Science Olympiad Coaches Clinic August 6 & 7, 2009
Dr. Ohlhorst
Everything that you need to know is either on the website or in the rules…READ!!!
*Fall Coaches Clinic October 16 & 17, 2009*
Dr. Ohlhorst helps fund the travel expenses as well as gives new teams a start-up fund help with the costs of being a new team.
Dr. Adam Johnston
ILO’s allow you to do any of the Science Olympiad events
It’s About Time: Use our own rules in Utah. Teams are given all the same materials they do not have to use all of them. Different kinds of pendulums but don’t necessarily have to make a pendulum.
Dr. Brent Horn
Science Crime Busters/Forensics
Each event has 5 parts to it: Qualitative analysis of unknown materials (worth 50% of score), water quality testing, chromatography, crime scene evidence, analysis (tie breaker worth 30% of score).
Preparation for event:
SAFETY, EQUIPMENT, CLOTHING, NOTE SHEET
If you don’t have the entire kit your team will be at a disadvantage and they will not be provided by the event coordinator.
Note sheet: you can have 1 8 ½ by 11 note sheet with writing either by hand or printed¸ this can be used during the event and is ENCOURAGED.
Things that NEED to be in kit: (http://sciencekit.com/plates-and%23038%3B-spot-plates/c/3286/ ) Z87 goggles these protect the eyes, they seal on the face. Splash resistant goggles. Indirect vents: (you can’t put a wire from the outside to the inside) IT WILL BE ENFORCED
NO shorts! NO Capris-lower body garment to the ankles, long skirts permitted but not recommended
NO OPEN TOED SHOES!!!!! Must have a lab coat (long sleeves) or apron (worn with a long sleeved shirt
Gloves are optional
Stay away from ceramic mixing plates-you can’t really tell what happens because the powders are white also, you can get clear plastic or glass mixing plates it makes it easier for students to see the results because the tables are black topped in the lab where the event takes place.
Make a table of the results or different tests to put on your note card; this will make the identification much faster and easier.
National Science Olympiad page has great resources: www.soinc.org
Non-programmable calculators are allowed however if the only access to the factorial button is with a programmable calculator then they will be allowed
Make the spot as small as possible when doing the paper chromatography. Mark the spot where the solvent traveled to when the chromatography paper is taken out of the solvent. This is used to calculate retention factor. (Use the pencil)
Don’t need microscope slides or cover slips because fibers and hair have been taken out of the event.
Fingerprints will be obvious: Science Crime Busters must know Arch, Loop, Whorl. Forensics must know the subtypes of the different categories of fingerprints. Differentiate right or left loop, but if the question is asking for radial or ulnar there will be a hand so that it can be determined.
Stay away from books that are about criminal investigation as well as books that are about crime scene investigations, get a book that is about Introduction to scientific techniques and forensic science.
Angle of blood direction arcsin Θ theta=W/L (width of drop/length of drop)
Larger the size of the drop the lower the impact.
Need to include who and why and who and why not in the analysis. State why the evidence does or does not mean anything.
The teams that have the most fun in these events are the teams that come the most prepared. The unprepared ones do not have fun.
Seeds and pollen - more of a visual/matching comparison
Again check www.soinc.org for resources including pictures of pollen etc
Entomology-insect arrival ordering http://www.clt.uwa.edu.au/_data/page/112507/fseo7_forensic_entomology.pdf
Rules questions/clarifications go through Dr. Ohlhorst, other questions about information for event you can contact Dr. Horn directly.
Dr. Ohlhorst
Know your team number!!!!!
Let us know asap whether or not you intend to have a JV team, we must make sure that your Varsity and JV team must compete in the same time slot
Additional manuals are $10 each.
Read rules carefully-recommended to highlight them J
Suggestion: that the students have a schedule behind their nametag so they have just their schedule with them always.
Experimental Design:
It is an activity that can be used repeatedly in their classroom
Groups of up to 3
Kids are given a task and materials
Students have 50 minutes to create a experiment, and write up
You want kids with different skills
- Someone who can write well
- Someone who thinks outside the box
- Someone who has good organizational skills
Controlled variables-
Standard of comparison-
Independent variable-
“Imagination is more important then knowledge” Einstein
Science Olympiad is a way to show students that science is exciting and is not just memorization