Scientists of tomorrow to participate
in National Science Olympiad May 17-18

The scientists of tomorrow will converge at the University of Delaware for the 2002 National Tournament of the Science Olympiad, May 17-18.

Cosponsored by the National Science Olympiad, the University and the DuPont Co., the event brings together the best middle and high school aged scientists from across the nation for two days of scientific competition of the most innovative kind.

Some 1,800 high school and middle school students from across the nation will travel to the UD campus.

The Science Olympiad is a national organization dedicated to improving science education by fostering a passion among students, creating links between private enterprise and schools, improving curriculum and providing recognition for scientific achievement.

National tournaments are designed to create excitement, promote problem solving, develop cooperative learning strategies and, in the long term, to attract talented students to careers in science, technology and science education.

Some of the unique competitions include:

• "Battery Buggy," in which teams must construct a battery-powered vehicle to traverse a specified course;
  
  
• "Cow-A-Bungee," in which a mass attached to an elastic cord is dropped and must come as close as possible to, but without touching, a landing zone;
  
  
• "Feathered Frenzy," in which students demonstrate knowledge of how birds interact within their populations and with the environment;
  
  
• "Mission Possible," which involves construction of a Rube Goldberg-like device to accomplish a specific task;
  
  
• "Science Crime Busters," in which students must correctly identify liquid and solid materials in a crime scenario; and
  
  
• "The Wright Stuff," in which participants must construct and fly an airplane driven by rubber bands.

Events represent a wide range of areas of scientific inquiry, including biology, chemistry, earth sciences, problem solving, physics and technology.

Both the opening ceremony and the closing awards presentations, to be held in the Bob Carpenter Center, will be broadcast live on the web at [www.udel.edu/science olympiad].

Dr. Benjamin S. Carson, who went from an angry street fighter in Detroit to become director of pediatric neurosurgery at Johns Hopkins Hospital, will address attendees at opening ceremonies on Friday night, following a parade of states by all participants. Weather forecaster Glen (Hurricane) Schwartz of NBC 10 in Philadelphia will serve as host.

Science Olympiad competitive events represent a wide range of areas of scientific inquiry, including biology, chemistry, Earth sciences, problem solving, physics and technology.

On Saturday, the competitions, which are based on the national and state science education standards, will be held throughout the day at various locations around campus.

For information, see the tournament web site at [www.udel.edu/scienceolympiad].