Scioly.org

leftovers wrote:I would probably say Astronomy, Mission Possible, and Protein Modeling.

Astronomy: I've never actually had this event, but I've filled in with friends, and the amount of info was overwhelming (I know they get to take in a lot of resources, but in my opinion that just makes it harder).
Mission Possible: I've never had it either, but I've assisted at a competition before, and it seems pretty hard to me (also I'm terrible at building events, so there's that).
Protein Modeling: I had it as a freshman and I loved it, but it was hard since I hadn't had all of my sciences yet. I'm hoping to get it when it rotates back in (hopefully next year), and do better since I've now taken AP Chem, and am considering taking AP Bio next year at the same time as Physics.

Personally I think Mission is probably hardest, or Sounds of Music I guess? Mission is just really hard to make really consistent, and transporting the device to competitions is also really hard.

sciolyperson1 wrote:

leftovers wrote:I would probably say Astronomy, Mission Possible, and Protein Modeling.

Astronomy: I've never actually had this event, but I've filled in with friends, and the amount of info was overwhelming (I know they get to take in a lot of resources, but in my opinion that just makes it harder).
Mission Possible: I've never had it either, but I've assisted at a competition before, and it seems pretty hard to me (also I'm terrible at building events, so there's that).
Protein Modeling: I had it as a freshman and I loved it, but it was hard since I hadn't had all of my sciences yet. I'm hoping to get it when it rotates back in (hopefully next year), and do better since I've now taken AP Chem, and am considering taking AP Bio next year at the same time as Physics.

Personally I think Mission is probably hardest, or Sounds of Music I guess? Mission is just really hard to make really consistent, and transporting the device to competitions is also really hard.

^Mission is a major pain. The device itself isn't terrible to transport, but all the repair kits and other materials are

ScottMaurer19 wrote:

sciolyperson1 wrote:

leftovers wrote:I would probably say Astronomy, Mission Possible, and Protein Modeling.

Astronomy: I've never actually had this event, but I've filled in with friends, and the amount of info was overwhelming (I know they get to take in a lot of resources, but in my opinion that just makes it harder).
Mission Possible: I've never had it either, but I've assisted at a competition before, and it seems pretty hard to me (also I'm terrible at building events, so there's that).
Protein Modeling: I had it as a freshman and I loved it, but it was hard since I hadn't had all of my sciences yet. I'm hoping to get it when it rotates back in (hopefully next year), and do better since I've now taken AP Chem, and am considering taking AP Bio next year at the same time as Physics.

Personally I think Mission is probably hardest, or Sounds of Music I guess? Mission is just really hard to make really consistent, and transporting the device to competitions is also really hard.

^Mission is a major pain. The device itself isn't terrible to transport, but all the repair kits and other materials are

I did Mission last year at nats, the device transportation was probably the hardest. I didn't have any seperatable pieces at all, so it was pretty annoying to fit in a box.
Dunno if it was just me, but I didn't bring many tools at all. I fit all the tools into a small box ~1/3 the size of a shoebox.

sciolyperson1 wrote:

ScottMaurer19 wrote:

sciolyperson1 wrote:
Personally I think Mission is probably hardest, or Sounds of Music I guess? Mission is just really hard to make really consistent, and transporting the device to competitions is also really hard.

^Mission is a major pain. The device itself isn't terrible to transport, but all the repair kits and other materials are

I did Mission last year at nats, the device transportation was probably the hardest. I didn't have any seperatable pieces at all, so it was pretty annoying to fit in a box.
Dunno if it was just me, but I didn't bring many tools at all. I fit all the tools into a small box ~1/3 the size of a shoebox.

Div C mission has electronic and chemicals involved which mean that repair, cleanup, and competition require things like a soldering iron, extra wire, backup microcontrollers, water, etc.

ScottMaurer19 wrote:

sciolyperson1 wrote:

ScottMaurer19 wrote: ^Mission is a major pain. The device itself isn't terrible to transport, but all the repair kits and other materials are

I did Mission last year at nats, the device transportation was probably the hardest. I didn't have any seperatable pieces at all, so it was pretty annoying to fit in a box.
Dunno if it was just me, but I didn't bring many tools at all. I fit all the tools into a small box ~1/3 the size of a shoebox.

Div C mission has electronic and chemicals involved which mean that repair, cleanup, and competition require things like a soldering iron, extra wire, backup microcontrollers, water, etc.

You're allowed to use the AC outlet at competition?

sciolyperson1 wrote:

ScottMaurer19 wrote:

sciolyperson1 wrote:
I did Mission last year at nats, the device transportation was probably the hardest. I didn't have any seperatable pieces at all, so it was pretty annoying to fit in a box.
Dunno if it was just me, but I didn't bring many tools at all. I fit all the tools into a small box ~1/3 the size of a shoebox.

Div C mission has electronic and chemicals involved which mean that repair, cleanup, and competition require things like a soldering iron, extra wire, backup microcontrollers, water, etc.

You're allowed to use the AC outlet at competition?

I mean as long as it's not powering the device I don't see why not. The soldering iron would be like night before repair though

I think that any study event with not many cheat sheets allowed and a lot of information is difficult, like A&P.

Mission Possible is really difficult. Not just transportation, but as sciolyperson1 said, it's very hard to make consistent. Crime Busters/Forensics is hard to be good at as a rookie, it takes experience, not just memorization, to be able to identify all the unknowns, though with time and experience, it's not bad and it's SUPER FUN. For A&P, it is HARD to be so restricted in terms of space but have to know so much content, since all the systems and what's covered spans such a broad topic.

I would definitely say that Towers is the most difficult event of all Science Olympiad.

There are a couple stages of how competitive towers are. First stage is "popsicle sticks that get hot glued", next is "balsa wood with some braces", then "drawing out paper templates building symmetrically". These are all stages that are fairly easy to reach.

Then comes the stage in which one can be actually competitive. This takes reading forums, doing lots of math with buckling formulas, measuring legs, etc. This is why towers is the most difficult. The time it takes to build a tower can be up to 12 hours of full focus. Then all that work breaks in 5 minutes (signature). So time is a huge factor. Then comes the building skill. The fine motor skill is something that takes a long time to learn and develop. Being able to cut pieces, glue them in the most precise place before the tiny amount of glue dries. Lastly, there are so many factors that you can't control. The travel could bump the Tower and loosen some bad glue joints. Difference in humidity and pressure can change a lot. As well as micro-fractures within the wood.

None of these things you can control by studying or creating better notes. Every tower is different.

I agree with cheese that towers it the most difficult event. You have to build a new tower every time instead of building one or two things or one cheat sheet