OK, what better way to spend a summer day but with kids and Bottle Rockets. (creative, exciting, and you might get wet!)

I spent this morning at our church’s VBS with 30 youth and adults building bottle rockets based on 500 ml soft drink bottles.  That in itself is worth a posting, but I thought you might want to take a look at an old favorite event making it’s return to Science Olympiad after resting for a few years.  Last week at the Science Olympiad Summer Institute in Phoenix, we saw the draft rules for Bottle Rocket B.  As usual, the design parameters are a little different than the last time Bottle Rockets were in Division B, so last night I built a rocket  using the draft rules so I could test it at today’s launch.

This rocket features a long nosepiece made from a florescent light dust tube capped with a ping pong ball.  The nosepiece is taped to the neck and spout from another bottle that has itself been inverted and taped to the base of the bottle that serves as the pressure chamber for the rocket.  At the Summer Institute I saw an example that featured fins made from paper towel tubes, so I used three, tapering their leading and trailing edges and crushing their diameter so their cross-section was an oval, rather than a circle.  Remember, this is just an example and the constructions rules are still draft and may change between now and the publication of the 2015 rules manual.

But watch this cell phone movie footage and see if this doesn’t “wet” your appetite for Science Olympiad!

The annual training conference for Oklahoma Science Olympiad Coaches and Event Supervisors will take place Saturday, September 20 in Howell Hall on the campus of the University of Central Oklahoma

Coaches and Assistant Coaches of Division B and Division C Oklahoma Science Olympiad teams are encouraged to attend the full day of training.  This will be your earliest opportunity to read and learn the details of this year’s competition events.  Schools that have joined the Oklahoma Science Olympiad by September 20th will receive their official 2015 rules manuals at the door.  Coaches will be able to review all 23 events in each division as well as pick up coaching tips, ask questions, and also learn how to form a science olympiad team and get them ready for competition.

Veteran and new Event Supervisors will also receive orientation to this year’s events as well as information on scoring and evaluating team performance.  We have designed the schedule in such a way as to allow event supervisors the option of only attending a portion of the day, but ALL event supervisors should plan to attend lunch, which features a panel discussion about procedures and responsibilities of supervisors.

The training is FREE, but all participants must pre-register HERE.

Questions?  Contact Bob

OK, July has arrived and with it, the new fiscal year and new budgets!  Time to get your Purchase Order ready to join the Oklahoma Science Olympiad for the 2014-15 tournament season.  It’s going to be an exciting season as evidenced by these pictures from the 2014 Science Olympiad National Summer Institute last week in Phoenix.

An example of a launcher for Air Trajectory, a new B and C event.

Yes, it’s the carriage for a Scrambler vehicle. Notice the wheels on the left. That’s right, they are steerable so the car can travel a curved path to the target!

Another type of launcher design for Air Trajectory (foreground) with an example of a 2015 Bridge in the background.

Coach and Event Supervisor training is Saturday, September 20th in Howell Hall at the University of Central Oklahoma.  Participants will review the rules and specifications for each of the 23 Division B (middle school) or the 23 Division C (high school) events.  In addition, we will have a panel for Event Supervisors and one for Coaches so you can find out all you need to know to get prepared for the upcoming Science Olympiad invitational tournament season.  We’ll have registration forms for the training posted soon on this website and on the Science Olympiad Basecamp as well.

You can also begin the process to join Science Olympiad.  Enrollment forms will be posted later this week, but you can begin the Purchase Order process now.  Purchase Orders should be made to the Putnam City Administrative Activity Fund, 5401 NW 40th, Oklahoma  City, OK  73122  The memo should read “Science Olympiad”.  Only Science Olympiad members can receive rule books, which normally arrive in mid-September.

Membership in the Science Olympiad is $100 per team.  $60 of that fee is for national membership, the remaining $40 stays on Oklahoma and helps fund the Oklahoma Science Olympiad.

This year, schools may enter as many teams as they wish to compete in invitational tournaments as well as the State Tournament.  However, EACH team must have a separate national and state membership.  If, for example, your school has 50 students who want to compete in the tournaments,  you can establish 3 separate teams and bring them to the competitions.  However, each team will have to have a separate paid National and State Science Olympiad membership ($100 X 3 = $300 total). Only teams with fully paid memberships will be allowed to participate in invitational tournaments or the state tournament. This is a requirement of the National Science Oympiad.

Watch this space, much more information will be posted on this website soon.

Questions?  Contact Bob