Science Olympiad facts for kids

Science Olympiad logo

Science Olympiad is a super fun team competition in the United States where students show off their skills in different science areas. These include earth science, biology, chemistry, physics, and engineering. Every year, more than 7,800 teams from middle school and high school across all 50 U.S. states join in! While U.S. territories don't compete, some international teams do come to the U.S. to participate.

There are different levels of competition: invitational, regional, state, and national. Invitational tournaments are like practice rounds, often hosted by high schools or universities. Teams that do well at regional competitions move on to the state level. The best one or two teams from each state then get to compete at the national level. Winners can earn cool awards like medals, trophies, and even scholarships for college! There's also a program for younger elementary school students, but it's less common and varies more from place to place.

How Science Olympiad Started

The very first Science Olympiad happened on November 23, 1974, at St. Andrews Presbyterian College in Laurinburg, North Carolina. Dr. Barnes and Dr. David Wetmore created this awesome event. Fifteen schools from North and South Carolina took part. It was a whole day of competitions and demonstrations for high school students in biology, chemistry, and physics.

During the day, there were four event periods. Each period had a fun event (like a beaker race or paper airplane contest), a demonstration (like glassblowing), and a serious event (like a periodic table quiz). The idea grew, and after some test competitions in Michigan in 1983 and 1984, the plan for a national competition was presented. The first National Tournament was held at Michigan State University in 1985, with teams from 17 states! Since then, Science Olympiad has grown a lot, with 60 teams in each division at the National Tournament.

Teams from Around the World

Since 2012, a special team from Japan has been invited to the national tournament. This is part of a partnership between Science Olympiad and Japanese education groups. The top team from the Japan High School Science Championships (which is like a Japanese Science Olympiad) gets to travel to the U.S. to join the National Tournament. These Japanese teams compete as unranked guests, meaning their scores don't count against the U.S. teams.

Canada also has Science Olympiad teams and used to compete in the U.S. national tournaments from 1995 to 1998. Canadian teams still sometimes participate in U.S. tournaments. Peru also sends teams to compete in U.S. Science Olympiad events, often organized by a group called United Technologies for Kids (UTK), which helps with STEM education in Latin America.

Different Age Groups

Science Olympiad has three main age groups, called divisions:

• Division A: For elementary school students (kindergarten to 6th grade).
• Division B: For middle school students (6th to 9th grade).
• Division C: For high school students (9th to 12th grade).

The national, state, and regional tournaments are usually for Divisions B and C. Division A teams often have their own separate competitions. If you're in 6th or 9th grade, you might be able to compete in two different divisions, depending on your school's setup. For example, a 6th grader could be on a Division A or Division B team.

Teams have rules about how many older students can be on a team. For Division B, a middle school team can have up to five 9th graders. For Division C, a high school team can have up to seven 12th graders. Students can only be on one team at a time.

Events and What You Do

In Divisions B and C, teams can compete in up to 23 main events, usually all on one day. A team has no more than 15 members. These events fit into five main types: Life, Personal, and Social Science; Earth & Space Science; Physical Science & Chemistry; Technology & Engineering; and Inquiry & Nature of Science.

Events can be:

• Knowledge-based: These are like written tests on subjects such as earth science, physics, astronomy, or biology. Two or three team members usually take the test. Examples include Anatomy and Physiology, Meteorology, and Codebusters.
• Hands-on: These events involve two participants doing experiments or working with physical objects to reach a goal. Examples are Experimental Design and Write it Do it.
• Engineering-based: In these events, two team members build a device before the competition. On the day of the event, they test their device to see how well it performs specific tasks. Examples include Bridge, Flight, and Roller Coaster.

Most events allow two team members. The rules and list of events change every year to keep things fresh and fair for everyone. Some states might even have their own special events!

2023–2024 Events

Trial and Pilot Events

Sometimes, regional and state tournaments have "Trial" or "Pilot" events. These are events that aren't official national events yet, but they are being considered for future years. At the National Tournament, these events don't count towards a team's overall score, but ribbons and medals are often given out for them. Trial events are usually closer to becoming official events than pilot events.

How Teams Are Made

Teams are usually formed by a school. A team can have up to 15 students and some alternate members. At the national level, middle school teams can only have five 9th graders, and high school teams can only have seven 12th graders. Homeschool groups can also form teams.

It's important that all team members help with their events. For building events, it's against the rules for alternates to do all the building while the official team members just show up. Judges can ask questions about the device to make sure everyone on the team contributed. Everyone is expected to be honest and follow the rules!

How Scoring Works

The winner of a competition is decided by each team's total score. Teams are ranked in every event based on that event's rules. For knowledge-based events, the team with the most correct answers gets 1st place, the next highest gets 2nd, and so on. If there's a tie, special tiebreaker questions are used.

For other events, scoring depends on the specific rules in the Science Olympiad rule book. Some events reward the highest score, while others might reward the lowest (like for a building event where a lower time or distance is better).

A team's overall score is calculated by adding up their ranks in all events (e.g., 1st place gets 1 point, 2nd place gets 2 points). The team with the lowest total score wins! However, some state competitions might score differently, giving more points for 1st place and having the team with the most points win.

If there's an overall tie between teams, here are some ways they break it:

• Medals: The team with more first-place medals wins. If they have the same number of first places, they look at second-place medals, and so on. This is how the National Tournament breaks ties.
• Tie-breaker events: Before the competition, organizers pick a few events as tie-breakers. If two teams have the same overall score, the team that did better in those specific tie-breaker events wins.
• Trial/Pilot events: Sometimes, scores from trial or pilot events are used to break a tie.

Competition Levels

Science Olympiad competitions happen at the regional, state, and national levels. Usually, the top few teams from regional competitions move on to the state competition. Then, the top one or two teams from each state advance to the national competition. Currently, 120 teams (60 from Division B and 60 from Division C) compete at the national level each year.

Many states also host invitational tournaments. These are like "practice rounds" for the bigger qualifying tournaments. They are often hosted by schools or colleges. Invitationals are a great way for teams to get extra practice before the regional, state, or national tournaments. Some invitationals, like the one at MIT, are very large and competitive, with teams from many states.

The National Tournament

The National Science Olympiad competition takes place in late May at a different university each year. The best teams from each state's competition earn a spot here.

The competition officially kicks off with an opening ceremony on Friday night, often featuring a famous speaker. After that, there's a fun "Swap Meet" where teams can meet each other and trade state souvenirs like hats, T-shirts, and keychains.

Saturday is the main competition day, with different time slots for each event. Each event usually lasts 60 minutes, with a 15-minute break in between for competitors to get to their next event.

That night, there's a formal Awards Ceremony. Medals are given to the top six teams in each event. Then, all the event scores are added up to find the overall national team winner. The top ten teams in each division receive trophies and plaques.

Sometimes, scholarships are awarded to the top teams in certain events. For example, in some past tournaments, first-place winners in Division C received scholarships to the host university. Other awards might come from sponsors, like a trip to visit a science facility for winners of a specific event!

National Champions and Locations

Here's a look at some past national champions and where the tournaments were held:

		Division B		Division C
Year	Location	School	State	School	State
1985	Michigan State University	Slauson Intermediate School	MI	Seaholm High School	MI
1986	Michigan State University	Slauson Intermediate School	MI	Seaholm High School	MI
1987	Ohio State University	Gompers Secondary School	CA	Irmo High School	SC
1988	Delaware State University	Irmo Middle School	SC	Haverford High School	PA
1989	University of Colorado, Boulder	Irmo Middle School	SC	Irmo High School	SC
1990	Clarion University	Irmo Middle School	SC	Irmo High School	SC
1991	Penn Valley Community College	Grandville Junior High School	MI	La Jolla High School	CA
1992	Auburn University	Jenison Junior High School	MI	La Jolla High School	CA
1993	University of Southern Colorado	Thomas Jefferson Middle School	IN	Grand Haven High School	MI
1994	University of Arizona	State College Junior High School	PA	Grand Haven High School	MI
1995	Indiana University	State College Junior High School	PA	Harriton High School	PA
1996	Georgia Institute of Technology	Thomas Jefferson Middle School	IN	Troy High School	CA
1997	North Carolina State University	J.C. Booth Middle School	GA	Grand Haven High School	MI
1998	Grand Valley State University	J.C. Booth Middle School	GA	Solon High School	OH
1999	Chicago Museums and University of Chicago	J.C. Booth Middle School	GA	Troy High School	CA
2000	Eastern Washington University	J.C. Booth Middle School	GA	Troy High School	CA
2001	University of Colorado, Colorado Springs	J.C. Booth Middle School	GA	Harriton High School	PA
2002	University of Delaware	Rising Starr Middle School	GA	Troy High School	CA
2003	Ohio State University	J.C. Booth Middle School	GA	Troy High School	CA
2004	Juniata College	J.C. Booth Middle School	GA	Fayetteville-Manlius High School	NY
2005	University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign	Community Middle School	NJ	Harriton High School	PA
2006	Indiana University, Bloomington	J.C. Booth Middle School	GA	Troy High School	CA
2007	Wichita State University	Community Middle School	NJ	Troy High School	CA
2008	The George Washington University	Solon Middle School	OH	Troy High School	CA
2009	Augusta State University	Solon Middle School	OH	Centerville High School	OH
2010	University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign	Solon Middle School	OH	Centerville High School	OH
2011	University of Wisconsin–Madison	Solon Middle School	OH	Solon High School	OH
2012	University of Central Florida	Solon Middle School	OH	Solon High School	OH
2013	Wright State University	Solon Middle School	OH	Solon High School	OH
2014	University of Central Florida	Beckendorff Junior High School	TX	Troy High School	CA
2015	University of Nebraska–Lincoln	Solon Middle School	OH	Troy High School	CA
2016	University of Wisconsin–Stout	Daniel Wright Junior High School	IL	Mira Loma High School	CA
2017	Wright State University	Daniel Wright Junior High School	IL	Troy High School	CA
2018	Colorado State University	Solon Middle School	OH	Troy High School	CA
2019	Cornell University	Kennedy Middle School	CA	Troy High School	CA
2020	North Carolina State University	Tournament not contested due to the COVID-19 pandemic
2021	Arizona State University	Kennedy Middle School	CA	Mason High School	OH
2022	California Institute of Technology	Sierra Vista Middle School	CA	Mason High School	OH
2023	Wichita State University	Kennedy Middle School	CA	Adlai E. Stevenson High School	IL
2024	Michigan State University	Kennedy Middle School	CA	Monta Vista High School	CA

Resources for Learning

You can find many helpful resources for Science Olympiad on the main website: [1]. This website has lots of information about the competitions and how to get ready. You can also find practice tests there. The official rules manual for the current season is also available on the website.