Purdue News

February 12, 1999 Indiana students face off in Science Olympiad WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. -- More than 250 high school and middle school students from central Indiana will visit Purdue University for the fifth annual Science Olympiad on Saturday, Feb. 27. The future scientists representing 19 schools will test their skills in 28 events ranging from anatomy to weather. The competition will be from 8:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. An awards presentation will be held at 3:30 p.m. in Room 200 of the Wetherill Laboratory of Chemistry. Purdue's program is one of nine regional competitions being held in Indiana. The top three middle school and high school students in each event will advance to the statewide competition March 20 at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis. Participants at Purdue will come from schools in Attica, Brownsburg, Carmel, Hammond, Highland, Indianapolis, Kentland, Lafayette, LaPorte, Mishawaka, Munster, Rochester, Whiting and Winamac. Scheduled competitions include: Battery Buggy -- contests will construct a vehicle that uses electrical energy as its sole means of propulsion. Bottle Rocket Contest -- students will launch a rocket made of a plastic liter bottle into the air. The rocket with the most air time wins. Mission Possible -- students are challenged to design and build a Rube Goldberg-type device that uses up to five energy forms to accomplish a specific task. Redesigned Genes -- participants tackle genetic puzzles. Surfing the Net -- students are asked to find information on the World Wide Web. Road Scholar -- contestants will use maps to fill in blanks in an adventure storyline. CONTACT: Isidore Julien, Department of Biological Sciences outreach coordinator, (765) 494-4983; e-mail, ijulien@bilbo.bio.purdue.edu Purdue News Service: (765) 494-2096; e-mail, purduenews@purdue.edu To the Purdue News and Photos Page