2018 Events
Read more on each event on SciOly or go to the official Science Olympiad site here.
**Note: Events and topics change year to year--We are Division C (High School)
Anatomy and Physiology
Respiratory, digestive, and immune: Study the systems, what encompasses them, how they work, and common diseases. Ecology Learn the ecology of different biomes. This year the topics are deserts and grasslands. Herpetology (NEW) Learn about amphibians, turtles, crocodiles, and reptiles. Disease Detectives Food Illness: Study of diseases and how they spread. (Ex: define epidemic vs. pandemic) Microbe Mission Learn the basics of microbiology and the classification of diseases. Astronomy Learn as much as possible about astronomy. Includes math and physics! Dynamic planet Plate Tectonics: Learn about the resulting natural disasters that occur along fault lines as well as the physics of waves. Rocks and Minerals Identify different rocks and how they form. Remote Sensing Use various sensing systems (Ex: Infrared, radar) to explore questions related to climate change processes. |
Hovercraft
Build a self-propelled, air-levitated vehicle capable of moving down a track. Competitors must also be able to answer questions related to mechanics. Optics Learn the physics of light and how the human eye works. Also, teams must use mirrors to point a laser around a minimum of 3 barriers to a target. Thermodynamics (NEW) (building) Construct a device designed to retain heat. Learn about thermodynamics and test your skills! Chem lab Physical properties and thermodynamics: Perform experiments to demonstrate lab skills and answer questions on the given topics. Forensics Use chemistry to solve a crime. Learn to identify polymers, powders, fibers, and hair samples, perform blood serum and fingerprint analysis, and interpret chromatography. Material Science This event focuses on the chemistry of metals, ceramics, composites, and polymers. Towers Competitors must build the lightest structure with the highest structural efficiency capable of supporting the most weight. |
Helicopters
Competitors build balsa helicopters powered by a rubber band and capable of remaining in the air for the longest time. Mission Possible (NEW) (building) Create a Rube Goldberg-like device (which works on a chain reaction) to complete certain tasks. Mousetrap Vehicle (NEW) (building) Build a vehicle powered by one or two mousetraps! The faster it can go down a straight path, the more points you score. Experimental design Given materials are used to create and perform an experiment. Scores are based on a lab write-up. Game on Using Scratch, design an original computer game based on the theme at the competition. Fermi Questions (NEW) Use your critical thinking to estimate the answer to a seemingly-impossible question. For example, how many pieces of paper could a package of pencil lead cover? Write it do it One person gets a structure. They must write instructions on how to build this structure which will then be given to their partner. Their partner must recreate the structure as closely as possible. |