8, to come up with a unique solution to a common problem. \u00a0Kids are encouraged to think of a recurring problem…either that happens to them or their families…or even a problem that occurs worldwide. \u00a0They then do research to see what science or technology they could use to solve the problem. \u00a0Finally, they surmise it into a 1-2 minute video. \u00a0It’s kind of like a science fair project on steroids…only you don’t necessarily need to completely solve the problem yourself, just research the type of technology\/science that might need to be used to solve it.<\/p>\n Research shows that kids began to lose interest in science during the middle school years. \u00a03M created this contest to encourage the exploration of scientific concepts while finding ways to communicate their findings creatively. \u00a0The Discovery Education 3M Young Scientist Challenge gives kids a personal reason (outside of school) to research a topic that interests them…based on the fun of solving their own discovered problem. \u00a0It provides kids with the opportunity to think outside of the box and see the power they have inside of them to create solutions to problems…even though they are “just a kid.”<\/p>\n This year marks the 15th year of 3M’s annual challenge. \u00a0Thousands of kids have participated in this challenge and winners have gone on to work with top scientists, meet President Obama, and speak in front of Congress. \u00a0The\u00a0Discovery Education 3M Young Scientist Challenge has inspired kids and helped them get excited about pursuing a career in the sciences, where they may have never thought about it before.<\/p>\n But there is more to the\u00a0Discovery Education 3M Young Scientist Challenge than just the journey. \u00a03M will award a $25,000 prize and the title of\u00a0\u00a0\u201cAmerica\u2019s Top Young Scientist,\u201d to the winner. \u00a0The winner will also receive an all expenses paid trip to Costa Rica. \u00a0And the top 10 finalists will receive an all expenses paid trip to Minneapolis to present their innovations to a board of distinguished panelists. \u00a0There will also be up to 51 State Merit winners.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The deadline to submit your child’s 1-2 minute video surmising his\/her problem and solution is approaching soon, April 22nd<\/strong> in fact. \u00a0Now I know what you may be thinking…oh forget it, there’s no way my child can do all this by then. \u00a0I know this because I had the same thought myself. \u00a0But it’s two weeks and what if you did make the time to try out for the challenge? \u00a0If anything, it would be a great learning experience, your child would learn that companies are interested in their opinions, and at the very least, you’ll know better what to do and how to prepare for next year’s contest.<\/p>\n OK, really, the biggest task to conquer in starting the\u00a0Discovery Education 3M Young Scientist Challenge is to figure out which problem to solve. \u00a0I know my daughter would need the most help with this. \u00a0Here are some questions I found on the challenge’s website to help flush an idea out…<\/p>\n TEN QUESTIONS TO ASK YOURSELF<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n As you think about the problem, the key is to come up with a new product (not a new use of an existing product) based on this problem. \u00a0Help your child think innovatively, out of the box. \u00a0Then do research on Google to learn how the science\/technology other products works that might have relevance to your child’s idea.<\/p>\n To get a good idea of other videos kids submitted in previous years, see the Video Topics <\/a>on the\u00a0Discovery Education 3M Young Scientist Challenge. \u00a0There’s a lot of creativity.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Kids in 5th grade through 8th grade can submit their applications and video through April 22nd through the\u00a0Discovery Education 3M Young Scientist Challenge<\/a>\u00a0website. \u00a0This is pretty exciting, based on the initial video entries, 10 finalists will be chosen to work with a 3M scientists during a Summer mentorship to create an Innovation which will presented to the final judges in October in St. Paul, Minnesota. \u00a0Wow, what an opportunity! \u00a0The deadline ends on April 22nd, so hurry!<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The U.S. Bureau of Statistics predicts that STEM based jobs will grow by over 20% in the next five years. \u00a0Currently, on 25% of this workforce is filled by women, according to the White House Council on Women and Girls 1. \u00a0That’s quite a gap. \u00a0Hands-on is the \u00a0best way for students to learn, but with all the pressures of student aptitude test scores, hands-on does not get the focus it should in schools. \u00a0Programs like\u00a0\u00a0Discovery Education 3M Young Scientist Challenge<\/a>\u00a0help empower your child to think differently and learn on a project that is interesting to him\/her.<\/p>\n I have been talking to my daughter about joining this challenge too. \u00a0 She has been thinking about possible ideas. \u00a0I welcome challenges like this to get us out of our routine and give us a reason to explore ideas my daughter has that could make a difference in the world and give her a vision of what is possible in her future.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n 1. http:\/\/<\/span>www.usnews.com\/education\/high-schools\/articles\/2012\/05\/31\/college-mentors-key-to-prospective-female-stem-majors)<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n * \u00a0This is a sponsored post for the Discovery Education 3M Young Scientist Challenge, one that we excitedly took on as we’d like to encourage more girls to be excited about STEM in their lives.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Want to help your child learn more about the sciences while pursuing an idea she has to make life easier? Join the Discovery 3M Young Scientist Challenge.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":12761,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[13,1973],"tags":[2783,2793],"class_list":["post-12754","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-kids","category-stem","tag-kids","tag-stem","entry"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wellconnectedmom.com\/blog\/p-content\/themes\/atahualpa342\/images\/articles\/2014\/04\/3M-Young-Scientist-Challenge-Logo.jpg?fit=1357%2C1240&ssl=1","jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wellconnectedmom.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12754","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wellconnectedmom.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wellconnectedmom.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wellconnectedmom.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wellconnectedmom.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12754"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/wellconnectedmom.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12754\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wellconnectedmom.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12761"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wellconnectedmom.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12754"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wellconnectedmom.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12754"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wellconnectedmom.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12754"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"3M](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wellconnectedmom.com\/blog\/p-content\/themes\/atahualpa342\/images\/articles\/2014\/04\/3M-Young-Scientist-Challenge-Brooke-Martin.jpg?resize=457%2C331&ssl=1\")
<\/p>\nThe Prize(s)<\/span><\/h2>\n
The Deadline<\/span><\/h2>\n
<\/h2>\n
How to Start<\/span><\/h2>\n
\n
![\"3M](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wellconnectedmom.com\/blog\/p-content\/themes\/atahualpa342\/images\/articles\/2014\/04\/3M-Young-Scientist-Challenge-Winners.jpg?resize=451%2C274&ssl=1\")
<\/p>\nEnter the\u00a0Discovery Education 3M Young Scientist Challenge<\/span><\/h2>\n
![\"Family](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wellconnectedmom.com\/blog\/p-content\/themes\/atahualpa342\/images\/articles\/2010\/12\/WellConnectedMom-LOGO-MOM.jpg?resize=166%2C301&ssl=1\"){kind=logo}
<\/p>\nA Mom’s Perspective<\/span><\/h2>\n