Events for 2024−2025
Concurrent Events
Students cannot compete in multiple events listed in the same group as they will be tested at the same time. Choose from different groups when selecting from conflicting events.
LIFE, PERSONAL & SOCIAL SCIENCE
Anatomy & Physiology
Participants will be assessed on their understanding of the anatomy and physiology for the human Respiratory, Digestive, and Immune systems.
Disease Detectives
Students will use their investigative skills in the scientific study of disease, injury, health, and disability in populations or groups of people.
Ecology
Participants will answer questions involving content knowledge and process skills in the area of ecology and adaptations in featured North American biomes.
Entomology [NEW]
In this event, students will be asked to identify insects and selected immature insects by order and family, answer questions about insects, and use or construct a dichotomous key.
Microbe Mission
Teams will answer questions, solve problems and analyze data pertaining to microbes.
EARTH & SPACE SCIENCE
Dynamic Planet
Teams will use process skills to complete tasks related to Earth’s crust.
Fossils
Teams will identify and classify fossils and demonstrate their knowledge of ancient life.
Meteorology
Participants will use scientific process skills involving qualitative and quantitative analyses to demonstrate an understanding of the factors that contribute, cause and influence Severe Weather and Storms.
Participants will demonstrate an understanding of the formation and early-stage evolution of stars and their observation across the electromagnetic spectrum.
Road Scholar
Teams will answer interpretive questions that may use one or more state highway maps, USGS topographic maps, Internet-generated maps, a road atlas or satellite/aerial images.
PHYSICAL SCIENCE & CHEMISTRY
Physics
Air Trajectory [BUILD]
Prior to the competition, teams will design, construct, and calibrate a single device capable of launching projectiles onto a target and collect data regarding device parameters and performance.
Optics
Teams must participate in an activity involving positioning mirrors to direct a laser beam towards a target and are tested on their knowledge of geometric and physical optics.
Wind Power
Teams construct a blade assembly device prior to the tournament that is designed to capture wind power and complete a written test on the principles of alternative energy.
Chemistry
Potions and Poisons [NEW]
This event is about chemical properties and effects of specified toxic and therapeutic chemical substances, with a focus on household and environmental toxins or poisons.
Crime Busters
Given a scenario, a collection of evidence, and possible suspects, students will perform a series of tests that, along with other evidence, will be used to solve a crime.
TECHNOLOGY & ENGINEERING
Helicopter [BUILD][NEW]
In this event, prior to the tournament, teams will construct, collect data on test flights, analyze and optimize a free flight rubber-powered helicopter to achieve maximum time aloft.
In this event, prior to the competition, participants design, build, test, and document a Rube Goldberg®- like Device that completes required Start and Final Actions through a series of specific actions.
Scrambler [NEW][BUILD]
Teams design, build, and test a mechanical device, which uses the energy from a falling mass to transport an egg along a track as quickly as possible and stop as close to the center of a Terminal Barrier without breaking the egg.
Tower [BUILD]
Teams will design and build a Tower (Structure) meeting requirements specified in these rules to achieve the highest structural efficiency.
INQUIRY & NATURE OF SCIENCE
Codebusters
Teams will cryptanalyze (decode) encrypted messages using cryptanalysis techniques and show skill with advanced ciphers by encrypting or decrypting a message.
Experimental Design
This event will determine a participant's ability on-site to design, conduct and report the findings of an experiment.
Metric Mastery [NEW]
Teams will estimate and then measure properties of identical objects including mass, area, volume, density, force, distance, time, and temperature. Teams will also perform metric unit conversions.
Write it Do It
One student will write a description of an object and how to build it, and then the other student will attempt to construct the object from this description.