Young Scientists Test Their Creativity and Knowledge at Science Olympiad

Students from 20 Western North Carolina middle and high schools will try their talents in the regional Science Olympiad Tournament at UNC Asheville from 8 a.m-3 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 16. Winners will move on to the statewide tournament later this year.

Each school can field a team of 15 students in 22 events, ranging from bottle rockets and battery buggy car races to metrics and geology. Among the day’s highlights will be an egg drop in the Health & Fitness Center gymnasium, where students will build and test containers designed to protect eggs in a 3-5 meter fall.

"We are so pleased to be hosting the Science Olympiad regional tournament again this year," said Judy Beck, UNCA Physics lecturer and event coordinator. "The event is a great showcase for young minds and is also a way the UNCA community can stay involved with area schools."

Competing schools are A.C. Reynolds middle and high schools, C.D. Owen middle and high schools, Carolina Day School, Clyde A. Erwin Middle School, the Learning Community and North Buncombe Middle School, Buncombe County; Waynesville Middle School, Haywood County; Rugby Middle School and E. Henderson High School, Henderson County; Chase Middle School and Thomas Jefferson Classical Academy, Rutherford County; Tryon Middle School, Polk Central Middle School and Polk County High School, Polk County; Harris Middle School and Mitchell High School, Mitchell County; Smoky Mountain High School, Jackson County; and Martins Creek School, Cherokee County.

The Olympiad will be staffed by a number of volunteers, including 75 UNCA faculty, staff and students, as well as volunteers from the Health Adventure, the WNC Nature Center, the Colburn Gem and Mineral Museum, SUD Associates Consulting Engineers, Western Carolina University, USC-Sumpter and Issac Dickson Elementary School.

For more information, call Judy Beck, UNCA Physics Department lecturer, at 828/232-5036.

Media Contacts:

• Judy Beck, UNCA Physics Dept. Lecturer, 828/232-5036
• Jill Yarnall, UNCA Public Information Assistant Director, 828/251-6526