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.

Air Trajectory
Prior to the competition, teams will design, construct and calibrate a single device capable of launching projectiles into a target and collect data regarding device parameters and performance.

Anatomy & Physiology (Cardiovascular, Integumentary, Immune)
Teams will be tested on their knowledge of anatomy and health concepts including cardiovascular, integumentary and immune systems.

Bio-Process Lab
A lab-oriented competition involving the fundamental science processes of a middle school life science/biology lab program.

Bottle Rockets
Prior to the tournament, teams construct two rockets designed to stay aloft for the greatest amount of time.

Bridge Building
Teams will design and build the lightest bridge with the highest structural efficiency that can span a given opening meeting the requirements given.

Can't Judge A Powder
Students will characterize a pure substance and then, based only on data they collect, answer a series of questions about that substance.

Crave The Wave
Competitors will demonstrate knowledge and process skills needed to solve problems and answer questions regarding all types and areas of waves and wave motion.

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 (Population Growth)
Students will use investigative skills in the scientific study of disease, injury, health and disability in populations or groups of people, especially regarding population growth.

Dynamic Planet (Oceanography)
Teams will use NGSS science and engineering practices to complete tasks related to physical and geological oceanography.

Elastic Launch Glider
Students will design, build and test two elastic launched gliders capable of the maximum time aloft.

Entomology
Students will be asked to identify insects by order and family, answer questions about insects and use or construct a dichotomous key.

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

Fossils
Teams will demonstrate their knowledge of ancient life by identifying fossils and answering questions about classification, habitat, ecologic relationships, behaviors, environmental adaptations and the use of fossils to date and correlate rock units.

Green Generation
Students will answer questions involving the history and consequences of human impact on our environment, solutions to reversing trends and sustainability concepts.

Meteorology (Climate)
This event involves the use of process skills to demonstrate a multidisciplinary understanding of the Earth systems and anthropogenic factors that influence world climate.

Picture This
Team members will take turns drawing representations of a set of scientific terms/concepts while the other team member guesses the term being drawn.

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.

Robo-Cross
Teams will design and build a robot capable of performing certain tasks on a prescribed playing field.

Simple Machines
Students will perform activities and answer questions related to simple machines.

Solar System
Students will demonstrate an understanding and knowledge of the properties and evolution of extraterrestrial ice and water in the solar system.

Wheeled Vehicle
Competitors must design, build and test one vehicle that uses a non-metallic, elastic solid as its sole means of propulsion to travel a specific distance and around an obstacle as quickly as possible and stop as close as possible to a Finish Dot.

Write It Do It
One student will write a description of an object and how to build it, and then the other student will attempt to construct the object from this description.