Science Olympiad
![Picture](/uploads/8/9/4/2/8942504/4364980.jpg?196)
Boomilever Stand
The Grand Valley State University Regional Math and Science Center hosted the Region 12 Michigan Science Olympiad Tournament on Saturday, March 23, 2013. There were about 2,000 area middle and high school students competing in a variety of science events. The GVSU tournament is one of the largest and most competitive in the nation. I volunteered from 12:00 to 3:00pm working the boomilever B event. This took place in the Cook De Witt Center with Roger Hordyk. When I arrived, there were parents, family members and friends, students, teachers, and many more in the audience. The stage had four boomilever stands set up similar to the top left picture. The ones on the stage also had a handle that when you pulled, let sand fall from a container into the bucket and when you let go it sprung back quickly and stopped releasing sand. Mr. Hordyk explained this event and what exactly I would be doing. Students (in groups by themselves or with someone else) would come up to the stand with the boomilever (which looks similar to the bottom left picture) that they had already made. I had a sheet of paper where I would check off if everything was done and completed properly. The boomilevers could only be made out of certain materials and had to line up properly when bolted to the back platform of the stand. It also had to at least be able to hold the bucket in order for students to begin. I would guide them through the process of attaching their boomilever to the stand and went through the steps of what they were going to do, without touching their boomilever or helping them too much. Once the bucket was attached, one student supported (without holding) the bucket from swaying and the other student controlled the lever that let the sand out into the bucket. The further they pulled the handle, the more sand would pore out. They were to let go of the handle as soon as their boomilever broke (if it broke) so we could take the bucket and measure how much weight their boomilever could hold. This number along with the weight of the boomilever is what was recorded and used to figure out their score.
Overall, this was a very rewarding experience in many ways. It was, first of all, great to see how many students were devoting time outside of school to participate in a science event. All of their creations (boomilevers) were unique and done by the students themselves with the help of their coaches. Everyone in the audience was cheering, taking pictures and supporting the students on stage. This is what real learning looks like- students doing science with little guidance and lots of parental support. The look of accomplishment, success, and excitement was shown across every student's face. When I am teaching, I want to make sure that all of my students know and partake in such wonderful experiences. I will do this by showing them that science is fun! Students will learn science through making observations, predictions, experiments, etc. that can be revised over and over again until they feel they have succeeded and are proud of their own work. I will do this by setting up a mini Science Olympiad within the school. Students will get the opportunity to actively participate in a numerous amount of science events. It will be somewhat competitive which I feel will drive students to do their best and have fun while they are learning.
Overall, this was a very rewarding experience in many ways. It was, first of all, great to see how many students were devoting time outside of school to participate in a science event. All of their creations (boomilevers) were unique and done by the students themselves with the help of their coaches. Everyone in the audience was cheering, taking pictures and supporting the students on stage. This is what real learning looks like- students doing science with little guidance and lots of parental support. The look of accomplishment, success, and excitement was shown across every student's face. When I am teaching, I want to make sure that all of my students know and partake in such wonderful experiences. I will do this by showing them that science is fun! Students will learn science through making observations, predictions, experiments, etc. that can be revised over and over again until they feel they have succeeded and are proud of their own work. I will do this by setting up a mini Science Olympiad within the school. Students will get the opportunity to actively participate in a numerous amount of science events. It will be somewhat competitive which I feel will drive students to do their best and have fun while they are learning.