By Rosalinda Cardoso

At NSTEM, we believe that safe and collaborative competition can encourage healthier attitudes for students; emphasizing collaboration and teamwork rather than winning and losing can make all the difference in a student’s long-term path to success and empathy. To ring in the New Year, we wanted to provide a few fun and affordable STEM competitions for middle school students to explore individually or collaboratively, regardless of their interests. These competitions are also annual, so if you miss the deadline for this year, you can always get an early start on next year’s competition!
C-SPAN Student CAM Contest is a free national video documentary competition for grades 6-12, where students can enter individually or in teams of three. Students are asked to create a short video documentary, approximately 5-6 minutes, relating to the annual competition theme. All entries for 2025 should follow the theme, Message to the President, identifying which issue is most important to you or your local community. The deadline to submit video entries this year is January 20, 2025. Top Middle School prize-winners will be awarded up to $5,000 (To be announced mid-March 2025) with a chance of being aired on C-SPAN Networks from April 1-April 21, 2025.
eCYBERMISSION is a free, virtual STEM competition for student teams in grades 6-9 based in the US or Canada. Competition teams should be composed of 2-4 students along with a team advisor and will need to choose one of two pathways to register. Teams can either Ask a scientific question by tackling a scientific problem OR try their hands at solving an engineering problem. In this competition, students can exercise scientific inquiry concerning technology, math, and critical theory. First-place winners will receive a savings bond worth $500, and second-place holders will receive a savings bond worth $250. Student and team registration opens on August 15, 2024, and closes on February 26, 2025.
ExploraVision is a free science competition open to students in grades K-12. (In this case, we recommend the category for grades 7-9 students.) During this project, a sponsor will lead student teams of 2-4 people while they research and analyze a current technology of their choice. ExploraVision then challenges students to envision and communicate their chosen technology 10 or more years in the future by using collaborative brainstorming and team-based learning to communicate their findings. Team projects can range from 3 weeks to 3 months in duration. Prizes for first place will be a $10,000 saving bond; second place holders will receive a $5,000 saving bond. The project deadline is January 31, 2025, and winners will be announced April 7-May 5, 2025.
NASA Student Launch is open to students in grades 6-12 (and students up to college/university levels) interested in physics, math, engineering, and critical thinking. Although there is no application fee, teams are responsible for raising funds to develop their rockets and cover expenses related to the final on-site launch in Huntsville, Alabama. This project should take around 9 months to complete, requiring students in that time to design, build, test, and launch a high-powered rocket and launch vehicle. The experience will culminate in a final launch event to take place on-site in Huntsville, Alabama (due to its proximity to NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center), taking place from April 30 to May 4, 2025, where first prize winners will receive $5,000 and second place winners will receive $2,500.
Zero Robotics is a space-based programming competition open for Middle and High school students to enter. This competition uses robots called Synchronized Position Engage Reorient Experimental Satellites (SPHERES), which are basketball-sized robots astronauts use to study fluids in space. During Zero Robotics Championships, teams will work to program SPHERES virtually before they are uploaded to the SPHERES on a space station, where astronauts will judge the championships live! This incredibly cool competition takes place over five weeks in the summer for middle school students and satisfies STEM learning outcomes like engineering, robotics, and computer programming. The tournament is in late July, so look for registration for 2025 to open early in the year and keep your eyes peeled for this one-of-a-kind experience for the future astronaut in your classroom!
At NSTEM, we believe self-improvement and achievement should be accessible to all students. STEM competitions such as these require nominal fees (if any at all) to participate in and complete. We are happy to provide students and educators with more accessible opportunities to self-improve, allowing students to celebrate another year of personal milestones and fostering teamwork and self-esteem.
At NSTEM, we believe that middle school (Grades 6-8) is where students are transformed, entering as children and emerging as young adults. Project-based learning enrichment can help students connect the dots between STEM and real life, making math and science relevant for them, and keeping them engaged and interested. With a meaningful middle school experience, students are far more likely to focus on STEM disciplines in high school and beyond. To start your 6-8 middle school chapter of the National STEM Honor Society, click here.
Do you want more resources on STEM competitions? NSTEM’s vast resources database provides thousands of searchable STEM resources by category, school level, and state. This comprehensive library includes info on enrichment activities, curricula, internships, scholarships, and more. Check out a free sampling here. Or get an NSTEMI membership today to unlock the complete list.