Indiana students to face off in Science Olympiad

Set for 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. March 25, the event will include future scientists representing more than 50 middle and high school teams. The top teams from each state event will qualify for the national competition May 17-20 at Indiana University in Bloomington. The awards ceremony will be held at 6 p.m. in Elliott Hall of Music.

The competition has been held since 1993 and is sponsored by the College of Science K-12 outreach coordinators and students from the Science Olympiad Club. In addition to the 1,000 students competing, approximately 1,000 people — including coaches, family members and spectators — will attend the competition, which is open to the public.

"The events are designed to stress science concepts, science processes, problem-solving skills and applications of technology," said Mindy Hart, computer science outreach coordinator and supervisor for the Purdue Science Olympiad competition. "Each student must train to compete in several events and many are hands-on challenges."

The 23 different science and technology events include:

• Mission Possible, a Rube Goldberg-style event that challenges students to build a device that allows for energy transfer to complete a task.

• Scrambler, an event in which students create a mechanical device that will transport an egg along a straight track, stopping as close to a terminal barrier as possible without breaking the egg.

• Robot Ramble, in which students must design a robot that is capable of performing certain tasks such as moving items from one location to another on a prescribed playing field or breaking a balloon in a goal box.

• Forensics, a challenge where students are given a crime scenario and some possible suspects and are then asked to perform a series of tests to solve a crime.

Both teachers and parents become involved in coaching the student teams. In many cases, local scientists and engineers help the students prepare.

The Purdue University College of Science K-12 Outreach Program started in 1990 to support teachers and inspire students. Since then, approximately 5,000 teachers and 500,000 students statewide have benefited from a variety of programs.

Writer: Christy Jones, (765) 494-1089, christyjones@purdue.edu

Sources: Mindy Hart, (765) 494-7802, mhart@cs.purdue.edu

Bill Walker, College of Science K-12 math outreach coordinator, (765) 494-5890, wswalker@purdue.edu

Purdue News Service: (765) 494-2096; purduenews@purdue.edu

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