Science Olympiad
General Information, Helpful Hints & Tips
Questions
Can 9th graders compete in both divisions? Yes, 9th graders can compete in either division; however, not at the same tournament. Example: If a school has both a B team and a C team, “Johnny” can’t compete on both teams - he would have to choose which team to compete on/belong to. In addition, there can be only a maximum of five 9th graders on a Division B team and seven 12th graders on a Division C team.
Registration
Registration begins in September; register before Dec. 15th to avoid paying the late fee. Team members do not have to be chosen before you register your team.
All new coaches & teams are eligible for a grant (1st -2nd year) to help with start-up costs (i.e. materials, equipment and resource costs). Submit proposal via email regarding what the money would be spent on.- try to get a foundation to match what money you get
We also have travel, lodging, and mileage reimbursement money available. Teams who travel more than 50 miles to the state competition are eligible for money to help with travel expenses.
36 total B Division teams B Division: 6th – 9th grades
24 total C Division teams C Division: 9th – 12th grades
Until Dec 15, schools are only allowed to register one team in a division. After Dec 15, we will begin to allow schools to register for a second JV team in the same division as their 1st team. The second team is a JV-Team. The JV team does not compete for medals, but are competing mainly for the experience. A JV team will be in the same time slot as your main medaling team. The team will receive their “scores” and other feedback after the tournament.
Fee to register a team for S.O is $120.00 - same fee for all teams. $130 after December 15th, 2007
Science Olympiad Pin Design Contest (January)
Students design - great way to include other students (art classes)
Can be any shape
What is required to be on pin?
Open to any school competing in S.O
Thumbnails will be posted on website for viewing
Each team gets 1 vote and can submit 1 design
Must be submitted electronically - send picture in jpg form
Advice for Teams Competing for the First Time
Don’t worry about the over-all standing; just pick a few events and get the experience the first year
Your team doesn’t have to compete in ALL of the events - just choose some depending on the interests and skills of members of your team.
Teams who do care about over-all standing should do all 20 medal events
Hints for preparing for competition
Look for old tests and keys
Look on web for rule clarifications
Do what is comfortable for your team
Uniforms/team shirts help to identify your team
Make sure each team member has a name tag with school name and team number on it
Google information about events
Make sure that all students have a copy of the event rules
Practice & Training Tips
Have 1 day a week formal practice
Store training materials in containers – 1 for each event. Give students
containers with training materials and have them work on their own
See if parents can meet with and mentor the groups
Start early in school year (Sept/Oct)
Orient students to a new activity/event each week
Event Notes & Training Resources
Visit website: weber.edu/sciencecenter
Left column, 2nd in column for S.O. State website
Or go to www.soinc.org (National Science Olympiad website)
Schedule Information
Sign up on line for time slots - TELLING US YOUR TEAM # is very important - these links will become active mid-March
A couple of weeks before the competition we need to know (we will send out an email):
Which events (time slots) you want to sign up for AND
Which events your team plans on competing in (via e-mail)
A maybe is equal to a yes when you say you want to do an event
Competition Day
This year the state competition will be held on March 29, 2008.
A Cell phone/contact for each team will be required.
Helpful Hints
Coaches: please put the phonetics on student’s names (on the vouchers) so that we can pronounce them correctly in the awards ceremony, especially for names that are difficult to pronounce.
Have all materials for event put into a 2 or 3 gallon zip lock bag or other container:
Vouchers
Supplies
Room #, building, and time, and event name, student’s names
This helps the kids to be relaxed and not worry about the event
Make sure that your students know where their event is. A WSU campus map is available online. Events are held in the
following buildings:
Dee Event Center
Union Building Schedule building events (all in the Dee Event Center) close together in time
Keep schedule in mind when assigning events to students
Parents with cars can pick kids up at Dee Event center
Arrive early to find locations of events
Goggles
Make sure they’re all labeled
Can borrow and lend
There is one safety goggle that meets the requirements of all events - we will post
on our website.
Suggested Possible Interim Activities for Teams (between end of competition and awards ceremony (3:30 - 6:00 pm)
To be posted later
Clean up base camps and gather competition materials/supplies on bus if possible
Awards Ceremony begins at 6:00 in the Browning Center on campus.
Coaches: Please keep original or a copy of any scholarship letters your students are awarded in the awards ceremony. They will need these letters to claim their scholarships.