Congratulations to the NNHS and NSHS Science Teams! On Saturday March 17th the NNHS and NSHS Science Teams were among 41 high school teams from across the state to compete in the State Science Olympiad. NSHS placed 2nd and NNHS placed 3rd overall. This was the second year in a row that the Newton High Schools took two of the top three places in this prestigious competition. The teams competed in 21 events. NSHS placed first in 6 events and second in 4 events. NNHS placed first in 3 events and second in 3 events.

According to the National Science Olympiad website, “Science Olympiad competitions are like academic track meets, consisting of a series of more than 20 team events in each division. Every year, a portion of the events are rotated to reflect the ever changing nature of genetics, earth science, chemistry, anatomy, physics, geology, astronomy, mechanical engineering and technology. By combining events from many disciplines, Science Olympiad encourages a wide cross section of students to get involved. Emphasis is placed on active, hands-on, group participation.” Some events are considered “build-aheads” and others are considered “study-aheads.” All events emphasize the inquiry and process skills of science integrated with content knowledge. All require multiple students to work together and many require students to carry out actual laboratory experiments or investigations as part of the event. Examples of events are:

Sounds of Music – Prior to the competition, students will build one wind 

instrument and one percussion instrument based on a 12 tone tempered 

scale, describe the principles behind their operation and be able to perform 

a major scale, a required melody and a chosen melody with each

Disease Detective - This event requires students to apply principles of epidemiology to a published report of a real-life health situation or problem.

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

Experimental Design – Given a set of objects, teams will design, conduct, 

analyze and write-up an experiment

Anatomy & Physiology – This event encompasses the anatomy and 

physiology of selected body systems, this year limited to respiratory, 

excretory, and digestive systems

Additional information regarding Science Olympiad and individual events is available at http://soinc.org/. Details about the MA Science Olympiad can be found here: http://bohr.eri.harvard.edu/bobg/index.html.
        Please congratulate the students and their coaches from both high schools for these excellent accomplishments. Newton should be proud to have two high school teams which consistently place among the best Science Olympiad teams in the state.
Respectfully Submitted,
Charles Hurwitz and Amy Winston, Department Heads