Scioly.org

dammit, they have to rotate in all the cool events when I leave high school

I really hope Sounds of Music doesn't end up back in C division. Not in place of Trajectory anyway. You're taking a Physics event that requires a lot of thought and can teach a lot to an event that is very subjective and doesn't place as much emphasis on actual science.

I think it's time for Storm The Castle to return - that would be much better. I don't see how Sounds of Music gets at least three years over the past 5 when it'll be 6 without Storm The Castle.

blue cobra wrote:I hope Sounds of Music is in C next year. That seems like a fun event. Is it also about music theory, or just making and playing your instruments and orally explaining, basically, how they work and the physics that make them work?

Optics sounds good. Way better than Physics Lab.

I really like Elevated Bridge, but I suppose Towers will suffice.

I'll be alright with Helicopters or Gliders, but right now I'd prefer Gliders because with Helicopters it seems like to adjust anything you almost need to build a new helicopter, and it's very difficult to build rotors with more advanced things like helical twist and airfoils. Gliders sounds like Wright Stuff without the propellers and rubber, which is honestly my least favorite part of the event.

A note on Sumo Bots- it's been a NY trial for a while now, and it seems like a really good event. It's also a good spectator event- my Regionals has the tournament while tests are being scored.

Looks like there will be some good events next year.

Sound of Music is playing the instruments and knowing the physics of sound (as a written test, I believe, I've never done it).

so Egg-O-Naut is being replaced by Helicopters as an actual event?
I'm supposing they're keeping protein modeling and epichallenge as trial events?

For sounds, you build two instruments (one with a higher range than the other). You have to then perform two songs and answer questions about physics. Every time I competed, the questions were in a verbal format (in fact nationals in 2008, the whole test portion was "describe the physics of sounds to me in 4 minutes"). It was kind of like Time because you had no idea what sort of questions you asked; most importantly was the physics of sound and how it relates to instrument construction, but we got questions about history of music/sound theory, strange topics in harmonics, music theory, and even just telling them what notes were written on a page of music...It's sort of an irritating event because you don't have any idea how you'll be judged, but it's also incredibly rewarding (I am currently sitting next to a full xylophone that I am getting the urge to play while talking about this). I hated the event at the time (semi-forced to do it because I was a percussionist), but I look back at it quite fondly.

But I can't imagine sounds being an event so soon (even though I don't know what the other alternatives for the half-building/half-physics test event are). It's only been out for two years, and I'd imagine it would go through B for two years before it got to C (last time it was in C one year, B two years, and then back to C for two years). I semi-hope its back (though it's definitely one of the most subjective events in the history of science olympiad). It'd be fun to be on the other side judging.

I can't believe that Dendrology is taking Ornithology's place in 2 years. Who wants to study trees? Branches of zoology like Entomology and Herpetology seem way more interesting than studying trees. They should replace Dendrology with Cetology or Mammalogy.

Anybody know what "optics" entails? If it is what I think it is, it could be really fun...

Isn't "Optics" what they call the branch of physics dealing with light?

The rules up on the nationals website imply that optics has both a test portion and an light reflecting obstacle course, but it also says that they need heavy revision, so the obstacle course probably won't make it into the real event.

i hope to god that they dont put back in battery buggy.