Chinook Teams Compete in Montana's Science Olympiad in Bozeman

 

December 4, 2019

Attending STEM Fun Night at Museum of the Rockies on the evening before the competition, Liam Edwards, Grace Ymzon, and Allyssa Schoen study the dinosaur fossils on display.

The 35th Montana Science Olympiad was held on Tuesday, November 26 in the Strand Union Building and other locations across Montana State University-Bozeman's campus. Several students formed teams to represent Chinook School District at what is billed as Montana's premier STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) competition for youth.

Chinook's varsity Science Olympiad team placed 25th out of 48 teams. Members on that team were JT Hauer, Ginger Hauer, Jayden Miller, Grace Ymzon, Allyssa Schoen, Liam Edwards, Kinley Hamilton, Anna Morrow, Wyatt Dunbar, Drake Berreth, Morgan Friede, Belle Elliot, Chris Jungers, Ben LaVelle, and Aspyn Colby.

Many students also competed in smaller units. Among those, sophomores Liam Edwards and Kinley Hamilton placed 16th in a Sounds of Music contest, and freshmen Chris Jungers and Ben LaVelle placed 18th in Gravity Vehicle.

Every year, at the Montana Science Olympiad (MTSO), middle and high school teams from around Montana compete against other schools in rigorous, standards-based challenges across a range of STEM topics. Teams compete in one of two Science Olympiad Divisions: Division B (Grades 6-9) or Division C (Grades 9-12).

As an example of this rigor, Division B competitors in Food Science were asked to answer questions on food chemistry with a focus on fermentation and pickling. In addition, participants were required to build a salinometer/hydrometer capable of measuring salt compositions between 1-10% (mass/volume).

A Division B team is allowed up to fifteen members with a maximum of five 9th grade students. From Chinook Junior High, Kaden Green, Isaiah Gillette, and Listat Pope competed in Division B, along with five freshmen who were coached by Kendall Harwood.

On a Division C team, up to fifteen members are also permitted, but that number is limited to a maximum of seven 12th grade students. Besides those already named, other Chinook High School (CHS) students who traveled to compete at the MTSO were freshmen: Chantry Jorgenson, Lane Hasler, Tyler Schoen, Brenden Fetter, Levi Jensen, Lexi Pitkanen, Anna Terry, Lilly Munari, Lane Snider, and Flint Annis. The high school varsity and junior varsity teams were coached by science teacher Jerilyn Wood.

According to Wood, Montana students were able to choose from among fourteen events for middle school teams and fourteen for high school teams. CHS students selected to compete in such categories as Anatomy and Physiology, Chemistry Lab, Fossils, Geologic Mapping, Wright Stuff, Gravity Vehicle, Sounds of Music, Water Quality, Experimental Design, Boomilever, and Write It Do It.

"In the high school, we didn't meet for practices because everyone is so busy! I gave the students their event details/parameters and then tried to help them out however and whenever they needed it. A lot of students came in during study halls to get things done, especially if they had something to build," Wood stated.

After months of preparation, students boarded a bus on Monday, November 25, bound for Bozeman. Monday night, the group toured the Museum of the Rockies for STEM Fun Night.

On Tuesday morning, after checking in and attending an Opening Ceremony-where students were welcomed by Jason Carter, MSU Vice President for Research, Economic Development and Graduate Education-teams dispersed to their competition sites to participate in their various STEM related challenges with the opportunity to win prizes and a trip to the national competition. Most competitions concluded at 12:30 p.m.

Following a lunch break, students were invited to tour labs and studios across campus and spend time learning from faculty and staff. An Awards Ceremony took place from 2:30-4:00 where medals, trophies, and door prizes were awarded.

To compete in the Gravity Vehicle category, Chris Jungers and Ben LaVelle designed, built, and tested a vehicle and a ramp that uses the vehicle's gravitational potential energy as its sole means of propulsion to reach a target as quickly and accurately as possible. With their design, the pair of freshmen captured eighteenth place.

Finishing two places ahead of Jungers and LaVelle, Liam Edwards and Kinley Hamilton made a noteworthy showing in Sounds of Music. Using PVC pipe, the duo constructed a xylophone prior to the tournament. They tuned their instrument based on a two-octave, 12-tone equal tempered scale and played "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star" for the judges. They were also required to complete a written test on music concepts and the physics of sound.

Two Chinook competitors from Division C who competed in Boomilever were Ginger Hauer and Jayden Miller. In this category, teams designed and built a boomilever, meeting requirements specified in the rules to achieve the highest structural efficiency. A boomilever is a wooden structure that is attached to a wall from a single point or area that holds weight.

Another Division C pair, Allyssa Schoen and Grace Ymzon competed in Astrology, a category which called on them to demonstrate an understanding of star and galaxy formation and evolution.

From Division B, Tyler Schoen and Lane Hasler not only competed in the Boomilever category but also in Experimental Design, which required them on-site to design, conduct, and report the findings of an experiment. Unfortunately, Chinook didn't have any high scorers in any of these categories.

"The Science Olympiad rewards teams that collaborate, practice and prepare," said Suzi Taylor, Director of the MSU Science Math Resource Center, which hosts the event. "These are young people who have self-selected to do really rigorous science and engineering work, and they're practicing and competing like a sports team. Because so many challenges require diverse skill sets, students with all talents - from building to writing to analyzing maps - can compete and excel. This is also a chance for the student participants to get a glimpse of college life as they tour the MSU campus and interact with students, staff, and faculty."

Attended by 120 teams coming from 97 schools, the November 26 event required more than 200 volunteers and relies on sponsorship from industry partners like Montana Science Center, Museum of the Rockies, and MSU-Bozeman. This academic interscholastic competition promotes preparation, commitment, and science literacy through its individual and team events.

Winners at the MTSO, Corvallis Middle School came out on top of Division C for students in grades six to nine. Absarokee Middle School was named the top small school in Division C.

In Division B, with students in grades nine through 12, Hamilton High School won top honors, repeating their performance from 2018 when they also swept the MTSO competition. The division's small school winner was North Toole County High School in Sunburst, Montana, a school with a total enrollment of 42 students.

These top middle school and high school teams will go on to compete at the national Science Olympiad held at North Carolina State University on May 15-16, 2020, in Raleigh, North Carolina.

Ginger Hauer and Jayden Miller test the structural efficiency of their boomilever.

The Science Olympiad National Tournament is the culmination of more than 320 regional and state tournaments conducted each academic year. Upwards of 7,800 teams in 50 states compete head-to-head for a chance to compete against some of the brightest and most creative students in the United States at the National Tournament.

Each May, these state winners are put to the test, launching Elastic Gliders or Ping Pong Parachutes, building Mousetrap Vehicles (using one mousetrap as its sole means of propulsion a team designed vehicle is required to reach a target as quickly and accurately as possible), or matching wits as Disease Detectives, Code Busters, or Geologic Cartographers. This blend of engineering, knowledge, problem solving, technological and process skills makes Science Olympiad unique in the world of science competitions.

 
 

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