Six students finish in top 10 of Science Olympiad event

(Clockwise from top left) Science Olympiad winners Uma Alagappan, Vimala Alagappan, Avery Bystrom, Ben Cooper, Isabella Dimeo, Kassandra Homayuni, and Danielle Kelly.

On Monday, Feb. 4th, 29 Friends Academy students participated in the Science Olympiad at Division Avenue High School. Six students placed in the top 10 of their event*: Circuit lab (2nd, seniors Ben Cooper and Kassandra Homayuni), Forensics (seniors Danielle Kelly and Uma Alagappan), Codebusters (sophomores Vimala Alagappan, Isabella Dimeo and senior Uma Alagappan), and Mousetrap Vehicle (sophomores Vimala Alagappan and Avery Bystrom).

Science Olympiad "encourages group learning by designing events that forge alliances." Constructed like a track meet, each competition consists of a series of 23 team events in each division. Events rotate in subject matter and have ranged from subject areas such as, genetics, earth science, chemistry, anatomy, physics, geology, mechanical engineering and technology.

The organization was founded in 1984 to "increase K-12 student and teacher participation in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math."

*Description of categories:

• Forensics – Given a scenario and some possible suspects, students will perform a series of tests and examine other evidence to solve a crime.
• Codebusters – Teams will cryptanalyze (decode) encrypted messages using cryptanalysis techniques and show skill with advanced ciphers by encrypting or decrypting a message.
• Circuit Lab – Participants must complete tasks and answer questions about electricity and magnetism.
• Mousetrap Vehicle – Teams, design, build and test a vehicle using one or two snap mousetraps as its sole means of propulsion to push a paper cup forward, reverse direction and stop as close as possible to a Vehicle Target Point.