Undesirable situation for regionals

[Mp3nguin__]

So my middle school had a fantastic Science Olympiad team that I loved to death and I did pretty well at regional and state. I joined high school this year and just thought that there wasn’t going to be a team so I went on with my life. Apparently there is a team and the coach asked me to join and for me to ask others to join today and literally regionals is on Saturday March 9th........ I really don’t think I will be able to do 5 events in that much time and don’t understand why the team started so late.

Any help or advice? I don’t think I should even do it but I don’t really want to have a ton of people that haven’t done Science Olympiad to be the only people on the team either. I’ve been pulling my hair all day and freaking out.

Events that I was assigned to: Mousetrap Vehicle, Forensics, Fossils, Sounds of Music, Designer Genes. I have never done any of these events in the past.

[Unome]

So my middle school had a fantastic Science Olympiad team that I loved to death and I did pretty well at regional and state. I joined high school this year and just thought that there wasn’t going to be a team so I went on with my life. Apparently there is a team and the coach asked me to join and for me to ask others to join today and literally regionals is on Saturday March 9th........ I really don’t think I will be able to do 5 events in that much time and don’t understand why the team started so late.

Any help or advice? I don’t think I should even do it but I don’t really want to have a ton of people that haven’t done Science Olympiad to be the only people on the team either. I’ve been pulling my hair all day and freaking out.

Events that I was assigned to: Mousetrap Vehicle, Forensics, Fossils, Sounds of Music, Designer Genes. I have never done any of these events in the past.

First priority is to note that Utah qualifies all teams for state*, so you don't have to rush to perform amazingly at regionals to get your team to state. I would recommend getting a good foundation for Forensics so you don't suck, becoming decent at Designer Genes (literally just pick up Campbell's Biology and read the relevant sections, that will get you to "decent"), work on Fossils on the timescale of state preparation (aim to finish a good binder by then, with some time to spare), get a bit of stuff in for Sounds and maybe build a hackjob instrument, and do preliminary research and design for MTV (imo build on the timescale of state, no point in rushing for regionals). That leaves you 5 weeks, which should allow you to become decent in most of these events if you're willing to put in some work.

*I assume this is still accurate, but definitely double-check

[Birdmusic]

So my middle school had a fantastic Science Olympiad team that I loved to death and I did pretty well at regional and state. I joined high school this year and just thought that there wasn’t going to be a team so I went on with my life. Apparently there is a team and the coach asked me to join and for me to ask others to join today and literally regionals is on Saturday March 9th........ I really don’t think I will be able to do 5 events in that much time and don’t understand why the team started so late.

Any help or advice? I don’t think I should even do it but I don’t really want to have a ton of people that haven’t done Science Olympiad to be the only people on the team either. I’ve been pulling my hair all day and freaking out.

Events that I was assigned to: Mousetrap Vehicle, Forensics, Fossils, Sounds of Music, Designer Genes. I have never done any of these events in the past.

Wow, that sounds like a terrible position to be in. For Sounds, given the time you have left: make a simple pan flute or flute if you can play one. The most important things to know for the test are decibels and intensity, wave equations, open/close tubes and the waves in them, string wave velocity equation, and Doppler. The theory can be covered in less than 4 hours, try getting a physics workbook from the library or Khanacademy.

Forensics: I did Crime, which was different, but try to get your hands on the materials and practice with them. I can't stress the importance of real practice with unknowns.

[knightmoves]

Do it, do the best you can, and get organized earlier next year. Use this year as a recruiting exercise - do the best you can, have some fun, and you'll have a team ready to go next September.

[waffletree]

i suggest prioritizing the non-builds, because the non-builds will be easier to put together in a short amount of time. then work on the builds, and if you can't get them done, do the bare minimum to make sure that you don't get tiered.

[JoeyC]

Seconding Waffles, focus on studies, read the rules and find the best way to gimp the competition (e.g. when Bottle Rocket was still around, you could've, at some competitions, brought the bottle with label and a compartment for eggs, not fired it off the launcher, and gotten 3rd place because of tiering). Just make sure you read the rules.