Although a Science Olympiad Team may consist of more than 15 students, only 15 may actually participate in the competition (except for trial events). Generally two of the 15 students work together on a particular event. For example Melissa and Jacob might do Bridge Building together while later in the day Melissa and Christopher participant in Write It Do It. Occasionally there are events which allow three participants or just one. You can always have fewer participants than the number allowed. Likewise you do not need to compete in all 23 events.

There are also limits on the number of 9th and 12th graders that can compete. At most five 9th graders can compete on a Division B team and seven 12th graders on a Division C team.

During the fall, students work on particular events. If more than fifteen students want to participate on the team, a mini tournament can be held at the school to determine which students will be on the team and who will be alternates. Remember that choosing a student that is good in many areas of science is often gives you more flexibility than choosing someone that is excellent in only one area.

The time to compete in a particular event can be as short as 10 minutes to the more typical 50 minutes. (The approximate participation time for each event is given in the rules.) Depending upon space considerations, a given event may be run in two or more 50 minute blocks. In looking at the included sample state schedule you will notice that three or four events runs simultaneously. It is possible that a given team member is scheduled to be in two places at the same time. If this is the case you should be prepared to make some adjustments. Fortunately, you should know about these conflicts in advance of the tournament. Walk-in events are just that. Students choose the time they want to compete (with in the times given) and go to the event location to compete. Please note that in a walk-in event students must have COMPETED by the time the event ends. If they are in line, they may not be allowed to compete. The rule of thumb here is to not wait until the last minute.

A sample tournament schedule. (You can click on it to have it appear larger. A printer friendly version can be found here.)

Go on to Invitational and Regional Tournaments

This page last updated 03/17/2010

Kansas Science Olympiad Team Preparation

Kansas Science Olympiad
Team Preparation