The votes are in and have been counted in the first round of voting on this year’s STEM Starter Showdown. And looking at the results, it seems like old-school engineers are having their day. In the Kits & Labs category, for example, chemistry lab and Heathkit/crystal radio beat out remote—control vehicles and robotic arm/kit. I thought the robotic kits and models would have done better in this contest. In the Toy category, “older” concepts such as balsa-wood rubber-band planes and Clay/Play Doh beat out the Rubik’s Cube and Matchbox/HotWheel cars. But that made sense to me because the first two toys are more open-ended and let kids stretch their imaginations. The Rubik’s Cube is more like a fairly tough puzzle and toy cars are pretty cool, but you can’t take them apart or alter them. Still, the cars and Clay/Play Doh were very close in the voting.
One of the bigger showdowns in the second round will pit Erector Set/Meccano against Legos/Mindstorm. This one could go either way. So make your voice heard and vote, start by clicking here. You can also watch a short video that explains the competition and read the rules that will govern who gets one of those fabulous prizes. (So far about two dozen participants are batting 1,000. But there’s still plenty of time to catch up and pocket one of those prizes.)
And let us know what you think of the results of the first round of voting.