Current Announcement

The most recent all-team announcement is displayed below! To view this season’s announcement archive, navigate to the second document tab.

Current Announcement

11/30/25 | Competition Interest Form and Runoffs

Hi, everyone!

Hope you had a good Thanksgiving break! We will not have an all-team meeting this week because it’s a Blue week, but we wanted to update you on a few things:

First, the competition interest form is here! If you are interested in competing, you must fill this form out by Saturday, December 13th at 11:59 PM or you will not be considered for any competitions. This form will help us figure out your availability and event/competition interest. Before you submit, please make sure to triple check that all information is updated and accurate, especially your availability. It is extremely difficult and frustrating to captains and competitors to change the roster after we make it, so please provide correct information!

The Runoff 1 makeup session form is due tonight at 11:59. If you do not fill it out before then, you will not be able to attend one of these sessions. We are only printing the number of runoffs that are selected on the form, so you can only take runoffs for events that you select on the form. Dr. Ng will add you to the WIN blocks in room 3211 that you select on the form.

Next week is the second runoff week (12/7)! Study and inquiry Event Coordinators will be talking about that in your meetings this week. Like last time, you will help make a runoff for your event coordinators. Please make sure to follow your Event Coordinators’ instructions for this so that we have informative runoff results for them as well. It is crucial that every member does their part in helping create Event Coordinator runoffs.

Finally, due to the early release this Thursday, December 4th, Thursday event group meetings will be modified. Machines, Boomilever, and Helicopter will be meeting in-person directly after school in the 3200s. Remote Sensing and Codebusters will be meeting online at 4 PM, as usual. Please check event group chats for more information from ECs.

Message or email one of the captains if you have any questions! Have a good week!

Best,

Eli, Brendan, Ira, and Dr. Ng

Newton South Science Team

Orange Lion Blocks in 9171

Team Website | Feedback Form | Event Group Schedules

Announcement Archive

Announcement Archive

11/25/25 | 11/25 Meeting Recap

Hi, everyone!

These are the slides from today’s meeting. If you were unable to make it, please read through the slides and reach out with any questions!

Important Reminders:

  • Mock Competition (for build events, Machines, and Water Quality) will take place the week of 12/14 in place of event meetings. Please read the rules manual and know how your event is run at competitions. Members’ skill will not be tested, only how well the build works. Please reach out to your Event Coordinators if you have any questions.
  • Panera fundraiser is taking place on Saturday, 12/20 at 6pm (120 Highland Ave., Needham). We encourage everyone to show up to connect with other members and support the team!

Important Links:

  1. Runoff #1 makeup Google Form is due 11/30 if you need to make up Runoff 1 for any event.
  2. Feedback Form is used to share your thoughts on anything. We want your feedback, positive or negative. The link is included on every email’s signature, and the form is completely anonymous and confidential.

We hope to see you at our next all team meeting (12/7)! Have a great Thanksgiving!

Best,

Eli, Brendan, Ira, and Dr. Ng

Newton South Science Team

Orange Lion Blocks in 9171

Team Website | Feedback Form | Event Group Schedules

11/19/25 | Re: 11/17 Updates

Hi, everybody!

We wanted to follow up on our email from Monday and clarify a few points about joining new events:

You may join events now, but if you were not in at least three events before Runoff 1/week 4 of event group meetings, we cannot guarantee you a competition spot. This is because we have more than 50 members that have been attending 3 events since we communicated that expectation at the beginning of the season, and spots are limited. If you choose to join a new event, it is your responsibility to catch up on your own, as Event Coordinators need to focus on keeping events on track to be ready for competitions.

If you join an event and are interested in possibly competing, you must make up the first runoff. Please do not ask Event Coordinators to take the first runoff now. Instead, we will have two Runoff 1 makeup sessions for members who have joined new events on Wednesday, December 3rd and Friday, December 5th in Dr. Ng’s WIN blocks (room 3211). You must fill out this form by Sunday, November 30th at 11:59 PM in order to attend one of these makeup WINs. You are responsible for studying for these on your own.

We appreciate your understanding. Please direct any questions to the captains (via Google Chat, Discord, email, or in-person). We are happy to talk more about this 1:1. Thank you all for your dedication to Science Team!

Best,

Brendan, Ira, Eli, and Dr. Ng

Newton South Science Team

Orange Lion Blocks in 9171

Team Website | Feedback Form | Event Group Schedules

11/17/25 | 11/17 Updates

Hi, everyone!

We hope things are going well with your events! Congratulations on completing the first week of runoffs. We’re writing with a few updates:

First, we want to remind everyone interested in competing that you must take the runoffs for all three (or four) of your events (for those that are study/inquiry) in addition to consistently attending three event group meetings in order to be placed on a competition roster. You should be studying for your runoffs, but runoff scores will not affect whether or not you compete, only whether you are placed on the JV or Varsity team.

Additionally, because of family-teacher conferences this Thursday, Machines, Remote Sensing, and Codebusters will meet online this week from 4:30 to 5:30. Event Coordinators will be sharing more details over Google Chat. Boomilever will meet in the cafeteria and Helicopter will not meet.

Our team member and Event Coordinator Jaewoo is organizing a USABO study group! USABO (USA Biology Olympiad, unrelated to Science Olympiad) is a national biology competition where participants individually take tests. Fill out this form if you're interested in joining! 

Finally, if you have feedback about Science Team that you’d like to share with the captains, please fill out this form, which will remain open throughout the season! Feedback could pertain to the team as a whole, an event group, or a specific situation. All feedback is greatly appreciated and helps us improve the team and members' experiences. Note that the form can be submitted anonymously, and we will not disclose your identity when sharing/implementing feedback.

We’re excited to see everyone at our next all-team meeting in room 9171 next Tuesday, November 25 during Lion Block!

Sincerely,

Eli, Brendan, Ira, and Dr. Ng

Newton South Science Team

Orange Lion Blocks in 9171

Team Website | Feedback Form | Event Group Schedules

11/03/25 | Runoffs and Team Clusters

Hi, everyone!

We hope you have enjoyed the first two weeks of Science Team! There is no all-team meeting this week because it's a Blue week. However, our next all-team meeting won't be until Tuesday, November 25(!) because there is no school next Tuesday.

We want to mention a few important details involving runoffs and the new team clusters.

First, here’s how runoffs work:

  • Runoffs are short tests that help us see where everyone currently stands in their events. Runoffs do not apply for build events.
  • Runoffs are required for members that are interested in competing and optional for members that aren’t interested in competing.
  • Your event coordinators will make a test for you. You will also help make tests for your event coordinators. Your event coordinators will give you more details about this in your meetings this week.
  • Tests will be similar to Scioly competition tests, but they will only include content that you have covered over the past 2 weeks.
  • Runoff results will be used, among other factors (most importantly commitment), to determine roster placement for competitions this season.
  • Runoffs will be held during study group meetings during two weeks, and the first will be next week, 11/10-11/16.
  • If you cannot attend a runoff, please let your event coordinators know in advance. You will need to find a time to make it up if you would like to compete.

We are also introducing team clusters! Team clusters are small group chats (chosen by us) designed to give everyone a safe and comfortable space to ask questions, share ideas, and connect with teammates. We will not be active in any of the team clusters, so please use these group chats to build community and support one another! Each cluster includes a mix of returning and new members, so the people in your group chat are a great resource for questions. Active members should be added to a “Team Cluster” group chat in Google Chat, but if you have not been added to one and would like to be, please let one of the captains know. Check your group chat for more information!

Finally, the date for the Builds Mock Competition has been decided! This will take place the week of December 14th. Build events must have at least 1 working build for the competition. All members must be familiar with how the competition is run. The goal with the Mock Competition is to set a deadline so that all build events are in a good place to compete well before our first invitational in January.

If you have any questions, know that we're here for you! Have a great week, and keep up the awesome work!

Best,

Eli, Ira, Brendan, and Dr. Ng

Newton South Science Team

Orange Lion Blocks in 9171

Team Website | Event Group Schedules | Event Materials


10/17/25 | Event Groups

Hi, everyone!

We’re super excited for the first event groups to begin meeting on Monday!
Here are the directions on how to join your event group chats. 

If you’re still unsure about which event groups you want to join or you need a refresher on what event groups are, look through Tuesday’s slideshow (slides 17-46 have the event overviews) and the rules manual. Additionally, here is the link to the event group schedule spreadsheet, which has a tab with each event’s timeline.

All event groups will begin meeting next week, 10/20-10/25! You can definitely join event groups without wanting to compete, but if you do want to compete, you must consistently attend the meetings for 3 event groups.

Finally, if you are interested in joining any build event groups, please make sure to attend builds orientation on Monday, October 20 at 4:00 PM in room 3211.

We’ll see everyone next week at event meetings! We will not have an all-team meeting next Tuesday because next week is a Blue Lion Block week. As always, please reach out with any questions!

Sincerely,

Eli, Ira, Brendan, and Dr. Ng

Newton South Science Team

Orange Lion Blocks in 9171

Team Website | Event Group Schedules | Event Materials


10/15/25 | Science Team: 10/14 Meeting Recap

Welcome (back) to Science Team!

Here are yesterday’s meeting slides, which cover

  1. Our team’s structure
  2. The season’s competitions, activities, and timeline
  3. Our team’s resources
  4. This year’s events

We’re thrilled that you want to join our team! Please fill out the 5-minute Member Info Survey by this Thursday, October 16 to get the season rolling smoothly and help us stay in touch with you. Here are the key action items and things to know for this week:

  1. Complete the Member Info Survey. Triple-check your email address and your parent/guardian email addresses!
  2. Come to the new member meeting on Friday during WIN 3 (Room 3211) if you’re new to the team! Reply to this email to have Dr. Ng add you to his WIN3. Come with questions!
  3. Sign up for Science Team on Arbiter
  4. Join our Discord server to stay up to date and chat with other members
  5. Look through the Science Olympiad rulebook (bookmark this page!) and make a list of the events that look interesting to you.
  6. Event groups will start meeting next week (10/20-10/25). Look for an email this Friday with more info!

Don’t hesitate to reach out to Dr. Ng or any of the captains with questions.

Best,

Brendan, Eli, Ira and Dr. Ng

Newton South Science Team

Orange Lion Blocks in 9171

Team Website | Event Group Schedules | Event Materials


10/01/25 | First Science Team Meeting!

Hello, everyone!

Science Team’s first all-team meeting is this Tuesday, October 14th during Lion block in room 9171! This is a very important meeting that includes an overview of our team’s structure and activities, as well as a presentation on each event. There are changes from last year, so plan to be there!

If you absolutely can’t make it, we will send a follow-up email after the meeting so that you won’t fall behind. Our captains and ECs have been hard at work preparing to hit the ground running so that event groups can start meeting the week of Oct 20.

We're super excited for the new season!

Best,

Brendan, Eli, Ira and Dr. Ng

Newton South Science Team

Orange Lion Blocks in 9171

Team Website | Event Group Schedules | Event Materials