Volunteers

Thank you so much for your interest in the Maryland Science Olympiad. We are always looking for good people to volunteer to help us run tournaments, create events, develop curriculum, be event leaders, and spread the word about the Maryland Science Olympiad. We cannot exist without volunteers. They are our lifeline. We rely on their donations of time, money, and supplies to continue to offer the services we provide.

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Volunteers serve their communities in five primary ways

WRITE AND PROCTOR EXAMS for academic competitions in such fields as microiology to astronomy. MSO tournaments normally include 46 competitions, so lots of exams are prepared, administered, and graded. Two exciting side opportunities exist for those preparing MSO exams: ONE, volunteers may choose to oversee the same field year after year providing long term control over the quality and content offered to Maryland K-12 students. TWO, volunteers also have the option of sharing their exams with other states, effectively gaining a national platform for field content.
DESIGN AND OVERSEE LABS for one or more of the five tournaments. Each tournament consists of lab competitions in the fields of forensics, chemistry, physics, and computers.
JUDGE team technology and engineering devices. Devices such as robots, towers, catapults, vehicles, and helicopters are designed, constructed, and developed by teams prior to the competition. MSO volunteers oversee the competitions of these devices.
PROVIDE LOGISTIC SUPPORT during each of the 5 tournaments. Logistics activities include team registration, equpment setup, signage, medical liaison, concessions, and awards presenters. Volunteers also present a keynote presentation highlighting career paths each year to kick off the evening awards ceremony.
HELP AS AN ASSISTANT COACH for a local MSO team. MSO assistant coaches are matched with local schools to assist with coaching duties such as helping students comprehend material, apply concepts, and optimize teamwork strategies.

Short Descriptions of 2012 Competitive Events

Anatomy (B) - Teams will be tested on their knowledge of anatomy and health concepts including respiratory and digestive systems.

Anatomy & Physiology (C) - This event encompasses the anatomy and physiology of selected body systems, this year limited to respiratory, excretory and digestive systems.

Astronomy (C) - Teams will demonstrate an understanding of the basic concepts of math and physics relating to stellar evolution and type Ia supernovas.

Awesome Aquifers (B) - Students will construct an aquifer and answer questions about groundwater concepts - includes a presentation.

Bottle Rocket (B) - Prior to the tournament, teams construct two rockets designed to stay aloft for the greatest amount of time.

Chemistry Lab (C) - Teams will demonstrate chemistry laboratory skills related to selected topics.

Compute This (B) - Teams will be presented with a problem which requires quantitative data capture from the Internet and the presentation of data in a graphical format. The 2012 domain is www.cdc.gov.

Crime Busters (B) - Teams will identify the perpetrators of a crime or crimes by using paper chromatography and analysis of unknown solids, liquids, and plastics found at the scene of a crime.

Disease Detective (B/C) - This event requires students to apply principles of epidemiology to a published report of a real-life health situation or problem. (Food Borne Illness)

Dynamic Planet (B/C) - Teams will work at stations that display a variety of earth science materials and related earth science questions. (Earth's Fresh Waters)

Experimental Design (B/C) - Given a set of unknown objects, teams will design, conduct, analyze and write-up an experiment.

Fermi Questions (C) - A Fermi Question is a science related question that seeks a fast, rough estimate of a quantity which is difficult or impossible to measure directly. Answers will be estimated within an order of magnitude recorded in powers of 10.

Food Science (B) - Using their understanding of the chemistry and physical properties of baking ingredients, teams will answer questions at a series of stations.

Forensics (C) - Students will identify polymers, solids, fibers, and other materials in a crime scenario.

Forestry (B/C) - This event will test student knowledge of North American trees that are on the Official National Tree List.

Gravity Vehicle (C) - Teams design, build and test one vehicle and ramp that uses gravitational potential energy as the vehicle's sole means of propulsion to reach a Target Point as quickly, as accurately and as close to their predicted time as possible.

Helicopters (C) - Students will construct and test free flight rubber-powered helicopters prior to the tournament to achieve maximum flight times.

Keep the Heat (B) - Teams must construct an insulated device prior to the tournament that is designed to retain heat. Students must also complete a written test on thermodynamic concepts.

Meteorology (B) - This event involves the use of process skills as applied to meteorology (Climate).

Microbe Mission (B/C) - Teams will answer questions, solve problems and analyze data pertaining to microbes.

Mission Possible (B)- Prior to the competition, participants will design, build, test and document a "Rube Goldberg-like device" that completes a required Final Task using a sequence of consecutive tasks.

Mousetrap Vehicle (B) - Teams will design, build and test a vehicle using one mousetrap as the sole means of propulsion to reach a target as quickly, accurately and close to their predicted time as possible.

Optics (B/C) - Teams compete in activities and answer questions related to geometric and physical optics.

Protein Modeling (C) - Students will use computer visualization and online resources to guide them in constructing physical models of proteins and in understanding how the structure of the protein determines the function. For 2012, students will model proteins involved in the regulation of apoptosis as they explore the discovery and treatment of a rare (one in a billion) genetic trait discovered through genome sequencing.

Reach for the Stars (B) - Students will demonstrate an understanding and basic knowledge of the properties and evolution of stars, open clusters and globular clusters, and normal and star-forming galaxies.

Remote Sensing (C) - Teams use remote sensing imagery, science and math process skills to complete tasks related to an understanding of Earth's Hydrosphere.

Road Scholar (B) - Requires the accurate interpretation and understanding of various map features using a variety of road and topographic maps.

Robot Arm (C) - Prior to the competition teams must design, build, document and test one robotic device to move scored items.

Rocks and Minerals (B/C) - Teams will demonstrate their knowledge of rocks and minerals.

Sounds of Music (C) - Prior to the competition, students will build two different instruments of any type based on a 12 tone tempered scale, prepare to describe the principles behind their operation and be able to perform a major scale, a required melody and a chosen melody with each.

Storm the Castle (B) - Prior to the tournament, teams design, construct and calibrate a device that uses only the energy of a falling counterweight to launch a projectile as far and as accurately as possible.

Technical Problem Solving (C) - Teams will gather and process data to solve problems.

Thermodynamics (C) - Teams must construct an insulated device prior to the tournament that is designed to retain heat. Teams must also complete a written test on thermodynamic concepts.

Towers (B/C) - Team members design and build the most efficient tower.

Water Quality (B/C) - The event will focus on evaluating aquatic environments.

Write It/Do It (B/C) - A technical writing exercise where students write a description of a contraption and other students will attempt to recreate it using only the written description.

Volunteer Registration

If you are interested in volunteering for the Maryland Science Olympiad, you may register on line by clicking the Volunteer Registration button below.