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U. of I. to host state finals of Science Olympiad April 29
James E.
Kloeppel, Physical Sciences Editor
217-244-1073; kloeppel@uiuc.edu
4/13/2006
CHAMPAIGN, Ill.
— The
state finals of the Illinois Science Olympiad will be held April 29
at the University of Illinois. The event, which begins at 8 a.m., is
part of a national competition in which middle and high school students
compete in 23 events involving science concepts and engineering skills.
The public is invited to attend.
“About 1,100 of the top technical students from around the state
are expected to participate in the event,” said Howard Guenther,
associate vice chancellor for research at Illinois. “The day will
be filled with academic competition, spiced with the spirit of an athletic
event,” said Guenther, who is university liaison and site coordinator
for the Olympiad.
Area schools that qualified for the competition are Bloomington High
School; Champaign Central High School; Home Hi Middle School, Urbana;
St. Matthew Catholic School, Champaign; and Urbana Middle School.
The Science Olympiad is devoted to improving the quality of science
education, increasing student interest in science and providing recognition
for outstanding achievement in science education by both students and
teachers.
The competition covers science and engineering disciplines from astronomy
to zoology. Many of the activities will be hands-on, with student teams
launching bottle rockets, flying homemade airplanes and building bridges.
Other events will test the students’ knowledge in areas such as
chemistry, forensics, genetics, health science, meteorology, mineralogy,
physics, qualitative analysis and water quality.
Most of the tournament competition will take place in buildings near
the Quad. A schedule of activities will be available in 161 Noyes Lab,
505 S. Mathews Ave., Urbana.
A science and engineering information fair will be held from 3 to 5
p.m. in Huff Hall, 1206 S. Fourth St., Champaign. Representatives from
many U. of I. science departments and local student organizations will
be available to talk with prospective college students.
Charles F. Zukoski, vice chancellor for research at Illinois, will be
the featured speaker during the awards ceremony, which will begin at
5 p.m. in Huff Hall.
Editor’s note:
To reach Howard Guenther, call 217-333-0030; e-mail: hguenthe@uiuc.edu.
