More than 1,000 future scientists will visit the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs Saturday as part of the Southern Colorado Regional Science Olympiad Tournament.
Students and science teachers who serve as team coaches from 32 junior and 34 senior high schools in the southern half of Colorado will compete for honors in 23 events ranging from the “Wright Stuff” airplane design contest to “Disease Detective” where students identify disease based on a series of clues. The contests will be divided into senior and junior high levels for a total of 46 events in various campus buildings.
“Science Olympiad is a national non-profit organization dedicated to improving the quality of K-12 science education, increasing male, female, and minority student interest in science, creating a technologically-literate workforce and providing recognition for outstanding achievement by both students and teachers,” R. “Dan” Dandapani, associate dean, College of Engineering and Applied Science said. “We are proud to host this event and to welcome these future scientists, and their coaches, to UCCS.”
Medals will be presented to the top three finishers in each event with trophies, plaques and ribbons to the top five teams. The winners will be eligible for a state competition and, potentially, for national competition.
Events will be judged by university faculty and staff as well as volunteers from local industry and government.
For more information about Science Olympiad, visit http://www.soinc.org/.
UCCS, located on Austin Bluffs Parkway in Colorado Springs, is the fastest growing university in Colorado and one of the fastest growing universities in the nation. The university offers 29 bachelor’s degrees, 18 master’s and four doctoral degrees. The campus enrolls about 7,700 students.