Division B Rules Modifications & Clarifications

All Rulings on this page, which includes rulings from Nationals and New Jersey, are BINDING at ALL New Jersey tournaments.
A copy of all published clarifications will be provided to event officials at each tournament.

Unpublished Judgements are NOT binding at New Jersey Tournaments and are at the event official's discretion.

This page lists Rules Clarifications which are specific to NEW JERSEY.
National Rules Clarifications and National FAQs are also binding at New Jersey Tournaments

For National Rules Clarifications please visit https://www.soinc.org/events/rules-clarifications

For National FAQs please visit https://www.soinc.org/division_b_events

Last Updated 02 March 2026
Added Mission Possible information

Boomilever

Competitions will have hand scoop loading and some competitions may utilize the auto loading testing stand.

The Boomilever wall attachment is new this year. The event no longer uses the J-hook as the wall attachment. This year the competition uses a more common furniture bolt positioned so the inside edge is 3 cm from the surface of the testing wall. The furniture bolt is readily available in local and national chain hardware stores.

Hovercraft

Base surface is made from 4x8 sheet of particle board that is used for shelving. Surface is smooth, shelf board material. Side rails are constructed from coated (polymer) 1"x4" trim.

Laser timing system will not be used.

Ramp is made of whiteboard material

Mission Possible

In order to make the event Mission Possible…. possible at the NJSO State Tournament, we’ve had to impose some rules based on logistics which your team needs to be aware of before the event. Impound and sign up will be from 8:30-9:20. Impound should include their device, tools, and two copies of their action sequence list. Our sign-up slots DO NOT align with typical SO sessions due to timing required for each team. Teams will have up to 35 minutes to set up their device. (This is different than the official SO rules!) We unfortunately will not be able to accommodate setups longer than 35 minutes. If they finish setup within the bonus window, they will be noted as having earned the bonus points, but we will not be able to view their demonstration until their slot. The team should know what times during the day they are available, and plan to spend at least 50 minutes with us. Here is an example of the schedule we will follow. Note that many slots will overlap two sessions. It is the responsibility of the competitors to understand how their selected time slot may conflict with other events. Please be sure to review how all of this will work with your competitors prior to the tournament.

These are the same procedures as were used last year. If we can get your team out sooner, we will, but this is necessary as we only have enough event supervisors to evaluate one device at a time. There are 35 available demonstration slots for a maximum of 27 teams and often this event is skipped by a few teams so there should be sufficient options for everybody.


Example Schedule

Thank you for your time and attention to this matter. We will endeavor to be as flexible as we can on the day, but we must work within these constraints and apply all limitations equally to all teams.

Event rules for ALL Science Olympiad events in the 2026 Official Rules Manuals supersede any and all materials found at the "Science Olympiad Student Center Wiki" or anywhere else online. The "Science Olympiad Student Center Wiki" is not maintained by National Science Olympiad.