Northville High School's Science Olympiad team has kicked off its season with an impressive achievement, earning the 3rd-place trophy at the first in-person Hawk & Hornet Invitational Tournament. The event, held on Saturday, November 16, at Saline High School, brought together 50 competitive teams from Michigan and northern Ohio.
The Science Olympiad is an academic competition akin to a track meet, where teams of 15 students participate in 23 diverse STEM-focused events. These events range from hands-on engineering challenges to theoretical tests in subjects like chemistry, physics, and biology. Medals are awarded to the top eight performers in individual events, and the combined scores from all events determine the team’s overall ranking.
Northville High School, a Division C team, fields two squads: Northville Black (Varsity) and Northville Orange (JV). Both teams work collaboratively to prepare for and compete in events such as Tower Building, where students design and construct a structure to achieve the highest structural efficiency, and Air Trajectory, which requires teams to launch projectiles onto targets with precision. Other events include the Bungee Drop, Robot Tour, and various paper-and-pencil tests that challenge students' theoretical knowledge.
Northville's success stems from its dedicated preparation and its connection to a strong science foundation built at Meads Mill and Hillside Middle Schools. As part of Michigan's Region 8, the team competes in invitational, regional, state, and national tournaments in pursuit of excellence in STEM.
The team now shifts its focus to the upcoming invitational tournament on December 7 in Northview, Ohio. Congratulations to all the members for their achievement, and best of luck as they continue their season!
What is Science Olympiad?
Science Olympiad is an academic team competition spanning three divisions: Division A for elementary schools, Division B for middle schools, and Division C for high schools. Events cover a range of STEM disciplines, promoting problem-solving, engineering, and scientific exploration. Division B and C teams compete at invitational, regional, state, and national levels, while Division A focuses on county-level competitions.
Keep an eye out for updates from Northville’s Science Olympiad team as they continue to innovate and excel in the world of STEM!
Pictured above: 2024 NHS Science Olympiad Team
Pictured above: In this event, teams will design and build a Tower (Structure) meeting requirements specified in these rules to achieve the highest structural efficiency.
Pictured above: Bungee drop: In this event, each team will design one elastic cord to conduct two separate drops at a given height(s) and attempt to get a drop mass, placed in a bottle, as close as possible to, but without touching, a landing surface.
Pictured above: Robot Tour: In this event, teams design, build, program and test one Robotic Vehicle to navigate a track to reach a target at a set amount of time as accurately and efficiently as possible.
Pictured above: Air Trajectory: In this event, prior to the competition, teams will design, construct, and calibrate a single device capable of launching projectiles onto a target and collect data regarding device parameters and performance.