Science Olympiad Students From Around the State Have the Right Stuff

Not even the heavy rainfall could dampen the spirits of the thousands of middle and high school students from around the state who, after months of studying, building, and competing in preparation for the competition, converged on the Illinois campus to participate in the 2012 Illinois Science Olympiad State Tournament on Saturday, April 14. With the potential to become some of America's scientists of the future, these young people exhibited their knowlege and expertise as they participated in a variety of events.

ISO competitors engaged in disciplines ranging from engineering and physics (such as Experimental Design and Tower Building) and chemistry (Food Science, Crime Busters), biology (Anatomy), geology (Rocks and Minerals), ecology (Green Generation and Water Quality) and astronomy (Astronomy and Remote Sensing), to areas not usually considered to be run-of-the-mill science disciplines: musical instrument design (Sounds of Music) and cartography (Road Scholar).

 

 

Totally disproving the reputation young people have gotten that they tend to sleep in on Saturdays, these kids were up and ready to go early Saturday morning. The students in the photo to the right were waiting at Noyes Lab before 7:00 am to begin the competition—taking a test, no less, in the Disease Detectives event.

 

 

The photo to the left is a team of contestants participating in Geocaching, which required students to explore the Engineering Quad with hand-held GPS devices, looking for specific coordinates which held hidden caches of questions about earth science or GPS technology. Each cache directed competitors to the next set of coordinates and questions. What made the event even more difficult was the pouring rain a number of students had to compet in. (Despite a tentative appointment to photograph contestants competing at 10:00 am during the heaviest downpour of the morning, this reporter opted for an indoor event.)

 

 

 

 

In Gravity Vehicle, teams had to design, build, and test one vehicle and ramp that used gravitational potential energy as the vehicle's sole means of propulsion to reach a target point as quickly, as accurately, and as close to their predicted time as possible. The photo to the right shows contestants preparing for the Gravity Vehicle event at Huff Hall.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In Anatomy, teams were tested on their knowledge of anatomy and health concepts, including respiratory and digestive systems. To the left is the photo of a middle school student participating in the Anatomy event in Illinois' Noyes Lab.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Not all events involved engineering and physics. ISO held numerous chemistry events, like "Chemistry Lab" and "Disease Detectives." In "Forensics," students (possibly inspired by NCIS forensic scientist Abby Sciuto) identified polymers, solids, fibers, and other materials in a crime scenario. In the Food Science event, students used their understanding of the chemistry and physical properties of baking ingredients to answer questions at a series of stations. In the image to the right, a contestant is participating in the Food Science event at the Illinois Science Olympiad State Tournament.

 

 

In the photo to the left, contestants prepare to launch their elastic launch glider. A new trial event in 2012, the object of the Elastic Launch Glider was for students to design, build, and test two elastic-launched gliders designed for the highest time aloft. Students were to design gliders that, launched from the floor level, would ascend to a high point and then slowly glide to the floor.

 

 

 

In the photo to the right, two ISO middle school contestants prepare to launch their bottle rocket. For the Bottle Rocket event, prior to the tournament, teams were to construct two rockets designed to stay aloft for the greatest amount of time.

 

 

 

 

 

In the photo to the left, a team of contestants prepares their tower for competition. For Towers, team members were to design and build the most efficient tower.

 

 

Illinois Science Olympiad (ISO) is a science competition designed to get Illinois middle school and high school students interested in and excited about science. A hands-on event, ISO holds competitions which emphasize biology, chemistry, earth science, and physics using engineering and technology to combine several of these disciplines. ISO holds eight regional competitions throughout the state; winners of the local regional events then compete in the state tournament. The top state team in each division is then chosen to advance to the Science Olympiad National Tournament competition, which, in 2012, will be held on May 17–20.

The winning high school team (see below) which will advance to the National Science Olympiad in 2012 was New Trier Township High School, which won its 11th straight state title Saturday (a record). The winning middle school team was Daniel Wright Junior High School (see below), which also kept the Science Olympiad state championship title from last year after finishing in first place from a field of 45 middle school teams.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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