Welcome to Regional Science Olympiad for San Diego County

About Science Olympiad

Science Olympiad is a nationally organized competition in biology, chemistry, physics, earth sciences and engineering.  There are competitions at national, state and regional levels.  This web site is for the Regional Competition for San Diego County.  There are 23 events in each of two divisions: Division B is for grades 6-9; Division C is for grades 9-12.  Each team may have up to 15 students.  Each school may send up to six teams. Some events are lab testing events (Chemistry Lab C, Crime Busters B), some are written tests (Disease Detectives C, Meteorology B), and some emphasize the building and testing of devices that must meet specific criteria and perform specific tasks.  Team trophies are given to the top ten schools in each division and individual awards are given to 20th place in each event. View the National Science Olympiad brochure or the national web site www.soinc.org

San Diego Regional Competitions will use:
1. The rules in the official Rules Manuals
2. Clarifications on the National SO web site.
3. Additional clarifications, if any, from our Regional Director
4. 2012 Proposed Event Schedules for Division B & Map and Division C & Map
5. 2012 Group Assignments
6. 2012 Required/Allowed Items for Division B and Division C
7. 2012 Dispute Resolution for San Diego Regional Competitions

Financial Support

We are an entirely volunteer, 501(C)(3) non-profit organization. Without the support of the people and organizations below, this Competition could not take place.  These donations cover the costs of materials, fossil kits, insurance, trophies, medals, ribbons, etc.  We are incredibly grateful for their support.

Phyllis & Perry Feuer Trust for San Diego Science Olympiad
ThermoFisher Scientific - $2,500

Google - $5,000
Patients of Charles Jablecki, MD
Pam and Stuart Bruder

Service Support

Poway Unified School District allowed us to use the Rancho Bernardo High School, Bernardo Heights Middle School, and Del Norte High School campuses for our Regional competitions.  We thank the District.
San Diego Natural History Museum donated free passes and four family memberships.  It also donated its teaching rooms for our three meetings.
Reuben H. Fleet Science Center donated free passes

Updates

Added 02/01/12 Information for Road Scholar B

Added 01/29/12 Important National Rule Clarification on Optics B & Optics C

Added 01/28/12 Event clarification Water Quality B and Water Quality C

Added 01/27/12 2012 Division C School Camp information and photos.

Added 01/26/12 Event information for Anatomy & Physiology C, Chem Lab C, Dynamic Planet B, Dynamic Planet C, Fermi Question C, Forensics C, Gravity Vehicle C, Helicopters C, Keep the Heat B, Microbe Mission B, Microbe Mission C, Mission Possible B, Optics B, Optics C, Protein Modeling C, Remote Sensing C, Robot Arm C, Rocks & Minerals C, Sounds of Music C, Technical Problem Solving C, Thermodynamics C, Towers B, Towers C

Revised Towers B Score Sheet and Towers C Score Sheet.

The dimensions of the MP device (and all other devices) include any hardware on the outside.  Make sure that the kids don't have to saw things off before they run their devices.  I saw a photo of a MP device from one of our teams (asking a question about something else) that may have this problem.

Information from the Coaches & Event Captain Meeting Jan. 25, 2012
GENERAL: DO NOT TAKE PHOTOS OF ANYTHING OR ANYBODY OTHER THAN YOUR OWN STUDENTS AND TEAM!
No cell phones in events.
For all tests:  Each question is worth the same amount; there are no penalties for wrong answers.
Station Events:  Once you have done a station you can NOT go back.
Check the website for updates.
Contact Liz if you see anything incorrect.
On all devices have the team and school name on the device in INK.
Problems on the day of the Competition should be told to the to Head Coach of the school.  ONLY the Head Coach will contact Liz, Rosemary or Charles with questions.
No advance reservation or holding of seats in the Gym prior to the Awards Ceremony.

Added 01/24/12 Event information for Optics B & Optics C

Added 01/22/12 Event clarification for Keep the Heat B & Thermodynamics C

Added 01/22/12 Every TEAM must provide one adult volunteer.  We can not run the Competitions without them.  They may volunteer on either day - February 4 at Rancho Bernardo HS, or February 18, 2012 at Del Norte HS.  Arrive between 7:30 – 8:00 am at the registration desks.

Question:  Do students need to have their yellow wrist bands (required for participation in all events) on their wrists when they drop things off for Impound?
Answer: Yes, because we need to know that they are participants.

Impound: Any member of a team may take a device in for Impound.  During Impound, the devices are simply deposited in the Impound room.
Devices must be labeled.  School and team (if applicable)

Two reminders:
1.  All teams from the same school take the written events at the same time, check your Group Assignment.  Match up your group with the Event Schedule Division B or Event Schedule Division C.
2.  For the construction events, each team must have its own complete device.

Event information for Optics B & Optics C

Added 01/21/12 Event information for Keep the Heat B, Mission Possible B & Thermodynamics C

Added 01/20/12 Proposed 2012 Division C Schedule and Division C Competition Map
Event information for Astronomy C, Helicopters C, Robot Arm C, Storm the Castle B and Thermodynamics C

Division C: Some high school students plan not to arrive at the Del Norte campus until their events are about ready to start.  They should understand that on February 18, 2012, the day of our Division C Competition, Del Norte is holding try-outs for all of its spring sports starting at 8:00 am.  Parking may get very tight.  SO Division C students should allow themselves time to park, walk some distance, find their school camps, get their required wrist bands and find their events.

Division C meeting of Coaches and Event Captains: At our meeting on Wednesday, January 25, 2012, 4:00 PM at the Natural History Museum the coaches will pull numbers out of two bags.  One set of numbers will be used for you to choose time slots for your Sounds of Music teams.  The other set will be used for you to choose a site for your school camp on the Del Norte campus.  If rain is predicted, one or two days before the Competition Rosemary will assign classrooms in which you can have your schools camps.

Added 01/18/12 Event information for Optics B & Optics C

Added 01/16/12 Event information for Anatomy & Physiology C, Bottle Rocket B, Keep the Heat B, Optics B, Mission Possible B, Mission Possible Run Times B & Thermodynamics C
Division B Competition Food for purchase available on campus.

Added 01/15/12 Event information for Food Science B, Mission Microbe B & Storm the Castle B

Added 01/13/12 Event information for Awesome Acquifer B, Bottle Rocket B, Crime Busters B, Food Science B, Forestry B, Keep the Heat B, Mission Microbe B, Mousetrap Vehicle B, Optics B, Rocks & Minerals B, Storm the Castle B, Water Quality B, Write It Do It B, Write It Do It C

On all tests:  Each question is worth one point.  There are no penalties for wrong answers.

Station Events:  Once you have done a station you can NOT go back to it.

Check the website www.sandiegoso.org for updates.

Contact Liz if you see anything incorrect.

Added 01/12/12 The coach of the Rancho Bernardo HS Science Olympiad team will raise money by selling the following on that campus:
Coffee and tea in the AM,
Pizza and cup of noodles at lunch time, and
A lunch special -- 2 slices of pizza and a drink for 4 or 5 dollars. 

You may also bring your own ready-to-eat food.

You may NOT use electricity from the host schools for any purpose.

Added 01/12/12 Division B Team Camp Map showing where each school will have its camp during the Division B Competition on February 4, 2012

Devices: EACH device MUST have the school name and the team name written permanently on the device. 

You may take photos ONLY of your own child or students from your school IF you are certain that you are allowed to take photos of the other children from your school. 

Event information for Microbe Mission B, Microbe Mission C, Mission Possible B, and Reach for the Stars B

Added 01/11/12 Corrected 2012 Division B Event Schedule.
Updated 2012 Division B Competition Map (Anatomy room change).

Added 01/11/12 Microbe Mission B & C Study Guide

Added 01/10/12 Towers B information

Added 01/09/12 Crime Busters and Mission Microbe room change to proposed 2012 Division B Event Schedule and 2012 Division B Competition Map.

Added 01/08/12 Proposed 2012 Division B Event Schedule and 2012 Division B Competition Map
January 7th Protein Modeling Workshop Powerpoint.
Update to Gravity Vehicle C Score Sheet.
Compute This B Test Directions.

Added 01/06/12 Event information for Compute This B
Protein Modeling C Workshop Saturday, January 7th UCSD 2-4p.m.

Added 01/03/12 Division B impounded events: Keep the Heat B, Mission Possible B and Storm the Castle B must be impounded between 7:15 AM - 8:00 AM
All devices should have school and team names on them.
Division B Competition information

Division C Competition information

Division C impounded events: Gravity Vehicle C impound 12:00-12:30 PM and Thermodynamics C impound 7:15 AM-8:00 AM

Event information for Awesome Aquifer B, Food Science B, Forestry B & Forestry C, Mission Possible B and Thermodynamics C

Added 12/24/11 Mission Possible correction

Added 12/18/11 Group Assignments revised, an additional school was added.

Added 12/17/11 Event information for Optics B and Optics C

Added 12/17/11 Revised Robot Arm C score sheet

Added 12/16/11 Score Sheets for: Bottle Rocket B, Gravity Vehicle C, Mission Possble B, Robot Arm C
Information for Anatomy B & Anatomy & Physiology C, and Robot Arm C

Added 12/14/11 Mousetrap Vehicle B score sheet
Event information on Write It, Do It B and Write It, Do It C

Added 12/13/11 Event information on Mission Possible B, Keep the Heat B, Astronomy C, Helicopter C, Protein Modeling C and Thermodynamics C

Added 12/12/11 2012 Event Schedule Division B, update that includes impound of Mission Possible B 7:15-8:00 a.m.. Impounds may be dropped off by any member of the same team.

Robot Arm C
clarification from Nationals.

From the Nuts & Bolts Protein Modeling workshop December 10th Protein Modeling Handout

Added 12/09/11 GOOD NEWS!!  Today I landed an excellent event captain for Sounds of Music C.  His actual words were, “Sign me up.”  How lovely is that?  He is almost finished with his PhD in Music at UCSD.

Added 12/08/11 Event Scoring: we do not take off for wrong answers - unless the event description tells us to do so.

Event information on Keep the Heat B and Thermodynamics C

Please remind your interested students about the Protein Modeling workshop this coming Saturday.  The event captain is doing workshops at my request.  I hope your students and coaches will attend.
Nuts and Bolts of Protein Modeling C
Saturday, Dec. 10, 2011
San Diego Supercomputer Center/UCSD, 2:00 – 4:00 pm (directions to Workshop)
–Introduction to the pre-build model
–Hands-on protein visualization and model building at computer lab
–Review of chemistry, biochemistry, and protein structure

Added 12/06/11 Score Sheets for Keep the Heat B and Thermodynamics C

Added 12/05/11 Event information on Chem Lab C, Forensics C and Storm the Castle B

Added 12/02/11 Group Assignments Division B & Division C
Storm the Castle B Score Sheet

Added 12/02/11 Event information on Forensics C, Keep the Heat B, Thermodynamics C, Water Quality B & Water Quality C

Added 11/30/11 Event information on Anatomy & Physiology C, Rocks & Minerals B, Rocks & Minerals C, List of events that require Eye Protection

Added 11/22/11 Event information on Keep the Heat B, Rocks & Minerals B 2012 Clarification and Rocks & Minerals C 2012 Clarification

Added 11/18/11 Required & Allowed Items List Division B, Required & Allowed Items List Division C, these lists are intended to help teams stay organized for items needed for the Competition. Pens or pencils are required for most events.
Towers B and Towers C score sheet

Division B events that require impound: Keep the Heat and Storm the Castle
Division C events that require impound: Gravity Vehicle and Thermodynamics

Added 11/17/11 Official Rules Clarifications are made to clarify or correct the rules printed in the manuals. FAQs are replies to commonly asked questions. These Official Rules Clarifications and FAQs apply to all states and all tournaments and originate at the national level (please check your state web sites for special updates pertaining to your regional or state events). Click here to view Event FAQs or to Submit a Question.
Official Rule Clarifications to:Protein Modeling C, Reach for the Stars B, Thermodynamics C, Towers B and Towers C

Events requiring Eye Protection #5 (High Impact Protection - ANSI Z87+) - Goggles with lenses identified as Z87+ regardless of markings on other parts of the goggles and Spectacles identified as Z87+ with side shields regardless of markings on other parts of the spectacles will be acceptable for events requiring High Impact Protection #5. (4/8/10)

Added 11/16/11 Clarification from Nationals on Sound of Music C
Information on Reach for the Stars B, Meteorology B, Anatomy & Physiology C

Clarifications from Regional Director:

During written tests, a team of two (or three in Experimental Design B & C) students works together on the events.  They may each take half of the test to answer, then switch – or they may do it however they like.  If there are any activities that are done during the event, the members of the same team work together on them – or one works on the activities and the other works on the written questions.

If the event description says “A team of up to 2,” that means that two students may do the event together or that one student may do it alone as the representative of her/his team.

The 2012 Rules Manuals trump all other sources except for any National or Regional clarifications.  There may be CDs from other sources that describe other things.  They do not matter.

Rocks & Minerals B & C – See our website www.sandiegoso.org , go to B or C events, click on Rocks & Minerals.  The list there for the 2012 Regional Competition is the one you need to know.  If you are in Division B, do not confuse yourself with the list for Division C.  Please!

Added 11/14/11 from Regional Director:

For the 2012 San Diego Regional Competitions,
observers will be allowed to watch the following events:
Bottle Rocket B
Gravity Vehicle C
Helicopters C
Mission Possible B
Mousetrap Vehicle B
Robot Arm C
Towers B & C
Observers may not approach or speak to participants while they are competing. 
No coaching is allowed.  Any observer who interferes or becomes loud will be asked to leave.

For all construction events:  You may photograph or record only devices from your child’s school.  You may photograph or record only your own child or, with advance written permission given to the head coach, children from your child’s school.
These restrictions also apply to students photographing and recording other students or devices.

For all other events that are NOT listed above:  No observers are allowed.  Photographs or recordings of the events are not allowed.  Only participants are allowed to enter the testing rooms.  Non-participants who enter testing rooms risk having their children disqualified from the events.

Added 11/14/11 Event information on Chemistry Lab C, Fermi Questions C, Forestry B and Forestry C, Rock & Mineral C Workshop Handout clarification

Added 11/12/11 Event information from the Workshop on Anatomy & Physiology C, Protein Modeling C, Rocks & Minerals B and Rocks & Minerals C

Added 11/11/11 Change to Workshop Schedule and Map: there will be NO Bottle Rocket B workshop
Mission Possible B questions & answers

Added 11/11/11 Muscatel Middle School in Rosemead, CA is sponsoring an invitational tournament. San Diego County schools are invited. If you are interested, here is the invitational letter and registration form.

Added 11/10/11 Anatomy & Physiology C GFR calculation formulas

Added 11/08/11 Information on the following events: Keep the Heat B, Thermodynamics C, Anatomy & Physiology C, Robot Arm C, Forestry B and Forestry C

Added 11/07/11 Event Workshop Map & Schedule, Saturday November 12, 2:30-4:00 p.m.
Forestry B & Forestry C clarifications on field guides & notes on tree list

Added 11/06/11 2012 San Diego County Regional Science Olympiad Competition Tree List Division B & Division C
Protein Modeling C Workshops Information

Posted 10/31/11 Towers B and Towers C, National & Regional Rules Clarification
Food Science B Study Suggestions from the Event Captain

Posted 10/27/11 Protein Modeling Workshop C At UCSD on Saturday December 10th 2-4 p.m. and Saturday January 7th, 2-4 p.m.
Bottle Rocket B clarification and information

Posted 10/20/11 2012 Division B Event Schedule update, Keep the Heat B does NOT have a walk in time for device testing.
2012 Division C Event Schedule update, Thermodynamics C does NOT have a walk in time for device testing.

Posted 10/19/11 Optics B & Optics C clarification

Posted 10/13/11 2012 Division B Event Schedule update, NO Impound for Mousetrap Vehicle
Optics Division C update: at Regionals there will be 3 barriers for Division C

Posted 10/09/11 Anatomy & Physiology Division C study suggestions from the Regional Event Captain.

Posted 10/08/11 Protein Modeling Division C added to the Division C events, Division C Event Schedule and Division C Schedule with Time Blocks.

Posted 10/07/11 Compute This Division B the PC computers we will use in this event will run: Windows XP, IE8 & Microsoft Office 2007

Posted 10/06/11 2012 Event Schedule with Time Blocks Division C (includes Protein Modeling)
2012 Event Schedule with NO Rooms Division C (includes Protein Modeling)
Please be aware this is NOT the FINAL Schedule and there are NO room numbers.

Posted 09/29/11 2012 Event Schedule with NO Rooms B
2012 Event Schedule with NO Rooms C
Please be aware this is NOT the FINAL Schedule and there are NO room numbers.

Posted 09/22/11 2012 Division B Event Resources from scioloy.org (Science Olympiad Student Center), Wiki, Forums, Test Exchange and Photos.
2012 Division C Event Resources from scioloy.org (Science Olympiad Student Center), Wiki, Forums, Test Exchange and Photos.

Posted 09/21/11 2012 Division B Event Resources including National SO web pages.
2012 Division C Event Resources including National SO web pages.

Posted 08/31/11 2012 Event Schedule with Time Block Division B & C
Please be aware that these are tentative schedules.  We do not yet have the event manuals to confirm the events.  These are being posted because some coaches want to start getting organized very early.  THESE SCHEDULES COULD CHANGE.

Posted 08/31/11 2012 Team Registration Forms Division B & C

Posted 08/31/11 2011-12 San Diego Science Olympiad Schedule

Posted 06/23/11 2012 Possible Events Division B & C

Posted 06/23/11 2011-12 Important Dates & Meetings Division B & C

Posted 02/24/11 2011 Results: 2011 Division C Top 10 Schools

Posted 02/10/11 2011 Results: 2011 Division B Top 10 School Winners

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UPDATES

The latest updates for San Diego Regional Science Olympiad

Important Dates

Sat.Feb 4, 2012
Division B Competition at Rancho Bernardo HS & Bernardo Heights MS
(map)
Division B Event Schedule
Division B Event Map
Division B School Camps

Sat. Feb 18, 2012
Division C Competition
at Del Norte HS
(map)
Division C Event Schedule
Division C Event Map
Division C School Camps

April, 2012
State Competition
Division B & C
State Competition

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