Fourth graders compete in annual Science Olympiad

Fourth grade students from all four North Hills elementary schools competed in our annual Science Olympiad over two days Wednesday and Thursday, March 5-6 in the North Hills Middle School LGI room.

A student from each elementary school, chosen for being a member in our gifted education program or for high academics, was placed on a team to compete in a series of fast-paced, hands-on academic challenges that reinforce various science concepts, inquiry skills, problem-solving abilities and the scientific process. 

The challenges were facilitated by North Hills High School GATE students, many of whom participated in the olympiad when they were in elementary school.

There were 15 teams with four students each. On Wednesday, March 5, they participated in team building activities that included the screenprinting of their team t-shirts. A special thank you to high school tech ed teacher Joe Bosely who allowed the students to screen print their t-shirts in his lab.

Then on Thursday, they competed in the events detailed below. Great job to all of our teams!

• Snappy Circuits: Challenges students to use electronic snap circuits to complete electrical system “projects” (i.e. build a circuit that contains a switch, lights a bulb, runs a motor, etc.)
• Marble Madness: Challenges students to create a marble run that will keep a marble moving in its track for the longest amount of time.
• Dot & Dash: Tests students’ ability to correctly code robots to follow desired paths and reach particular targets.
• Identifying Insects: Challenges students to identify insect friends and insect foes based on given facts, description of their physical traits, and physical specimens. Students will also use a dichotomous key to match insects to their scientific order.
• Straw Tower: Challenges students to use their knowledge of physical structure to build the tallest straw tower using only the given set of D-Stix.  
• Calculator Contest: Allows students to demonstrate their knowledge of problem solving using a calculator.
• Magna-Bridge: Challenges students to build a magnetic bridge between two chairs that will span the longest distance.
• Picture This: Similar to Pictionary, but with science terms!
• Block Party: Challenges students to recreate large-scale foam block structures using only a picture of the finished product.
• 5-Second Rule: Challenges students to name 3 science terms from a given category in 5 seconds or less.
• BluTrack Challenge: Challenges students to utilize concepts of force and motion to engineer track systems that will allow racecars to complete various given tasks.