Welcome to the 25th year of the most prestigious team science and technology competition in North America. The Science Olympiad has been recognized as a model program in the National Science Standards by the National Research Council.
The 2009 Wisconsin Science Olympiad State Tournament will be held Saturday, April 4, 2009, at the University of Wisconsin–Stout.
Outstanding students majoring in science, technology, engineering or math could qualify for a $5,000 scholarship renewable for up to four years. Students with a 28 composite ACT score,and a 25 math sub-score, rank in the top 10% of their graduating class (3.8 GPA if your high school does not rank) and have a completed admissions application for UW-Stout on or before December 15, 2008 will be invited to campus to interview for these scholarships on February 5, 2009.
Wisconsin Division C has two levels of competition. The high school competition in Wisconsin has four Regionals, spread geographically around the state, and the State Tournament. Teams will compete at an assigned Regional to qualify for the State Tournament. The winning Team at the State Tournament advances to represent Wisconsin at the National Science Olympiadfinals to be held at Augusta State University, Augusta, Georgia, May 15-16, 2009.
Most states have multiple levels of competition, like sports do, which include in-school competition, district competition, regional competition, state competition and even the opportunity for invitational competitions.
National Science Olympiad consists of four Divisions:
Division A1 – Grades K-3 Division A2 – Grades 3-6 Division B – Grades 6-9 Division C –Grades 9-12
Division B is the Middle School Division, Division C is the High School Division.
The Science Olympiad events are a mixture of the traditional sciences plus technology, materials, construction and computers. Events include such topics as chemistry, physics, earth science, biology, physiology, ecology, food science, epidemiology, mathematics, engineering, robotics, googling, static structures, dynamic structures, communication skills, and problem solving.
Regionals Mandatory for WSO 2009
For many years WSO has offered Regional competition at various locations around Wisconsin. The Teams that participate at these Regionals benefit greatly as they pursue their quest to become state champions. This Regional opportunity will again be experienced by all Teams.
All Teams must first participate at their assigned WSO Regional to qualify for the State Tournament. This will give your students an excellent opportunity to tune up their events and compare to how the other Teams are doing. Many ideas and techniques will be shared at the Regionals.
How to Qualify for State Tournament For a Team to qualify for the 2009 Wisconsin Science Olympiad State Div C Tournament they must meet the three (3) qualification criterion.
A Coach may use as many students as they choose to be on their Regional Team and will not be limited to the 15 maximum as required for State and National Tournaments. This, obviously, gives the coaches and all the students a chance to see who is best prepared and who is best suited for each event at the Regional.
The students that participate at Regional Competition need not be the same students that compete at State or Nationals. The participants who will compete in each event can be changed up to the day of the Tournament. The registration times will be posted by the Regional and State Directors.
It will be at the discretion of the Regional Directors as to whether a School can have more than one team per event. Certainly, available space will guide their decision.
It will be at the discretion of the Regional Directors and State Directors as to whether a Team can compete in more than one Regional. Certainly, available space will help their decision here, too.
A school's Team for State Division C Competition consists of 15 competing students in grades 9-12, only 7 of which may be seniors, plus their assistants and alternates from any grade. Many schools get 30, 40, 50 or more students involved in the actual preparation, practice and competition.
All events involve teams of two or more students. Most students from a school's Team will be in two, three or four, and in rare cases, five events. A student can be in no more than five events for the 2009 format.
The Teams can have as many students, coaches and parents involved as they like. But, the parents and coaches can only coach. They are not permitted to do any actual construction.
All Teams must register with the WSO State Director of Events their chosen 20 scoring events (maximum of four from each category) and their chosen audit events by March 4, 2009. This registration is accomplished using AVOGADRO. Click on the AVOGADRO link to access this program and follow the on-screen instructions.
A one-day competition schedule of four/five periods is typically used in Wisconsin for the event sections. Some events have multiple sections where only a few Teams compete at once. Others are single session where all Teams compete at the same time. Most build events are walk-in. Typically, these build events require that the device used be impounded before the competition starts. See the Official Event Rules for such details.
The only information about the content of each event the Event Supervisors, student Teams and coaches have is found in the "Coaches Manual and Rules." Event clarification and additional information can be found on the National Science Olympiad web site.
Searching the internet, googling, is advised and strongly encouraged. Search using a variety of keywords typical of Science Olympiad.
The EVENT SUPERVISOR will prepare their Event in close accordance with the National Official Rules for the current year. Each event will have an Event Supervisor and as many Assistants as is necessary.
More than 90% of the problems we've experienced in the past have been due to students, coaches, and assistants reading and applying the current Official Rules to the letter.
Wisconsin Division C groups all high schools regardless of enrollment numbers together.
Trophies are awarded to the three Teams with the most points. The top Team advances to the National Science Olympiad Finals.
Individual medals; Gold, Silver, Bronze, and Excellence will be awarded to the top six finishers in each Event.
Please access Policies page for Wisconsin Div C scoring details.
The students are expected to act with courtesy and respect to everyone at all times. The Rules of Competition do provide for a student team, or an entire school, to be disqualified for unsportsmanlike conduct.
Copyright by Wisconsin Science Olympiad, Inc., 2006.