March 15, 2007
Science students compete in Olympiad at ASU
Augusta, GA – Media has reported that U.S. students' performance in math and science lags well behind their counterparts in many industrialized Asian and European nations.
One key way to raise awareness of the importance of science is through the Science Olympiad, a national non-profit organization dedicated to improving the quality of K-12 science education which holds regional, state, and national competitions each year. Middle schools students will compete in the statewide Georgia Science Olympiad, hosted this year by Augusta State University on Saturday, March 24.
The competitions are like academic track meets, consisting of a series of 23 individual and team events such as Bottle Rockets, Towers, Balloon Launch, Wheeled Vehicle, and Mission Possible. Each year, events are updated to reflect the ever-changing nature of the latest advances in biology, earth science, chemistry, physics, computers, astronomy, engineering, and technology.
Events will take place from 9 a.m.-2 p.m. in various buildings on ASU’s campus. The awards ceremony, in which the top four teams in each event are awarded medals, will take place at 3:30 p.m. at the Christenberry Field House. ASU faculty, staff, students, and members of the community will supervise events and serve as judges.
There are over 200 schools, both middle and high school, throughout Georgia involved in the Olympiad program. Teams coming to the state competition have qualified by performing well at six regional tournament sites around the state. The top two teams advance to the national competition, held in May at Indiana University. Augusta State will host the 2008 combined state middle and high school Olympiad competition as well as the 2009 national tournament. One hundred and twenty schools from all over the country will be in Augusta for nearly one week.
For more information about the upcoming state tournament at ASU, contact William Wellnitz, Georgia Science Olympiad program director and professor of biology in ASU’s Department of Biology, at 706-731-7993, or visit www.aug.edu/gaso.
January 2007 | February 2007