SD Science Olympiad
Operating Policies
Team Makeup
There is one major tournament in the state: The South Dakota Science Olympiad State Tournament which is held at the University of South Dakota in Vermillion.
Currently, there are four national Science Olympiad divisions: Division A1 (grades K-3); Division A3 (grades K-5); Division B (grades 6-9); and Division C (grades 9-12). However, there are only two divisions that participate in the South Dakota Science Olympiad State Tournament: one for Junior High/Middle School (Division B) and one for High School (Division C).
A membership fee must accompany the completed registration form. The membership fee registers your team with the National Science Olympiad allowing you to advance to nationals, covers the cost of awards, rule books, and helps cover administrative costs for Science Olympiad.
The membership fee is a sum of the National membership fee and the applicable state membership fee. Please refer to the Getting Started page for the latest details.
Currently, there are four national Science Olympiad divisions: Division A1 (grades K-3); Division A3 (grades K-5); Division B (grades 6-9); and Division C (grades 9-12). However, there are only two divisions that participate in the South Dakota Science Olympiad State Tournament: one for Junior High/Middle School (Division B) and one for High School (Division C).
A membership fee must accompany the completed registration form. The membership fee registers your team with the National Science Olympiad allowing you to advance to nationals, covers the cost of awards, rule books, and helps cover administrative costs for Science Olympiad.
The membership fee is a sum of the National membership fee and the applicable state membership fee. Please refer to the Getting Started page for the latest details.
Returning Teams
Schools returning a team to the South Dakota Science Olympiad State Tournament (with less than 4-yr gap) may field a team of up to 15 students with up to two alternates in addition.
More on 9th Graders:
Because middle schools that do not have grades 8 or 9 are at a slight disadvantage, they may invite back any combination of up to five of their last year's seventh or eighth grade students to be part of the team (e.g., a school with grades X-9 can have only 5 students from grade 9; a school with grades X-8 can invite only 5 students back from grade 9 (their last year's 8th grade students); a school with grades X-7 can invite only 5 students back from grade 8 or 9 (their last year's 7th or 8th grade students).
However, any given eighth or ninth grade student can compete at only one division level.
Students are allowed to move up a division (from Division B to Division C) to participate in the state tournament as long as the school is all in one building K-12.
Because middle schools that do not have grades 8 or 9 are at a slight disadvantage, they may invite back any combination of up to five of their last year's seventh or eighth grade students to be part of the team (e.g., a school with grades X-9 can have only 5 students from grade 9; a school with grades X-8 can invite only 5 students back from grade 9 (their last year's 8th grade students); a school with grades X-7 can invite only 5 students back from grade 8 or 9 (their last year's 7th or 8th grade students).
However, any given eighth or ninth grade student can compete at only one division level.
Students are allowed to move up a division (from Division B to Division C) to participate in the state tournament as long as the school is all in one building K-12.
Startup Teams
Schools which have not fielded a team at the South Dakota Science Olympiad State Tournament in more than 4 years may field a full team of 15 students, or may choose to the Startup program wherein you can field to 8 students with up to 1 alternate in addition.
General Tips
Diversify your experiences:
4 Knowledge-based events, 4 Build events, 3 Lab Skills events
or
4 Knowledge-based events, 3 Build events, 4 Lab Skills events
Consider if you want to focus more on placing in a small number of events or preparing to compete on a larger scale. This is more for very small teams (< 5 students).
Diversify your experiences:
4 Knowledge-based events, 4 Build events, 3 Lab Skills events
or
4 Knowledge-based events, 3 Build events, 4 Lab Skills events
Consider if you want to focus more on placing in a small number of events or preparing to compete on a larger scale. This is more for very small teams (< 5 students).
Restrictions on Team Makeup
Students must be from the membership school; recruiting from neighboring schools, districts, counties or states is not permitted.
A school is considered to be a separate school if it has a separate administrator.
A school is considered to be a separate school if it has a separate administrator.
Division A - Elementary Schools
There is no national tournament for elementary schools, so they may wish to initiate local, school district or regional competitions. In previous years, over 14,000 elementary and secondary school teams from the United States and Canada competed in the Science Olympiad program.
If a South Dakota elementary school has an interest in participating in any Science Olympiad activities, then please click on the South Dakota Science Olympiad Elementary School Initiative link on the left side of this web page.
If a South Dakota elementary school has an interest in participating in any Science Olympiad activities, then please click on the South Dakota Science Olympiad Elementary School Initiative link on the left side of this web page.
my so
MY SO is a 9-month, calendar-based set of supports to keep students engaged in Science Olympiad at home, at school and after school. Each themed month is connected to a popular Science Olympiad subject like Epidemiology, Space or Structures, and will contain free resources like Lesson Plans and STEM Sessions, webinars and interviews with leading experts in the field about careers and workforce. Our top National Event Supervisors and content partners will help us bring the best of Science Olympiad to life! One Thursday a month, our website will be hosting STEM Showdowns, national-level online Science Olympiad tests students will take in real time to gauge their knowledge against their peers, complete with prizes and a national monthly leader board. MY SO can be used as a standalone or to support any regular Science Olympiad season. The STEM Showdowns are optional and will be single-player, single-payer.
Science Olympiad National Policy on Team Qualification as of 9-20-2011
This policy provides guidelines that are to be used with all schooling options and in all states. Primary enrollment at a school will be determined by what school holds the student's records and matriculates the student (a general definition of primary enrollment), and a student may only be primarily enrolled at a single school.
Team Endeavor
Science Olympiad requires all participants in Science Olympiad competitions to participate as members of a team, not as individuals.
public School students
Public school students may participate in Science Olympiad only as members of a team that is formed in the local public school that they attend. In the case of 9th graders, public school students may compete on the team from the middle school that they most recently attended. Public school students may not opt to participate on another school’s team.
Private, Charter, and Alternative School Students
Private schools, “governor” schools, charter schools, and any other school that is qualified by the state and is housed in a single geographic location, may form Science Olympiad teams from among the students in their student body, regardless of where that student's home of origin is located. Such schools may not solicit or enlist public school or home-schooled students on their teams.
Cyber or Virtual School (online) Students
Option 1 - Participation through a Local Public School: If the state in which a cyber/virtual school student resides allows cyber/virtual school students to participate in local public school activities, cyber/virtual school students may either (1) choose to participate as a member of the Science Olympiad team at the local public school they would attend were they not enrolled in the cyber/virtual school, or (2) form a cyber/virtual school team from among the students in that school's student body as if they were students in a private/charter school as set forth above. A student may only participate on a single team.
Option 2 - Participation solely through a State-Recognized Cyber or Virtual School: If the state in which a cyber/virtual school student resides recognizes and financially supports cyber/virtual schools, Science Olympiad will also recognize cyber/virtual school teams consisting only of students who are enrolled at that cyber/virtual school. Such schools may not solicit or enlist public school, private school or home-schooled students on their teams.
Option 2 - Participation solely through a State-Recognized Cyber or Virtual School: If the state in which a cyber/virtual school student resides recognizes and financially supports cyber/virtual schools, Science Olympiad will also recognize cyber/virtual school teams consisting only of students who are enrolled at that cyber/virtual school. Such schools may not solicit or enlist public school, private school or home-schooled students on their teams.
Home-Schooled Students
Option 1 - Participation through a Local Public School: If the state in which a home schooled student resides allows home schooled students to participate in public school activities, home schooled students may either (1) choose to participate as a member of the Science Olympiad team at the local public school they would attend were they not home schooled, or (2) form a home school team as set forth in Option #2, below.
Option 2 - Participation through a Home School Team: Science Olympiad will recognize Home School Teams consisting only of students who live within the boundaries of two contiguous (side-by-side) geographic counties in a single state. As of July 20, 2011, the two-contiguous-county/single state policy will apply to all Science Olympiad Home School Teams who wish to attend to the 2012 Science Olympiad National Tournament and Science Olympiad will no longer qualify multi-county or multi-state Home School Teams. (This home school portion of the policy was adopted in 2008 and a three-year grace period of qualification followed.)
Option 2 - Participation through a Home School Team: Science Olympiad will recognize Home School Teams consisting only of students who live within the boundaries of two contiguous (side-by-side) geographic counties in a single state. As of July 20, 2011, the two-contiguous-county/single state policy will apply to all Science Olympiad Home School Teams who wish to attend to the 2012 Science Olympiad National Tournament and Science Olympiad will no longer qualify multi-county or multi-state Home School Teams. (This home school portion of the policy was adopted in 2008 and a three-year grace period of qualification followed.)
Registering and Qualifying Teams
The state Science Olympiad organization is responsible for registering and qualifying all Science Olympiad teams. In the case of a public school Science Olympiad team, a roster signed by the principal of the school is considered proper validation. In the case of a Home School Team, a roster signed by the President of the home school association or the head of the independent home school is considered proper validation.
Investigation of Team Qualifications
If a state Science Olympiad organization suspects that a team is comprised of students who are not members of that school’s student body or that a team is not legitimate, the Science Olympiad State Director may ask the coach to provide verification of that team’s qualifications as follows:
1) A public, private, virtual or charter school student’s qualification may be verified by some form of school identification, school roster, recent report card, evidence of residence in the school district or other similar documents appropriate to the situation.
2) A home-schooled student’s qualification may be verified by the student’s annual notice of intent to home school and some proof of residency within two contiguous designated counties. State Directors or officials may not contact individual students to determine qualification. All inquires must go through official channels that are relevant to and can confirm the student's enrollment status, such as the administrative offices of a school district, private school, charter school or virtual school, or the registered Home School Team coach or head of an independent home school.
1) A public, private, virtual or charter school student’s qualification may be verified by some form of school identification, school roster, recent report card, evidence of residence in the school district or other similar documents appropriate to the situation.
2) A home-schooled student’s qualification may be verified by the student’s annual notice of intent to home school and some proof of residency within two contiguous designated counties. State Directors or officials may not contact individual students to determine qualification. All inquires must go through official channels that are relevant to and can confirm the student's enrollment status, such as the administrative offices of a school district, private school, charter school or virtual school, or the registered Home School Team coach or head of an independent home school.
Sanctions for Non-Qualified Participation
If, after investigation, the State Director determines that a team or its members are not qualified, it may impose a sanction that may include disqualification of a student team member, disqualification of a team coach, or a team’s disqualification from a tournament. In the event of multiple cases of disqualification, a coach or team may be barred from future competition.
South Dakota Science Olympiad Policy on VERY Small School Teams
Science Olympiad requires all participants in Science Olympiad competitions to participate as members of a team, not as individuals. It is recommended that all public school students may participate in Science Olympiad only as members of a team that is formed in the local public school that they attend. However, very small schools in the same state may combine students to form one team if and only if the total enrollment of the combined schools is less than 300 students. This policy only applies to public schools. South Dakota Science Olympiad is responsible for registering and qualifying all Science Olympiad teams. In the case of a public school Science Olympiad team, a roster signed by the principal of the school is considered proper validation. If South Dakota Science Olympiad suspects that a team is comprised of students who are not members of that school’s student body, the Science Olympiad State Director may ask the coach to provide verification of that team’s qualifications as follows: A public school student’s qualification may be verified by some form of school identification, school roster, recent report card, evidence of residence in the school district or other similar documents appropriate to the situation. If, after investigation, the South Dakota Science Olympiad State Director determines that a team or its members are not qualified, it may impose a sanction that may include disqualification of a student team member, disqualification of a team coach, or a team’s disqualification from a tournament. In the event of multiple cases of disqualification, a coach or team may be barred from future competition.
South Dakota Science Olympiad Policy on All-Star School Teams
Currently each Science Olympiad member school can enter up to 15 students as a team at each tournament. The school teams with the highest overall scores advance to the next level. There has been some interest from the inception of the Science Olympiad about the possibility of an "All-Star" team whereby the gold medal winners from one level advance to the next level. After much discussion and debate at a meeting with the National Executive Board, national captains and coaches it was unanimously voted to support the existing school team approach instead of an All-Star team for the following reasons:
1) The team concept philosophically is more acceptable to most educators rather than emphasizing individual competition, which has negative connotations to many of them. The team concept emphasizes cooperation, teamwork, and the development of team spirit. The other over-emphasizes the individual and certain events.
2) The Science Olympiad Constitution states that one of its purposes to improve the quality of science education. Having a balance between content, process and technology and all of the science disciplines promotes the development of a quality K-12 balanced science curriculum. If a school were allowed (encouraged) to bring only the best airplane thrower, egg dropper, or rock hound, it would encourage the fragmented and limited instruction of isolated skills to the neglect of the whole science curriculum. And, furthermore, it would be difficult to rally school and community support to fund the advancement of one paper airplane thrower versus the support for the overall state champion. But, worse, it would damage one of the major purposes of the Olympiad and it could detract from the regional and state team's efforts and possibly be an embarrassment if all gold medals were won by individuals and not teams?
3) Finally, the management of an all-star team would be far more difficult and costly. Conceivably the worst case situation would result in 44 students from 24 schools from each state advancing to the national's which would mean 1,760 students from 960 schools for each division rather than 600 students from 40 schools.
This would not only present nightmares for tournament organizers but also for local school supporters attempting to make plans for all these students not to mention the increased cost of medals, material, and travel expense.
1) The team concept philosophically is more acceptable to most educators rather than emphasizing individual competition, which has negative connotations to many of them. The team concept emphasizes cooperation, teamwork, and the development of team spirit. The other over-emphasizes the individual and certain events.
2) The Science Olympiad Constitution states that one of its purposes to improve the quality of science education. Having a balance between content, process and technology and all of the science disciplines promotes the development of a quality K-12 balanced science curriculum. If a school were allowed (encouraged) to bring only the best airplane thrower, egg dropper, or rock hound, it would encourage the fragmented and limited instruction of isolated skills to the neglect of the whole science curriculum. And, furthermore, it would be difficult to rally school and community support to fund the advancement of one paper airplane thrower versus the support for the overall state champion. But, worse, it would damage one of the major purposes of the Olympiad and it could detract from the regional and state team's efforts and possibly be an embarrassment if all gold medals were won by individuals and not teams?
3) Finally, the management of an all-star team would be far more difficult and costly. Conceivably the worst case situation would result in 44 students from 24 schools from each state advancing to the national's which would mean 1,760 students from 960 schools for each division rather than 600 students from 40 schools.
This would not only present nightmares for tournament organizers but also for local school supporters attempting to make plans for all these students not to mention the increased cost of medals, material, and travel expense.
South Dakota Science Olympiad Policy on Constructed Devices
This policy applies to events that require a device to be constructed and brought to the South Dakota Science Olympiad State Tournament. The student who is primarily responsible for the design and construction of the device must be present in order to operate the device when it is used for scoring. The event supervisor or supervisors may extensively question the lead student as to the design and construction of the device. The questioning may include: the overall design and construction, the component parts, how those parts operate, and their function in the device. Other students on the team may also be questioned. If the students are unable to answer the questions correctly, then the event supervisor or supervisors will have grounds to believe that the students did not design and/or construct the device. The team will be disqualified from the event and scored accordingly.
South Dakota Science Olympiad Policy on Cell Phones (Smartphones) and Smartwatches
This policy applies to all events. Cell phones and smartwatches may not be used while the student is participating in an event. Evidence and/or suspicion of student cell phone or smartwatch usage during the student's participation in the event will result in disqualification for that student's school in the specific event.
