EVENT DESCRIPTIONS

2024 Event Descriptions

Currently, there are three Science Olympiad divisions: Division A (grades 3-6); Division B (grades 6-9); and Division C (grades 9-12). The following events are for divisions B and C only. The letter in parenthesis after the subject denotes the division level. Division A competitions are held within individual schools and their districts.

Event resources can be found on the national website: www.soinc.org AND www.scioly.org

Eye Protection - Make sure all teams know their categories' requirements. (A, B, or C). https://www.soinc.org/eye_protection

Events in RED are new for 2024.
Events in GREEN are MSO trial events only. They will be replaced with other TBA events at Nationals.

Air Trajectory (B/C) - Prior to the competition, teams will design, construct, and calibrate a single device capable of launching projectiles onto a target and collect data regarding device parameters and performance.

Anatomy & Physiology (B/C) - Participants will be assessed on their understanding of the anatomy and physiology of the human Cardiovascular, Lymphatic, and Excretory systems.

Astronomy (C) - Teams will demonstrate an understanding of Stellar Evolution, Star Formation, and Exoplanets.

Can't Judge a Powder (B) - Students will test and characterize one substance and then, based only on data they collect, answer a series of questions about that substance. Students will not be asked to identify the substance. The emphasis of this event is on the quality of data collected, answering questions about the substance, and providing data to support their answers.

Chemistry Lab (C) - Teams will complete one or more tasks and answer a series of questions involving the scientific processes of chemistry focused on the areas of Periodicity and Equilibrium.

Codebusters (B/C) - Teams will cryptanalyze and decode encrypted messages using cryptanalysis techniques for historical and modern advanced ciphers.

Crime Busters (B) - Given a scenario, a collection of evidence, and possible suspects, students will perform a series of tests. Test results, along with other evidence, will be used to solve a crime and answer questions.

Detector Building (C) - Teams will build a durable ORP or Redox Probe that will accurately measure and display both voltage and the concentrations of NaCl in parts per million from 0 to 5000 ppm of different water samples and complete a written test on the principles and theories behind the event.

Disease Detectives (B/C) - Participants will use their investigative skills in the scientific study of disease, injury, health, and disability in populations or groups of people.

Dynamic Planet (B/C) - Participants will demonstrate an understanding of the large-scale processes affecting the structure of Earth’s crust.

Ecology (B/C) - Students will answer questions involving content knowledge and process skills in the area of ecology and adaptations in featured North American biomes.

Experimental Design (B/C) - This event will determine the participant’s ability to design, conduct, and report the findings of an experiment entirely on-site.

Fast Facts (B) -Teams will fill in a grid of terms that begin with a given letter to match given science categories.

Fermi Questions (C) - Teams provide answers to a series of “Fermi Questions”; science-related questions that seek fast, rough estimates of a quantity, that is either difficult or impossible to measure directly.

Flight (B/C) - Prior to the tournament, teams will construct, collect data on test flights, and analyze and optimize a free-flight rubber-powered aircraft to achieve maximum time aloft.

Forensics (C) - Given a scenario and some possible suspects, students will perform a series of tests. These tests, along with other evidence or test results, will be used to solve a crime.

Forestry (B/C) - Participants will be assessed on their general forestry knowledge and the trees found in the United States that are on the 2024 Official Science Olympiad National Tree List.

Fossils (B/C) - Teams identify and classify fossils and demonstrate their knowledge of ancient life. Tasks will be related to the interpretation of past environments and ecosystems, adaptations, evolutionary relationships, and the use of fossils in dating and correlating rock units.

Geologic Mapping (C) - Teams will demonstrate an understanding of the construction and use of topographic maps, geologic maps, and cross-sections, and their use in forming interpretations regarding subsurface structures and past depositional environments on Earth and other planetary bodies.

Meteorology (B) - Participants will use scientific process skills involving qualitative and quantitative analyses to demonstrate an understanding of the factors that contribute to, cause, and influence Severe Weather and Storms.

Microbe Mission (B/C) - Teams will answer questions, solve problems, and analyze data pertaining to microbes.

Optics (B/C) - Teams will participate in an activity involving positioning mirrors to direct a laser beam toward a target and complete a written test on the principles of geometric and physical optics.

Reach for the Stars (B) - Participants will demonstrate an understanding of the formation and early-stage evolution of stars and their observation across the electromagnetic spectrum.

Road Scholar (B) - Participants will answer interpretive questions that may use one or more state highway maps, USGS topographic maps, Internet-generated maps, a road atlas, or satellite/aerial images.

Robot Tour (C) - Teams design, build, program, and test one Robotic Vehicle to navigate a track to reach a target in a set amount of time as accurately and efficiently as possible.

Roller Coaster (B) - Prior to the competition, teams design, build, and test a Roller Coaster track to guide a ball/sphere that uses gravitational potential energy as its sole means of propulsion to travel as close as possible to a Target Time.

Scrambler (C) - Teams design, build, and test a mechanical device, that uses the energy from a falling mass to transport an egg along a track as quickly as possible and stop as close to the center of a TerminalBarrier (TB) without breaking the egg.

Tower (B/C) - Teams will design and build a Tower (Structure) meeting requirements specified in these rules to achieve the highest structural efficiency.

Wheeled Vehicle (B) - Teams must design, build, and test one Vehicle that uses non-metallic, elastic material as its sole means of propulsion to travel a distance as quickly and accurately as possible.

Wind Power (B/C) - Teams construct a blade assembly device prior to the tournament that is designed to capture wind power and complete a written test on the principles of alternative energy.

Write It/Do It (B/C) - One participant will write a description of an object and how to build it. The other participant will attempt to construct the object from this description.

Trial Events at MSO only:

Botany (B/C) - Participants will demonstrate their knowledge of plant life and general botany principles.

Mission Possible (B/C) - Prior to the competition, participants design, build, test, and document a Rube Goldberg®-like Device that completes the required Start and Final Actions through a series of specific actions.