Science Olympiad 2012

[wlsguy]

Too bad they got rid of Road Scholar. I'm sure Roach Scholar will be just as good, though. XD

Roach Scolar?

On the list of events it said Roach Scholar insted of Road Scholar. I thought it was humerus.

Humerus, now THATS funny.

[Nerd95]

Will Water Quality still be on freshwater next year, or will it switch to estuaries? I understand that it will rotate between these two and oceanography, but does it switch every year or every two years?

The BMIs (macroinvertebrates) and nuisance species that we have to identify live in FRESHWATER environments. It makes no sense to have the event rotate to SALINE environments when the BMIs we have to identify DON'T EVEN LIVE THERE! The event should just stick with the freshwater stuff.

But, otherwise, I love the event. It is great.

[Nerd95]

During my time participating in Science Olympiad, I have worked on creating what I think would be the perfect event. I would like to push for this event to enter the official Science Olympiad scene this year if possible.

Chalker, as an event supervisor, I understand that you probably have some pull with this. I would love to pass this event along to Karen Lancour and, if possible, to have it posted on the Science Olympiad official Trial Events page.

Students reading this post, please email me ([email protected]) with your input on the event. I would love to hear what you guys think so I can make it better.

Thank you.

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The event is called Biome Blast. Think back to what was Ecology, but turn the focus on the biome rather than the ecological principles. But, to call this event an off-shoot of ecology would be wrong. It brings a completely different, and difficult, twist to Science Olympiad. This event will change "focus biome" every year so there is no "returning advantage" that is common with many Science Olympiad events. The event works to combine the features of many Science Olympiad events - Meteorology, the Identification Events (Forestry, Ornithology, etc.), Ecology, and many more.

Here is a link to the rules: https://sites.google.com/site/biomeblast/

Let me know what you guys think as I would love to see this as a trial event at various state competitions and (hopefully) at the national tournament in May 2013.

Chalker, I understand that you are working with the 2013 National Tournament, so I would love to get your feedback on the event and how I could work to have it run as an official trial event at the tournament in May. I will not be competing in Science Olympiad in the upcoming year as a competitor, but I am associated with a high school, so let me know if there is a conflict of interests that I might need to work out.

[ThePrudentGuava]

My friends get mad when I do that.

[silverheart7]

That looks like a really cool, but hard, event. I think the identification lists are a little long, but I like the idea. The problem is, they already picked next year's events I think...

[chalker]

Chalker, I understand that you are working with the 2013 National Tournament, so I would love to get your feedback on the event and how I could work to have it run as an official trial event at the tournament in May. I will not be competing in Science Olympiad in the upcoming year as a competitor, but I am associated with a high school, so let me know if there is a conflict of interests that I might need to work out.

Thanks for taking the initiative to write up rules for a new event. Unfortunately, now the 'hard part' starts. You're going to have to champion the event in more places than a single thread on SciOly.

The general process is to first get interest from a couple tournament or state directors, and have them run it at invitational or state tournaments. Once that's happened, bring it to the attention of the relevant national Committee Chair (which often occurs naturally) and it can be discussed at the annual rules meeting. At that point, it can potentially be inserted into the official event rotation charts, which are typically projecting 2-3 years out. If need be, it might also be run as a trial event then at a National Tournament. There is virtually no chance it will be run as is as an official trial event at Nationals next year. We generally only run trials that are slated to rotate in the following year or two as actual events.

So the big question then is how to get the initial interest. You've taken a first good step since many people do lurk on these forums and somebody might notice it. However, you will need to be more proactive. First I'd contact your state director (see http://soinc.org/state_websites). I'd also suggest reaching out to some of the State Directors that are active on SciOly, but not necessarily in the bio forums (i.e. bearasaraus, janderson, etc). I'd also suggest searching for invitationals that are close to you and contacting the tournament directors of those.

Also keep in mind that in order to adopt this event, another event needs to be displaced. So you should be prepared to explain why that would be appropriate. Looking at the Life Sciences chart, it would likely have to replace Ecology/Water Quality (and as an aside, in 2016 Ecology is tentatively listed as being Deserts and Grasslands).

Finally, to get it posted to the trial events page, you typically need to show it's be run once or twice. At that point you can just email it to the SO national office via the contact info on the soinc.org website.

[JustDroobles]

Why is Shock Value back in B so soon? It was out this year but it was an event in 2010 & 2011. There are other physics events like Simple Machines and Physical Science Lab which have a few more years off. I can see why Crave the Wave wouldn't be back - although it has been gone for a few years, it shares many similarities with Optics in terms of information.

[chalker]

Why is Shock Value back in B so soon? It was out this year but it was an event in 2010 & 2011. There are other physics events like Simple Machines and Physical Science Lab which have a few more years off. I can see why Crave the Wave wouldn't be back - although it has been gone for a few years, it shares many similarities with Optics in terms of information.

It's complicated. There are a lot of factors involved. Needless to say, we felt it was best to bring Shock Value in to align with Circuit Lab. Tentative plans are for Simple Machines to come back in 2 years.

[JustDroobles]

Do you think Crave the Wave will ever come back or has it been replaced by Optics for the future? The physics test events seem to have changed even over the past few years to emphasize an activity included like a laser shoot, thermos box, fan blades, so will future physics event all include that kind of hands on activity as well?

[Luo]

2012-2013 event tables have now been posted on soinc.org: http://www.soinc.org/2013_event_table

PDF version: http://www.soinc.org/sites/default/file ... -15-12.pdf