Written by Kayden Heckaman, DSU Student Intern
The quiet hallways of Murphy Hall were abuzz with the activity of young students. What could cause this shift in atmosphere? For the past 27 years, Dickinson State University (DSU) has hosted the Science Olympiad regional competition, and middle school and high school students have flooded the DSU campus to participate in different science-related events. Hundreds of students from Beach to Bismarck and everywhere in between come to DSU for a day of competition.
Science Olympiad is a non-profit organization dedicated to improving the quality of science education in grades K-12 and increasing the interest students have in science. The organization also provides recognition for outstanding achievements in science education by both students and teachers. They host competitive tournaments and professional development workshops for students and teachers that highlight innovations within STEM professions throughout the United States.
During a typical year, about 35 teams from approximately 20 different schools participate in various events on the University campus. These events require a balance of the knowledge of science concepts, process skills, and science applications. All of the events held during Science Olympiad require students use teamwork, plan in groups, and cooperate with one another. Students are part of large teams which split into pairs to complete each event. Just like students that participate in athletics, the participants spend months, even the entire school year, preparing for Science Olympiad.
As the COVID-19 pandemic has changed how most events are carried out, this year’s Science Olympiad was run differently, too. Normally, there are between 400 and 500 middle school and high school students on the campus for the competition. However, this year, for any “test” portion of the event, students were able to take them at their own schools Wednesday, March 10. A handful of students from each school then came to the University campus in order to participate in the more hand-on events Thursday, March 11.
Students that came to DSU were either in Murphy Hall launching their indoor bottle rockets or in the Student Center Ballroom testing out their homemade bridges and cars, among other items. Each school was on the campus for thirty minutes in staggered time slots in order to finish their events before the next school arrived. This kept social distancing at a maximum in order to help mitigate any potential COVID-19 spread.
Two students that participated in the event “Ping-Pong Parachute” were Lily and Kiera from Dickinson Middle School. These two students went through several iterations of their bottle rocket with help from their families and teachers before they settled on a design of a plastic cup taped to the plastic bottle. For the parachute, they used a circle of plastic that was attached to the ping-pong ball via horsehair. They attached their bottle rocket to an air pump before pressurizing the bottle rocket and launching it. As the rocket descended, the ping-pong ball left its resting place within the cup attached to the plastic bottle and slowly floated to the ground. Both Lily and Kiera, along with their teachers, believe they did quite well in this event and were excited about how their parachute performed.
Along with the middle school and high school students that come to the University campus, DSU students also help with the event by writing the tests in accordance to the rules given by the Science Olympiad organization. DSU students also correct these tests. This whole process helps DSU students by allowing them to learn more about the subject they are writing the test about and to share the knowledge they have with others.
For the participants, Science Olympiad allows them to learn about subjects they might not be exposed to in their classrooms. They are also able to learn more about and explore subjects they may have growing interests in. It may also help them to discover and decide what they could potentially pursue as STEM careers.
“We’re hoping that next year that we can have the students back on campus because when there are 400 to 500 kids on campus, it’s really exciting,” said Dr. Corinne Brevik, co-chair of the Department of Natural Sciences and professor of physics at DSU. “They are excited to be here and there is a lot going on. I think for some of them it’s really good to be around other people who think science is fun.”
To view more photos from Science Olympiad, visit our Flickr page!
