Science Teams Homepage

Urban Suburban Science Team STEM Program Highlight Videos

Welcome to the Science Teams!

(Established: Fall, 2007)

"Participating school districts' science students practice at the University of Rochester to compete in regional and National competitive Science Bowls. Regional Science Bowl competition winners are awarded:

an All-Expense Paid Trip to DOE National Science Bowl in Washington, D.C. !"

Science Teams Informational Mtg at U of R

Rush Rhees Library:

(Gleason Library's I-Zone Computer Labs)

TBD (Spring 2021)

Time: TBD

(OK to leave early per your schedule)

Coach, Kelvin Knight, MPH

(Pittsford Mendon HS '85) (University of Rochester (BA) '89)

(U of IL at Chicago (MPH) '98)

Ed. D. Student, Warner School Of Education (University of Rochester)

Phone: (585) 713-5093

eMail: Kelvin.Knight@rocketmail.com

LINK TO ON CAMPUS MONTHLY PRACTICE SCHEDULE

(Updated: 12/26/2021)

Rush Rhees Library (Gleason Library Area)

It is NOT to Late to JOIN US!

JOIN US FOR TOUR! (Call 585 713-5093)

www.library.rochester.edu/maps

OUR TEAMS' CORPORATE AND PRIVATE SPONSORS

Urban Suburban Inter District Transfer Program

(click)

Wegmans

(click)

Penfield Robotics #1511 Rolling Thunder

Visions Federal Credit Union

(click)

National Organization for the Advancement of Black Chemists and Chemical Engineers (NOBCCHE)

STAAR LEADERS OF ROCHESTER, INC.

(click)

Coach Knight

Anonymous Private Donors

SCIENCE TEAMS HIGHLIGHT!

Spring 2022, TCMS Middle School Team wins Dept. of Energy Western New York Science Bowl Regional

Spring 2022, BHS Science Team competes in DOE NYC Science Bowl Regional

Spring 2022, US Middle School Team attend STEM event on U of R Campus

Fall 2022, US Middle School Team attends UR Student Carnival

Fall 2021, Urban Suburban Science Team NOBCCHE National Science Bowl win featured in Chemistry Journal

Fall 2021, High School and Middle School Teams get together to celebrate sweep of 2021 NOBCCHE Science Bowl

Summer 2021, Science Team students builds and flies model rockets

Spring 2021, Urban Suburban Science Team Coach and Teams Highlighted in "The Wedge" Newspaper

March 2021, TCMS Science Team wins Department of Energy National Science Bowl Regionals, Online due to COVID-19

September 2020 U of R student STEM groups assist with US Science Team Practices (STEM Initiative, SASE)

April 2020, Science Bowl Team begins "Online" Practice Season

May 2020, TCMS Science Team competes in first online DOE National Science Bowl Finals

March 2020, TCMS Science Team wins Department of Energy National Science Bowl Regionals, Buffalo NY

December 2019, Urban Suburban Science Teams Highlighted by Channel 8 News

November 2019, US High School Team wins NOBCCHE National Science Bowl in St. Louis, MO

November 2019, STEM Team hosted by U of R Medical School and Medical Students

October 2019, U of R Student Group "STEM Initiative" begins work with U S STEM team

2018-19 STEM Season closes with more wins and more participating students

Coach Kelvin Knight honored by Urban Suburban Inter-District Transfer Program with "Outstanding Service Award", May 2019

US High School Team members visit former STEM team member at Yale University, May 2019

TCMS Science Team wins Second Place at 2019 DOE Western New York Science Bowl Regional (WROC TV8 Honor Roll Segment)

Urban Suburban High School Science Team competes in 2019 DOE NYC Science Bowl Regional

December 2018 PCSD Alumni Kelvin Knight Highlighted by Pittsford School District

Urban Suburban Science Team Highlight by Channel 8 News's HONOR ROLL Segment, September 2018

September 2018, Urban Suburban Science Team competes at 2018 NOBCCHE National Science Bowl in Orlando, FL

May 2018, Urban Suburban Science Team's Season Highlighlighted by Urban Suburban Inter District Transfer Program

Winter 2018

Spring 2018 "The Trapezoid" Highlights TCMS Science Team Members

April 2018, Twelve Corners Middle School Science Team flies to 2018 Dept. of Energy's National Science Bowl Finals in Washington, D.C.!!!

April 2017, Urban Suburban Science Team NOBCCHE Win Highlighted in "The Wedge" Newspaper

March 2018, Twelve Corners Middle Schoool Science Team wins Western New York National Science Bowl Regional, Buffalo NY!!!

March 2018, Twelve Corners Middle School Science Team DOE Regional win highlighted on Channel 13 News!

December 2017, Urban Suburban Science Team NOBCCHE Win Highlighted in "The Wedge" Newspaper

November 2017, Urban Suburban Science Team competes as "Urban Suburban Dynamic Duo 1" in FIRST LEGO League Qualifier

November 2017, Urban Suburban Science Teams win Gold and Silver Medals in 2017 NOBCCHE Science Bowl Competition

November 2017, Urban Suburban Science Team and NOBCCHE National Science Bowl travel featured on WROC-TV8 "Honor Roll" News Segment

Visions Federal Credit Union sponsors Science Teams' FIRST LEGO FLL Team and National Science Bowl Teams, October 2017

Wegmans sponsors Sciece Teams' FIRST LEGO FLL and National Science Bowl Teams to provide healthier practice food and snack alternatives, September 2017

Science Team's membership triples over the summer with more diverse students from all over Monroe County, July 2017

Science Team joins FIRST LEGO League middle school LEGO program, Summer 2017

Science Team awarded FIRST LEGO League (FLL) grant from Penfield FIRST Robotics to start FLL team(s), May 2017

TCMS Science Team and National Science Bowl Regional featured on WROC-TV8 "Honor Roll" News Segment, March 2017

TCMS Science Team's Win featured on WROC-TV8 "Honor Roll" News Segment, February 2017

NY State Senator, Joe Robach, acknowledges TCMS 2016 NOBCCHE Science Bowl win at TCMS

Brighton Science Team, NOBCCHE STEM Weekend Mannequin Challenge!

Brighton Science Team wins NBCCHE's National Science Bowl, November 2016!

TCMS Science Team celebrates Solar Sprint Awards on TCMS Morning Show, May 2016

FIRST LEGO League and SCIENCE COMPETITION LINKS:

NOBCCHE Links:

NOBCCHE National Science Bowl Parental Release

African American Inventors Questions, A

African American Inventors Questions, B

African American Inventors, Scientists, and Chemists List

African American Inventors, Scientists, and Engineers Worksheets (Blank)

African American Inventors, Scientists, and Engineers Worksheets (MSWord)

African American Inventors, Scientists, and Engineers Worksheets (Incomplete) (Excel) Updated: 6/4/2022

2021 NOBCCHE Science Bowl Links

STEM Hands-On Presentation Instructions:

Silly Putty Instructions

Slime Instructions

Wet and Wetting Instructions

FIRST LEGO League Links:

FIRST LEGO League EV3 Brick Programming website

LEGO EV3 USER GUIDE.PDF

BEE-BOT Programming Simulator (Master Simple programming through a maze)

Roberta Lab Robot Progamming Site

2022 FLL Challenge Map. JPG

2018 FLL Challenge Map JPEG

2019 FLL Challenge Map .PDF

National FIRST LEGO League (FLL) Website

DOE National Science Bowl Study Links:

2021 National Science Bowl Finals (Dates, Times, Competion Links)

Dept. of Energy's (DOE) National Science Bowl Parent/Student Media Release Form

DOE National Science Bowl Medical Release Forms

MIDDLE SCHOOL PROTOBOWL (HIGH CHALLENGE ONLINE LIVE SCIENC FACT QUIZ)

HIGH SCHOOOL PROTOBOWL (HIGH PACE ONLINE LIVE SCIENCE FACT QUIZ)

National Science Bowl Middle School Questions (Review these often!)

Middle School Science Questions Quiz Link (QUIZ YOURSELF!)

DOE High School National Science Bowl Questions (Review these often!)

Middle School Vocabulary 1

Middle School Vocabulary 2

Middle School Vocabulary 3

Middle Schol Vocabulary 4 (Technology)

Middle School Vocabulary 5 (Technology)

Middle School Vocabulary (Math)

High School Vocabulary 1

High School Vocabulary 2

High School Vocabulary 3

High School Vocabulary 4 (GEOMETRY)

High School Vocabulary 5 (Pre-Calc)

High School Vocabulary 6 (Physics)

Benefits to joining our Science Teams!

Consider joining our team! You will not be disappointed!

WELCOME TO OUR WEBSITE

The Science Teams are a nationally competitive and award-winning "science club" program started by the Urban Suburban Alumni Association (USAA) to mentor youth in participating school districts. The science program consisted of highly motivated students from multiple school districts. At its peak, our science club consisted of sixteen students from five different districts participated on four separate high school and middle school science subteams.

TEAM HISTORY

The original Urban Suburban Science Teams was developed in Winter 2006 as an Urban Suburban Alumni Association's (USAA) student mentoring outreach program created by Coach Kelvin Knight and USAA members. The mentoring program was transformed into a STEM science team program after Coach Knight saw a lack of an Urban Suburban STEM team to compete in local STEM competitions in Fall 2007.

The Program for the Reform In Secondary Science and Mathematics (PRISSM) was an annual competitive STEM trivia competition. The PRISSM program was locally funded and coordianted by the Rochester City School District and the local National Organization for Black Chemists and Chemical Engineers (NOBCCHE) Chapter promoting STEM learning and careers specifically to Rochester City School District students. PRISSM and NOBCCHE hosted the Department of Energy (DOE) National Science Bowl. The DOE National Science Bowl was a highly competitive Science, Math, Engineering, and Earth Science team competition similar to "Jeopardy." Coach Knight volunteered as the competition moderator, like Alex Trabeck, for several years before creating his own team for the competition.

The Urban Suburban (US) Science Teams originally were high school teams consisting of only students participating in the Urban Suburban Inter District Transfer Program from several participating districts. As years passed and students graduated high school, the US Science teams were opened up to include middle school and high school students. There has been more than five high school teams and six middle school Science Teams. The US Science Team program grew to also include: college immersion at the U of R, college tours, STEM field trips, and out of town travel to state and national STEM competitions. Our graduating high school students have gone on to colleges like: SUNY Geneseo, Duquesne University, Keuka College, Emory University, MCC, U. Penn, SUNY Binghampton, Yale, Hampton University, and others.

After eight years of competing as the Urban Suburban (US) Science Teams in the local PRISSM/NOBCCHE STEM events, the rules changed at the DOE National Science Bowl Competition. Science Teams were barred from participating as "club groups" consisting of students from different schools or districts. In Fall 2015, the Urban Suburban science club was reorganized into specific school sponsored science teams. The first middle school team being the "Twelve Corners Middle School Science Team" founded by prior science club student members and new members. A high school science team will follow. Since spring 2016, the number students participating our US Science Team has grown steadily. Our team grew from four suburban resident students to over 13 in fall of 2017. In May 2017, the team joined FIRST LEGO League robotics STEM program as a competitive FIRST LEGO League team, "The Urban Suburban Dynamic Duo 1." Participating students participate on the Urban Suburban Science Team in unrestricted competitions. Currently, most Brighton School district student members represent Brighton High School or Twelve Corner Middle School. Many of the Brighton High School students are former middle school students with multiple years of science team competition experience.

Welcome, Mr. Bakari Smith. Bakari is another Urban Suburban Inter District Transfer Alumni with a background in Electrical Engineering and Mathematics. Assistant Coach Bakari has been with the team since December 2017. He also traveled with the science team to the middle school finals in Washington, D.C. Mr. Jude Banahene. He is a member of STAAR Leaders of Rochester, Inc. Mentor Jude has a background in IT and Project Management. He has helped with the team since 2016 with practicing for Science Bowl, Junior Solar Sprint, and FIRST LEGO League. Mr. Vince Stroud joined team as Assistant Coach in 2019. Coach Vince is a former educator in the BOCES 1 Districts. He brings great new ideas and talents to the coaching staff.

BUILD YOUR STEM SKILLS AND FUTURE RESUME

Up from the ashes, the Urban Suburban Science Teams have been given new breath from the influx of students from all over the county. Our teams have won awards from multiple local and national STEM programs. Our teams have traveled to compete in: Buffalo, New Orleans, Indianapolis, Minneapolis, and Raleigh, NC. Our teams consists of an ethnic diversity of mostly middle school students. They learn via the various STEM, college immersion, mutual comradery, and mentoring experiences they have each practice.

Participation is a great opportunity for incoming Juniors and Seniors to be immersed in a challenging college campus environment! Participation also enhances student's extra-curricular experiences for their college applications and work resumes. Past graduating team members have received access to local academic scholarships due to their team participation. Coach Knight has written many letters of recommendation for participating students to join summer internships, local jobs, and college applications.

Middle school students (grades 6-8) benefit from the experience and exposure to higher education and academic excellence! Students are mentored/coached by program alumni. Students meet students from other school districts. Students learn academic and testing skills from one another. Students improve their academic and social skills. Students compete in local Solar Car Challenge in Buffalo. Students will participate locally in FIRST LEGO First Lego League competition.

Coach Knight self-sponsored the team for over 13 years. Recently, the team has sponsored by the Urban Suburban Inter District Transfer Program, corporate donors, private donors, and adult volunteers. In 2019, Coach Knight was accepted into the University of Rochester's Warner School of Education to pursue his Educational Doctorate in Human Development with a focus on the impact and outcomes of STEM programming on adolescents success in and educational attainment. Thank you to all the participating students, parents, field trip hosts, coaches, U of R STEM Departments, NOBCCHE National, Jr. Solars Sprint and DOE Western New York Regional Science Bowl organizers, and grantors for all the support over the years! I was able to tell a great story to the Warner School's Admissions Committee of the outstanding student experiences and award-winning program successes due to all who supported our STEM program!

Parents are also welcome to join us at each practice!

Build student resumes for college applications and job opportunities
Alumni mentoring (career building, discuss college prep, increase job skills)
Student mentoring (socializing, academic prep, sharpen study skills)
Study skills and test taking strategies
Traveling including local college tours, field trips, STEM competitions
Building lifetime friendships
Multimedia and hands-on learning format
FIRST LEGO League Team: Urban Suburban Dynamic Duo 1
College Tours and Science Field Trips
Access to local Academic Scholarships (STAAR Leaders of Rochester, Inc.)