News & Events

UNC Asheville to Host Regional Science Olympiad Tournament

March 16, 2012

Young scientists from 11 middle schools and eight high schools in Western North Carolina will test their talents in the Regional Science Olympiad Tournament at UNC Asheville Saturday, March 17. The competition will be held from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at various locations across campus.

Each team can field a group of 18 students in a host of events ranging from meteorology to food science. Among the day's highlights will be the "Mission Possible" challenge, which tests students on their Rube Goldberg-inspired inventions. These inventions consist of complicated contraptions that perform a seemingly simple task.

Volunteers from UNC Asheville, the Colburn Earth Science Museum, Sud Associates Consulting Engineers, the National Climatic Data Center, Western Piedmont Community College, and the Cradle of Forestry will staff the Olympiad.

Competing schools are A.C. Reynolds Middle School, Asheville High School, Carolina Day School, Charles D. Owen Middle and High Schools, East McDowell Junior High, Enka Middle School, Evergreen Community Charter School, Fairview School, North Buncombe High School, McDowell High School, Mountain Community School, Polk County Middle and High Schools, Rugby Middle School, Smoky Mountain High School, T.C. Roberson High School, Thomas Jefferson Classical Academy, and West McDowell Junior High.

The winners of the regional tournament will move on to the statewide tournament later this year. For more information, contact Cathy Whitlock, UNC Asheville mathematics lecturer, at 828.232.2269 or whitlock@unca.edu, or Judy Beck, UNC Asheville physics lecturer, at 828.251.6049 or jbeck@unca.edu.