Washington State Science Olympiad (SO) https://www.soinc.org/

Multiple teams of up to 15 students from the school are registered. Each team consists of sub-teams of 2 students that choose to participate in varied events covering physics, chemistry, life sciences, and earth sciences. Limited teams from RMS are being allowed this year. More about this will be discussed at the Mandatory Info Nite.

• Registration for Science Olympiad will open and close on Mandatory Info Nite
• Internal Testing: Saturday 12^th October from 10 am to 1 pm at RMS Commons. Sign in at 9:45 am sharp

  10 am to 11 am – Physics-Chemistry

  11 am to 12 pm - Earth Science

  12 pm to 1 pm – Life Science

  Students can appear for one or more tests. Performance in each test will be assessed independently

  Number of Teams allowed to register for SO Regionals (2 to 4) TBA based on WSO

There are 23 events per team in Science Olympiad (SO) and each team can have a maximum of 15 students. SO allows 2 kids to participate in each event, so it is advisable that students cover the events in pairs and not as individuals. Also, each team needs to cover all 23 events to maximize the potential score. This means that each pair of students needs to cover 3-4 events each in a team such that no event in the team remains open. A list of the events fr middle school science Olympiad for the current year can be found at https://www.soinc.org/learn/b-event-short-descriptions#1201

• Among the 23 events, there are about 5/6 build events which are more time consuming and involve some additional costs for supplies. While selecting a team, an important criterion is to pick student pairs willing to do different building event along with the other theory/lab events.
• Student pairs need to sign up for 3-4 events to equally contribute to the team.
• Teams could have a mix of 6th, 7th and 8th graders so that younger students can learn from their seniors and work together as a part of the team
• In case there are conflicts among students for an event, parent volunteers will work with the students to resolve the conflicts. They will explore if the student can either take up another similar event or be shifted to another team where the event is open
• Since 6th graders have a bigger knowledge gap to cover, when possible, they will be given preference on easier topics such as Earth science topic events since it is a good step up from what they learned in 5th grade.

Teams will be formed based on student choice of event blocks indicated by the student pairs and the scores of each student in each desired block during internal testing. Each event block is assigned one build event and 2 to 3 theory subjects from specific core science areas like Physical and Chemical sciences, Earth sciences, Life sciences etc. Event blocks are also guided by probable competition schedule (subject to change).

Students participating in SO learn self-discipline and need to study weekly on their topics throughout the year. Students are expected to commit 4 hours per week preparing for SO events.

The intention is to send the best possible teams to represent RMS at Regional and State levels and the committee might rearrange teams based on students’ performance at the invitationals. More explanation at mandatory Info nite.