Local Students Nab Medals, Trophy at Science Olympiad

Students from several local schools competed in the annual Science Olympiad on April 15th at Montana State University in Bozeman. Trophies were awarded to the top three teams overall in each division and the top small school team overall in each division. Medals were awarded to the top three participants (or team of participants) for each event.

The Middle School Team at Conrad Junior High did terrific this year at the Montana,

competing against 31 other schools, and bringing home a medal for the first time in ten years.

The Conrad Jr. High Science Olympiad team. (R to L)
Liberty Kantner, Hayden Kellogg, Sophie Sanders, Annie Baliko, Bethany Heinen. - Photo: Monica Tomayer

Here are their scores:

2nd Place in Write It Do It--Sophie Sanders and Annie Baliko

16th Place in Rocks and Minerals--Liberty Kantner and Hayden Kellogg

20th Place in Crimebusters--Hayden Kellogg and Bethany Heinen

They are coached by Monica Tomayer

The Choteau Middle School and High School teams, coached by Rachael Newmiller, also had a successful day.

Choteau Middle School Science Olympiad Team - left to right - Natalie Hodgskiss, Addi Christensen, Zabrielle Merja, Ruby Herman - Photo by Rachael Newmiller

Choteau Middle School Results:

Addi Christensen and Natalie Hodgskiss - 1st in Crime Busters

Zabrielle Merja - 2nd in Green Generation

Ruby Herman - 7th in Solar System

Addi Christensen, Zabrielle Merja, and Natalie Hodgskiss - 11th in Experimental Design

Addi Christensen and Zabrielle Merja - 15th in Write It Do It

Ruby Herman - 17th in Mission Possible

Choteau High School Science Olympiad Team: L-R) Jackson Quillan, Savannah Stanek, Tori Newmiller, Robby Lesofski, Jacob Major

Choteau High School won the trophy for the best overall team performance:

Savannah Stanek and Tori Newmiller - 2nd in Trajectory

Tori Newmiller - 4th in Codebusters

Tori Newmiller - 8th in Rocks and Minerals

Robby Lesofski - 9th in Wright Stuff

Savannah Stanek and Jackson Quillan - 13th in Write It Do It

Savannah Stanek and Jackson Quillan - 15th in Bridges

Jacob Major - 16th in Disease Detectives

Jacob Major and Robby Lesofski - 18th in Experimental Design

Coach Newmiller provided a description of some of the challenges participants faced:

High School

Codebusters - For this event, Tori completed a written test in which she had to use cryptanalysis techniques for both historical and modern ciphers to encode and decode encrypted messages.

Rocks and Minerals - For this event, Tori had to complete a series of stations in which she was tested on her knowledge of geologic processes and properties of rocks and minerals as well as her ability to identify unknown rocks and minerals.

Wright Stuff - Robby had to design, build, and test a free flight elastic powered monoplane. Students were scored on the amount of time their monoplane stayed in flight and their design and flight log, as well as specific design criteria for their plane.

Write It, Do It - In this event, Savannah had to write a description of an object and a set of instructions for building it. Jackson then had to build the object based on their Savannah's written instructions.

Bridges - For this event, Savannah and Jackson had to design, build and test a wooden bridge within specific parameters with the goal of holding the most weight while still maintaining a small bridge mass. They were also scored on a log of their design and testing.

Disease Detectives - In this event, Jacob completed a test on his knowledge of disease, injury, health, and disabilities within human populations.

Experimental Design - In this event, Robby and Jacob were given a set of supplies and an overall topic and then had to develop a question that could be answered by designing and completing an experiment. Students were scored on their experimental design, data collection, and data assessment.

Middle School

Crimebusters - In this event, Addi and Natalie had to solve a crime when given a scenario, evidence, and a list of possible suspects. In order to solve the crime, they had to be able identify unknown substances and be knowledgeable in areas such as DNA, blood splatter, soil, and fingerprint analysis.

Green Generation - In this event, Zabrielle had to complete a written test of her knowledge of ecology, human impact on ecosystems, and sustainability concepts and practices.

Solar System - In this event, Ruby had to complete a written test of her knowledge of planet formation and structure within both our own solar system and extrasolar systems.

Write It, Do It - In this event, Addi had to write a description of an object and a set of instructions for building it. Zabrielle then had to build the object based on their Addi's written instructions.

Experimental Design - In this event, Addi, Zabrielle, and Natalie were given a set of supplies and an overall topic and then had to develop a question that could be answered by designing and completing an experiment. Students were scored on their experimental design, data collection, and data assessment.

Mission Possible - For this event Ruby built a Rube Goldberg machine that used a marble and a specific starting action to complete an ending action. Students were scored on their design log and the ability of their machine to complete the task, as well as the variety of simple machines contained within the machine and the actions those simple machines carried out.

The top teams in each division are invited to compete in the National Science Olympiad tournament, which will be hosted virtually by the California Institute of Technology in May.

The winners of the team trophies are listed below by division, place and school:

Division C (high school) overall winners:
1st place: Hamilton High School
2nd place: Capital High School, Helena
3rd place: Corvallis High School

Division B (middle school) overall winners
1st place: North Middle School, Great Falls
2nd place (tie): C.R. Anderson Middle School, Helena, and Corvallis Middle School
3rd place: Lewistown Junior High School

Small schools trophies
Division C: Choteau High School
Division B: Emerge School, Bozeman

- by Anne James, Rachael Newmiller, Monica Tomayer -

Categories: North Central Montana News