Campus to Host 800+ Students from Across Colorado for Science Olympiad

PUEBLO, CO – Feb. 27, 2019: Colorado State University-Pueblo will host more than 800 students from across Colorado, and approximately 200 students, faculty, staff, and community professionals for the Colorado Southern Regional Science Olympiad Tournament on March 2, 2019. Science Olympiad is the nation’s largest middle and high school science competition with 8,000 teams in all 50 states. The March 2 event at CSU-Pueblo event will feature 35 separate competitions ranging from Protein Modeling to Forensics and Mousetrap Vehicles.

According to contest organizer Abby Davidson, director of the Colorado Southern Regional Science Olympiad, 62 teams of up to 15 student competitors from 20 middle schools and 18 high schools throughout Colorado will take part in the Southern Regional Science Olympiad from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday, March 2, with winners advancing to the state competition in Denver on April 27. An awards ceremony will follow the competition (4-5:30 p.m.) in CSU-Pueblo’s Massari Arena. Winners of the state competition will move on to the national competition at Cornell University in New York May 31-June 1.

While the majority of teams competing will be from out of town, Pueblo County will be represented by teams from Centennial High School, Corwin International Magnet School, and Beulah School of Natural Sciences. To encourage stronger Pueblo representation in future years, Davidson invites area teachers and administrators to attend Science Olympiad to learn more about the tournament and how to form new teams. Competitions include everything from lab-based biology events and robot testing to flight testing events like air gliders and elastic-launched gliders. For example, the Mission Possible event involves building and testing a Rube Goldberg machine capable of performing specific tests (such as playing a recording that says ‘the end’ when the machine has completed all tasks).

Davidson has been working to gather approximately 50 STEM professionals to facilitate the 35 different competitions and recruit more than 100 student volunteers to assist with the event competitions. In addition to heavy representation of STEM faculty from CSU-Pueblo and the

U.S. Air Force Academy, many community and state governmental agencies will have their STEM professionals represented, including the Pueblo City County Health Department, the National Weather Service, Transportation Technology Center, Inc. (TTCI), UTC Aerospace, and the United States Geological Survey.

All of the events focus on STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) content-based competitions, which is how Davidson came to lead the effort. She also serves as the Science Learning Center Director for the Communities to Build Active STEM Engagement (CBASE) grant, which aims to increase the number of Hispanic and other low-income students earning degrees in STEM fields through development of new curriculum, centers for learning and engagement, and a model transfer and articulation agreement.

Select competitions are open to fans and spectators. To learn more about attending Science Olympiad, contact Abby.Davidson@csupueblo.edu.

Colorado State University - Pueblo is committed to excellence, setting the standard for regional comprehensive universities in teaching, research, and service by providing leadership and access for its region, while maintaining its commitment to diversity.