Donna LaLonde, ASA Director of Strategic Initiatives and Outreach

April is Mathematics and Statistics Awareness Month. The goal of this month-long celebration is to increase public understanding of and appreciation for statistics and mathematics. Past activities have included workshops, competitions, festivals, lectures, symposia, department open houses, math art exhibits, and math poetry readings. This year, we are celebrating by launching a game development challenge!

“Alex, I will take Statistical Questions for $100.” From that quote, you may have guessed being a contestant on “Jeopardy” is on my bucket list. Before joining the American Statistical Association staff, one of my favorite teaching activities was to collaborate with colleagues to plan and host summer computer camps for middle-schoolers. As you may know, middle-schoolers have a lot of energy, so we had to plan a variety of activities.

Playing STEM “Jeopardy” was one successful activity. We would create a “Jeopardy” game complete with the appropriate theme music. The campers would compete as teams to state questions for the “answers” in STEM categories. It was active learning and fun.

Fun and educational games are effective resources for teaching and learning at all levels. To help celebrate Mathematics and Statistics Awareness Month (MSAM) and as part of ASA President Wendy Martinez’s K–6 presidential initiative, we are launching a game development challenge. We want you to be creative, so your game can be a board game, card game, video game, or Shiny app like the Correlation Game. Although the initiative is focused on K–6, your game may be for any age level.

The Correlation Game, STEM “Jeopardy,” and the Laber Lab video games highlighted in the MSAM poster (available to download) are great examples, but we want more! Working with colleagues or independently, generate ideas—apps, video games, board games, and card games. A panel will judge all the submissions and prizes will be awarded. Submissions will be accepted until July 1, 2020.

To enter the contest, you will need to provide a brief description of your game and specify the grade level for which the game is designed. Enter as many ideas as you have. Game on!

Virtual Science Fair

In addition to the game development challenge, we are celebrating MSAM with a virtual science fair. Working independently or as a member of a team, spend the month investigating an interesting topic and submit a short video highlighting your process and results.

What Students Do

• Formulate a question about a topic that fascinates you
• Design a plan to collect appropriate data to help you answer the question
• Use your plan to collect the data
• Use appropriate graphical and numerical methods to analyze your data
• Interpret your analysis and answer your original question
• Create a 3–5-minute video showcasing your process and results
• Write a short essay outlining your process and analysis to accompany your video

What Teachers, Parents, or Sponsors Do

• Submit a form online to register your student or team for the virtual science fair
• Assist your student or team in the final submission of the video and essay

Good to Know
The science fair is open to any student in grades K–12. Homeschoolers may participate. There are three grade categories: K–4, 5–8, 9–12. In each category, projects may be submitted by individuals or teams composed of 2–3 students. All the students on a team must be in the same grade category. Registration and video and essay submission are due by 11:59 p.m. ET June 1. Winners will be notified by July 1.