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Life, Personal, and Social Science

  • Anatomy and Physiology: Students learn about the human nervous system, sensory organs, and endocrine system

  • Cell Biology: Participants answer questions over cell structure and function

  • Disease Detectives: Students use investigative skills to scientifically study diseases, injuries, and health in populations or groups of people

  • Green Generation: Students answer questions over aquatic systems, air and climate change

  • Ornithology: Students are assessed on their knowledge of North American Birds

Earth and Space Science

  • Astronomy: Teams demonstrate an understanding of the properties and evolution of stars and galaxies

  • Dynamic Planet: Teams compete in tasks related to physical and geological oceanography

  • Rocks and Minerals: Teams identify and classify rocks and minerals

  • Remote Sensing: Teams display their understanding of data sets obtained by remote sensing platforms

Physical Science and Chemistry

  • Chem Lab: Teams answer questions involving aqueous solutions and redox reactions

  • Environmental Chemistry: Participants complete tasks and answer questions regarding environmental chemistry

  • Forensics: Teams collect evidence and run a series of test to solve a crime

  • It's About Time: Teams construct a device to accurately measure specified time intervals

  • Trajectory: Teams construct and test a catapult device

  • WIFI Lab: Teams construct an antenna to transmit WIFI signals and answer questions over electromagnetic waves

Technology and Engineering

  • Bridges: Teams design and construct a balsa bridge meeting specified requirements to achieve the highest structural efficiency

  • Detector Building: Teams build a temperature sensing device to accurately measure and display temperatures of water samples

  • Gravity Vehicle: Teams design and build a vehicle and ramp that uses gravitational energy to power a vehicle to its target

  • Wright Stuff: Teams design and construct free flight rubber powered planes to achieve maximum time aloft

Inquiry and Nature of Science

  • Codebusters: Teams cryptanalyze and decode encrypted messages using cryptanalysis techniques for various ciphers

  • Experimental Design: Tests the participant's ability to design, conduct, and report the findings of an experiment conducted on site

  • Ping-Pong Parachute: Prior to the competition teams design and build bottle rockets to launch a ping pong ball attached to a parachute

  • Write It, Do It: One participant describes and object, the other participant attempts to build the object using the written description