General FAQs



1. What is the Science Olympiad (SO)?

23 different competitions aimed to test scientific thinking, knowledge and skills of middle and high school students nationwide. 

2. 
What is ‘Division’?

Science Olympiad separates the middle schools and high schools as Division B and Division C.

3. 
What is an event?

Each competition set forth to students at the Science Olympiad is called an ‘Event’.

4.  
What are the different types of events?

Events are of 3 types - Build or Study or Inquiry. Build events require a working model built to specific dimensions by students; examples of such models are a marble run or a bridge supporting a weight etc. Study events test a student’s knowledge on a specific science topic. Events of inquiry are open ended and can be a challenge like trivia or descriptive writing or building a model ad hoc.

5. 
What are the qualifying tournaments of the National Science Olympiad?

Regional is the first of the two qualifying tournaments in the Science Olympiad. Our regional is the San Diego Regional. Teams qualifying from the Regional, get to compete in the second qualifying tournament at State level. For SO purposes, California is split into 2 State tournaments - North Cal & South Cal. San Diego Regional comes under South Cal.

6. What is an invitational?

Invitationals are autonomous, practice tournaments hosted by school sites. They are constructed exactly like the Regionals and so give a very good idea of how the Regional day will be like. Since invitationals are only for practice, their scores do not count for regional.

7. Can I participate in the SO as an individual?
No, SO and associated tournaments are school level tournaments only. However,  SO events allow students to participate singly, without a partner.

8. Why Science Olympiad?
That's for the reader to figure out. No soul searching necessary but good old online research will bring you to the light!!!! 

9. Where can I find additional details about the Olympiad?
Check out the National Website:  www.soinc.org 
Additionally, there are separate website links for details regarding State and Regional level tournaments. There is also a Student Center page which can give event details, chronologically. These links can be accessed from the Resources tab on https://scilympiad.com/BHMS-SO No login is necessary to access these resources.

9. How do I join the SO at BHMS?
Check out Info-->Registration and follow the directions.

10. What is the SO payment for?
Regionals and Invitationals charge a registration fee to participating teams. This charge is usually per team charges. The donation we request as part of registering for the SO program entitles you to participate in the San Diego Regional and any invitationals associated with the SD Regional. In addition, the amount collected goes towards materials like event CDs, Team T-shirt, tournament day expenses, rewards and other operational costs like printing.

11. When do the SO meetings happen?
SO classes will be held aftershool. 

12. Can Parents be involved? How?
The SO at BHMS is volunteer-run program. Parents can get involved at several levels depending on their availability and interest. Two of the most important ways parents can help is by coaching SO event(s) or by being chaperones in any of the in-person SO classes, with a student coach. To be a coach or chaperone, an adult volunteer must get Level 2 clearance from PUSD for the BHMS site. For details on getting level 2 check out the Level 2 document under Info->Useful Documents.

13. What is the last date to register for the Science Olympiad?
It is never too late to join the Science Olympiad. But realistically, the sooner you sign up, the better it is.