Freshmen take Medals at Science Olympiads

  • TWO Sayville Freshmen Earn Medals
    at Regional Science Olympiads

    During the all-day, Science Olympiad Regional competition, recently held at Half Hollow Hills East, two Sayville teams comprised of fifteen students in grades 9-12, were among the fifty teams participating in approximately twenty-two events that challenged their science skills.

    “Not only was this the first year we have had two teams participate,” chemistry teacher Adrianna LoCicero explained,  “but, for the first time, we had two Freshmen finish with fifth-place out of fifty teams.

    Among the Sayville participants, Freshmen     Lucas Brennan and Nick Cowan were paired up in the two-part Write it Do it event. In the first part, one team member (Nick) viewed a constructed object (k’nex, legos, tinker toys, pipe cleaners, styrofoam bowls, magnets, beads, etc) and wrote a description of how to build it without using any pictures, diagrams, or symbols. The written description was given to the teammate (Lucas) who, having NOT seen the original construction, attempted to rebuild the object with the corresponding set of materials based upon the written description.

    Science teachers and coaches Adrianna LoCicero and Jennifer Stewart-Hassett were proud of all the team members who participated, but are especially looking forward to sharing the next three years with Nick and Lucas. Congratulations to the two great communicators, Nick and Lucas, for their successfully partnership between design concepts and engineering applications!

    BACKGROUND ON SCIENCE OLYMPIAD:

    From Science Olympiad website http://soinc.org

    For the past 28 years, Science Olympiad has led a revolution in science education. What began as a grassroots assembly of science teachers is now one of the premiere science competitions in the nation, providing rigorous, standards-based challenges to nearly 6,200 teams in 50 states. Science Olympiad’s ever-changing event lineup provides a variety of career choices and exposure to practicing scientists and mentors.  In the words of a Science Olympiad alumnus: “I consider Science Olympiad the most important and influential activity I participated in during my middle school and high school career.”

    Science Olympiad strives:
    •    To create a passion for learning science by supporting elementary and secondary Science Olympiad tournaments at building, district, county, state and national levels with an emphasis on teamwork and a commitment to excellence.

    •    To improve the quality of K-12 science education throughout the nation by changing the way science is perceived and the way it is taught (with an emphasis on problem solving and hands-on, minds-on constructivist learning practices). This goal is accomplished through in-depth core curriculum training workshops and the distribution of curriculum materials. http://soinc.org/mission
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