2026 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 2027.
-
Events in GREEN are MSO trial events only. They will be replaced with other TBA events at Nationals.
Anatomy & Physiology (B/C) - Participants will be assessed on their understanding of the anatomy and physiology of the respiratory, digestive, and immune systems of the human body.
Astronomy (C) - Teams will demonstrate an understanding of stellar evolution in normal and starburst galaxies.
Boomilever (B/C) - Teams will design and build a cantilevered beam or truss structure that extends from a vertical Testing Wall and supports a load at a specified distance from the Testing Wall. The structure must meet the requirements specified in these rules to achieve the highest score, which is a combination of structural efficiency and Load Scored Bonus.
Botany (B/C) - Participants will demonstrate their knowledge of plant life and general botany principles.
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 kinetics and gases.
Circuit Lab (B/C) - Participants must complete hands-on tasks and answer questions about electricity and electronics.
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.
Designer Genes (C) - Teams will answer questions, solve problems, and analyze data pertaining to classic, evolutionary, and molecular genetics.
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) - Teams will complete tasks related to the properties and processes of Earth's fresh waters.
Elastic Launch Glider (B) - Prior to the tournament, teams will construct, collect data on test flights, analyze and optimize free flight Elastic Launched Gliders to achieve a maximum time aloft.
Electric Vehicle (C) - Teams design, build, and test one vehicle that uses electrical energy as its sole means of propulsion to travel in a set amount of time, push a bottle past a line, and move backwards to stop close to a Target Point.
Engineering CAD (C) - Teams will read a set of engineering drawings and collaborate to CAD parts in Onshape and then incorporate these parts with provided components to create an assembly.
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.
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.
Food Science (B) - Teams will study the science behind milk products and experiment with ingredients and other variables to produce and analyze results to produce the best dairy products below.
Heredity (B) - Teams will answer questions, solve problems, and analyze data pertaining to classic and molecular genetics.
Hovercraft (B/C) - Prior to the competition, participants will design, construct, and calibrate a self-propelled air-levitated vehicle to carry nickels down a track.
Meteorology (B) - Participants will use scientific process skills involving qualitative and quantitative analyses to demonstrate an understanding of the characteristics of severe weather, including the factors that contribute to, cause and influence Severe Weather & Storms on the Earth. The interpretation of meteorological data, graphs, maps, charts, tables and images will be emphasized.
Mission Possible (C) - Prior to the competition, competitors will design, build, test, and document a Rube Goldberg-like device that begins with a specific Start Action and ends with a specific Final Action with an optional series of specific actions between the Start and Final Actions.
Ping Pong Parachute (B/C) - Prior to the tournament, teams will design, build, and bring up to two bottle rockets to the tournament to launch a ping pong ball attached to a parachute to stay aloft for the greatest amount of time.
Protein Modeling (C) - Participants will be assessed on a written exam and prior to the competition will use computer visualization and online resources to construct a physical model of the sialic acid binding site of the 2009 H1N1 influenza hemagglutinin protein.
Remote Sensing (B/C) - Participants will demonstrate an understanding of the basic principles of remote sensing and interpret imagery, data, and maps related to Earth observation.
Rocks and Minerals (B/C) - Teams will identify and classify rocks and minerals and demonstrate knowledge of how rocks and minerals help to understand geologic processes, interpretation of earth’s history, the development of natural resources, and use by society.
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 means of propulsion to travel as close as possible to a Target Time.
Scrambler (B) - Teams design, build, and test a mechanical device, which 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 Terminal Barrier (TB) without breaking the egg.
Solar System (B) - Participants will demonstrate their knowledge of habitability within and beyond the Solar System.
Thermodynamics (B/C) - Teams will construct a device prior to the tournament designed to collect heat and complete a written test on thermodynamic concepts.
Water Quality (B/C) - Participants will be assessed on their understanding and evaluation of marine and estuary aquatic environments.
Wright Stuff (C) - Prior to the tournament, teams will construct, collect data on test flights, analyze and optimize free flight rubber-powered Airplanes to achieve maximum time aloft.
Write It/Do It (B) - 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 State Tournament only:
Code Craze (B/C) - Participants will participate in quiz and coding activities designed to assess their knowledge of computer science practice module material in many areas, such as, programming concepts, AI, cryptography and programming languages (i.e., Python, Java). The annual practice module will represent the scope of material available for testing.
Second Trial - TBD