The Observer, February 29, 2008
Volume XL, Issue 19
Science Olympiad makes science fun and useful
Robots, catapults, and airplanes graced the Case campus last Saturday as part of the Northeast Ohio Regional Science Olympiad Tournament.
The campus hosted 35 teams of students representing 13 local high schools and 12 local middle/junior high schools. Each team consisted of up to 15 competitors and two alternates.
In both the high school and middle/junior high school divisions, students competed in 23 different events. The subjects of these events ranged from astronomy to technology and everything in between.
The support of over 125 undergraduate volunteers, 42 event captains, and the coordination of the Center for Science and Mathematics Education contributed to the success of this year's event. "It was a great competition made possible by the tremendous contribution of time and talent from the Case community," said Jim Bader, director of the Center for Science and Mathematics Education.
Many of the volunteers were associated with Case's fraternities and sororities. Others received an invitation to participate from one of their professors. A few had even participated in Science Olympiad in high school or middle school and wanted to help other students have a similarly fun experience.
One such former Science Olympiad participant was Seh-Rin Sung. "I was in it in high school for four years, and I loved it, so I wanted to volunteer in college," said Sung. Connor Balin said he volunteered "because there was science to be done." Other students heard that it was an enjoyable experience and decided to try it out. "People I know told me they had a lot of fun last year," said Jim Henning.
The volunteers' assignments ranged from grading tests to taking measurements to comparing graphs and tables. "[We] watched teams hurl projectiles at boxes of sand," said Henning of the Trajectory event, which required competitors to build a catapult and test it prior to arrival at the competition. The testing was to be documented with data tables and graphs, which were graded by Balin and Henning. While there, students tried to launch a ping-pong ball onto the targets: two 1x1 meter boxes filled with sand, one of which was three meters from the launching area and raised 10 centimeters off the ground, the other of which lay flat six meters from the launching area. The team that came the closest to the center of each target won.
In other events, student-built, rubber band-propelled planes flew overhead as part of the Wright Stuff event; robots put tennis balls and batteries into an empty coffee can in the Robo-Cross event; and student-built balsa wood towers held up varying weights in the Tower Building event.
Competitors also answered questions regarding the nervous and circulatory systems in the Health Science (high school) and Anatomy (middle school) events, evaluated a circuit in the Circuit Lab event, and estimated the sizes of objects provided using SI units in the Metric Mastery event, among other activities.
The day culminated in an awards ceremony in Strosacker, where the top three students in each event received medals for their hard work. At the end of the awards ceremony, the top scoring teams were announced.
The top five middle/junior high school teams were: Solon Middle School, Chardon Middle School, and three Mentor schools: Ridge Junior High, Memorial Junior High, and Shore Junior High. The top six high school teams were Solon High School, Mentor High School, Chardon High School, Shaker Heights High School, Beachwood High School, and Kenston High School in Bainbridge.
These teams qualified to advance to the State Science Olympiad Competition, to be held at the Ohio State University on April 12. There they will compete with teams from all over the state for the right to go on to the National Science Olympiad Tournament.
At the end of the day, a long one for most of the volunteers, Henning concluded that what he had been told was true: "It was a lot of fun!"
