CALLING STUDENTS IN GRADES 5-8!

Around $2,000 in scholarships to give away!

Are you ready to learn about the exciting world of polymers, and stretch your imagination? Are you prepared to get hands-on with a polymer that has some truly unique and amazing properties?

Awesome, because it’s time for the 19th annual Rubber Band Contest for Young Inventors, hosted by the Akron Global Polymer Academy — an outreach division of the School of Polymer Science and Polymer Engineering at The University of Akron!

Join the fun and get ready to learn about the rubber band - one of the many amazing inventions created from a unique class of materials known as polymers! This educational contest was designed to give students a new opportunity to have fun learning about Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Mathematics. Each year students from across the nation come up with new ways of using rubber band(s) to create amazing inventions, games, artworks, and more!

Remember that the deadline to enter the 19th annual contest is February 19, 2027. Your entry must be post-marked by then!

THE CHALLENGE:

• To design and create a working invention/artwork that incorporates at least one (1) rubber band.

TWO SEPARATE DIVISIONS:

AROUND $2,000 IN SCHOLARSHIPS from the Rubber Division of the American Chemical Society will be awarded to the winners:

• The first place winner in each division will receive a $150 Scholarship.


• The runner-up in each division will receive a $100 Scholarship.


• The four remaining finalists in each division (who are not a first place winner or runner-up) will receive a $50 Scholarship.


• Schools can earn cash prizes too! The top three schools with the most qualifying entries will each receive $100 in funds from the Rubber Division of the American Chemical Society, to be used towards STEM education.


• NEW THIS YEAR:
  • $100 Rubber City Award: awarded to the Akron School with the most qualifying entries.
  • $100 Local County Award: awarded to the school within Summit, Portage, Stark, Wayne, Medina, or Cuyahoga Counties with the most qualifying entries.


• (In-eligible and disqualified entries do not count towards school awards, and a minimum of 2 student entries are required to qualify for the school awards. A school can only win one school award. Local awardees will not be eligible to win a prize from multiple categories.)

OUR CONTEST LESSON PLAN MAKES IT EASIER: standard aligned and easy to integrate with your curriculum

• Alignment with multiple standards:
  • Next Generation Science Standards
  • Common Core Standards
  • National Standards (Grades 5-8)
  • Ohio Academic Content Standards for Science
  • Ohio Revised Science Education Standards and Model Curriculum

• Learn more about the Rubber Band Contest Lesson Plan