PUHI — Island School’s No. 1 team and the Kauai High School team topped the Science Olympiad for middle and high school students Saturday at Kauai Community College.
Competition among the six student teams represented at the Science Olympiad was keen, with the finalists emerging near the close of event, said Ryan Girard, the Kauai regional director for the Hawaii State Science Olympiad.
Island School, capturing first and second places in the middle-school division, will be representing Kauai in Division B, or middle school, and Kauai High School, edging out the Island School competition, will be representing the island in Division C, or high school, at the Hawaii State Science Olympiad Tournament that will be contested at the University of Hawaii at Manoa on April 4.
“We just got a cup from the refreshments table,” said Gen Hew of the Kauai High School team, which worked to secure a new receptacle on its bottle rocket while preparing for the ping pong parachute competition, new to this year’s olympiad.
The task involved taping the receptacle for the ping pong parachute to the air-propelled craft that carries the parachute to a pre-determined height for dropping. Placement involved all facets of the operation, including the length of time the parachute needed to reach the ground after being deployed.
Ty Kajihara, another Kauai High team member, said they were sparked into the idea of having a bigger receptacle only after arriving at KCC and finding the cup on the refreshment table.
The Science Olympiad, established in 2004, was created to provide Hawaii’s students with an environment in which they can reach their fullest potential in science, technology, engineering and mathematics.
KCC is one of four regional sites where more than 100 participating schools involving more than a thousand Hawaii students from kindergarten through grade 12 competed.
The ping pong parachute is just one of 13 different competitive events students participated in, including anatomy, astronomy, boom lever, circuit lab, code busters, designer genes, dynamic planet, forensics, gravity vehicle (mousetrap vehicle for middle schoolers), orinthology, water quality, and write it do it.
“Our boom had a deficiency,” said Dr. John Patterson, coach of the Island School Division C team. “The judges found it during their first inspection, and it was nice of them to let us know so we can work on correcting the error before competition. It’s better than being disqualified.”
The Chiefess Kamakahelei Middle School team finished third in Division B, with the St. Catherine School team ending in fourth place.
Students in the CKMS mousetrap vehicle team struggled to meet the six-minute deadline for preparing their vehicle for competition after the project was “impounded” along with other participating team vehicles.
“That must’ve come from traveling,” said CKMS coach Erin Finlay, who watched from the sidelines while her pair of students re-worked wiring and stringing for their vehicle equipped with wheels fashioned from CDs and a body of lightweight balsa wood.
Girard said the Science Olympiad for elementary students will be held on April 26 at KCC. Registration and information is available at www.hsso.org.
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Dennis Fujimoto, staff writer and photographer, can be reached at 245-0453 or dfujimoto@thegardenisland.com.
