TORONTO, May 16, 2003 -- It's brains not brawn that will count at the 24th annual Science & Engineering Olympics being held at York University on Friday, May 23, 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. The event will bring together some 800 high school students from 55 schools across Ontario to battle it out in six "brainathlon" events that take science out of the classroom and put it into action.
"These games give participating students an opportunity to learn about the real-world application of science," says Keith Aldridge, York professor of geophysics and founder of the event." You have to see it to believe how excited these kids get. Some schools even bring cheerleaders."
At the end of the day, prizes will be awarded to the best three teams in each event and a trophy will be presented to the overall winning schools.
Team events are designed by York Professors in the Faculty of Pure and Applied Science to entertain players and spectators and to allow students to demonstrate their understanding of fundamental laws behind modern scientific and technological advances.
Giant Yo-Yo: A giant yo-yo, built by students in their schools, will be released from a height of approximately 5.5 m above the floor. The highest rising yo-yo will win the competition.
Superbouncer: Student teams will be given the recipe and the chemicals to produce a complex polymer and shape it into a super ball, competing for completion time, the highest bounce and having good knowledge of polymers. The ball will be dropped through a tube and will have to high-jump a bar set at the height the students think they can make.
Water Rockets: Teams will launch a 2-litre plastic pop bottle, partially filled with water under pressure produced with a bicycle pump. Longest duration of flight wins. Teams may bring their own bottles modified for extended flight with a parachute. Helium filled balloons may not be used to extend the rocket flight.
On the Spot: Teams will be given a problem to solve in a fixed time that will require measurement and analysis using basic principles of pure and applied science.
ZigZag: Will put students on an orienteering course around the Keele St. campus using techniques from Geomatics to track the course.
Fermi Questions: Named for Enrico Fermi, who sought to challenge the quantitative thinking powers of his students with questions that required order-of-magnitude answers. For example, students could be asked to estimate the number of piano tuners in Toronto, and other similar questions involving simple arithmetic and sensible guessing.
The Science & Engineering Olympics kick off at 8:30 a.m. in Lecture Hall "A" of the Computer Science and Engineering Building, Keele Campus, 4700 Keele St. For program details see the Website at: www.science.yorku.ca/fpas/olympics/
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For further information, please contact:
| Ken Turriff | |
| Media Relations | |
| York University | |
| 416-736-2100, ext. 22086 | |
| kturriff@yorku.ca |
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