MU Hosts PA Central Region Science Olympiad on March 28

Millersville University will host the Pennsylvania Central Region Science Olympiad on March 28, where 14 middle-school teams and 25 high-school teams from Adams, Cumberland, Dauphin, Franklin, Huntingdon, Juniata, Lancaster, Lebanon, Mifflin, Perry, Snyder, Union and York counties will compete. Additional information on the tournament, which is sponsored by Phoenix Contact, is available here.

The public is welcome to watch events that take place in Pucillo Gymnasium from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.: Boomilever, Bungee Drop, Electric Vehicle, Helicopter, Hovercraft, Mission Possible, Robot Tour and Scrambler.

Spectators can expect to see student- built and -tested devices accomplishing a range of tasks, says site director Dr. Daniel Albert, an associate professor of physical chemistry and department chair of chemistry at Millersville University. "For example, in Boomilever, teams compete to see who can build a cantilevered beam/truss structure that supports the largest mass; in Robot Tour teams build and program a Robotic Vehicle to navigate a track as accurately and efficiently as possible; and in Mission Possible students build a Rube Goldberg machine where they receive additional points for specific actions occurring," he says.

Science Olympiad features elementary, middle school and high school students competing as teams of 15. They are challenged by 23 STEM-related events that span biology, earth science, chemistry, physics, engineering and inquiry. Students usually work in pairs building devices for testing at tournaments, studying for core knowledge challenges and preparing for rigorous hands-on lab experiments. This work prepares them for contributing to a team in a future STEM career.

Teams typically practice after school like they would with other competitive activities, according to Albert. "The practice looks different depending on which event students are preparing for. Students competing in an event like anatomy and physiology or meteorology are studying to learn about science topics they typically would not be engaged with in high school. Students competing in a building event like Bungee Drop or Helicopter are spending their time testing their devices and logging data to understand the current performance and see areas of improvement. Many teams also travel to invitational tournaments throughout the winter to prepare."

The top seven highest scoring teams in both Division B (grades 6-9) and Division C (grades 9-12) from the Central Region tournament at Millersville will be invited to compete in the State Tournament on April 25 at Penn State Altoona.