Young scientists from around the country to compete at UD Jan. 25-26

Young scientists from around the
country to compete at UD Jan. 25-26

Some 1,800 high school and middle school students from across the nation will travel to the University of Delaware campus in Newark this month for the Science Olympiad Invitational Tournament, scheduled Jan. 25-26 on the campus.

The Science Olympiad is a national organization dedicated to improving science education by fostering a passion among students, creating links between private enterprise and schools, improving curriculum and providing recognition for scientific achievement.

In addition to the competition, the Invitational will include an opening ceremony featuring a parade of participants, a keynote address by NASA scientist Jack Bacon and mistress of ceremonies meteorologist Kathy Orr of NBC 10 in Philadelphia. Both the opening ceremony and the concluding awards ceremony will be broadcast live over the World Wide Web.

January’s event is a prelude to the Science Olympiad National Tournament, which will be held at UD May 17-18. National tournaments are designed to create excitement, promote problem solving, develop cooperative learning strategies and, in the long term, to attract talented students to careers in science, technology and science education.

Both tournaments are sponsored by the University and DuPont, in cooperation with the National Science Olympiad and the Delaware Science Olympiad. Delaware is the birthplace of the National Olympiad (the first competition was held at Delaware State University 26 years ago), and DuPont has been the national sponsor since its inception.

The Invitational Tournament will feature some 46 competitions, half for middle school teams and half for high school teams. These include

• “Battery Buggy,” in which teams must construct a battery-powered vehicle to traverse a specified course;

• “Cow-A-Bungee,” in which a mass attached to an elastic cord is dropped and must come as close as possible to, but without touching, a landing zone;

• “Feathered Frenzy,” in which students demonstrate knowledge of how birds interact within their populations and with the environment;

• “Mission Possible,” which involves construction of a Rube Goldberg-like device to accomplish a specific task;

• “Science Crime Busters,” in which students must correctly identify liquid and solid materials in a crime scenario; and

• “The Wright Stuff,” in which participants must construct and fly an airplane driven by rubber bands.

Events represent a wide range of areas of scientific inquiry, including biology, chemistry, earth sciences, problem solving, physics and technology.

Invitational Tournament teams are drawn from Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Virginia, Michigan, Indiana, Ohio, Minnesota, Kansas, Alabama, Georgia, Missouri, Maryland, Colorado, North Carolina and California.

The Invitational will begin with an opening ceremony at 6 p.m., Jan. 25, in the Bob Carpenter Center, featuring a parade of the schools. Orr, winner of an Emmy Award for best weathercaster in 1999 and 2000 for forecasting and reporting for NBC 10 in Philadelphia, will open the program.

Speakers will include tournament director Lyn Newsom, who is a secondary science coordinator for the Brandywine School District, a science consultant with UD’s MSERC (Mathematics and Science Education Resource Center) and a previous Delaware Teacher of the Year; UD President David P. Roselle; and Charles O. Holliday Jr., chairman and CEO of DuPont.

Keynote Bacon is an expert in spacecraft integration and aerospace systems and architectures at the NASA Johnson Space Center.

Bacon has been involved in all systems in the International Space Station and has traveled to space development facilities all over the world. A graduate of the California Institute of Technology, he holds master’s and doctoral degrees from the University of Rochester, and he worked for Xerox Corp. before joining NASA in 1990. He is the author of the award-winning book, “My Grandfather’s Clock,” tracing the development of technology and society through 28 generations of his family. Twice recognized with the NASA Outstanding Speaker Award, Bacon has been awarded the Johnson Space Center’s Certificate of Commendation–its highest recognition.

On Saturday, the competitions, which are based on the national and state science education standards, will be held throughout the day at various locations around campus.

The tournament concludes Saturday night with announcement of winners and presentation of medals at a closing ceremony in the Bob Carpenter Center.

Both the opening and concluding ceremonies will be broadcast live over the World Wide Web, and the link will be available on the web site at [www.udel.edu/scienceolympiad]. The web cast will be accessible to 300 persons at a time during the ceremonies, and afterward archived versions will be available to anyone at anytime at the site.

The Invitational and National tournaments are being organized by a core committee, including Newsom; Jack Cairns of the National Science Olympiad; Phyllis Buchanan and Peggy Vavalla of DuPont; Delaware Teacher of Science of the Year Bill Hall, a marine science educator in UD’s College of Marine Studies; and Frederic Siegel, associate provost for enrollment services, Amy Greenwald Foley, senior associate director of enrollment services, and Robert Snyder, assistant director of alumni and University relations, all at UD. Hundreds of volunteers, including area scientists, science teachers and UD students, are helping with the events.

For information on the Invitational or the National Tournament, see the tournament web site at [www.udel.edu/scienceolympiad].

Jan. 18, 2002