Scioly.org

Let me curl up in a corner and mope about AV not cracking top 10. I hope the freshmen/sophomores can get their acts together for next year. I'm content with my Rocks medal, though.

'Twas a fun day yesterday! The scoresheet from the Division C state tournament has now been posted: http://minnesotaso.org/Files/2013_SO_State%20C.pdf

As well as the scoresheet from the Division B state tournament last week: http://minnesotaso.org/Files/2013%20Div ... esheet.pdf

DazzlingMer wrote:We switched places this year for forestry! But I guess I can contribute it to my being sick and forgetting to put down Witch Hazel's Scientific stuff...

Ahhh yeah it was fun vying for first with you guys again this year, sorry to hear that you were sick yesterday :/. My partner and I were also unsure on just one or two questions, particularly the cotyledon vs radicle question and the full classification part, so it must've been close! Too bad forestry's going away next year

FawnOnyx wrote:

DazzlingMer wrote:We switched places this year for forestry! But I guess I can contribute it to my being sick and forgetting to put down Witch Hazel's Scientific stuff...

Ahhh yeah it was fun vying for first with you guys again this year, sorry to hear that you were sick yesterday :/. My partner and I were also unsure on just one or two questions, particularly the cotyledon vs radicle question and the full classification part, so it must've been close! Too bad forestry's going away next year

Those were the same questions we had trouble with!

So now that state is over with, I want to ask what can be done to improve MN Science Olympiad for next year. By my count, there has been a sharp decrease in the number of teams that are actually competing (I think it's around 40-something, according to regional scoresheets.) This decline is somewhat alarming, considering that just 2 years ago, we were able to send two teams to Nationals. But while we're declining, states like Wisconsin and Washington are expanding past us in terms of number of teams and what not.

I truly hope that the decline is not a result of fatigue with Mounds View winning the last 3 years, but you can't but help notice everyone getting up, as soon as Mounds View was announced as state champs, without waiting for any final announcements. Admittedly, we were short for time, but I do believe the same exact thing happened last year, when the tournament was on schedule.

I also think Huberty mentioned that Wayzata was hosting a regional again next year. I don't know if this was replacing a regional, or starting a completely new one, but with this expansion, there's going to be even less teams at regionals (going from 12 to 7 possibly, for the Bethel and Inver Hills regionals). This may translate to more medals overall for all the teams, which may boost overall morale, but it doesn't help us recruit more teams. (I imagine a "You have a better chance at a 3rd place medal!" pitch wouldn't fly very well.)

Recent success stories in Div B, such as Delano and Friedell have been great, and I really hope their success transitions into high placings for both Delano and Century/Mayo (don't know which school Friedell feeds into). In addition, Hawley's 2 medals at the state tournament were pretty awesome; reminds me of last year when Bemidji got 1st in WIDI.

I guess my question is, how can we expand Minnesota Science Olympiad to a state where we can compete for a 2nd nationals spot? And expand in such a way that we're not just getting teams to come and expand our count, but teams that are competitive and have a legitimate shot at getting some medals at the regional and state level.

Throw your ideas here, if you have some time. I'm interested to see what you guys say.

Edit:

I also want to mention that in witnessing MV's massive expansion from 3 teams to 5 has definitely helped me see potential fatigue within the team as well, where other things such as other Olympiads and school can easily suck the life out of students. I sincerely hope Mounds View continues to win (:D), but I do want other teams to succeed as well, just to increase the profile of Science Olympiad in Minnesota, as well as Minnesota Science Olympiad at the national level.

haverstall wrote:By my count, there has been a sharp decrease in the number of teams that are actually competing (I think it's around 40-something, according to regional scoresheets.) This decline is somewhat alarming, considering that just 2 years ago, we were able to send two teams to Nationals. But while we're declining, states like Wisconsin and Washington are expanding past us in terms of number of teams and what not.

According to my count, 68 Division C teams competed in Minnesota this year (22 at Bethel + 19 at Inver Hills + 18 at Rochester + 9 at Moorhead), which is up by 2 teams from the 66 we had last year. (Did you perhaps forget to count the JV teams?)

Anyway, one way that I think Minnesota should seek to expand is by cold-calling (or cold-emailing, as it may be) science teachers at large schools that currently do not participate in Science Olympiad, asking them whether they'd be interested in starting a team at their school. A lot of strong metro-area schools don't participate in Science Olympiad, so these would be prime candidates for expansion. It's possible that the reason is simply that science teachers at these schools have not yet heard of the awesomeness that is Science Olympiad.

Luo wrote: Anyway, one way that I think Minnesota should seek to expand is by cold-calling (or cold-emailing, as it may be) science teachers at large schools that currently do not participate in Science Olympiad, asking them whether they'd be interested in starting a team at their school. A lot of strong metro-area schools don't participate in Science Olympiad, so these would be prime candidates for expansion. It's possible that the reason is simply that science teachers at these schools have not yet heard of the awesomeness that is Science Olympiad.

You should email teachers at Irondale. Their not really taking us 13 year olds very seriously.

I mean, it is kinda frustrating with every single year I've participated in being dominated by MV, but I guess that now that I have a personal challenge to defeat them in an event of mine after forestry this year, I'm pumped to be competing against such a high-stakes team.

Right now, I think the only thing I am thinking about is getting the team more realistically-based this coming year. My sister, our friend and I are the only three returnees this year, so everyone else was fresh out of the gate. And as happened to me my first year, I kinda underestimated things and didn't get into it. It's not interesting those first few times when you don't win any medals or you think you team sucks because you don't know the competition well. Then it makes you think what kind of crazy genius' the people must be who are winning.

Luo wrote:

haverstall wrote:By my count, there has been a sharp decrease in the number of teams that are actually competing (I think it's around 40-something, according to regional scoresheets.) This decline is somewhat alarming, considering that just 2 years ago, we were able to send two teams to Nationals. But while we're declining, states like Wisconsin and Washington are expanding past us in terms of number of teams and what not.

According to my count, 68 Division C teams competed in Minnesota this year (22 at Bethel + 19 at Inver Hills + 18 at Rochester + 9 at Moorhead), which is up by 2 teams from the 66 we had last year. (Did you perhaps forget to count the JV teams?)

Anyway, one way that I think Minnesota should seek to expand is by cold-calling (or cold-emailing, as it may be) science teachers at large schools that currently do not participate in Science Olympiad, asking them whether they'd be interested in starting a team at their school. A lot of strong metro-area schools don't participate in Science Olympiad, so these would be prime candidates for expansion. It's possible that the reason is simply that science teachers at these schools have not yet heard of the awesomeness that is Science Olympiad.

I specifically left out the JV teams more because 5 teams at MV would definitely cover say, Harbor City or Providence Academy not showing up at Regionals. I guess I"m more commentating on the lack of participation of the part of schools, rather than lack of participation with students at already established schools. So technically yes, MNSO has expanded, but not in a way that increases participation from other schools.

Luo wrote: Anyway, one way that I think Minnesota should seek to expand is by cold-calling (or cold-emailing, as it may be) science teachers at large schools that currently do not participate in Science Olympiad, asking them whether they'd be interested in starting a team at their school. A lot of strong metro-area schools don't participate in Science Olympiad, so these would be prime candidates for expansion. It's possible that the reason is simply that science teachers at these schools have not yet heard of the awesomeness that is Science Olympiad.

Out of curiosity, which schools are you talking about? The big public schools that generally do well at academic activities - Eden Prairie, Wayzata, Central, Minnetonka, Mounds View, etc. - are all represented in Science Olympiad.

EDIT: Oh, Edina doesn't have a team? That's mildly surprising.

thisusernameistaken wrote: You should email teachers at Irondale. Their not really taking us 13 year olds very seriously.

You may want to start by using their/they're/there properly.

DazzlingMer wrote:And as happened to me my first year, I kinda underestimated things and didn't get into it. It's not interesting those first few times when you don't win any medals or you think you team sucks because you don't know the competition well. Then it makes you think what kind of crazy genius' the people must be who are winning.

Yeah, that was definitely my problem freshman year. For some reason I had no idea what was even going on until regions. It happens. Your team will improve with experience.