Winners Announced in NASEF x AEOP Digital Junior Solar Sprint Race in Minecraft
May 26, 2022
2022 Digital Competition Helped Middle Schoolers Learn about Solar Vehicles.
(Atlanta, GA – May 26, 2022) - The US Army Educational Outreach Program (AEOP), Technology Student Association, and North America Scholastic Esports Federation (NASEF) announce the winners of the first-ever digital version of the popular Junior Solar Sprint competition. In both the digital and analog events, middle school students compete to create the fastest, most interesting, and best crafted solar-vehicle possible.
Digital JSS was presented in a custom Minecraft racetrack world. Through livestreams and challenges presented by NASEF, students learned the basics of solar energy, physics and movement in vehicles; practiced engineering design principles; and built STEM skills like collaboration and communication from working in teams.
By completing challenges in each workshop around the racetrack, calculations were made in Minecraft to identify teams’ battery score, material time, motor score, motor time, and solar panel score. A custom logarithm then combined those results and built a representative vehicle for each team. The highest-scoring teams qualified to race in three heats during the Finals Livestream. From those heats, the best six vehicles went on to race in the championship event.
Qualifiers for the final heats were:
(Some teams entered with their specific name; others are simply identified by their city and state.)
Heat 1
Thomas S. and Team Solar Dads from Jasper County, GA
Jayden K. and the team from Jasper County, GA
Brooklyn W. and Team Ratsnacks from Chaimos, MO
Adrian G. and the team from Miami, FL
Daniel V. and Team Master Builders from Fort Lauderdale, FL
Mine C. and the team from Forest City, IA
Heat 2
Morgan Lee S. and Team BMV from Fort Lauderdale, FL
Roger S. and the team from Berne, NY
Nicholas L. and the team from Miami, FL
Jayla H. and the team from Lubbock, TX
Calvin L. and Team 4 from Piedmont, MO
Earnest B. and Team 3 from Piedmont, MO
Heat 3
Michael A. and the team from Miami, FL
Ryan F. and the team from Forest City, IA
Angelo P. and the team from Miami, FL
Jayden S. and Team Idiots with Brains from Miami, FL
Brayyton T. and Team 1 from Piedmont, MO
Evan T. and Team 2 from Piedmont, MO
Six vehicles qualified to race in the championship. In final result order, they were:
- Thomas S. and Team Solar Dads from Jasper County, GA
- Jayden K. and the team from Jasper County, GA
- Morgan Lee S. and Team BMV from Fort Lauderdale, FL
- Roger S. and the team from New York
- Michael A. and the team from Miami, FL
- Ryan F. and the team from Forest City, IA
Congratulations to the champions, Thomas S. and Team Solar Dads from Jasper County, GA!
“The AEOP+NASEF Digital Junior Solar Sprint extended the reach of this creative engineering contest to many more students,” said Sue King, Junior Solar Sprint Manager at the Technology Student Association. “It was so fun to see the detailed Minecraft racetrack and watch students complete the Minecraft challenges and learn about solar vehicles in this popular game! We were thrilled to engage hundreds of new students in JSS through this partnership with NASEF. We hope that, in the future, students might enter both the digital and analog events and learn even more through both venues!”
Watch all the livestreams, including the final heats and championship race, in this playlist. The live finals of the analog Junior Solar Sprint will take place at the annual National Technology Student Association Conference on June 29, 2022.
“Kids remember lessons learned through project-based, immersive challenges like this one,” said Gerald Solomon, NASEF’s founder and executive director. “Through the AEOP+NASEF Digital Junior Solar Sprint, students had a great time playing in Minecraft as they learned about capturing and using solar energy and vehicle design. That’s a win-win!”
About the organizers
The mission of the US Army Educational Outreach program is to provide both students and teachers a collaborative, cohesive, portfolio of Army-sponsored STEM programs that effectively engage, inspire, and attract the next generation of STEM talent through K through graduate programs and expose them to Department of Defense STEM careers. Find them on Facebook and Twitter.
The North America Scholastic Esports Federation (NASEF) is on a mission to provide opportunities for all students to use esports as a platform to acquire STEM/STEAM-based skills and critical communication, collaboration, and problem-solving skills needed to thrive in work and in life. NASEF operates under the umbrella of the World Wide Scholastic Esports Foundation (WWSEF). Find NASEF at NASEF.org and on Twitch, Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram