Iowa Academic Pentathlon
for Grades 6, 7, & 8
Technology and Humanity
Questions about Pentathlon?
Contact Stephenie Ovrom at pentathlon@iowaacdec.org
Academic Pentathlon’s curriculum is an interdisciplinary curriculum in which a selected theme is integrated across five different subject areas: fine arts, literature, mathematics, science, and social science.
The Academic Pentathlon theme parallels that of the high school Academic Decathlon program.
The theme for the 2023-2024 is Technology and Humanity. The themes are developed by our curriculum team with special attention to national content standards.
The materials will be available for downloading in PDF format on August 1st each year. The site license fee allows you to download as many copies as needed. Novels may be purchased via online vendors such as Amazon or via your regular school vendors. The 2023-2024 novel will be Cinder by Marissa Meyer, ISBN-10: 1250768888.
All test questions will be derived from the USAP curriculum.
A blind-prompt Essay is part of the literature score. It will demonstrate not just what students have learned but how powerfully they can present an idea. The essay is written online about three weeks prior to a competition.
Following the state meet, trophies will be awarded to the top teams, plus medals to individual event winners.
All state competition champions will be invited to the U.S. Academic Pentathlon® National Competition. Students are welcome to attend the face-to-face national event or compete online.
Competition Information Links
Important Dates
Registration Documents Due – December 8, 2023
Scrimmage – Subject Area Exams Only - January 11, 2024
Essay for Regional Competition - January 25, 2024
Regional Competition - February 15, 2024
Essay for State Competition - March 7, 2024
State Competition - March 28, 2024
National Competition Registration Due – April 11, 2024
Essay for National Competition - April 18, 2024
National Competition Phoenix, AZ - May 16-18, 2024
Questions about Pentathlon? Contact Stephenie at pentathlon@iowaacdec.org