Guelph Science Olympics Events
Junior Events: Grade 9 & 10
Event Name
All Things
Science
Scavenger
Hunt
Team Size
Limit
1 Team per
School:
Indicate if
you are
interested
in this
BioBlast
4 students
Beat the clock while completing challenging biology lab exercises.
Discovering
Biodiversity
4 students
Outbreak!
4 students
Build-a-Bug
4 students
Exercise
your Brain
(don’t also
register for
“Who Wants
to be an
Anatomist”)
Who Wants
to be an
Anatomist?
(don’t also
register for
Exercise
your Brain)
4 students
Detecting changes in the environment, protecting endangered species, and
controlling the spread of pests are just a few of the reasons for monitoring our
planet's biodiversity. Arthropods, which include insects, are the most diverse
group of animals on the planet and they can be monitored by different types of
traps. These traps can confine arthropods, by taking advantage of their behaviour
or physiology, until they can be identified and counted. In this activity, students
will design and build a trap for effectively collecting arthropods. Creativity is
essential for designing a trap that can capture the extent of arthropod diversity.
Guelph, 2014. A mysterious disease has gripped the city and it's up to you to help!
Teams will be challenged with an interactive look at epidemics and disease
prevention/containment programs, while competing to come up with the best
strategy to save the city in time!
Why do we get sick? And how does a bacterium make its way from a cow to our
hamburger to our stomach without being killed? In this Science Olympic event we
aim to answer these questions. Students will work in teams through a series of
interactive research stations to learn about how disease is caused and why some
diseases are more severe than others. Using what they have learned students will
then construct their very own super bacteria. The goal is to creatively design
bacteria that would be the most dangerous and deadly. No previous experience in
microbiology is required. Textbook provided.
We will introduce you to concepts in exercise science and prescription of exercise
as medicine. You will then get to put these concepts to the test by designing an
exercise program to fit the scenario that your group is given. You'll even get the
chance to try out the exercise protocol you designed, and we'll judge your group on
how appropriate and effective it is!
4 students
Description
Think you know Science? It's time to test your science skill! On the Science
Olympics Day, we will give you a work sheet along with a campus map. Your task is
to read carefully all instructions and rules and to complete the hunt within the
allotted time. The work sheet will comprise of tasks and questions related to
science and the University of Guelph. Find the stations, complete the tasks, and
collect the items, submit your work sheet and collections - and we'll grade your
work. Points will be awarded for clarity as well as creativity.
Build a skeleton.
Learning
Commons
Triathlon
The Great
Spy Race
4 students
n/a
4 students
Access your inner Spy and use GPS units to find secret information hidden on the
University Campus! Teams of 4 students will compete against one another to use
GPS units to find hidden details and mark them on a map. Students will test their
geography skills, practice navigation and orienteering, and expand their puzzle
solving skills. The fastest, most accurate, and most complete submission will win!
The grade 9 and 10 chemistry component of the University of Guelph Science
Olympics will be comprised of short challenges in which teams will work together
to solve word puzzles and scrambles, and have fun competing in 'Chemistry Taboo'.
Challenges will focus on the elements of the periodic table, common chemistry
terminology, and on other major chemistry concepts introduced in the grade 9/10
science classes. Content is updated each year.
Think you can find just about anything on the internet? This challenge is an online
activity in the form of a scavenger hunt, that focuses on gathering information from
web sites to answer questions. This hunt is an info-finding exercise where you will
find answers to questions and solve problems as you practice investigative
searching and information seeking skills. As you solve one question, another will be
generated, getting more challenging as you go. Get ready to test your technology
know-how and digital information finding skills through the effective use of search
engines. Can you beat the clock?
n/a
Teams of 4 will compete in a contest to answer mathematics questions. Teams will
compete against all other participating teams at the same time, submitting their
responses using clickers. The winning team will be the one that answers the most
questions correctly, with fastest response time used to break a tie. Questions are
updated every year.
Atomic Force Microscopes are intricate instruments capable of measuring samples
at the nanoscale. Students will build AFM models and use their model to decode a
secret message.
Build a glider airplane designed for maximum air time. Gliders will be launched
from the upper level staircase into the Atrium of the Science Complex.
A weed science Jeopardy event.
Chemical
4 students
Conundrums
Cyber Hunt
No limits
Engineering
Gryphon
Gladitorial
Mathematics
4 students
4 students
NanoBuild
4 students
Gliding to
Gold
What Weed
is This
4 students
4 students
Senior Events: Grade 11 & 12
Event Name
All Things
Science
Scavenger
Hunt
Team Size
Limit
1 Team
per School:
Indicate if
you are
interested
in this
Description
Think you know Science? It's time to test your science skill! On the Science Olympics
Day, we will give you a work sheet along with a campus map. Your task is to read
carefully all instructions and rules and to complete the hunt within the allotted time.
The work sheet will comprise of tasks and questions related to science and the
University of Guelph. Find the stations, complete the tasks, and collect the items,
submit your work sheet and collections - and we'll grade your work. Points will be
awarded for clarity as well as creativity.
Let’s Talk
Science Crime
Lab
Discovering
Biodiversity
4 students
Teams of forensic scientists will sift through physical evidence collected from the
scene of a crime, evaluating suspects and building a case to solve this whodunit.
4 students
Detecting changes in the environment, protecting endangered species, and controlling
the spread of pests are just a few of the reasons for monitoring our planet's
biodiversity. Arthropods, which include insects, are the most diverse group of animals
on the planet and they can be monitored by different types of traps. These traps can
confine arthropods, by taking advantage of their behaviour or physiology, until they
can be identified and counted. In this activity, students will design and build a trap for
effectively collecting arthropods. Creativity is essential for designing a trap that can
capture the extent of arthropod diversity.
Outbreak!
4 students
Guelph, 2014. A mysterious disease has gripped the city and it's up to you to help!
Teams will be challenged with an interactive look at epidemics and disease
prevention/containment programs, while competing to come up with the best
strategy to save the city in time!
Build-a-Bug
4 students
Why do we get sick? And how does a bacterium make its way from a cow to our
hamburger to our stomach without being killed? In this Science Olympic event we aim
to answer these questions. Students will work in teams through a series of interactive
research stations to learn about how disease is caused and why some diseases are
more severe than others. Using what they have learned students will then construct
their very own super bacteria. The goal is to creatively design bacteria that would be
the most dangerous and deadly. No previous experience in microbiology is required.
Textbook provided.
Exercise your
Brain (don’t
ask register
for “Who
Wants to be
an
Anatomist”)
Who Wants to
be an
Anatomist?
(don’t ask
register for
“Exercise
4 students
We will introduce you to concepts in exercise science and prescription of exercise as
medicine. You will then get to put these concepts to the test by designing an exercise
program to fit the scenario that your group is given. You'll even get the chance to try
out the exercise protocol you designed, and we'll judge your group on how
appropriate and effective it is!
4 students
Build a skeleton.
your Brain”)
Learning
Commons
Triathlon
The Great
Pirate Race
4 students
n/a
4 students
Access your inner Pirate and Orienteer to find where X marks the spot. Find secret
information hidden on the University Campus! Teams of 4 students will compete
against one another to use compasses and maps to find hidden details and mark them
on a map. Students will test their geography skills, practice navigation and
orienteering, and expand their puzzle solving skills. The fastest, most accurate, and
most complete submission will win!
The grade 11 and 12 chemistry component of the University of Guelph Science
Olympics will be comprised of short experiments teams must work together to
complete quickly and accurately. Challenges will reflect current events in chemistry,
such as environmental chemistry issues. These experiments will require practical
knowledge of common chemistry lab equipment, protocols, and compounds including
acids, bases and solvents. Content is updated each year.
Think you can find just about anything on the internet? This challenge is an online
activity in the form of a scavenger hunt, that focuses on gathering information from
web sites to answer questions. This hunt is an info-finding exercise where you will
find answers to questions and solve problems as you practice investigative searching
and information seeking skills. As you solve one question, another will be generated,
getting more challenging as you go. Get ready to test your technology know-how and
digital information finding skills through the effective use of search engines. Can you
beat the clock?
n/a
Teams of 4 will compete in a contest to answer mathematics questions. Teams will
compete against all other participating teams at the same time, submitting their
responses using clickers. The winning team will be the one that answers the most
questions correctly, with fastest response time used to break a tie. Questions are
updated every year.
Chemistry
and Current
Events
4 students
Cyber Hunt
No limit
Engineering
Gryphon
Gladitorial
Mathematics
4 students
4 students
You Don’t
Know NANO!
4 students
Each team will be given an answering device at the beginning of the sessions. The
teams will then be given a serious of multiple choice questions geared towards testing
their current knowledge in the field on nanoscience and nanotechnology. These fields
are multidisciplinary and as a result topics will include biology, physics, materials,
chemistry, mathematics and engineering.
Groovin with
the Move
4 students
There will be three individual rounds of questioning. Each round will become
increasingly more difficult than the previous. After the completion of the third round,
each team will be given 2 minutes to discuss how many of their points (0-15) that they
would they would like to wager on the final question and submit this value to one of
the helpers (Note: teams cannot wager more points than they have earned in the
previous three rounds). All wagered points will be added to the team's final score for a
correct answer and subtracted from their score an incorrect answer is provided.
Teams will NOT be allowed to use any electronic devices to search for the correct
answers to any of the questions. Any team caught using an electronic device during
the competition will automatically be disqualified from the competition.
Test the precision of your dynamic motor skills using a motion detector.
What Weed is
This
4 students
A weed science Jeopardy event.