Science Olympiad 2013-2014

[caseyotis]

Here:

Obviously it is really early but, based upon the Summer Institute the events for 2014 are below.
I would put more faith in the ones that are staying rather than the "new ones".
Remember NOTHING IS OFFICIAL UNTIL THE RULES COME OUT

2014 C Division Event Image
Astronomy
Anatomy & Physiology
Boomilever
Bungee Egg Drop
Chemlab
Circuit Lab
Complex Machines
Designer Genes
Disease Detectives
Dynamic Planet
Elastic Glider
Entomology- Bugs
Experimental Design
Forensics
Maglev
Material Science
Mission Possible
Remote Sensing Or Geo Mapping
Rocks and Minerals
Scrambler
Technical Problem Solving
Water Quality
Write It/Do It

2014 B Division Event Image
Anatomy
Boomilever
Can't Judge a Powder
Crime Busters
Disease Detectives
Dynamic Planet
Entomology- Bugs
Experimental Design
Gravity Vehicle or Scrambler
Helicopters
Heredity
Meteorology
Metric Mastery
Reach for the Stars
Road Scholar
Robots
Rocks and Minerals
Rotor Egg Drop
Shock Value
Simple Machines
Sounds of Music
Water Quality
Write It/Do It

Keep in mind that these are all tentative.

Okay, thank you!

[ScienceOlympian]

YES! Keep the Heat is rotating out! Mwa ha ha ha! I hate Keep the Heat(my opinion).
What is simple machines? At least Shock, Meteorology, Heredity, and Water Quality is still here.

I hate Keep The Heat too, but I'm sad to see that it's going. I would be the best on my team at it next year. Simple machines is where they have four stations with simple machines and you have to calculate the efficiency of them. I don't really want to do that, but I'll end up having to....

Sniff
I will miss the times when my team failed on the test and when my partner and I ( it was mostly me) wasted countless hours on a box that failed during the tournament. And the plots. I hated the plots.
My coach makes me do events I don't like. Maybe next year I will have to do Simple Machines against my will. Although I always wanted to try Food Science.o_O

[ScienceOlympian]

I wonder what CJAP will be like.
I always wanted to try Mission, but Division B's Mission Possible is rotating out.
What is Robots?

[hc1220]

What is scrambler?

[hmcginny]

You have a car with an egg mounted on the front that is propelled (usually by a falling mass if i remember correctly) towards a wall. The goal is to stop as close to the wall as possible so that your egg doesn't break and also travel the distance as quickly as possible.

[gneissisnice]

I wonder what CJAP will be like.
I always wanted to try Mission, but Division B's Mission Possible is rotating out.
What is Robots?

Ugh, I always hated Can't Judge a Powder, it was the event I always got stuck doing.

Basically, you get a powder, and you have to test it with various reagents (you're always given water, HCl and NaOH, and can be given extra reagents decided by the event writer), and you have around 30 minutes to record as many observations as you can about the powder and how it reacts with the reagents. You record things like color, size, temperature, etc. and after the 30 minutes, you clean up and you get a test. There are questions that you need to answer using the observations you recorded: 5 points for a correct answer with observation, 3 points for correct answer without an observation, and 0 points for a wrong answer. You're only graded on the test, not on your list of observations. I've gotten 1st place at States at this event and then ended up with 51st at Nationals, it's just one of those unpredictable events.

I have mixed feelings about Geologic Mapping. On the one hand, I would love to see a new geology event that's not an ID event, and the topic is really cool. On the other hand, from what I've seen at the NY trial, it's extremely difficult. These are topics that I didn't cover until my 400 level Structural Geology class in college. But hard events can be good, and more geology is always a good thing. I also never liked Remote Sensing, so I hope this does rotate in.

[syo_astro]

I have mixed feelings about Geologic Mapping. On the one hand, I would love to see a new geology event that's not an ID event, and the topic is really cool. On the other hand, from what I've seen at the NY trial, it's extremely difficult. These are topics that I didn't cover until my 400 level Structural Geology class in college. But hard events can be good, and more geology is always a good thing. I also never liked Remote Sensing, so I hope this does rotate in.

Hey gneiss! I'll probably be writing up the Geomaps wiki this summer, so you'll see how the event goes (there are still two questions I'm unsure how to answer...if you want we can chat about them). I think some of the stuff was particularly hard the first year. Like INSANELY hard the first year. But honestly, I think quiz and I overreacted. My actual issue right now is really just that after you do a year of it unless you make completely out of nowhere questions nobody will get while the scores will be separated it will probably be for somewhat close reasons.

I actually have sort of enjoyed the event now, and after it I have considered majoring in geology/geophysics (but I don't fully know what that entails...heck, I don't even know fully what I want to major in which scares me >.>). I feel like with astronomy, rocks, some other events you can sort of separate people by giving enough questions so that there's an intermediate difficulty that really balances between easy, medium, and difficult questions. I feel like it's harder to do at least from what I've seen with this event (as in most tests would normally end up really random or really easy...idk, maybe it's just because I haven't found the right study tools, so oh well).

[gneissisnice]

I have mixed feelings about Geologic Mapping. On the one hand, I would love to see a new geology event that's not an ID event, and the topic is really cool. On the other hand, from what I've seen at the NY trial, it's extremely difficult. These are topics that I didn't cover until my 400 level Structural Geology class in college. But hard events can be good, and more geology is always a good thing. I also never liked Remote Sensing, so I hope this does rotate in.

Hey gneiss! I'll probably be writing up the Geomaps wiki this summer, so you'll see how the event goes (there are still two questions I'm unsure how to answer...if you want we can chat about them). I think some of the stuff was particularly hard the first year. Like INSANELY hard the first year. But honestly, I think quiz and I overreacted. My actual issue right now is really just that after you do a year of it unless you make completely out of nowhere questions nobody will get while the scores will be separated it will probably be for somewhat close reasons.

I actually have sort of enjoyed the event now, and after it I have considered majoring in geology/geophysics (but I don't fully know what that entails...heck, I don't even know fully what I want to major in which scares me >.>). I feel like with astronomy, rocks, some other events you can sort of separate people by giving enough questions so that there's an intermediate difficulty that really balances between easy, medium, and difficult questions. I feel like it's harder to do at least from what I've seen with this event (as in most tests would normally end up really random or really easy...idk, maybe it's just because I haven't found the right study tools, so oh well).

I've never actually seen the event, so I guess I don't know how hard the specific questions are, this is just what I've heard from you, Quiz, and the Ward Melville kids, and also from the event description. Stereonets alone took me several weeks to understand in my college Structural Geology class. But I'm glad that you like the event, and it's great that you're considering a career in geology. That's the whole point of Science Olympiad, to learn about science and be inspired to pursue a career in it. When I tell people that I'm an Earth Science major, the reaction is usually "Oh...you study rocks?" or "I hated Earth Science in high school", so we definitely need more people who love geology!

If you have questions that you're unsure of, ask me, I'll see if I can help.

[ScienceOlympian]

What are Robots (Division B)

[gneissisnice]

What are Robots (Division B)

My guess is that they want a robot event, but haven't decided which one to do. For Division B, it would probably be either Robot Ramble or Sumo Bots. Maybe RoboCross.

I actually have no idea what these events are about (except Sumo), having never done them.