SCIENCE OLMPIAD AND SHASTRA POSHINI SCHEME A

REVIEW
Saljana Darsana N.S.
Saljanadarsanans1993@gmail.com
SCIENCE OLYMPIAD
Science Olympiad is
an American elementary school, middle
school and high
school team
competition in which students compete in
'events'
pertaining
to
various scientific disciplines,
including
earth
science,
biology, chemistry,
physics, and engineering.
The first recorded Science Olympiad was
held on Saturday, November 23, 1974at
St.
Andrews
Presbyterian
College in Laurinburg, North Carolina. Dr.
Donald Barnes and Dr. David Wetmore
were the originators of this event. Fifteen
schools from North and South Carolina
participated in this event. It was a daylong affair, with competitions and
demonstrations for high school students
in the areas of biology, chemistry, and
physics. There were four event periods
during this day and each event period
had one fun event (like beaker race or
paper airplane), one demonstration (like
glassblowing and holography), and one
serious event (like periodic table quiz or
Science Bowl). An article by David
Wetmore was published in the Journal of
Chemical
Education in
January
1978 documenting the success of

recruiting students through Science

Olympiad. St. Andrews Presbyterian
College continues to host a Science
Olympiad tournament to this day. Mr.
John C. "Jack" Cairns was a teacher
at Dover High School in Delaware when
he learned about the Science Olympiad
tournament in North Carolina. He shared
this information with Dr. Douglas R.
Macbeth, the Delaware State Science
Supervisor. Mr. Cairns was appointed to
a steering committee to organize the first
Science Olympiad in Delaware which
took
place
at Delaware
State
University in the Spring of 1977. A writeup in The Science Teacher of December
1977 caught the attention of Dr. Gerard
Putz, who proposed that the program be
expanded throughout the United States.
After competition tests in Michigan at
the Lawrence
Institute
of
Technology and Oakland
University in
1983 and 1984, Putz and Delaware
director John Cairns took their plan for a
national competition to the National
Science
Teachers
Conference in Boston. The first National
Tournament
was
attended
by
representatives of 17 states, held
at Michigan State University in 1985.

Since then, the program has expanded

greatly, with 60 teams present in each
division at the National Tournament. In
2012, a Global Ambassador Team from
Japan was invited to attend the national
tournament at the University of Central
Florida.

Divisions

division in which the school competes in

may also be on the team. Teams are
restricted to five 9th graders for division
B and seven 12th graders for division C.
Students may not participate on multiple
teams, e.g. a 9th grader on both a high
school and middle school team would not
be allowed.

Events
There are four divisions in the hierarchy
of Science Olympiad:

Division A1 for elementary school

(grades K-3)

Division A2 for elementary school

(grades 3-6)

Division B
(grades 6-9)

Division C for high school (grades

9-12)

for

middle

school

However, the national tournament and

generally state and regional tournaments
are only for divisions B and C. Division A
teams
usually
have
separate
interscholastic tournaments, apart from
the
more
common
intra-school
competitions. Note that 6th and 9th
graders have the option of competing in
either of the two divisions in which they
meet the grade requirements and are
part of the competing school. A middle
school may, however, only use up to 5
members who have graduated to the
next school if they are in 9th grade or
lower. Students in grades lower than the

Students compete in twenty-three main

events, which usually occur on a single
day; done by a team of limited numbers.
Events fall under three main categories:
Science Concepts and Knowledge,
Science Processes and Thinking Skills,
and Science Application and Technology.
They are either knowledge-based (for
example,
written
tests
on earth
science,physics, astronomy, or biology),
hands-on (for example, chemistry lab
practicals),
or
engineering-based
(participants construct a device to do
specified tasks).
Knowledge-based events generally have
two participants either taking a test or
mathematically analyzing data. Examples
of such events are Designer Genes,
Forensics, and Chemistry Lab.
Hands-on events generally consist of two
participants performing experiments or
interacting with physical objects to
achieve a certain goal. Some examples
are Bio-Process lab, Forensics, or
Science Crimebusters.

Engineering-based events have a team

of two to three participants. They are to
construct a device following a specific
event's parameters and test the device
against others. Examples include RoboCross, Bridge/Tower Building, and Storm
The Castle.
The majority of events require two team
members, though a few require more. If
one member is unable to attend an
event, the other is able to continue,
depending
on
the
event,
with
the competition, though at an obvious
disadvantage. If the team has one
available, a back-up team member may
be placed with the member as opposed
to their former partner.
The list and rules for events change and
are updated every year to input
dynamism and to limit the advantages of
more experienced teams.
States have substantial leeway in how
they run their organization; several
states,
notably North
Carolina and Texas run altered slates of
events; in the case of Texas, teams can
choose to replace National events with
state-exclusive events.

National Tournament
The
National
Science
Olympiad
competition is held in late May at a
different university every year. Teams
compete at the state competition with the
top two schools in Division B and

Division C each earning a spot at the

national competition. Some states are
given a second slot, based on the
membership within the division. The total
number of invited teams in each division
is equal to 60 and the national
tournament hosts 120 teams. In 2012, at
the University of Central Florida, a team
from Japan was invited as a Global
Ambassador Team. Although they
competed in several events, their scores
were not tallied against the state teams.
The competition officially begins with
opening ceremonies on Friday night that
usually includes a notable speaker, such
as a Nobel Laureate. A traditional Swap
Meet follows the opening ceremonies
which is an opportunity for teams to meet
and greet. They bring state memorabilia
to trade with other teams. The most
popular items include hats, license
plates, T-shirts, and key chains.
Saturday includes several time blocks.
Each block includes a 60-minute section
for each study event, plus a 15-minute
break time for competitors to get from
one event to another.
That night, a formal Awards Ceremony is
held. It opens with a short speech
followed by awarding medals for the top
six teams in each event. Points for all the
events are added together to determine
an overall national team winner. The trial
events are not included in this tally. The
top ten teams in each division are
recognized with trophies and plaques.

In
some
national
tournaments,
scholarships are awarded to the top
teams in each event. For the 2005 and
2010 competitions, held at the University
of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, firstplace event winners received full fouryear tuition waivers to the university. At
the
2006
National
Tournament,
host Indiana University awarded $7,000
annual scholarships to those who
finished first place in Division C and who
attend the university in their freshman
year. The
George
Washington
University offered
Division
C
gold
medalists
at
its
2008
National
Tournament a $20,000 stipend for those
who were accepted and attended GWU.
In 2012, the University of Central
Florida offered $30,000 scholarships to
the university for first place medalists in
Division C. Additional awards may also
provided by sponsors and industry
leaders for specific events. For example,
theCenter for Disease Control and
Prevention provided first place medalists
in Disease Detectives (Division C) with a
trip for the two competitors and their
coach to tour the CDC facility in Atlanta,
Georgia.

INDIAN NATIONAL OLYMPIADS

Homi Bhabha Centre for Science
Education is the nodal centre of the
country for Olympiad programmes in
mathematics and sciences including
astronomy. The programmes aim at
promoting excellence in science and
mathematics
among
pre-university
students.

The Mathematics Olympiad is conducted

under the aegis of the National Board of
Higher
Mathematics
(NBHM).
From the Olympiad year beginning
August 2008, a new integrated National
Steering Committee for science and
astronomy
Olympiads
has
been
overseeing the entire activity in these
subjects. The subjects includes physics,
chemistry, biology, astronomy, and junior
science. The Olympiad programmes in
physics, chemistry, biology, astronomy
(junior and senior level) and junior
science are a five stage process for each
subject separately. The first stage for
each subject is organized by the Indian
Association of Physics Teachers (IAPT).
All the remaining stages are organized
by Homi Bhabha Centre for Science
Education (HBCSE).The programme is
financially supported by Government of
India, in particular, by Board of Nuclear
Sciences (Department of Atomic Energy),
Department of Science and Technology,
Department of Space and Ministry of
Human Resource Development.
The International Physics Olympiad
(IPhO) is an annual competition in
physics for secondary school students. It
involves individual theoretical and
experimental competitions in Physics.
The 46th IPhO will be held at Mumbai,
India from 5 to 12 July 2015. The event
is organised by the Homi Bhabha Centre
for Science Education, a national centre
of the Tata Institute of Fundamental
Research, Mumbai, an autonomous
institution under the umbrella of
the Department of Atomic Energy, as well
as a Deemed University.

The 46th International Physics Olympiad

is supported by the Government of India
through its Department of Atomic Energy
(DAE), Department of Science and
Technology (DST) and the Ministry of
Human
Resources
Development (MHRD).

the state. Teachers will be encouraged to

carry out innovative projects in science
education for Students from different
schools could come together and engage
in problem solving experiments and
critical discussions. This would provide
necessary excitement and fun in doing
science and thus induce a healthy trend
in science learning and a career
orientation in doing science.

SHASTRA POSHINI SCHEME

Objectives:
To stimulate interest in science at the
school level by the performance of
experiments in Physics, Chemistry and
Biology by students .To provide hand on
experiments to students for observation,
inference, interaction and self-designing
of experiments. To organize training
programmes for the teachers for
demonstrating scientific experiments. To
evolve low cost laboratory kit based on
readily available material for the
performing of a range of experiments

Sastraposhini is a scheme planned by

the Kerala State Council for Science,
Technology
and
Environment
for
strengthening science education among
the High Schools of the State. This
program plans strengthening of the High
School science laboratories of the State
and an effective interaction among the
students and teachers. This is planned to
be launched by the Council in
association with the State Education
Department.
Sastraposhini, a program envisaged by
the Kerala State Council for Science,
Technology and Environment (KSCSTE)
aims towards strengthening science
education in schools of Kerala. The
program will be implemented by setting
up model laboratories for conducting
science experiments in selected schools
of the State.
During the pilot program of two years,
one model laboratory each in Physics,
Chemistry and Biology will be set up in
one school in each educational district of

Outcome:
The present project is planned for two
years. Once the project is launched, it
will be operated through two academic
years. By establishing model laboratories
in core science subjects like Physics,
Chemistry and Biology, experiments will
be conducted for the students by them
Separate study circles can be developed
among students and engage in problem
solving and critical discussions. It will
also be possible to hold science project
fair so that students of different
categories and branches of science can
interact This
would
convey the
excitement of doing science to students

and induce a growing trend in opting a

career in science For the training of
teachers,
which
include
practical
experiments, interaction with eminent
scientists will be arranged The model
laboratories aimed may spearhead
science in school program over the entire
state, and provide a stimulus on
education in general.
Training:
Training to teachers is an important
component of this scheme. Eminent
scholars will train science teachers in
different disciplines at different phases of
the program First phase training was
conducted for 60 teachers for three days
at
the
Centre
for
Science
in
Society(C.Si.S), Cochin University of
Science and Technology (CUSAT) during
July 28-30, 2003. Dr V Unnikrishnan Nair
Vice Chancellor CUSAT inaugurated the
program about twenty resource persons
handled both the theoretical and practical
aspects of science education and
evolved methodologies to make the
teaching interactive and interesting.
Role of KSCSTE:
So far the Science and Technology
Department of the State has been

concentrating more on the issues,

policies as well as other R & D efforts of
the state. Understanding of the status of
science education at the school levels,
drop in enrolment of science courses,
inability of the science graduates of our
state to compete at national level etc
made the Council to think on this line.
Since this requires a new setting of
culture in science education, it is being
tried at the grass root level. The present
proposal of establishing one model
science laboratory in each educational
district is a pilot program planned by the
Council in consultation with the state
education department once the whole
system and the net working are
established; the same will be handed
over to the state education department
for its sustenance and replication.