Eureka! Lab

Bring kids to the Broadcom MASTERS with a mini grant

Qualifying groups can get up to $500 for transportation and lunches for students

Max Du

Max Du, a Broadcom MASTERS finalist in 2015, shows off some chemical structures he put together. 

B. Brookshire/SSP

By Bethany Brookshire

What does an amazing, inspiring middle school science fair project look like? On Saturday, October 29, take the opportunity to find out. The 30 finalists for the Broadcom MASTERS (which stands for Math, Applied Science, Technology and Engineering for Rising Stars) competition will show off their science projects to the public at the National Geographic Society in Washington, D.C., from 1 to 4 p.m. Children are encouraged to attend. And if you want to bring some kids to get inspired but need a little help, mini grants are available to pay your way.

Any school or non-profit that wants to bring a group of eight or more elementary or middle school students to see the projects can apply for up to $500 to pay for transportation and lunches. Just fill out this form.

Many children and teens that hear about a science fair may be unsure about where to start. Seeing other students show off their work can show them that a science project doesn’t require some high-tech lab. It can start in someplace as simple as the kitchen or backyard. All it takes is the right perspective.

The Broadcom MASTERS science program was created by Society for Science & the Public. It is sponsored by Broadcom, a company that builds devices to help computers connect to the Internet. The annual event brings together middle school students with winning science-fair projects from all over the country to Washington. The finalists show off projects in all areas of science, technology, engineering and math, from scolding showerheads to ways to catch cheaters.

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annual     Adjective for something that happens in every year. (in botany) A plant that lives only one year, so it usually has a showy flower and produces many seeds.

Broadcom MASTERS     Created and run by the Society for Science & the Public, Broadcom MASTERS (Math, Applied Science, Technology and Engineering Rising Stars) is the premier middle school science and engineering fair competition. Broadcom MASTERS International gives select middle school students from around the world a unique opportunity to attend the Intel International Science & Engineering Fair.

engineering     The field of research that uses math and science to solve practical problems.

middle school     A designation for grades six through eight in the U.S. educational system. It comes immediately prior to high school. Some school systems break their age groups slightly different, including sixth grade as part of elementary school and then referring to grades seven and eight as “junior” high school.

society     An integrated group of people or animals that generally cooperate and support one another for the greater good of them all.

Society for Science and the Public (or SSP)  A nonprofit organization created in 1921 and based in Washington, D.C. Since its founding, SSP has been not only promoting public engagement in scientific research but also the public understanding of science. It created and continues to run three renowned science competitions: The Intel Science Talent Search (begun in 1942), the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair (initially launched in 1950) and Broadcom MASTERS (created in 2010). SSP also publishes award-winning journalism: in Science News (launched in 1922) and Science News for Students (created in 2003). Those magazines also host a series of blogs (including Eureka! Lab).

star     The basic building block from which galaxies are made. Stars develop when gravity compacts clouds of gas. When they become dense enough to sustain nuclear-fusion reactions, stars will emit light and sometimes other forms of electromagnetic radiation. The sun is our closest star.

technology     The application of scientific knowledge for practical purposes, especially in industry — or the devices, processes and systems that result from those efforts.

About Bethany Brookshire

Bethany Brookshire was a longtime staff writer at Science News Explores and is the author of the book Pests: How Humans Create Animal Villains. She has a Ph.D. in physiology and pharmacology and likes to write about neuroscience, biology, climate and more. She thinks Porgs are an invasive species.