A BEGINNER'S GUIDE TO ...
It's hard being a beginner in Division C Science Olympiad. If you did Science Olympiad in most middle schools in San Diego, chances are that you had coaches, scheduled meetings/practices with the rest of your event teams, and so much more.
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Unlike those schools, many high school teams do not have coaches or scheduled meetings. All participants are expected to self-study -- and along with being in a new school, difficult classes, and adjusting to a higher workload, it can be daunting to get started. And that's why we've made a handy guide to getting started. Whether you've done SciOly for 3 years or 0, here's all the information you'll need to know!
... PICKING EVENTS
At the start of every season, we release our event request form to determine what events you will compete in during the regional competition. As you fill out the form, the selection process can be a bit difficult: new events rotate in and out every year, and your favorite Division B events may not exist at the Division C level (or they may go by different names)! We're here to make it a little bit easier for you. There are 3 main types of events, which are:
Study - Events in which you study the topic. Some events let you create a binder or cheat sheet to take with you on the test!
Build - Events in which you build a device for competition day. In the time that you would use studying for study events, you build a device from scratch to meet a certain goal as outlined by the event.
Lab - Events in which you will have to do hands-on experiments in a lab setting to find accurate results and draw conclusions.
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Events can fall under these general categories: Biology, Earth Science, Physics, Chemistry, Technology, & Inquiry.
Now that you have a general idea of what each of these events are about, it's important to check out the rules manual. This year's rules manual is available here. The rules manual provides essential (and more specific!) information on the year's events, and it's a very useful guide on what to study, too! Speaking of studying...