Science Olympiad is a science competition created to give students the opportunity to learn some science and have some fun in the process.

The regional competition will take place at Johnson County Community College on Feb. 25, and the State competition will take place on April 1 in Wichita.

Participating students choose events and compete against other schools.

“[There are] many topics including Anatomy and Physiology, Astronomy, Chemistry Lab, Disease Detectives, Dynamic Planet, Ecology, Electric Vehicle, Experimental Design, Forensics, Game on, Helicopters, Hovercraft, Hydrogeology, Invasive Species, Materials Science, Microbe Mission, Optics, Remote Sensing, Robot Art, Rocks and Minerals, Towers, Wind Power and Write It Do It,” Science Olympiad sponsor Ryan Pfeifer said.

This will be senior Kennady King’s second year competing in Science Olympiad. She feels better equipped this year because she knows what to expect.

“Each group that participates per event is going to get points, and then those points count for team points. The teams with the most amount of points advance to State or Regionals,” King said.

Senior Ali Guzel sees many benefits to participating in Science Olympiad.

“I thought it would be fun, most of my friends do it,” Guzel said. “It helps with research because you have to look a lot of the stuff up online. You also just learn random things, it helps you in chemistry, math, biology and physics.”

For King, Science Olympiad was a familiarity in a new environment.

“I transferred here right after sophomore year and I participated in something like Science Olympiad at my old school and so I thought that this would be a good way to become more involved here at this school,” King said.

Junior Michael Navarro is excited to have the opportunity to become more engaged in his learning.

“It gives me an exposure to some scientific concepts that are not really emphasized in the classroom,” Navarro said.

Pfeifer said he believes Science Olympiad provides new opportunities for the students.

“It benefits the students by providing them a way to compete in STEM-related topics and requires them to extend and apply the topics to real world situations,” Pfeifer said.

As well as a valuable experience, college is also on the minds of the competitors.

“It is a very good resume builder, but you also meet new friends this way who have a lot of similar interests. If you really like science, everybody else in there really likes science, so you are definitely going to make new friends this way. It is fun to have a whole day Saturday to just go and compete in things you find interesting,” King said. “For me, I did not know I liked forensic science until I participated in the forensic science event. I tried it and I loved it, and now it is something I want to major in. So it is a good way to find new interest as well.”

Like King, Guzel is looking to prepare for the next step in his academic career.

“Material sciences is one of the events I am interested in because I might be minoring in that in college. [I also did] dynamic planet because we did that last year” Guzel said.

Students are given points based on their performance in a competition.

“[I am most excited for] the tower building competition because you have to build a really nice tower and then at the competition you watch it break, which is kind of heartbreaking, but if you do really well, it will be worth it,” Navarro said.

To participate next year, students are encouraged to express their interests to one of the event coaches.

“I would [recommend Science Olympiad] because it is not too serious; it is laid back,” Guzel said. “To get involved next year, talk to Pfeifer, [science teacher Man] Tran or [science teacher Robert] Hamilton. They usually call a meeting during club.”

To Navarro, an interest in science is all it takes to really become engaged in the competition.

“We need as many participants as possible because there are so many different events that you can do,” Navarro said.

To King, any opportunity to become involved is a step in the right direction.

“You have these opportunities in high school to try new things and it does not cost anything, whereas trying new classes in college are going to cost you hundreds of dollars, so it is good to find out what you like and don’t like early on,” King said.