The 20th annual Rhode Island Science Olympiad did take place on Saturday, March 28, at Rhode Island College. Events run from 9 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., with awards at 3:30 p.m. The Science Olympiad is based in Donovan Dining Center, but events will be occurring throughout the campus

More than 650 middle and high school students representing 43 schools from throughout the state will participate, along with coaches, event supervisors, family and friends.

The Science Olympiad is a national program (www.soinc.org ) that seeks to increase interest in science. It aims to teach science by involving students in active, hands-on activities that emphasize problem solving and the scientific process. In state and national competitions, winners of individual events win athletic-style medals, with winning teams earning trophies. At the national level, scholarships are awarded to some of the top winners. The first place team in each division is eligible to represent Rhode Island at the National Science Olympiad at Augusta State University in Augusta, Ga., on May 15 and 16. The Rhode Island Science Olympiad is sponsored by RIC and the Rhode Island Science Teachers Association.

Participating Schools include Division B (Middle School): Barrington Middle School, Birchwood Middle School, Chariho Middle School, Davisville Middle School, Deering Middle School, Dr. E. A. Ricci School, Gallagher Middle School, Hugh B. Bain Middle School, Jamestown School, Lincoln Middle School, Mount St. Charles Academy, Nathanael Greene Middle School, North Smithfield Middle School, Our Lady of Mercy, Portsmouth Middle School, Riverside Middle School, Times2 Academy, Westerly Middle School, Western Hills Middle School, Wheeler School, Wickford Middle School, Winman Junior High.

Division C (High School): Barrington High School, Bishop Hendricken High School, Burrillville High School, Chariho High School, Classical High School, Cooley Health, Science and Technology High School, Cranston High School East, Cranston High School West, East Greenwich High School, Exeter-West Greenwich, Hope High School, LaSalle Academy, Mount St. Charles Academy, North Providence High School, North Smithfield High School, Pilgrim High School, Portsmouth High School, Smithfield High School, Toll Gate High School, Westerly High School.

Each team of 15 enthusiastic young scientists will participate in the 23 events at the junior or senior levels that are designed to test their knowledge of science, laboratory skills or engineering genius. Events range from laboratory activities like chemistry lab and oceanography to engineering tasks like Scrambler, where students construct vehicles to transport an uncooked egg as fast as possible over a track, stopping just short of crashing into a wall, and Egg-o-naut, in which an egg takes flight on a bottle rocket and is returned safely to the ground.

The events open to the public include Egg-o-naut, Elevated Bridge, Robo-Cross, Wright Stuff, Scrambler, Trajectory, Electric Vehicle, Pentathlon, Come Fly with Me (trial) and Science Bowl.

For more information, contact James Magyar at (401) 456-8049/jmagyar@ric.edu or visit www.ric.edu/faculty/organic/ScienceOlympiad.