26-27 Events

Knowledge events:

• Anatomy & Physiology* - Participants will be assessed on their understanding of the anatomy and physiology for the Nervous, Special Senses, and Endocrine Systems of the human body.

• Botany- New for 26-27- Participants will demonstrate their knowledge of plant life and general botany principles.

• Crime Busters*- In this event, teams will be given a scenario, a collection of evidence and possible suspects. Test results along with other evidence will be used to solve a crime and answer questions.

• Disease Detectives* - Students will use investigative skills in the scientific study of disease, injury, health and disability in populations or groups of people.

• Dynamic Planet* - Participants will demonstrate an understanding of topics related to physical and geological oceanography

• Experimental Design* - Given a set of unknown objects, teams will design, conduct, analyze and write-up an experiment.

• Heredity- In this event, teams will answer questions, solve problems, and analyze data pertaining to classic and molecular genetics. 

• Meteorology* - Participants will use scientific process skills involving qualitative and quantitative analyses to demonstrate an understanding of the factors that influence Everyday Weather through the interpretation of meteorological data, graphs, charts, and images.

• Rocks & Minerals- Teams will identify and classify rocks and minerals and demonstrate knowledge of how rocks and minerals help to understand geologic processes, interpretation of Earth’s history, the development of natural resources, and use by society. 

• Remote Sensing- Participants will demonstrate an understanding of the basic principles of remote sensing and use imagery, data, and maps to complete tasks related to Earth systems processes. An understanding of mapping principles is a component of this event. 

• Solar System- In this event, participants will demonstrate their knowledge of planet formation and structure within and beyond the Solar System.

• Thermodynamics- New for 26-27- Teams must construct an insulated device prior to the tournament that is designed to retain heat. Teams must also complete a written test on thermodynamic concepts. 

• Water Quality- In this event, participants will be assessed on their understanding and evaluation of freshwater aquatic environments. 

• Write It/Do It *- A technical writing exercise where students write a description of a contraption and other students will attempt to recreate it using only the written description.

* Events happen every season but their topics within the event change. 

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Engineering/Combo Events: 

• Boomilever - teams will design and build a cantilevered beam or truss structure that extends from a vertical Testing Wall and supports a load at a specified distance from the Testing Wall.

• Circuit Lab- In this event, participants must complete tasks and answer questions about electricity and magnetism. Students will build circuits and test components of electricity

• Code Busters - Teams will cryptanalyze and decode encrypted messages using cryptanalysis techniques for historical and modern advanced ciphers.

• Food Science- New for 26-27- participants will answer questions on food chemistry with a focus on sugars. In addition, participants will build a hydrometer capable of measuring sugar solutions between 1-10% (mass/ volume).

• Glider- New for 26-27- Prior to the tournament teams design, construct, and test elastic launched gliders to achieve the maximum time aloft

• Hovercraft - Prior to the competition, participants will design, construct, and calibrate a self-propelled air-levitated vehicle that moves down a track.

• Rollercoaster- New for 26-27- design and build a roller coaster, using spherical vehicles, to travel the track as close as possible to a target time between 30 and 60 seconds.

• Ping Pong Parachute- New for 26-27-  teams will design, build, and bring up to three bottle rockets to the tournament to launch a ping pong ball attached to a parachute to stay aloft for the greatest amount of time.

• Scrambler- In this event, teams design, build, and test a mechanical device, which uses the energy from a falling mass to transport an egg along a track as quickly as possible and stop as close to the center of a wall without breaking the egg.

 Click here for expanded rules