The Northwood Science Olympiad varsity team placed 20th out of 50 at the state competition April 29. The Northwood Science Olympiad team competed at the state level against 49 other schools.
The competition consists of 23 different science events. Students compete in pairs, with each pair picking an average of two or three events. Lindsey Holloway and Cameron Bright finished in 6th place in Chemistry Lab. Francis Beroset and Chloe Gruesbeck finished in 8th place in Environmental Design. Elizabeth Saksa and Nimmy Babu finished in 11th place in Writing/Do It!
The Science Olympiad season starts in November and continues for six months. The members have to prepare throughout the school year in order to ready themselves for the competition.
“Some of the events are build events, where they have to build a device that can perform a task, such as, carry an egg,” said Science Olympiad coach Dr. Victoria Raymond.
Students had to prepare for unusual and difficult tasks in diverse scientific topics.
The various categories that the students competed in included Mission Possible, Compound Machines, Astronomy, Entomology and Dynamic Planet.
Junior Lea Zdanski competed in Astronomy and Entomology and said that there is an advanced level of difficulty at the state level.
“It’s very hard at States. The regional competition may make you think it’s easy but in reality it isn’t,” said Zdanski.
Northwood qualified for the state competition by placing in the top 5 at the regional competition.
Junior Kierra Robertson competed in Mission Possible and explained her task.
“We had to build a device that concluded with a light at the end. It essentially uses energy transfers,” said Robertson.
Placing 20th out of 50 was not enough to qualify for Nationals. Regardless, the competitive spirit of the competition is a key component.
“It’s beastly and real tough,” said Raymond. “It’s tough because there are some really intense teams that go there.”
By Byron Aguilar