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Science Olympiad is a track and field type of
academic sport that revolves around science
knowledge dealing with Chemistry, Physics,
Medicine, Earth Science, and Engineering
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There will be one state science meet where
students will perform in a chosen number of
events. Individuals and teams will receive
awards.
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The State Meet will be on April 20th on East
Campus in Lincoln.
1. Do you love science?
2. Do you think you are talented at science?
3. Do you want to be a doctor, engineer,
chemist, geologist, environmentalist or work
in physics for your life’s work?
 4. Do you want to build robots, engineer
buildings, and learn how solve crimes… and
all for FREE?
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If you said YES to any of these questions then
Science Olympiad is for YOU! Contact these guys if interested
Wally Mason(wmason@lps.org) in s230
Bryan Penas (bpenas@lps.org) in s231
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1.Science Olympiad Coaches:
Wally Mason(wmason@lps.org) in s230
Bryan Penas (bpenas@lps.org) in s231
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You are free to meet at Lincoln High to work on
your events any day of the week, you are
encouraged to work on them at home as well.
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The coaches will pay for all supplies…. Pick an
event, research supplies, and give Mr. Mason a
list of supplies that need to be bought.
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Anatomy and Physiology
Astronomy
Boomilever
Chem Lab
Circuit Lab
Designer Genes
Disease Detectives
Dynamic Planet
Elastic Launched Glider
Experimental Design
Fermi Questions
Forensics
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Forestry
Gravity Vehicle
MagLev
Materials Science
Remote Sensing
Robot Arm
Rocks and Minerals
Tech Problem Solving
Thermodynamics
Water Quality
Write It/Do It
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In Anatomy students are given
time to move to as many
stations as possible or given a
packet to answer questions
about the human body. The
event will be related to two or
three major body systems.
Division C will typically test a
student's knowledge of three
body systems. Topics may
include diseases in those
systems as well as the general
anatomy and function of each
system from the cellular to the
holistic scale.
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Students will be tested on
two topics dealing with
Astronomy. For Example,
the 2012 test involved
Stellar Evolution and
Supernovas. Tests will
include graphical and
mathematical problem as
well as short answer or fill
in the blank options.
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A Boomilever is a device built
to hold a specified weight a
given distance from a vertical
surface. Rules include a
maximum vertical height for
the device, how far the device
must hold the weight from the
vertical surface, the max
weight, and the mode of
attaching the device to the
wall. It falls into the same
category of building events as
Elevated Bridge Tower.
Chemistry Lab is an
event where
participants must learn
the respective year's
selected aspects of
chemistry and perform
a lab or a set of labs
regarding those topics
 2013 Topics
Equilibrium, Periodicity
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Circuit Lab is a
laboratory event
which deals with the
various components
and properties of
direct current (DC)
circuits. Historically,
the fields which have
been tested in this
event are DC circuit
concepts and DC
circuit analysis (both
theory and practice).
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Involves a written
test revolving
around basic
genetics and
molecular biology
including
introns/exons,
mitosis/meiosis,
leading/lagging
strand, etc).
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Disease Detectives
focuses on
epidemiology, that is,
the study of diseases
and how they spread.
The 2012-2013 focus
topic is
environmental
quality.
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Dynamic Planet is an
event concerned with
the processes which
change the Earth
Glaciers are the topic
of 2013
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This event is a building event
consisting of two parts: a
glider made to be launched by
the pulling and releasing of a
rubber loop, which can be
constructed based on plans of
the competitor, or from a kit,
and a flight log similar to that
of other aviation events.
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Experimental Design has been
an event in Science Olympiad in
both divisions for many years. In
this event, you will be given
several materials and asked to
perform an experiment on a
certain science topic. You will
then be required to write-up the
experiment in the "lab writeup," which will be used to score
you.
What is a Fermi Question?
A fermi question is one where you
estimate the answer. Questions like "How
many licks does it take to get to the center
of a tootsie roll pop", where you have little
or no data to use and have to make
assumptions. Fermi questions are named
after Enrico Fermi, a physicist who was
very good at these types of questions.
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Forensics is a chemistry
event that involves
identification of powders,
polymers, fibers, and hair
samples, blood serum and
fingerprint analysis, and
interpretation of
chromatography. Given a
scenario and some possible
suspects, students will
perform a series of tests.
These tests, along with other
evidence or test results will
be used to solve a crime.
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Forestry is an identification event for both
divisions. The event consists of identifying
trees on the Official Tree List and answering
general questions about them
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Gravity Vehicle is a
vehicle where the the
energy for travel
comes solely from
gravitational
potential energy
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Maglev CarCompetitors are
required to build a
vehicle. It must move
down a track and
must magnetically
levitate using
permanent, non-rare
earth magnets.
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In Remote Sensing,
teams will "use
remote sensing
imagery, science
and math process
skills to complete
tasks related to an
understanding of
Earth's Hydrosphere
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The event involves the
construction of a
robotic arm to grab, lift,
and deposit specific
items in prescribed
locations
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Rocks & Minerals is a face paced
assessment where teammates
identify rocks and minerals from
the Official List and answer
questions about them. This
competition is usually in a
station format. Items
competitors are allowed to
bring to the competition include
one 3-ring binder of any size and
one field guide.
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Technical Problem Solving involves the
gathering and processing of data to solve
some sort of mathematical analysis.
According to the 2012 event rules, "the
event will consist of up to three lab
stations and use materials found in a high
school laboratory". The use of calculators
and probes by supervisors is encouraged.
It has a very wide range of potential test
topics, so it is advised to put people with a
very wide base of science knowledge on
this event.
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In this event you create a model or
device that simply insulates a 250ml
Pyrex beaker filled with 100ml of hot
water. Your goal is to create a device
that loses the least amount of heat
after a period of time determined by
the instructor (20-30 minutes). While
your device is being tested you take a
short test on heat (conversions,
specific heat, etc). The starting
temperature can be anything from
60 degrees Celsius to 90 degrees
Celsius (determined by the
instructor). Participants will also
need to estimate the amount of heat
lost according to graphs made prior
to the competition
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Important components
of Water Quality
include identifying
aquatic invertebrates
and understanding the
indicators of water
quality. Water quality
includes the physical,
chemical and biological
characteristics of water.
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In Write It Do It, one team
member is given a structure
built from some sort of
construction materials, which
may be anything from toys (like
Legos) to craft materials
(popsicle sticks, pipe cleaners)
to lab equipment. Anything and
everything could be used. This
team member (often referred to
as "The Writer") has 25 minutes
in which to examine the
structure, without touching it,
and write instructions for how to
build it