Michigan Science Olympiad (MSO) 2024-25
New Coaches
Informational Meeting
Please, type your name and school in the chat as you enter! Also, mute your microphone please. Notes or questions on paper might be helpful, we will answer questions at the end.
Welcome and Agenda
1. Welcome and Introductions
2. Brief Description of Science Olympiad, how it works
3. Structure of Science Olympiad (Regions)
4. Different ways you can set up and run a team
5. Resources, fees & costs
6. Questions and Answer
Introductions- Michigan Science Olympiad (MSO)
Board Representatives
Heather Peterson – retired Teacher & Science Olympiad Coach of 32 years from Holt HS
Elaine Qu – University of Michigan Student, UMich Science Olympiad Board, Prior participant,
Paul Voydanoff – MSO President, Teacher and Science Olympiad Coach at L’Anse Creuse HS
What is Science Olympiad?
Middle School, called Division B, is grades 6-8. But if you have 5th or 9th graders with no other team for them, they can be on your team as well with a cap of five 9th graders out of the 15 on your team).
High School, called Division C, is grades 9-12 with a limit of up to 7 seniors on your team.
Founded in 1984, Science Olympiad is the premier STEM competition in the Nation!
Teams are made up of up to 15 students from a school. Each team of UP to 15 members works on as many of the 23 main events as you like but you have to cap your team to only 15 for these 23 events.
*You may have additional teams of up to 15 members but you register and pay fees for those as well. Only ONE team per school can achieve points at regionals to help your team advance to states but many regionals allow an alternate team at the regional competition.
Division C
Division B
Students and coaches get a rulebook in early September to use as the guide to prepare for up to 23 events in all areas of science. You can do just a few events or all 23 events!
Some events are called more STUDY events with tests and hands on competitions, some are what students call BUILD events where they design, build and practice devices to accomplish a goal. Some are LAB events which include data analysis from a simple experiment. COMBINED( HYBRID) events cover any mix of the previous aspects!
OR
(Depending on event and rulebook details)
School team of 15 students
Students from the same school team assort into teams of 2-3 to compete in events
23 Events Total
Hybrid events may combine any of the above!
Sometimes there are other events called Trial Events, being practiced that year but points don’t go to your team total.
23 Events Total
Combined (hybrid) events may combine any of the above!
Students compete in events and have fun!
Event: Anatomy & Physiology | |
Rank | Team |
1 | Team Superior |
2 | Team Erie |
3… | Team Huron |
Events are scored and teams are ranked per event
Event: Write It Do It | |
Rank | Team |
1 | Team Huron |
2 | Team Superior |
3… | Team Erie |
Overall rankings revealed in an award ceremony at end of invitational.
Team with the lowest total rank wins!
Practice Competitions are called Invitationals and are optional and have an additional fee around $75-100 for each team. Then students compete in Regional competitions, which are included in your registration fees. if they score as a team in the top level there they could advance to the State Tournament.
If this is your first year, just have some fun and do your best! Some schools have more than 1 team, where several can compete at Invitationals but only 1 team of up to 15 can compete at the regional competition for official scores to potentially advance to the state competition.
Invitationals
(Open to all teams, generally hosted by schools or colleges. Attend as many or as few as you’d like!)
Regionals
(Determined by geographic location, open to all teams, once a year)
States
(Qualified attendance– for top teams in each region, once a year. Top 2 winning teams compete at Nationals)
What is Science Olympiad (Summarized)!
Founded in 1984, Science Olympiad is the premier STEM competition in the Nation!
Teams are made up of up to 15 students from a school (grades 6-8 for Division B, but if you have 5th or 9th graders with no other team for them, they can be on your team as well with a cap of five 9th graders out of the 15 on your team).
High School, called Division C, is grades 9-12 with a limit of up to 7 seniors on your team. Each team of UP to 15 members works on as many of the 23 main events as you like but you have to cap your team to only 15 for these 23 events. You may have additional teams of up to 15 members but you register and pay fees for those as well. Only ONE team per school can achieve points at regionals to help your team advance to states but many regionals allow an alternate team at the regional competition.
Students and coaches get a rulebook in early September to use as the guide to prepare for up to 23 events in all areas of science. You can do just a few events or all 23 events! Sometimes there are other events called Trial Events, being practiced that year but points don’t go to your team total. Some events are called more STUDY events with tests and hands on competitions, some are what students call BUILD events where they design, build and practice devices to accomplish a goal.
Students can earn ribbons, medals and sometimes trophies for competing but ultimately they learn a lot and HAVE FUN!
Practice Competitions are called Invitationals and are optional and have an additional fee around $75-100 for each team. Then students compete in Regional competitions, which are included in your registration fees. if they score as a team in the top level there they could advance to the State Tournament. If this is your first year, just have some fun and do your best! Some schools have more than 1 team, where several can compete at Invitationals but only 1 team of up to 15 can compete at the regional competition for official scores to potentially advance to the state competition.
Resources for Starting and Running a Team
Regions for Science Olympiad in Michigan – Important to note for registering & competing!
Current Region Breakdown [CLICKABLE LINK: https://miscioly.org/regionals] and Regional Tournament Locations
1: Whole Upper Peninsula (16 counties)- Northern Michigan Hosts
2: Upper Lower Peninsula (18 counties)- Alpena Community College Hosts
3: Mid-Lower Peninsula (Gratiot/Saginaw to Roscommon- 19 counties)- Mid-Michigan Comm. (Mt. Pleasant) Hosts
6: Oakland County only- Detroit Country Day Hosts
7: East Thumb Area- Lapeer, Macomb, Sanilac, St. Clair Counties- Macomb Comm. Hosts
8: Wayne and Monroe Counties- Wayne State University Hosts
9: Jackson, Washtenaw, Lenawee Counties- Univ. of Michigan Hosts
10: South West Corner of Lower Peninsula- (9 counties)- Western Michigan Univ. Hosts
11: Montcalm/Lansing to Livingston Area- (8 Counties)- Regional-East Lansing HS for 2025
12: Muskegon, Ottawa and Kent Counties- Grand Valley Univ Hosts
14: Berrien County only- Lake Michigan College Hosts
Fees and Costs for registrations and events
Required Registration Fees for 2024-25 season-
**Required registration on Michigan website in September will automatically register you for Regional, State and National registrations $260 main team, $125 optional alternate team PLUS Regional fees (varies from $0-$75) depending on the region. You must register/pay for EACH team with the state/national website to be able to participate in any Sci O events, including invitationals
Your own team budget for events will vary and be up to you and your team. Each event can cost from $0 to several hundreds depending on how much you and your students want to invest. Many events take studying with free internet sources and students preparing note sheets and binders to use in competition on their test. Some events like building a tower, airplane or robot may involved wood, glue, electronic parts and will have various costs by ordering things on your own. Remember, you don’t have to enter every event, especially if just starting out.
-You will register and pay for your team using a program called Avogadro. There are instructions on how to register and pay here: https://miscioly.org/registration
**There are many fundraising ideas on the MSO website. Easy way- look for sponsors and put their logo on your team t-shirt and banners!
State/National fees (paid annually by ALL teams)
Additional Regional fees vary each year:
Fees and Costs for registrations continued
**Regional Fees**
Regional fees (This is in addition to the State fee of $260 per main team and $125 per alternate team)
Region 1: $0
Region 2: $0
Region 3: $0
Region 6 Primary team: $100
Region 6 Alternate team: $50
Region 7: $0
Region 8 Primary team: $75
Region 8 Alternate team: $75
Region 9 Primary team: $75
Region 9 Alternate team: $50
Region 10 Primary team: $75; or $0 for a school that didn’t have any team last year
Region 10 Alternate team: $50; or $0 for a school that didn’t have any team last year
Region 11 Primary team: $75
Region 11 Alternate team: $75
Region 12 Primary team: $60
Region 12 Alternate team: $60
Region 14 Primary team: $50
Region 14 Alternate team: No alternate teams accepted at regional tournament
You will pay these fees when you register online and use their website Avogadro, opens soon
Paying by card is preferred since it is immediate.
**If you send a check there is a $25 fee added
Division B-
Middle School
Division C-
High School
Practice tests, determining who does which events
Event Conflicts/
Schedule Building
2024 Michigan Event Conflicts list
(actual schedule released usually by December)
Division B
Division C
Sample Competition Schedule:
2024 Michigan Event Conflicts list
(actual schedule released usually by December)
Follow one number to see conflicts. For example: Experimental Design C, Geologic Mapping C and Microbe Mission C are at the same time
*Regionals can have different schedules but most try to follow the same conflicts
Other great resources (Links are clickable!)
YouTube! Google the event and previous year’s examples and ideas will come up. Always remember to follow the current year rules for specific details!
QUESTIONS?
Contact us later if needed too-
Heather Peterson heather.peterson@miscioly.org
Elaine Qu elaine.qu@miscioly.org
Paul Voydanoff, MSO President: paulv@miscioly.org
**Getting Excited! Region 11 video highlighting a tournament- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=irpku3rZaIw
FUTURE COACHES MEETINGS:
Coming soon!
We will send an email to everyone attending once we have more information.