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Almost 100 area middle schools took over the Garrett-Strong Science Building at Northwest Missouri State University over the weekend.
The students took part in the annual Science Olympiad regional competition.
Six area schools brought up to 15 students each for this year's event.
After 23 individual events that lasted from the morning until mid-afternoon, King City found themselves in a tie with Chillicothe.
"We have had a lot of them end up close," Dr. Gretchen Thornsberry said. "But we have never had a tie."
Thornsberry has coordinated the regional event at Northwest for nine years, from which the top three teams advance to the state competition. The three from this year are, in order of place, King City, Chillicothe and Stanberry.
Thornsberry said that the competition is important to both the students and the university.
"We have a lot of former science olympians that end up coming to Northwest," she said. "They get a great experience here, and we benefit because it is a great recruiting tool."
But the event is about the kids, who spent weeks or more planning for their events.
The schedule included experiments in water quality and food science, as well as bottle rocket launches and "storm the castle," an event for which students built and operated a small catapult.
The objective was to land the projectile in a bin set to a certain distance. The students had to not only build the structure, but calculate and predict its range.
"I think it's so fun to see kids excited about science," Thornsberry said. "They give up a Saturday to come here for this, which says a lot."
After all of the events were completed, the competitors met in the East Room of the Station on campus for the awards ceremony.
Cheers and applause filled the room of middle-schoolers as winners for each event were announced.
The room erupted when King City was announced as the winner after the tie-breaker with Chillicothe. King City's coach Randi McMillen, who teaches junior high science and high school physics, said that the event reinforces what the students learn in class.
"They are busy with so many other things," McMillen said. "This competition is an extension of the classroom. Sometimes teachers are limited in class, this takes the education further."
The competition included 22 judges along with 30 volunteers, a mix of students and faculty.
Science Olympiad started in 1982 in Delaware and has spread throughout the country.
Currently, there are 16,000 schools participating, ranging from the elementary to the secondary level.
Almost 100 area middle schools took over the Garrett-Strong Science Building at Northwest Missouri State University over the weekend.
The students took part in the annual Science Olympiad regional competition.
Six area schools brought up to 15 students each for this year's event.
After 23 individual events that lasted from the morning until mid-afternoon, King City found themselves in a tie with Chillicothe.
"We have had a lot of them end up close," Dr. Gretchen Thornsberry said. "But we have never had a tie."
Thornsberry has coordinated the regional event at Northwest for nine years, from which the top three teams advance to the state competition. The three from this year are, in order of place, King City, Chillicothe and Stanberry.
Thornsberry said that the competition is important to both the students and the university.
"We have a lot of former science olympians that end up coming to Northwest," she said. "They get a great experience here, and we benefit because it is a great recruiting tool."
But the event is about the kids, who spent weeks or more planning for their events.
The schedule included experiments in water quality and food science, as well as bottle rocket launches and "storm the castle," an event for which students built and operated a small catapult.
The objective was to land the projectile in a bin set to a certain distance. The students had to not only build the structure, but calculate and predict its range.
"I think it's so fun to see kids excited about science," Thornsberry said. "They give up a Saturday to come here for this, which says a lot."
After all of the events were completed, the competitors met in the East Room of the Station on campus for the awards ceremony.
Cheers and applause filled the room of middle-schoolers as winners for each event were announced.
The room erupted when King City was announced as the winner after the tie-breaker with Chillicothe. King City's coach Randi McMillen, who teaches junior high science and high school physics, said that the event reinforces what the students learn in class.
"They are busy with so many other things," McMillen said. "This competition is an extension of the classroom. Sometimes teachers are limited in class, this takes the education further."
The competition included 22 judges along with 30 volunteers, a mix of students and faculty.
Science Olympiad started in 1982 in Delaware and has spread throughout the country.
Currently, there are 16,000 schools participating, ranging from the elementary to the secondary level.
