Science Olympiad
Winners later receive several kinds of awards, including medals, trophies and plaques, as well as scholarships.
[7] The first recorded Science Olympiad was held on Saturday, November 23, 1974, at St. Andrews Presbyterian College in Laurinburg, North Carolina.
It was a day-long affair, with competitions and demonstrations for high school students in the areas of biology, chemistry, and physics.
An article by David Wetmore was published in the Journal of Chemical Education in January 1978[8] documenting the success of recruiting students through Science Olympiad.
St. Andrews Presbyterian College continues to host a Science Olympiad tournament to this day.
[9] Mr. John C. "Jack" Cairns was a teacher at Dover High School in Delaware when he learned about the Science Olympiad tournament in North Carolina.
A write-up in The Science Teacher of December 1977 caught the attention of Gerard Putz, who proposed that the program be expanded throughout the United States.
[2] Since 2012, a Global Ambassador Team from Japan has been invited to attend the national tournament as part of a partnership between Science Olympiad, MEXT and JST.
The Japanese Global Ambassador Team does however only compete on a limited basis as unranked guests.
[4] Peru's participation is for the most part coordinated by United Technologies for Kids (UTK) a NGO focused on STEM education in Latin America.
[15] In Divisions B and C, teams may compete in up to twenty-three main events, which usually occur over a single day (some tournaments, such as the Texas State tournament, run competitive events over multiple days); done by a team of no more than 15 members.
They are either knowledge-based (for example, written tests on earth science, physics, astronomy, or biology), hands-on (for example, chemistry lab practicals or events involving both device testing and an exam), or engineering-based (participants construct a device before the competition to do specified tasks on the day of the competition).
[16] Knowledge-based events generally have two to three participants taking a test and/or mathematically analyzing data.
Hands-on events generally consist of two participants performing experiments or interacting with physical objects to achieve a certain goal.
The list of events and rules for each change and are updated every year to input dynamism and to limit the advantages of more experienced teams.
Judges at the event are allowed to ask any question of the machine or contraption in an effort to keep the scenario above from occurring.
Nonetheless, competitors, coaches, and entire teams are expected to have integrity and to abide by this rule.
There are several ways to break a tie (draw): Science Olympiad competitions occur at the regional, state and national level.
[25] Invitationals occur most commonly in January or February,[26][27][28] although there have been some as early as October[29][30] or as late as April.
For example, MIT hosts an invitational tournament each year with around 70 teams from over a dozen states, including 20 or more past national qualifiers.
In this way, teams can gain extra practice before competing in regional, state, or national tournaments.
In 2014, Yale University[34] became one of the first institutions of higher education to host a tournament run by Science Olympiad alumni, with several more following over the next few years.
[32][35][36][31][37][38][39][40] The National Science Olympiad competition is held in late May at a different university every year.
The competition officially begins with opening ceremonies on Friday night that usually include a notable speaker, such as a Nobel Laureate.
The most popular items include hats, license plates, T-shirts, and key chains.
The George Washington University offered Division C gold medalists at its 2008 National Tournament a $20,000 stipend for those who were accepted and attended GWU.
