Each Team will have a maximum of 15 students. They will be divided as evenly as possible by the T eam coach into 5 “Groups.” If you have 15 Team members, then you should have 3 students in each Group. If you have 10 Team members, then you should have 2 students in each Group. If you have 13 Team members, then you should have 3 Groups with 3 students, and 2 Groups with 2 students.
Each Team will be assigned a number. The Groups will have the designations of A, B, C, D, and E, added to the Team number. For example, Team #1 will be composed of Groups 1A,
1B, 1C, 1D, and 1E. Students must remain in the same Group for all five events. Students within the same Group are allowed and encouraged to talk to each other when they are working together in an event. The entire Team of 5 Groups will rotate together from event to event.
Since this tournament is to test students’ knowledge and understanding of scientific concepts, we encourage your T eam to prepare and practice beforehand. If you’d like to make this a more spontaneous experience, we know your students will still enjoy themselves, but please do not be disappointed that this is not a “come and learn” activity with full explanations of principles and techniques.
Complete tournament information (including registration forms, rules and schedule) may be found on the Southwest Washington Regional Science Olympiad website at
by mid-
September.
TENTATIVE SCHEDULE
8:00 – 8:30 Coach check-in & begin assembling with team
8:40 – 9:00 Welcome & head off to event rooms
9:00 – 9:25
9:35
– 10:00
10:10
– 10:30
10:40 – 11:00
11:10 – 11:30
11:40 – 12:00
12:10 – 12:15
First session
Second session
Third session
Fourth session
Fifth session
Sixth session
Closing

Southwest Washington Elementary Science Olympiad 2015
Description : Students will identify parts of the digestive system and their function and answer questions dealing with food package nutrition labels.
Number of Participants: Team divided into Groups of no more than 3 each (5 Groups per team)
Time: 20 minutes
The Competition :
There will be four parts to this event.
1.
Digestive system assembly:
A.
Each Team will received a reproducible sheet of labeled digestive system body parts in their Starter Kit.
This will also be available on our website. When copied and cut out, it can be used for practice.
B.
At the tournament, Groups will be given a similar set of digestive system body parts that are labeled only with letters. Students will assemble them in the correct location with a glue stick provided by the event supervisor.
C.
Body parts include esophagus, large intestine, liver, mouth, pancreas, salivary glands, small intestine, stomach, teeth, throat, tongue.
2.
Identification: Groups will identify each of the body parts they’ve assembled by matching the letters on the parts with a list of body part names.
3.
Function and information questions: Groups will answer 15-25 questions dealing with basic functions and related information by matching them to a list of body parts.
4.
Nutrition labels: Groups will be given copies of three to five food package nutrition labels. They will answer multiple choice and short answer questions that may include the following:
A.
Serving sizes and servings per container
B.
Calories and calories from fat
C.
Total fat, the types of fat, and the differences between them
D.
Comparisons between the nutritional value of different products the labels represent and what would be healthier choices
E.
They do not have to identify the products the labels describe. There will be no questions on the remaining information on the label such as cholesterol, sodium, carbohydrates, protein, vitamins, etc.
Scoring :
1.
Each body part placed correctly and each question answered correctly will be worth one (1) point unless otherwise noted.
2.
The Team score will be the total of the 5 Group scores.
3.
The highest score is the winner.
4.
Team ties will be broken by the best Group score. Group ties will be broken by the Group with the best score on the function section.

Southwest Washington Elementary Science Olympiad 2015
Description : Students will identify rocks and minerals and answer questions regarding their characteristics.
Number of Participants: Team divided into Groups of no more than 3 each (5 Groups per team)
Time: 20 minutes
The Competition :
1.
There will be four parts to this event. The rocks and minerals for each part will be different. Students will be allowed about 4 minutes for each part.
A.
Characteristics: Groups will be given a set of 5-8 rocks. By way of check off boxes, they must identify each one as (i) rock or mineral, and (ii) igneous, sedimentary, or metamorphic.
B.
Hardness: Groups will be given a set of 5-8 minerals. Using Moh’s Scale of Relative Hardness (see example next page) as a guide, they must put them in order of hardness from softest to hardest. They do not have to specify the exact hardness rating. Provided tools for the scratch test will include a copper penny, a piece of glass and a steel nail (as a substitute for a knife).
C.
Identification: Groups will be given a set of 5 rocks and minerals. They must identify them using multiple methods including (but not limited to) color, texture, hardness, reaction to vinegar, and/or streak.
Vinegar and streak plates will be provided.
D.
Questions: Groups will answer up to 10 multiple choice or matching questions regarding related characteristics and formation of rocks and minerals.
2.
Rocks and minerals are limited to the “ESO Rock and Mineral List” on the following page. Samples of many are available for checkout from ESD 112.
3.
Students may bring in two pieces of paper into the event room. These are limited to the following with one of each per Group.
A.
“Rock Hound Fact Chart”: This is an 8.5” by 11” double sided chart that will be available on our website by mid-September. Students may fill in blanks on the chart with information that they learn on their own.
B.
Reference Sheet: This is an 8.5” by 11” reference sheet written on one or both sides. It must be student generated and in their handwriting. It may include the Moh’s scale of hardness and any additional information including drawings done by the students, but no photos or computer generated images.
C.
Both pieces of paper will be turned in with the Group’s answer sheet at the end of the event and may be used to aid in scoring.
Scoring :
1.
Each rock or mineral identified and each question answered correctly will be worth one (1) point.
2.
The Team score will be the total of the 5 Group scores.
3.
The highest score is the winner.
4.
Team ties will be broken by the best Group score. Group ties will be broken by the Group with the most complete and accurate reference sheet.
(continued next page)

(Rock Hound continued)
ROCKS andesite granite sandstone
ESO Rock & Mineral List basalt limestone
(chalk) schist (garnet) bituminous coal marble scoria chert obsidian shale conglomerate pumice slate calcite halite copper hematite feldspar (pink) hornblende fluorite kaolinite graphite mica-biotite MINERALS olivine pyrite quartz serpentine
Example of Moh’s Scale of Relative Hardness
Material
Talc
Gypsum
Calcite
Fluorite
Apatite
Feldspar
Quartz
Topaz
Corundum
Diamond
What it will do
Most everything scratches it
Fingernail will scratch it
Copper penny will scratch it
Steel knife will scratch it
Knife scratches if hard pressed
Will scratch knife blade
Will scratch glass
Will scratch quartz
Will scratch everything but diamond
Will scratch everything
4
5
6
7
Rating
1
2
3
8
9
10
Helpful resources: www.minerals.net
www.Geology.com
www.Quizlet.com/10189414/rock-and-mineral-identification-flash-cards www.Jersey.uoregon.edu
talc gneiss quartzite travertine gypsum
(satin spar) micamuscovite

Southwest Washington Elementary Science Olympiad 2015
Description: Students will determine the correct amount of baking soda and vinegar to propel a pre-made bottle boat along a water track so that it takes the greatest amount of time to cover a specified distance.
Number of Participants: Teams are divided into Groups of no more than 3 each (5 Groups per Team)
Time: 20 minutes
The Competition:
1.
Safety precautions MUST be used. Clark College policy requires students to wear long pants and closed toed shoes. The event supervisor will supply splash-proof safety goggles (or Teams can bring their own).*
2.
Each Group will bring one pre-built “Rocket Boat” made from any plastic soda/water bottle that fits in the track. (See Construction for specifications and suggestions.)
3.
Groups will be informed what the Travel Distance is (175-225 cm) and have up to 5 minutes to prepare their boats with the proper amount of chemicals. Event supervisors will provide vinegar, baking soda, and paper towels.
4.
Each Group of three students has the option of using one 3” by 5” index card with reference notes as to how much vinegar and baking soda to use to get the boat to move various distances and the times involved. This card must be written in the students’ handwriting before the tournament.
5.
Each Group may bring an assortment of measuring devices to measure quantities of vinegar and baking soda.
These could be measuring cups, measuring spoons, beakers, funnels, or graduated cylinders for both dry and wet chemicals. NO breakable glass containers will be allowed! Students may mark on the bottle boats. No mass scales are allowed to determine amounts.
6.
Students must clean up their area within the prep time. They will be instructed where to put waste materials.
Any group failing to clean up their area will be penalized.
7.
There will be one track provided for each Team at the tournament. The track consists of 10 feet (~300 cm) of plastic gutter filled with water to a level of 5 cm. (See Construction for specifications and suggestions.)
8.
The track is marked with 3 critical distances:
A.
The “Start Line” is 30 cm from one end. The boat must be placed in the track behind the Start Line.
B.
The “Beginning Time Line” is 20 cm from the start line. When the forward most point on the boat passes the Beginning Time Line, the judges will begin timing.
C.
The “Finish Line” will be between 175 and 225 cm from the Start Line (or 155-205 cm from the
Beginning Time Line). This is where the judges will stop timing. This exact distance will be revealed at the event.
D.
The “Travel Distance” is the distance between the Start Line and the Finish Line. This is not the same as from the Beginning Time Line to the Finish Line.
E.
The “Run Time” is the time (in seconds) it takes the boat to travel from the Beginning Time Line to the
Finish Line. Time will be measure to the nearest 1/10 th
of a second.
9.
When the Group has completed preparations, they will take their boat to the track ready to assemble the boat.
When students arrive at the track, they will have one minute to assemble their boat, give a Run Time prediction in seconds (for the purpose of breaking Group ties only), and start their run.** This may include loading the chemicals, but will not include the actual Run Time.
10.
When given the okay, students will place their boat in the track, and judges will measure the Run Time.
11.
Once the boat is underway, students may not touch it until the judges give the boat back to them. Touching the boat beyond the Start Line will result in a penalty. Each Group will get only 1 run.
12.
If the judges rule that a boat was unable to move due to an error that was not the fault of the students, the judges may elect to give the Group another run.
(continued next page)

(Rocket Boat Rally continued)
Scoring:
1.
The Run Time will be measured to the nearest 0.1 second.
2.
A run is done when the forward most point of the boat passes the Finish Line or the boat stops making forward progress.
3.
If a boat fails to pass the Finish Line, the score is minus the distance to the Finish Line in cm. For example, if a boat stops short of the Finish Line by 10 cm, the score will be -10.
4.
If a boat fails to pass the Beginning Time Line, it will be scored as -300.
5.
Failure to clean up spilled materials will result in a 10 to 50 seconds penalty, depending on the mess at judge’s discretion.
6.
Touching the boat beyond the Start Line will result in a 30 second penalty.
7.
The Group’s score is the either the Run Time (minus any penalties) or the distance the boat fell short as described in #3 and #4.
8.
The Team score will be the total of the 5 Group scores.
9.
The highest score, signifying the longest travel time, will be the winner.
10.
Team ties will be broken by the best (highest) Group score. Group ties will be broken by most accurate run time prediction.
Construction:
1.
Rocket boats can be made of any plastic water/soda (examples include 500ml or 1 quart) bottle as long as it fits in the track. In the interest of safety, the plastic of the bottle may NOT be altered in any way by reshaping. However, nose cones, fins, or such may be added to the boat as long as they are not attached by means of hot glue or binding material which compromises integrity of the bottle. Bottles from the 2014 ESO tournament will be allowed.
2.
Troughs to hold the baking soda may be of any design and length as long as they fit in the bottle. Adults are only allowed to assist Teams with cutting the trough. Here is one suggestion for trough design.
A.
A section of ½” PVC pipe should be cut in half lengthwise EXCEPT for approximately the last 2-3 cm of
PVC pipe . This last 2-3 cm section should left be intact, so that as a complete circle it will fit snuggly into the neck of the bottle. Because the pipe and bottles come with small variations, the pipes do not always fit into every bottle, so make sure the bottle you use fits.
B.
Jerky movements will cause some baking soda to spill when loading the pipe into the bottle filled with vinegar, so make sure the PVC pipe is smooth by sanding off any spurs made during construction so it slides smoothly into the neck of the bottle. Students should be able to handle this part of construction.
C.
Closing off the end of the trough nearest the bottom of the bottle will help the baking soda to stay in the trough during loading.
3.
A small hole is drilled (by an adult) into the cap to let gas escape and propel the rocket boat. Any size hole will be allowed, but anything larger than 1/8” doesn’t work very well.
4.
The track will consist of a standard 10’ by 4” plastic rain gutter with two end caps filled with water to a level of 5 cm. Materials are available at any hardware store. Costs will run about $5.25 for the gutter and $7 for two end caps. BEWARE: Because of how they are stored, some gutters get squeezed and will be too small in width. They will need to be pulled apart to be used. Watch for this when purchasing a practice track.
* One outlet for safety goggles with an ANSI Z87 rating is Harbor Freight Tools for about $2 a pair.
** A video will be posted on our website demonstrating a Rocket Boat Rally run. Please keep in mind that the goal of the demonstrated run on the video was accuracy to a given target and not time.

Southwest Washington Elementary Science Olympiad 2015
Description: Each Group will construct a ship with Silly Putty® that can support a cargo of the largest number of pennies without getting them wet.
Number of Participants: Team divided into Groups of no more than 3 each (5 Groups per Team)
Time: 20 minutes
The Competition:
1.
Each Group will bring one package of Silly Putty®* in its original egg package. No other brands or variations (such as glow-in-the-dark, metallic, or changeable) except the original are acceptable.
2.
Before beginning construction, the mass of each Group’s Silly Putty will determined to make sure it does not exceed 10.6g. There is no penalty if it is less than 10.6g. When mass is being determined, the Silly Putty must be in the form of a “blob” and may not be pre-formed in any way.
3.
No other materials or tools (including the egg package) will be allowed except for students’ hands to form the ship.
4.
Each Group will have 10 minutes to construct their ship.
5.
The Group must predict the number of pennies (cargo) their ship will hold. Any cargo that drops into the water without landing on the ship, bounces off the ship as it is being loaded, or causes the ship to sink will not count in the total cargo. Sinking occurs when water enters the ship, cargo falls off the ship into the water, or any cargo gets wet.
6.
The judges will provide the cargo to be loaded to the Group’s “loading captain,” who will then have 3 minutes to load their ship. Each piece must be loaded one at a time while the ship is floating in a container of water. The ship must then be loaded until it sinks.
Scoring:
1.
The score will be determined by the following formula:
(Amount of cargo held x 10) – (the difference between predicted amount and actual amount).
For example: if the Group predicts their ship will hold 70 pieces and it sinks at 57, their score will be:
(57 x 10=570) minus (the difference between 70 and 57=13) or 570-13 = 557 points.
2.
If the judges determine that a student intentionally sinks their ship or stalls the loading so that the 3 minute loading time expires at or near the predicted number, that Group will be disqualified and receive zero points.
3.
The Team score will be the total of the 5 Group scores.
4.
The highest score is the winner.
5.
Team ties will be broken by the best Group score. Group ties will be broken by accuracy of the prediction.
* Silly Putty®, manufactured by Crayola, is readily available in many local stores and online for about $1 per
10.6g package.

Southwest Washington Elementary Science Olympiad 2015
Description : Students will make windmills from CDs and card stock and see which turns faster as measured by generating an electrical voltage.
Number of Participants: Team divided into Groups of no more than 3 each (5 Groups per team)
Time: 20 minutes
The Competition :
1.
Each Group will bring one standard 4.5” unaltered CD. They may also bring rulers, protractors, markers, and/or a template to aid in placing the windmill vanes. (See Construction for specifications.)
2.
Each Group will be provided with 30 cm of masking tape, scissors, and one 8.5” x 11” piece of card stock to make and attach vanes to their CD.
3.
There will be one testing station provided for each Team at the tournament. The testing station consists of a
20” box fan, a mounted CD motor on which to place the windmill, and a voltmeter to read the output voltage of the motor. The speed of the fan will be announced before Groups begin building.
4.
Groups will be given 10 minutes to construct their windmill. Each Group will get up to 2 tests as time allows.
All Groups on one Team must complete a first test before any second tests. After the first test, students can adjust the vanes for their second test. No additional masking tape will be provided. They cannot make new vanes.
5.
Students must clean up their area within the prep time. They will be instructed where to put waste materials.
Any Group failing to clean up their area will be penalized.
6.
When the Group has completed preparations, they will take their windmill to the testing station.
7.
When students arrive at the testing station, they will place their windmill on the CD motor such that the CD is parallel to the face of the fan. The windmill can be anywhere in the plane of the fan face but must be at least
50 cm from the fan face. A wooden dowel will be available to determine the minimum distance. The fan will not be turned on until the windmill is placed properly, and no penalties will be assessed if the windmill is initially placed improperly.
8.
Students will be instructed where to stand when the fan is on. Once the fan is turned on, the windmill will have 20 seconds to come up to full speed, and then the voltage will be measured.
9.
If the windmill fails to turn within the first 10 seconds, a judge will give it a single tap with an unsharpened pencil to help it start. If the windmill stops before 20 seconds, it will get a score of zero for the run. (If the windmill stops due to a vane falling off, see #3 under scoring.)
Scoring :
1.
The score is the absolute value of the voltage measured at 20 seconds. (Polarity of the voltage will not matter in scoring.)
2.
If a vane(s) of the windmill comes loose or falls off during the testing phase, the Group will get a score which is the maximum of the voltage measured at 20 seconds or the highest voltage measured before it falls off minus a 1 volt penalty.
3.
Any Group failing to clean up their area will be penalized 0.5 to 2 volts, depending on the mess at judge’s discretion.
4.
The Group’s score is determined by the better score of the two tests.
5.
The Team score will be the total of the 5 Group scores.
6.
The highest score is the winner.
7.
Team ties will be broken by the best Group score. Group ties will be broken by the Group with the best score for the unused test.
(continued next page)

(Windmill Wonders continued)
Construction:
1.
Windmills can only be made of a standard 4.5” unaltered CD (no mini CDs), and paper vanes made from the provided card stock and masking tape. CDs can NOT be pre-marked before the event, but CDs with factory printing are allowed.
2.
During the construction period, students may use rulers, protractors, markers, and/or templates to aid in placing the windmill vanes, but those tools may not be used as any part of the windmill itself.
3.
Windmills may have any number of wind vanes.
4.
Wind vanes may be of any length.
5.
Windmills must be designed to turn when they are parallel to the face of the fan and not perpendicular as in a pinwheel type device.
6.
The direction in which the windmill turns (clockwise or counterclockwise) does not make a difference in scoring.