science olympiad

paying it forward

Science Olympiad is the nation's largest team-based science competition, where teams of students take tests, conduct labs, and engineer solutions.

as a member of the national A-Team, i (along with other a-teamers) develop educational resources, write exams, and supervise across the nation at all levels of competition for the space science events: astronomy, reach for the stars, and solar system. we are generously supported by NASA's Universe of Learning.

we are always looking for new members. if you're eager to help and interested in joining, please don't hesitate to reach out to me or Donna!

past exams

select astronomy material from the current {★} or past seasons

most exams here have walkthrough guides that go through the more difficult sections in detail and include references to more resources. as a former competitor, i know how daunting astronomy can seem. i hope the guides are helpful!

{★} Boyceville (dec 7) — [exam] [images] [sheet] [key] [walkthrough] [stats]

a challenging regionals-level exam from the boyceville in-person and satellite tournament.

JS9 setup instructions

this exam has a js9 lab which should be set up beforehand, as follows:

  1. open chandra.harvard.edu/js9/ on a web browser;
  2. select the button labeled [The Unofficial Chandra Archive Search Page] and a pop-up should appear;
  3. in the [Chandra Obs ID] box, input "7437" and hit [Search];
  4. scroll down and to the right to see the link under the "Title" column; drag and drop it into the js9 window (which should be showing a blue supernova remnant);
  5. wait for the observation to load in;
  6. (optional) select [Scale > log] to adjust the view.

if you are offline and/or unable to access js9, this printable [js9 handout] can be used instead.

{★} UT (oct 26) — [exam] [images] [sheet] [key] [walkthrough] [stats]

the first exam of the '24-25 season! though it ended up being a challenging states-level exam, it touches on many core concepts in this year's rules.

LA Regionals (mar 2) — [exam] [images] [sheet] [key]

a regionals-level exam from the los angeles regional tournament.

skip questions a25, a32, and b16-23 which refer to objects on the '23-24 list.

Solon (feb 3) — [exam] [images] [sheet] [key] [walkthrough] [stats]

a states-level exam from the solon invitational.

skip section b which refer to objects on the '23-24 list.

see the full catalogue

supervising

todo: i plan to (eventually) write some articles about my workflow as an event supervisor: test writing, grading & scoring, etc. i hope others find it useful!