The Twenty-Second Sacramento Regional

SCIENCE OLYMPIAD

 

Saturday, April 5, 2008
Sacramento State Campus

 

Division B: Grades 6-8
Division C: Grades 9-12

View 2008 winning schools here.

 

What is the Science Olympiad?

The Science Olympiad was created in 1983 by Dr. Gerard J. Putz and Jack Cairns to increase the interest in science and as an alternative to traditional science fairs and single-discipline tournaments. After successful trial Olympiads were held in their respective states of Michigan and Delaware, the Science Olympiad began to grow. Currently, the Science Olympiad has members in all 50 states with more than 15,000 K-12 schools participating.

 

The Science Olympiad is a science competition which includes games, activities, and projects that you can use in your classroom, in your school, or throughout your district to promote science. Participation in the Olympiad can help make you a more effective science teacher, motivate your students and have fun in the process.

 

The Olympiad Tournament

During the school year, each school develops a team of 15 students prepared to compete in Science Olympiad tournaments held on the local, state, and national levels. These interscholastic competitions consist of a series of 40 individual and team events that encourage learning in biology, earth science, chemistry, physics, problem solving, and technology. Events in the Science Olympiad have been designed to recognize the wide variety of skills that students possess. While some events require knowledge of scientific facts and concepts, others rely on science processes, skills, or applications. This ensures that everyone can participate, including students from technology classes or advanced science classes. In Sacramento, there is an Olympiad division for 6th-8th grade (B), and 9th-12th grade (C).

 

The Goal of the Olympiad

Both students and teachers dedicate their efforts with the Science Olympiad to the goals of improving the quality of science education, increasing student interest in science and providing recognition for outstanding achievement in science education. These goals can be achieved through participation in Science Olympiad tournaments, and incorporation of Olympiad events into classroom activities. We also hope that our efforts can bring academic competition to the same level of recognition and praise normally reserved for athletic competitions in this country.

 

State Competition

At this time, the NorCal State Olympiad is tentatively scheduled to be held at UC Merced on April 26, 2008, University of California, Merced, 5200 N. Lake Rd., Merced, CA 95343.  The NorCal State Science Olympiad competition is a cooperative effort of the six regions in the Northern California Olympiad area.

 

Events

Below is a listing of the events in this years B and C Division manuals. Please note that some events from the past have been dropped and new ones added.

 

Membership

National membership will again cost $60 for the year. The local registration fee is $180. You may not participate at the regional, state, or national level without membership. The attached regional registration form includes national membership dues and is due by January 14, 2008.

 

Volunteers

In your preparations for the Olympiad, start lining up your volunteer help early so you will be able to provide us those names as soon as possible. We will, as in the past, need a minimum of two volunteers from each participating school to support the event coordinators.  This is very crucial to the success of the event.  Submission of the registration form and registration fee indicates that you and your school are aware of the responsibility to provide two volunteers to cover specific events on the day of the regional Science Olympiad.  At the January meeting, we will discuss the requirements and responsibilities of the volunteers and consequences for teams who do not provide the adequate number of volunteers by the due date.  If you are a winning team at the Sacramento Regional Science Olympiad, your school will also be responsible for providing volunteers for the NorCal State Science Olympiad to be held on Saturday, April 26, 2008. 

 

Science Curriculum and Science Olympiad

You are encouraged to include Olympiad events as a part of your curriculum to teach and reinforce specific concepts.  You and your students will all be winners. The most successful school teams have been those who use Olympiad events in the classroom and hold mini school site Olympiads. From a competition standpoint the school that can consistently score above average in all events will generally do better than a school with as many firsts as last place finishes.

 

Team Spirit

Although some events in the Science Olympiad are based on individual achievement, all events involve teamwork, group planning and cooperation. That is the real essence of the Science Olympiad. The emphasis is on advanced learning in science through active, hands-on group participation. Through the Olympiad, students, teachers, coaches, principals, business leaders, and parents are bonded together as a team working toward a goal. The Olympiad provides an alternative to the “isolated scientist” stereotype and reminds students that science can be fun, exciting, and challenging all at the same time. In college and beyond, students will find that the team spirit and good sportsmanship they developed during Science Olympiad will be deciding factors in their success.

 

Documents