Science Olympiad
A Primer
Lance Clifner
November 2015
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Who I Am
• Meteorology Coach at Solana Pacific and Carmel
Valley Middle School (CVMS) – 2 years
• Selected State Team for CVMS for SO 2014
• Drafted to be Head Coach at CVMS for SO 2014 2015
• Educated by Zoom Duong (Head Coach Black
Mountain Middle School) on how to run an SO
program
• Worked with Joan Chen and ~10 other parents at
CVMS to completely revamp the CVMS SO
program for 2014-2015
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Science Olympiad
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What is It About?
The Basics
Competitions & Logistics
Starting and Running an SO Program
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Philosophy
Event Assignment
Team Selection
Event Training
Coaches & Coaching
Student Participation
Dispute Resolution
More Coaches & Coaching
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What is SO about?
1. It’s about the students.
2. It’s about exposing the students to STEM –
science, technology, engineering & math.
3. It’s about the students learning and growing.
4. It’s about helping the students succeed as well
as letting them falter.
5. It’s not about the parents.
6. It’s not about winning at any cost.
7. Zoom’s Rule: Head Coach’s decision is FINAL!
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The Basics (1)
1. The rules for the events are created by the National Science
Olympiad. The website is www.sonic.org
2. Each year’s rules are in the Rules Manual. Each registered
team will get a Rules Manual – either B or C. You may also
order the Rules Manual from the National website.
3. There are two divisions in San Diego SO:
i.
ii.
Division B – 5th thru 9th grade ****
Division C – 9th thru 12th grade ****
4. A team may have anywhere between 1 and 15 students.
5. A team may compete in 1 - 23 different science and
engineering related events.
6. Almost all events are designed to be accessible to any school
demographic/budget. One robot event can be expensive.
7. Consider attending the CalTech SO Summer Workshop (July)
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The Basics (2)
There are three basic event types:
1. Study – books, presentations, lectures
2. Lab – hands-on, test tubes, powders, liquids
3. Build – hands-on, design and build a device to
perform a specific task or series of tasks
Plus two other categories:
1. Hybrid – Study/Lab, Study/Build
2. Other – “Write It, Do It”, Experimental Design,
Picture This
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The Basics (3)
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
A typical single student will compete in 2 to 4 events (sometimes only
1, very occasionally 5).
A typical student will spend around 2 - 4 hours/event/week, with
build events sometimes requiring more time to get the device
working.
Students compete in pairs (or triples) on their events.
In written events, a pair of students from a team work together on
one set of questions and answers.
Students often are paired with different partners in each of their
events.
6 to 9 events change every year.
Permanent – like Meteorology B - events rotate through sub-topics.
Good idea to build up a file cabinet of event lesson plans over time.
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Competitions
There are two types of Competitions
1. Invitationals
– Division B – Ladera Vista, Mesa Robles, Muscatel
– Division C - Troy
2. Official SO Tournaments
– Regional – San Diego, LA, Orange Counties, etc.
– State – SoCal, NorCal, Ohio, etc.
– National – The Finals
Each level of Tournament increases the difficulty of
the questions and tasks tested.
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Competition Logistics
1.
2.
3.
Register your School/Teams
Pay registration fees.
Paperwork
– Waivers
– Insurance Certificates/Declarations (Liability, Release)
– School Field Trip Permission Slips (from every student, if required by
district)
– Photo/Video Release (from *every* attendee: students and parents)
– Medical Release (from *every* attendee: students and parents)
– List of teams and students on each team
– Emergency Contact Info
4.
5.
Volunteer Staffing: at least one volunteer per participating team.
These competitions cannot function without these volunteers, so
make sure you sign up reliable adults for these duties!
Head Coach Certification & Coach Guarantee Forms
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Day of Competition Logistics
Good Behavior and Sportsmanship.
1. Don’t let your students run amok.
2. Don’t let your parents run amok.
3. Don’t cheat.
4. Don’t ‘boo’ or denigrate other teams. Don’t
cheer if their device fails.
5. Cheer for other teams if their devices do well.
6. Please spectate at the build events!
7. Pick up trash – at your campsite and elsewhere
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Day of Competition Logistics (2)
School Camps
1.
2.
3.
4.
Each school selects (or is assigned) a base-camp area.
Students and adults should try to hang out at the base-camp.
Please encourage your students to visit the spectator events (build
events).
Have students police the area, picking up trash, throughout the day and
during packing up.
Escort to Events – for Division B students
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Keep students quiet and under control
Check students for required and allowed items
Hand out goggles, lab coats, test tubes, etc.
Track down missing students for that Event
Take a Group Picture with the Coach (and assistant coaches)
Debrief students after an Event
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Day of Competition Logistics (3)
Things to consider having on hand:
1. Pop-up shade tent(s)
2. Water
3. Food (continental breakfast, lunch, snacks)
4. First Aid Kit
5. Spare Pencils, erasers, goggles, etc.
6. Folding tables (sign in, wrist bands, food control)
7. Contact info for students – parents’ cell #s – cell phones
are not allowed in the events, so the students will not
have them – keep them at base camp
8. School SO themed t-shirts
9. How many people will be with your school teams?
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Starting and Running an SO Program
- Philosophy
1. What do you want to achieve? Start small.
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Small, medium, or large size SO Program?
Teacher-run, Parent-run, or Teacher-Parent Hybrid?
Cover all events or a limited number of events?
2. Resources, budget, level of interest, and fundamental
philosophy will guide your decisions.
3. Decide these questions up front and put them in
writing for all participants to see.
4. Ask for help and advice!
5. No matter what happens, if the students learn and
have fun, it’s a win!
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Budget
How are you going to pay for your SO program?
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Donations/fees
Corporate matching funds
Fund raisers
District funds
PTSA funds (501c3 coverage!)
What are the costs?
– Competition entry fees (~$150 per team)
– Competition day expenses ($3-10 per head)
– Event materials (books, CDs, samples, field trips, consumables [balsa
wood, powders, glue], test tubes, robots, batteries, goggles, lab coats,
etc. – many available from the school)
– Team T-shirts ($7-15 per head)
– Background Checks
Try Rotary, Lions Club, Qualcomm, etc. to help with funding—you
might even find a retired engineer who volunteers to coach!
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How Many Events?
1. Start small if your school is new to SO
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Perhaps one (or two) team(s)
Perhaps a few events
2. Learn the ropes and don’t overwhelm yourself.
The second year you can involve more students
and more events.
Students
Teams
Events/Coaches
% Parent
Volunteers
30
2
23 (avg 3 events/student)
23/30 = 77%
30
5
6 (avg 2 events/student)
6/30 = 20%
3. Be flexible.
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Student Event Assignment
Methodology choices
1. Assign by head coach
2. Student sign up: first-come, first-served
3. Student preferences and schedule availability
Considerations
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Each student must compete on only one team.
Event Time Conflicts – training and competition
Student Availability and Preferences
Priority Students
Team Event Coverage
Use Software!
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Accepting and Cutting Students in your
SO Program
1. What are your rules for accepting students into
the program?
2. Do you start the SO year with many extra
students – or not? When do you cut the extras?
3. When and How do you select the students who
go on the teams?
4. How do you handle disruptive students?
5. How do you handle disruptive parents?
6. Up front, make sure students and parents will
be available on the date of the Regional
Competition and any other important dates.
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Forming Teams
1. Maximum of 15 students per team
2. Minimum at least 1 student per event (max 2 [or 3])
Except Write It, Do It B/C & Picture This B that require two
students.
If an event is described as being for “Up to 2” students, that
means that 1 OR 2 students from a team may do that event.
3. If you have more than one team: make at least one
strong team.
4. Only if you must, form teams at the start of the year.
5. It is better to form the teams a bit in advance of the
Regional competition based on the current year
performance of the students. A software program or
using event flights makes this feasible.
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Team A – Event Coverage
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23
Jerold
Tosha
Adrianne
Marita
Kathy
Alanna
Eusebio
Ivana
Karie
Bernie
Trudy
Jacinta
Tommy
Kim
Granville
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State Competition Team Selection
If you are invited to the State Competition and have
more than one team, how do you pick your State team?
1. Highest scoring team at Regional advances to State
2. 15 students with the highest medal count advance to State
3. Best combination of students from all teams which cover all
23 events advances to State
4. 15 students with the most active/involved parents advance
to State
5. Head coach’s kid plus their 14 BFFs go to State
• Other possibilities
Be transparent, be upfront, be fair.
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Other Thoughts
1. Set expectations for parents and students for their
participation in your SO program.
2. Set low expectations for competitions.
3. If a student has an issue about something, the student
should communicate with the coaches.
4. The only exception for a parent or adult to intervene is
when the health, safety, and/or well-being of the
student may be in jeopardy (and, no, being cut from
the Regional team list is not a form of jeopardy).
5. Youth Protection Training for Volunteers.
http://www.scouting.org/Training/YouthProtection.aspx
6. Consider a Farm System.
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Event Training - Basics
1. READ THE EVENT RULES! READ THEM AGAIN!
The Rules Manual, San Diego Regional Clarifications and www.sonic.org
are the only sources of rules that count.
2. For the San Diego County Regionals, Event Rules are a reliable
predictor of what will be asked on the tests.
3. You may use the resources listed in the Event Rules, but there is
also a ton of information about the events on the Internet.
4. Prepare lessons in advance.
5. Obtain (download) copies of practice tests.
6. Watch SO device videos on the Internet.
7. Take field trips
8. Guest Speakers
9. Assistant Coaches
10. Do experiments and live demonstrations
11. Make it fun and entertaining.
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Training Notes
• Don’t lecture the students like PhD candidates
• Don’t treat them like 5 year olds
• Do engage them in discussions, Q&A, quiz
show style competitions (with candy for
rewards), and hands-on experiments or demos
• Do make a mistake on purpose and see if they
correct you
• Be enthusiastic and have fun with the students
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Event Types
1. Study – books, presentations, lectures (still can
do demos, have samples)
2. Lab – need simple lab gear and consumables.
Requires more set up and prep work and
resources.
3. Build – most resource intense (for both time
and money)
4. Other – Hybrid events (build/study, lab/study),
WIDI, Experimental Design, Picture This!
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Let the STUDENTS Do It!!
1. In any build event, coaches and parents are there to provide
support, guidance, and safety oversight (yes, kids can use power
tools if properly instructed and closely supervised). Coaches and
parents are not there to design, build, and tweak devices and then,
only when it is complete, show the students how to operate it.
2. It is about the students, make sure the students are allowed to
build, make mistakes, learn, and improve. Intervene and talk with
an over-zealous parent (or coach) and have them step back or, if
you have to, ban them from being present during build sessions.
3. Make sure the coaches know they have the authority and
responsibility to ask parents to step back and let the students do it.
4. If you have rabid parents/coaches who insist on doing the building,
then open up a competition for parents in that event. Let the
parents build their own devices and compete against each other.
5. Warn them once and then disqualify any device that is built by an
adult.
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Dispute Resolution
During Training:
1. Parents should not present grievances for their students.
2. Students should discuss any problems directly with their event coach.
Then, if needed, with the Head Coach.
3. Under NO circumstances should any coach directly contact an event
captain. All communication with event captains up to the day of
Competition must go through our Regional Director.
At Competitions:
1. Students should bring up any issues first with the Event Captain.
Then their event coach, and if needed with their Head Coach.
2. Review the Competition’s Dispute Procedure in advance, and locate
the area where disputes are reported when you first arrive at the
Competition venue.
3. Don’t bring frivolous disputes to the Competition organizers.
4. Zoom’s Rule: (Regional) Competition Director’s decision is FINAL!
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Student Participation
Consider starting a Student SO Committee or Club
• Team Naming
• T-shirt design
• Fund raisers
• Social mixers (team building, spirit building, etc.)
• Recruiting students for next year
• Team Captains
• Planning Competition Day Food
• Etc.
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Event Coaches & Coaching (More)
The first question a parent asks is about the
time commitment.
“It’s overwhelming for a parent volunteer to dig
through a mountain of information to create a
syllabus from scratch.”
How do you address these kinds of questions
and support your volunteer event coaches?
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Advice to Head Coaches
1. Build up an archive of lesson plans, quizzes, homework,
and example devices.
2. Promote the use of assistant coaches.
3. Look toward high school and college students.
4. Consider not doing an event if you can’t find a committed
coach
5. Plan on each event session meeting once per week
6. Consider reserving a schedule time block for group
meetings
7. Study events can support more students, build events are
more 1-on-1 intense
8. Build events cost most, lab events next, and study events
are the least expensive
9. Balance your coaches
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Advice to New Event Coaches
1. Try to pick an event you are familiar with
2. Don’t try to re-write or re-organize the rule book
your first year
3. For study events, after the first class session,
consider assigning each student a topic to
research and present the next week
4. Quiz every week or test every other week
5. Hold game-show style contests
6. Prep time 2-10+ hours
7. Session length 1-2 hours.
8. Require students to do clean up.
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Experienced Coaches
• Coaches turnover as students advance
through their grade levels.
• Pass along the enthusiastic and experienced
coaches that you ‘train’ on to the next school
• Work with feeder schools to snag and retain
their trained coaches
• The more quality time you put in as a coach,
the more your students learn
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Coaching Payoff
As an event coach, there is no reward better than
seeing the light in the faces of your students when:
• their device works for the first time
• they solve the crime from the forensic clues
• they understand the difference between Climate
and Weather
• the pieces come together and they do and write
up a complete experiment
• They earn an award at a Competition
• Or they simply say “That was really cool—
thanks!”
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Teacher-run
Parent-run
Teacher+Parent-run
Size
30-45
45-180+
45-60
Teams
1-3
3-6+
2-4
6 Regional
All to Regional
Competition All to Regional
(alts to Invites?)
Personnel
1-5 teachers
25-30+
parents/adults/HS
1-3 teachers
10-25 parents
Schedule
School Hours
Afternoons
Some Weekends
Evenings
Weekends
After School
All
Notes
+ Better chance of
consistent performance.
- Requires work outside
school hours.
+ More students
- Coach turnover &
variability
+ Program consistency.
- Coach turnover &
variability
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