Division B

Division B Science Olympiad is for middle school age students, in 6th to 9th grade. Out of the fifteen students on the team, a maximum of five members can be in 9th grade. All students on the team must be from the membership school, with the exception of five members who attended the school the previous year. This is to accommodate for middle schools which may not have 8th or 9th grade students.

For the High School competition, see Division C.

Anatomy & Physiology (Nervous, Endocrine, Sense Organs)
This event encompasses the anatomy and physiology of selected body systems, this year limited to nervous and endocrine systems and sense organs.

Bottle Rocket
Prior to the tournament, teams construct up to two rockets designed to stay aloft for the greatest amount of time while carrying a raw Grade A large chicken egg that survives impact.

Crime Busters
Teams will identify the perpetrators of a crime or crimes by using paper chromatography and analysis of unknown solids, liquids, and plastics found at the scene of a crime.

Disease Detectives (Foodborne Illness)
Students will use investigative skills in the scientific study of disease, injury, health and disability in populations or groups of people with a focus on Food Borne Illness.

Dynamic Planet (Tectonics)
Students will demonstrate an understanding of the large-scale processes affecting the structure of Earth's crust (Tectonics).

Ecology
Students will answer questions involving content knowledge and process skills in the area of ecology and adaptations in featured North American biomes.

Experimental Design
Given a set of unknown objects, teams will design, conduct, analyze and write-up an experiment.

Fast Facts
Teams will fill in a grid of terms that begin with a given letter to match given science categories.

Food Science
Students will answer questions about the chemistry of food and food grains and build a simple calorimeter to determine the energy content of a solid foodstuff.

Hovercraft
Competitors may construct a self-propelled air-levitated vehicle with up to two battery-powered motors that turn one propeller each to levitate and move the vehicle down a track. Competitors must also be tested on their knowledge of classic mechanics and related topics.

Invasive Species
This event will test student knowledge of invasive species in local and national ecosystems.

Meteorology (Severe Storms)
This event is about the meteorological topic Severe Storms.

Microbe Mission
Teams will answer questions, solve problems and analyze data pertaining to microbes.

Mission Possible
Prior to the competition, participants will design, build, test and document a Rube Goldberg-like device that completes a required Final Task through an optional series of simple machines.

Optics
Teams must participate in an activity involving positioning mirrors to direct a laser beam towards a target. Teams must also be tested on their knowledge of geometric and physical optics.

Reach for the Stars
Students will demonstrate an understanding of the properties and evolution of stars especially star forming regions and supernova remnants and their observation with different portions of the electromagnetic spectrum.

Road Scholar
Teams will answer interpretive questions that may use one or more state highway maps, USGS topographic maps, Internet-generated maps, a road atlas or satellite/aerial images.

Rocks and Minerals
Teams will demonstrate their knowledge of rocks and minerals.

Scrambler
Competitors must design, build and test a mechanical device which uses the energy from a falling mass to transport an egg along a track as quickly as possible and stop as close to the center of a terminal barrier without breaking the egg.

Towers
Prior to the competition, teams will design and build a Tower meeting requirements specified in the rules to achieve the highest structural efficiency.

Wind Power
Teams will build a blade assembly that consists of any kind of propeller/pinwheel/rotor attached to a CD which will be used to capture wind power. Students will also be tested on their knowledge relating to alternative energy.

Wright Stuff
Prior to the competition teams design, construct and test free flight rubber-powered monoplanes to achieve maximum time aloft.

Write It Do It
A technical writing exercise where students write a description of a contraption and other students will attempt to recreate it using only the written description.