Welcome to Science Olympiad Parent Information Session

Wednesday, October 12, 2011

Science Olympiad Tools for Parents, Mentors, Coaches

and Teachers New Opportunities for Students

What is Science Olympiad? •  An international

nonprofit organization dedicated to:

•  Improving the quality

of science education. •  Increasing student

interest in science and science careers.

Students prepare to test for Bridge Building competition.

Science Olympiad Events •  Students compete as individuals and as members of their

school team.

•  Students prepare for competitions during the school year.

•  Some Science Olympiad events are easily integrated into current curriculum or serve well as an extracurricular activity/club.

The Events Events represent the various science disciplines such as biology, earth science, chemistry, physics, computers, music and technology. ~Paper/pencil Events

Example: Fossils ~Engineering/building events

Example: Towers, Junkyard Challenge

Students learn from failures as well as successes.

A Balanced Approach Events require: •  Knowledge of science facts •  Concepts •  Processes •  Skills •  Science Applications •  Teamwork •  Creativity

Overall Goals •  Capturing and retaining the

interest of students in science and technology

•  Development of pride for outstanding intellectual performance

•  Enhancement of student self-esteem by giving a feeling of belonging and accomplishment.

•  Enrichment of classroom science programs

•  Strengthening of school spirit

Objectives •  To bring science to life, to show how science works, to

emphasize problem solving aspects of science and the understanding of science concepts.

•  To expose students to real-life challenges of working

with a team, group planning and cooperation

•  To make science education more exciting so students will enroll in science courses, programs, fairs, and clubs.

•  To attract more students to careers in science, technology and science teaching.

Science Olympiad in Virginia

•  Science Olympiad is an evolving program in Virginia with tremendous growth in the last couple of years.

•  Each school can send up to three teams to the regional tournament. Each team consists of 15 members.

•  Each school will send one team of to the state tournament.

Students prepare to fly their balsa wood and rice paper airplanes.

Science Olympiad Programs •  K-5: Science Olympiad

Division A (competitive)

•  6-8: Science Olympiad Division B Events (competitive)

•  9-12: Science Olympiad Division C Events (competitive)

Technical Writing

Getting Started •  Register for the program. Please note,

that parents MUST commit to being a coach for an event.

•  Parents attend the orientation session to get a description of events for this year.

•  Parents share the event descriptions with their child and determine areas of interest.

•  Students should be willing to take on 3-4 events. In some cases, students might end up with only 2 and in other cases they can have as many as 4 – 5 events. It all depends on the matrix of events and conflicts.

•  Learn the events and rules.

•  Start planning the plan of study for your events.

•  Practice the Events. The smiles of Winners.

The Competitions •  Regional - held on Saturday in

January/February

•  State – held in March

•  All day events

•  Awards Ceremony

•  Learning Experiences

•  Fun!

Future scientists study an unknown substance at the Science Olympiad.

When to prepare for Science Olympiad?

•  Set up as an after school activity and block off the time.

•  Special weekend time

with parent/coach

•  Take advantage of sessions at school Students ready their bridge for

structural testing.

Science Olympiad is out of this world!