Science Olympiad questions and answers

[daijobu]

I want to start a new thread of questions and answers regarding Science Olympiad, particularly division B for middle schoolers, but you are welcome to post about other divisions.  

 

My first question that will ultimately determine whether I pursue this further is how much time is expected of a coach?  I will already be coaching a MathCounts team, and I suspect I won't be able to devote more than the minimum to this project.  What is the minimum amount of time I'll need to contribute?  (I expect in addition to my dd12, I'll also recruit a handful of local kids to participate.)

 

 

[SunshineMom]

As a team head coach or event coach? 

[daijobu]

As a team head coach or event coach? 

 

Now I know I'm in trouble, lol, since I don't know the difference.  I was thinking about coaching a small team of homeschoolers.  

[SunshineMom]

SO requires a lot of time and organization, if you are looking to run a full team (15 kids).  There are 23 competition events (study & builds).  Kids are in pairs and can compete in 5-6 events (max load). 

 

If you have a team of less than 8 kids, it would be very difficult for them to compete in all 23 events because the competitions are in one hr blocks, over six hours.  The whole team must score well in order to advance to state or the national competition so your competition opportunities are limited with a smaller team.

 

However, kids can medal in individual events at local or Regional competitions.

 

I would encourage you to start up a team, even if it is small.  SO is fun!

[Farrar]

How difficult is it to do a smaller team with the goal of just trying to medal in an individual event? A cousin has a son who does SO and we were talking about it. Not that we need another activity, but I was thinking it could be fun to prep for just some events. Is that even possible?

[SunshineMom]

Yes, you could start a team for a few kids who could do a few events of the 23 events.

[Luckymama]

First, check the national guidelines for starting a team http://soinc.org/home_virtual_schools

 

Pay attention to the homeschool team wording:

 

"Home-Schooled Students

 

Option 1 - Participation through a Local Public School If the state in which a home schooled student resides allows home schooled students to participate in public school activities, home schooled students may either (1) choose to participate as a member of the Science Olympiad team at the local public school they would attend were they not home schooled, or (2) form a home school team as set forth in Option #2, below.

 

Option 2 - Participation through a Home School Team Science Olympiad will recognize Home School Teams consisting only of students who live within the boundaries of two contiguous (side-by-side) geographic counties in a single state. As of July 20, 2011, the two-contiguous-county/single state policy will apply to all Science Olympiad Home School Teams who wish to attend to the 2012 Science Olympiad National Tournament and Science Olympiad will no longer qualify multi-county or multi-state Home School Teams. (This home school portion of the policy was adopted in 2008 and a three-year grace period of qualification followed.)"

 

Second, check out your state's SO website for registration details. http://soinc.org/state_websites

[Luckymama]

My first question that will ultimately determine whether I pursue this further is how much time is expected of a coach? I will already be coaching a MathCounts team, and I suspect I won't be able to devote more than the minimum to this project. What is the minimum amount of time I'll need to contribute? (I expect in addition to my dd12, I'll also recruit a handful of local kids to participate.)

The minimum time will depend on how hands-on you will want to be and on how many adults you will have helping you.

 

The biggest time commitments, at least for me, are (1) in assigning events and (2) the few weeks before competition(s).

 

We try to be as equitable as possible when assigning events, but there are always one or two per year (I'm looking at you, Bottle Rockets!) that almost everyone wants. We have the kids rank their choices per time block (this can only happen after the regional or state organization has released the schedule), rank their top overall events, and give reasons why they want to do those events.

 

The larger the team, the crazier the scheduling!

 

Some kids also only want to do one event while others want to do the maximum of five events. Some wish to work alone. Some want to work with particular partners; others don't care who they work with.

 

We don't have regular team meetings as it is just too difficult to schedule a time when all can meet. Partners are responsible for getting together to study, build, or practice. We meet as a team at the beginning of the year and a week or so before the competition.

 

Our homeschool group has a lending library of study materials, books, lab supplies, rock sets, official SO tests and study guides (which can be purchased through national), and so on that kids can "check out" for the season.

 

I spend a lot of time before competitions emailing reminders to kids and parents, making sure all the paperwork is signed and ready for me to turn in, double-checking everyone has the supplies they need, etc.

[Luckymama]

How difficult is it to do a smaller team with the goal of just trying to medal in an individual event? A cousin has a son who does SO and we were talking about it. Not that we need another activity, but I was thinking it could be fun to prep for just some events. Is that even possible?

Totally possible. We never have a full team of 15, but our kids regularly score in the top 3 places in multiple events :)

[Luckymama]

I'm out of computer time now (it's AP week in our house--dd is home from ballet so we need to go over her last practice test), but I'll be happy to answer more questions tomorrow:)

[Farrar]

Oh, that's right, I forgot about the same district thing. Well, that means we'll never be able to do it. There aren't any other homeschoolers my boys age in our district.

[daijobu]

Thank you, Lucky, this is good news: that is, the part about not needing to facilitate weekly meetings all year long.  I'm happy to hear that most of the preparation happens independently of me.  Thank you for the heads up on popular events.  I was thinking first-come first-serve for selecting who gets to do what, but I also like your idea of evaluating a students' commitment to the project.  

 

Did you ever find some students flaked on their commitment, and what impact, if any, did that have on other students on the team?

 

My next question is about materials and additional costs.  The SO store sells kits, CDs, teaching manuals, etc.  Did you buy many of these, or are they required?  Did you have the students purchase what they needed for themselves?   What would be our budget for additional materials?

 

[Luckymama]

Did you ever find some students flaked on their commitment, and what impact, if any, did that have on other students on the team?

All The Time :rolleyes: It really frosts my cookies!!!!!! Sometimes it happens within a week or two of assigning events (they had no idea of what the event would entail). Sometimes it happens in January (we just can't get to it). Sometimes it happens two weeks before a competition (this year---just "I decided not to participate" wth). I get especiallly annoyed/upset/frustrated when the dropout had taken a very popular event that someone else could have rocked with enough prep time and when the dropout leaves a partner high-and-dry.

 

Mind you, we email the rules to all the kids so they know the basics of the events. I also direct the kids to the official SO site (soinc.org) and the unofficial student sharing site (scioly.org) for more information. And then we have a team meeting to introduce and explain the events and to answer any questions.

 

My next question is about materials and additional costs. The SO store sells kits, CDs, teaching manuals, etc. Did you buy many of these, or are they required? Did you have the students purchase what they needed for themselves? What would be our budget for additional materials?

The CDs and teaching manuals are nice to have. Our team buys a few a year to build up our lending library. Our team charges a $35 fee to cover state registration fees and a team tshirt. Anything left over goes to purchasing study items. We are subsidized by our homeschooling group. If we have a shortfall in small team years, we can get additional monies from the group general fund.

 

Some events, build ones especially, are more expensive to prepare than other events. I let the parents know that before events are chosen.

 

(I'll add here which divison B events look to be more expensive for this coming year.)

[Luckymama]

SO has three basic types of events----study events (you are given topics to study, then you take a test at competition), lab events (you study and practice specific topics and techniques; the competition generally involves lab procedures with some sort of a written product), and build events (you design, build, and test some sort of a device at home; the device is tested at competition).

 

The focus of some events changes from year to year. Those are noted in parentheses after the event name.

 

This is the tentative event list for Division B for 2016, taken from scioly.org (the final list is not released until after the annual coach conference in July). My notes are in bold.

 

"It's really not a huge secret or anything. Here's the current TENTATIVE list. Please keep in mind this is unofficial and subject to change in the coming months. In particular we sometimes get significant feedback at the rules committee meetings the day after Nationals that impact this:

 

Division B

Anatomy (Cardiovascular, Skeletal-Muscular & Aging) study

Bio Process Lab lab

Disease Detectives (Pop.Growth) study

Green Generation study

Invasive Species new---study

Dynamic Planet (Oceanography) study

Fossils study ***buying samples could get expensive

Meteorology (Everyday Weather) study

Reach for the Stars study

Road Scholar study

Air Trajectory build ****could get pricey

Crave the Wave back in rotation after a number of years; no idea

Wind Power new---mix of build and study

Crime Busters lab ***need basic glassware

Food Science lab

Elevated Bridge build ***balsa/bass could get expensive for multiple versions

Elastic Launched Glider build; will range from cheap to pricey

Mission Possible the most frustrating build event lol

Scrambler build

Bottle Rocket build

Experimental Design odd mix of study and lab

Picture This new; no idea

Write It Do It" only event requiring a partner; build

[Jennay]

My DS has been on the "JV" middle school team of a homeschool SO team for the past two years. Next year he will move up to the "A' Team. Schools/groups can have more than one team per level but only one can advance to the state competition (at least here in MD).

I've got to be honest - SO can really take up a lot of time and prep, especially if you want to be competetive. Our teams meet one weeknight a week and then students meet with their partners at other times as well. They also had another day during the week where they would meet during the day. Then there is individual study time. Oy! But DS loves it and has been very successful, so we continue :)

The National Competition is this week and both our High School Team and Middle School A Team won the state competition and will be competing in Nebraska! If you are watching the awards ceremony online watch for Pilgrimage Homeschool from Maryland!

The Middle School team went last year (and in 2012) and medalled in some of the events.

[daijobu]

This is great.  Thank you for all this specific info.  (Why was I unable to find this info on the website?)

 

What is my timeline for preparation?  I suppose I should wait until July when the 2016 rules are published before starting anything?

 

Did you participate in practice tournaments, or does competition begin with the regional tournament?  How were homeschool teams received?  

[daijobu]

Regarding team dropouts:

 

All The Time :rolleyes: It really frosts my cookies!!!!!! 

 

I am familiar with this phenomenon.  This year I had a mom of a MathCounts team member email me the day before our competition, the one we had been prepping for all year long, to tell me they had a conflict.  Wow.  

 

At least it didn't impact the rest of the team, since I don't have enough students to fill all my spots and he never showed up for meetings any way.  But still.  I had ordered a t shirt for him.  

 

Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice...

[Targhee]

SO has three basic types of events----study events (you are given topics to study, then you take a test at competition), lab events (you study and practice specific topics and techniques; the competition generally involves lab procedures with some sort of a written product), and build events (you design, build, and test some sort of a device at home; the device is tested at competition).

 

The focus of some events changes from year to year. Those are noted in parentheses after the event name.

 

This is the tentative event list for Division B for 2016, taken from scioly.org (the final list is not released until after the annual coach conference in July). My notes are in bold.

 

"It's really not a huge secret or anything. Here's the current TENTATIVE list. Please keep in mind this is unofficial and subject to change in the coming months. In particular we sometimes get significant feedback at the rules committee meetings the day after Nationals that impact this:

 

Division B

Anatomy (Cardiovascular, Skeletal-Muscular & Aging) study

Bio Process Lab lab

Disease Detectives (Pop.Growth) study

Green Generation study

Invasive Species new---study

Dynamic Planet (Oceanography) study

Fossils study ***buying samples could get expensive

Meteorology (Everyday Weather) study

Reach for the Stars study

Road Scholar study

Air Trajectory build ****could get pricey

Crave the Wave back in rotation after a number of years; no idea

Wind Power new---mix of build and study

Crime Busters lab ***need basic glassware

Food Science lab

Elevated Bridge build ***balsa/bass could get expensive for multiple versions

Elastic Launched Glider build; will range from cheap to pricey

Mission Possible the most frustrating build event lol

Scrambler build

Bottle Rocket build

Experimental Design odd mix of study and lab

Picture This new; no idea

Write It Do It" only event requiring a partner; build

Picture this requires a partner - it's a 3 person team event if I remember right. Think pictionary with scientific terms. Our team had three sisters do this event and they knew each other so well they could understand each other's drawings very well, and medaled at regionals in it.

[Targhee]

SO has three basic types of events----study events (you are given topics to study, then you take a test at competition), lab events (you study and practice specific topics and techniques; the competition generally involves lab procedures with some sort of a written product), and build events (you design, build, and test some sort of a device at home; the device is tested at competition).

 

The focus of some events changes from year to year. Those are noted in parentheses after the event name.

 

This is the tentative event list for Division B for 2016, taken from scioly.org (the final list is not released until after the annual coach conference in July). My notes are in bold.

 

"It's really not a huge secret or anything. Here's the current TENTATIVE list. Please keep in mind this is unofficial and subject to change in the coming months. In particular we sometimes get significant feedback at the rules committee meetings the day after Nationals that impact this:

 

Division B

Anatomy (Cardiovascular, Skeletal-Muscular & Aging) study

Bio Process Lab lab

Disease Detectives (Pop.Growth) study

Green Generation study

Invasive Species new---study

Dynamic Planet (Oceanography) study

Fossils study ***buying samples could get expensive

Meteorology (Everyday Weather) study

Reach for the Stars study

Road Scholar study

Air Trajectory build ****could get pricey

Crave the Wave back in rotation after a number of years; no idea

Wind Power new---mix of build and study

Crime Busters lab ***need basic glassware

Food Science lab

Elevated Bridge build ***balsa/bass could get expensive for multiple versions

Elastic Launched Glider build; will range from cheap to pricey

Mission Possible the most frustrating build event lol

Scrambler build

Bottle Rocket build

Experimental Design odd mix of study and lab

Picture This new; no idea

Write It Do It" only event requiring a partner; build

Crave the Wave is math-heavy event! Ideally your student will have had algebra 2 and geometry, but algebra 1 and learn some of the additional math could work.

[Luckymama]

What is my timeline for preparation? I suppose I should wait until July when the 2016 rules are published before starting anything?

Actually, the rules aren't officially published until early September! The events will be unofficially finalized in the summer. As a team coach, you will receive one copy of the rules (at least, I assume all states do this). Rule books can be purchased from the SO online store. There will also be an app for the rules (I bought this past year's app).

 

Until the rules are released, I suggest you contact your state organization to see what resources they might have. Line up a committed assistant coach!!!!!

 

Did you participate in practice tournaments, or does competition begin with the regional tournament? How were homeschool teams received?

We are the only homeschool team in the state :lol: but have never, ever had a problem. The kids have gotten a lot of congratulations and questions about their preparation for events as they leave the awards ceremony with chests full of medals :D

 

Check with your state about the tournament process. Regional dates might surprise you.

 

"Invitational" tournaments (some are open, thus the reason for the quotes) are a good idea to get used to events before they count. However, they could be negative if any of the participants don't do as well as they expect. Learn your team :) Maybe try an invitational your second year.

 

There are only Division C invitationals within a decent drive here. Last year they were too early for us to participate. I'm hoping at least a few of our kids can go this coming fall.