Teams from 11 middle schools across Alaska, including Cordova, will compete Friday and Saturday in the Alaska Science Olympiad at the University of Alaska campus in Fairbanks.
Students will be traveling from Cordova, Keni, Minto, Nome, Palmer, Seldovia and Utqiagvik to compete with counterparts in the Fairbanks North Star Borough. The Olympiad is part of a nationwide competition that includes hands-on team-based tournaments designed to increase student interest in science technology, engineering and math (STEM) fields.
The competition includes written tests and construction challenges. Students will build a boomilever (a cantilevered beam or truss structure), a scrambler (a device that transports an egg safely along a track), a helicopter, and a hovercraft.
The event also gives participants a chance to experience campus life. They will sleep overnight in UAF dormitories, eat at the Wood Center dining hall, and visit several campus buildings and the Student Recreation Center for competition events.
The winning team will advance to national competition at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles on May 22-23.
The Alaska Science Olympiad is organized by the Alaska National Science Foundation Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research, the UAF College of Engineering and Mines, the UAF College of Natural Science and Mathematics, and the UAF Makerspace.
