USA Network and Burn Notice are giving high school students across the country the chance to test their science knowledge and creativity! To enter, students must solve a safe yet compelling challenge that your favorite character on the show might face, such as covertly communicating with other operatives, surveilling enemy territory and gathering intelligence on adversaries. Grand Prize winners will receive a $10,000 scholarship, meet cast & crew of Burn Notice and be recognized on USA Network! The Burn Notice Science Challenge encourages learning in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) and shows that science can be fun, interesting and rewarding! Good luck students!
LOUD AND CLEAR
Just because spies often have to work alone, doesn't mean they don't have to communicate with each other. The secrets you uncover are useless if you can't transmit them to your superiors, and any large scale operation is destined to fail if you can't coordinate with other operatives in the field.
There's a vital piece of information you need to get from one of your fellow operatives. Only problem is, you can't be seen meeting with each other. It's up to you to find a way to communicate without alerting your enemies. Assume all phone lines and computers are being monitored, so the only way to communicate will be to improvise something.
Whatever you construct must allow you and your fellow operatives to communicate covertly across a distance of at least 100 feet, with at least one man-made barrier separating them.
EYE IN THE SKY
Since the Civil War, spies have turned to the skies to gather information on their enemies. Today, the U.S. government spends billions of dollars on keyhole satellites that can read the headline off a newspaper and unmanned aerial drones that can identify an enemy combatant from a mile above. These technologies are incredibly useful in the world of intelligence gathering, but completely useless to a spy who needs one on the fly.
Your mission is to get surveillance on an enemy compound. Only problem is: it's surrounded by 20-foot walls and using a ladder to peek over may attract some unwanted attention. Find a way to improvise your own aerial drone to get surveillance photos of the inside of the enemy compound. Try to only use repurposed supplies because buying anything too specific to your task will definitely raise suspicions. Find the most creative way to build your drone and deploy it.
DO NOT DISTURB
When you're spying on foreign soil, it's not a question of if your home will be searched, but when. That's why spies have to take some extra security precautions. Scaring the intruders away won't do you any good... what you want is the opportunity to find out who they are.
Build a makeshift alarm system that can covertly alert you when someone's breaking in and find a way to catch a picture or video of him/her without him/her knowing. Going to the store and buying a consumer alarm system or surveillance equipment will raise some red flags, so make sure whatever security system you build is either made from seemingly innocuous materials, or repurposed from other easily obtained household items.
HOW TO ENTER
You must be in grades 9-12 and may enter as an individual student or as a team of two or three. You also must have an adult teacher, science professional or other adult (non-relative) as a mentor/advisor who will authorize and sign the ethics and academic integrity statement and certify that safe practices will be employed by the students at all times.
Please submit a 1,500-word maximum essay on only one challenge that includes the following:
- Present a detailed plan for solution to selected challenge scenario
- Describe how you would build device/system using materials readily available
- Justify what items and materials are needed for solution
- Detail the amount of time expected to develop and execute solution
- Show supportive research with proper citations (all works of others must be referenced and URLs must be included for any Internet sources)
- Use a scientific principle in the approach to solution or show how the scientific method can be used to achieve solution, and must include one or more of the following: technology - demonstrate the use of technological equipment; engineering - display the application of engineering principles; and math - show an equation or law of physics.
Don't forget to enter by February 15, 2013, 11:59 PM ET!
USA's judging panel will select up to 25 finalists based on the following criteria:
- Demonstrates Application of STEM Skills & Principles (40%)
- Originality & Creativity (30%)
- Complexity of Solution (20%)
- Clear Presentation of Ideas, Spelling & Grammar (10%).
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