February 21, 2008

Students to go for gold in Science Olympiad

The event, sponsored by the College of Science and the Science Olympiad Club, will take place from 9 a.m. - 3 p.m. throughout campus. It features 23 science and technology-related competitions and is free and open to the public.

An awards ceremony will follow at 4:15 p.m. in the Class of 1950 Lecture Hall, Room 224.

"The Science Olympiad is a great opportunity to see students participating in exciting and challenging science activities," said Bill Walker, College of Science K-12 Outreach director. "Events such as Scrambler and Robot Ramble are quite popular and fun to watch."

Scrambler, which will take place throughout the day in the Lawson Computer Science Building, requires participants to design and build a mechanical device that uses only the energy from a falling mass to transport an egg along a straight track. The device must stop as close to a terminal barrier as possible without breaking the egg. 

Robot Ramble will take place throughout the day in the Wetherill Laboratory of Chemistry Room 362 and requires competitors to design and build a robot capable of performing a task on a prescribed playing field.

"The events are designed to stress science concepts, science processes, problem-solving skills, and applications of technology," said Mindy Hart, computer science outreach coordinator and Science Olympiad regional competition supervisor. "Several events involve hands-on activities."

Teachers and parents coach each team, which consists of 15 students. Local scientists and engineers also assist some teams. Participating schools include:

• Bloomington North High School, Bloomington

• Central Middle School, Kokomo

• Maple Crest Middle School, Kokomo

• McCutcheon High School, Lafayette

• RJ Baskett Middle School, Gas City

• Southwestern Middle School, Lafayette

• Sycamore Middle School, Indianapolis

• Terre Haute South High School, Terre Haute

• Terre Haute North High School, Terre Haute

• Wea Ridge Middle School, Lafayette

• West Lafayette Junior High School, West Lafayette

• West Lafayette Senior High School, West Lafayette

The Purdue University, College of Science K-12 Outreach Program began in 1990 to support teachers and inspire students. Since then, 7,000 teachers and 580,000 students throughout the state have participated in its programs.

For more information about the Science Olympiad Regional competition and times for specific events, contact: Mindy Hart at (765) 494-7802, mhart@cs.purdue.edu  or Bill Walker at (765) 494-5890, wswalker@purdue.edu.

Writer: Marydell Forbes, (765) 496-7704, mforbes@purdue.edu

Sources: Mindy Hart, (765) 494-7802, mhart@cs.purdue.edu

Bill Walker, (765) 494-5890, wswalker@purdue.edu

Purdue News Service: (765) 494-2096; purduenews@purdue.edu

Note to Journalists: For more information about the Science Olympiad regional competition and times for specific events, contact Mindy Hart at (765) 494-7802, mhart@cs.purdue.edu

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