WSO State Tournament Information

The 2009 Wisconsin Science Olympiad State Tournament will be held Saturday, April 4, 2009, at the University of Wisconsin–Stout

A school's Team for the State Division C Tournament consists of 15 competing students in grades 9-12, only 7 of which may be seniors, plus their assistants and alternates which may be from any grade. Many schools get 30, 40, 50 or more students involved in the actual preparation, construction, practice and competition.

All Tournament 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.

Again for 2009, all schools attending a WSO Regional and meeting the stated requirements will qualify for the State Tournament Competition.

Teams qualifying for the State Tournament will be posted on the Team Numbers web page.
Download 2009 Team Numbers

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 Team Coaches must register with the State Director of Events their chosen 20 scoring events (maximum four from each category)and their chosen audit events for the State Tournament by March 4, 2009. This is one month before the State Tournament date. Coaches that miss this deadline will have their 20 scoring events randomly selected for their Team.

This registration is accomplished using the WSO scoring and registration program called AVOGADRO. Click on the AVOGADRO link to access this program and follow the on-screen instructions.

A one-day competition schedule of five periods is typically used in Wisconsin for the event sections. Some events have multiple sections where only a few Teams, usually ten, compete at once. Others are single session where all Teams compete at the same time. Most build events are walk-in and do require a sign-up. Typically, these build events require that the device used be impounded before the competition starts, usually by 9:00 am. 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 official NSO "Coaches Manual and Rules." Event clarification and additional information can be found on the National Science Olympiad web site.

Coaches and students can learn much about the events in many ways. Attending Regional Competition and observing other Teams and chatting with people is an excellent way to gain knowledge and tips and techniques. Searching the internet, googling, is advised and strongly encouraged. Search using a variety of keywords typical of Science Olympiad.

Wisconsin Division C groups all high schools regardless of of size or enrollment numbers together.

Trophies are awarded to the three Teams with the most points. The top Team advances to the National Science Olympiad Finals. The Second Place Team may also receive an invitation to the National Finals if Wisconsin Membership numbers exceed National requirements.

Individual medals; Gold, Silver, Bronze, and Excellence will be awarded to the top six (6) places in each Division C scoring Event.

Please click here 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.

Download WSO Code of Ethics form

Duties and Responsibilities of the State Event Supervisors:

The STATE EVENT SUPERVISOR will prepare their Event in accordance with the National Rules and the Wisconsin Rules. These are absolutely the only Rules applying to each event. The Event Supervisor must not deviate in any fashion from these Rules. Every word in each Rule is critical.

The only information about the content and Rules of each event is found in the current official NSO "Coaches Manual and Rules" and the Rules posted on the WSO Events Page.

The Manual is a Science Olympiad, Inc., publication and is copyrighted and, therefore, available in booklet form to the competition schools only upon Membership with WSO and NSO. Official Rules of National Science Olympiad Tournament events are not available on the internet.

Each Event will have an Event Supervisor and as many Assistants as the successful implementation of the Event requires.

The term Judge does not apply to a Science Olympiad Event. No exams, no devices, no performances are judged. They are scored using an established rubric absolutely following the Official Rules.

The "Coaches Manual and Rules"are the only official sources the Event Supervisors, student teams and coaches have.

Additional info and tips for State Event Supervisors may be found on the WSO Regionals page.

More than 90% of the problems we've experienced in the past have been due to students, coaches, and assistants NOT reading and applying the current Official Rules to the letter.

Enjoy your experience