2nd ANNUAL
SACRAMENTO DIVISION “A”
ELEMENTARY SCIENCE OLYMPIAD
When?
Where?
Saturday, April 2, 2016
Mira Loma High School
Division A2
Grades 3-6
What is Science Olympiad?
Science Olympiad is a national non-profit organization dedicated to improving the
quality of science education, increasing male, female and minority interest in science and
providing recognition for outstanding achievement by both students and teachers. The
Elementary Science Olympiad is also designed to encourage classroom teachers to
explore new and challenging ways of teaching science. These goals are accomplished
through classroom activities, research, training workshops and the encouragement of
intramural, district, county and regional tournaments.
The Olympiad Tournament:
For the Division “A” competition, during the school year, each school develops a team of
students (plus alternates) from grades 3-6. The team should have a balanced
representation of grades involved with a maximum limit of six (6) 6th graders. Multiple
teams can be formed within the same school. In all cases, each team must be supervised
by a separate teacher/coach. 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. This is the second year that the Division
“A” Science Olympiad will be held in Sacramento. The Sacramento Regional Science
Olympiad includes a division for 6th-8th grade (B), and 9th-12th grade (C); however, this is
a separate competition and will be held in March 2016 at CSUS.
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.
Events:
The list of events will be presented and discussed at the initial coaches meeting.
Membership
The 2016 Registration Fee will be $225.00.
PLEASE NOTE:
1. A minimum of 20 teams will be required for the 2016 competition to be held.
2. All schools are required to commit to manage/run one event at the Olympiad.
Intent to participate and registration forms will be due by:
 December 1, 2015
Membership fees are due by:
 January 15, 2016
Coaches Meetings:
Four coaches meetings are scheduled for the 2016 Olympiad and will be held at Mira
Loma High School, 4000 Edison Avenue, Sacramento, CA 95821 in Room F-3. The
initial meeting will be held on Wednesday, September 30, 2015 at 4:00 PM. PLEASE
EMAIL IF YOU PLAN ON ATTENDING THE INITIAL MEETING.
jdhill@sanjuan.edu
1.
2.
3.
4.
September 30, 2015 4:00-5:00 PM
January 20, 2016 5:00-6:00 PM
February 24, 2016 5:00-6:00 PM
March 16, 2016 4:00-5:00 PM
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 per team 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 manage/run an event and provide two volunteers on
the day of the Science Olympiad. At the September 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.
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.
Web Sites:
Please check out the following web sites for additional information:
www.sacramentoscienceolympiad.com
www.soinc.org