Science Olympiad will bring together more than 400 middle school students at the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh Saturday, Feb. 13 for a regional competition.
Science Olympiad is an interscholastic competition designed to increase student interest and enthusiasm in science and improve the quality of science education. The rigorous academic competitions will be held in the Halsey Science Center, Albee Hall and Kolf Sports Center at UW Oshkosh throughout the day. Members of the campus community and public are invited to observe the events (bridge building, bottle rockets, egg-transport vehicle, elastic launched glider, and much more).
“Guests of the event will be amazed at the scientific knowledge the participants have. STEM Outreach invites the public to attend so that we can all support the hard work of teams and coaches who have been preparing for this competition since September,” said Samara Hamze, director of the STEM Outreach Center at UW Oshkosh.
The Science Olympiad tournaments consist of 20-25 individual and team events which students prepare for during the school year. These challenging, fun events motivate and confront students from all ability levels with both theoretical and practical science problems.
Science Olympiad is a national nonprofit organization dedicated to improving the quality of K-12 science education. UW Oshkosh STEM Outreach has hosted the middle school regional competition of Science Olympiad for more than 20 years.
Victoria Nicholson, a biology student with a healthcare science emphasis at UW Oshkosh, started as a volunteer last year for the Olympiad. Nicholson said the event is great opportunity for young students–one she would have loved when she was younger.
“It’s a lot of fun,” she said. “This is an opportunity all children should get and overall, it’s just a great learning experience for the children.”
Hamze said STEM Outreach at UW Oshkosh has a long tradition of supporting science education, especially in the early and middle grades, when students become passionate about learning how the world around them works.
This year’s competition is especially important because the Science Olympiad National Competition is being hosted by UW-Stout, therefore the UW Oshkosh event is the first step toward competing against other teams throughout the country.
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