North Carolina Science Olympiad
Wilmington Region High School and Middle School Students Compete in Regional Science Olympiad Tournament at UNC Wilmington
Close to one thousand high school and middle school students from all over the southeastern North Carolina competed in numerous science and engineering events at the Wilmington Regional Science Olympiad on March 14, 2009 at the University of North Carolina Wilmington.
Olympiad officials hosted 21middle and 17 high school with teams from Bladen, Brunswick, Columbus, New Hanover, and Pender counties. Competing in 47 different events, the teams vied for the opportunity to represent the Wilmington Region at the State Science Olympiad in Raleigh, North Carolina and represent North Carolina at the National Science Olympiad in Washington D.C.
"We stress that the purpose of this competition is for students to learn. Everybody gets a chance to compete, but what matters most is their participation as a team," said Dennis Kubasko, director of the Wilmington Region Science Olympiad.
The Olympiad was created in 1983 as an alternative to traditional science fairs and single discipline academic tournaments. It has expanded nationwide to include more than 12,000 K-12 schools and it seeks to boost student interest in science by recognizing student skills. Events involve teamwork, group planning and cooperation based on "real-world" science and engineering. North Carolina has seen a tremendous explosion in participation in recent years. 250 schools are participating in regional tournaments across the state this year.
Some of the most popular events include:
Ecology: Students answer questions involving content knowledge and process skills in the area of ecology and adaptation by examining different ecosystems.
Egg-O-Naut: Teams design, construct, and launch rockets to stay aloft the greatest amount of time each carrying an “egg-o-naut”. The egg will remain aloft for a maximum period of time and return to Earth without breaking.
Forensics: Given a scenario and some possible suspects, students perform a series of tests. These tests, along with other evidence or test results will be used to solve a crime.
Flying Bird: Teams construct ahead of time an ornithopter to be flown on sight for maximum time aloft.
"Students don't just build complicated devices," Kubasko explained. "They participate in events that are meant to challenge their ability to solve problems and come up with answers to science-related subjects. Students prepare all year for this event and the atmosphere is electrifying. It is hard to believe this is an academic event, but it is awesome to see the young generation excited about learning, science, and being involved in team work."
UNCW faculty, students and community volunteers designed events that produced scores which resulted in an overall point total to determine first-, second-, third-, and fourth-place medal winners, with trophies from state and national organizations going to the top finishers in each division. Top finishers qualified to compete at the State Tournament held in Raleigh at N.C. State University. The top two placing teams at the State Tournament advance to the National Tournament in Augusta, Georgia.
View data and photos from this year's event >
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Hundreds to compete at Science Olympiad