2024 Division B Event Descriptions

This is a list of all events available in the 2024 Science Olympiad Rules Manual.

For Regional Tournaments, a subset of 12 of these events will be held at each location. Specific events for each tournament will be posted to the respective tournament page.

For the State Tournament, we attempt to hold all events.

Air Trajectory	Prior to the competition, teams will design, construct, and calibrate a single device capable of launching projectiles onto a target and collect data regarding device parameters and performance.
Anatomy and Physiology (Cardio, Lymphatic, Excretory)	Participants will be assessed on their understanding of the anatomy and physiology for the human Cardiovascular, Lymphatic, and Excretory systems.
Can't Judge a Powder	Students will test and characterize one pure substance and then, based only on data they collect, answer a series of questions about that substance. Students will not be asked to identify the substance. Emphasis of this event is on the quality of data collected, answering questions about the substance and providing data to support their answers.
Codebusters	Teams will cryptanalyze and decode encrypted messages using cryptanalysis techniques for historical and modern advanced ciphers.
Crime Busters	Given a scenario, a collection of evidence, and possible suspects, students will perform a series of tests. Test results along with other evidence will be used to solve a crime and answer questions.
Disease Detectives	Participants will use investigative skills in the scientific study of disease, injury, health and disability in populations or groups of people.
Dynamic Planet	Participants will demonstrate an understanding of the large-scale processes affecting the structure of Earth’s crust.
Ecology	Participants will answer questions involving content knowledge and process skills in the area of ecology and adaptations in featured North American biomes.
Experimental Design	This event will determine a participant's ability to design, conduct and report the findings of an experiment entirely on-site.
Fast Facts	Teams will fill in a grid of terms that begin with a given letter to match given science categories.
Flight	Prior to the tournament, teams will construct, collect data on test flights, analyze and optimize a free flight rubber-powered aircraft to achieve maximum time aloft.
Forestry	Participants will be assessed on their general forestry knowledge and the trees found in the United States that are on the 2024 Official Science Olympiad National Tree List.
Fossils	Teams identify and classify fossils and demonstrate their knowledge of ancient life. Tasks will be related to interpretation of past environments and ecosystems, adaptations, evolutionary relationships, and the use of fossils in dating and correlating rock units.
Meteorology (Severe Weather and Storms)	Participants will use scientific process skills involving qualitative and quantitative analyses to demonstrate an understanding of the factors that contribute, cause and influence Severe Weather and Storms.
Microbe Mission	Teams will answer questions, solve problems and analyze data pertaining to microbes.
Optics	Teams must participate in an activity involving positioning mirrors to direct a laser beam towards a target and are tested on their knowledge of geometric and physical optics.
Reach for the Stars	Participants will demonstrate an understanding of the formation and early-stage evolution of stars and their observation across the electromagnetic spectrum.
Road Scholar	Participants will answer interpretive questions that may use one or more state highway maps, USGS topographic maps, Internet-generated maps, a road atlas or satellite/aerial images.
Roller Coaster	Prior to the competition, teams design, build, and test a Roller Coaster track to guide a ball/sphere that uses gravitational potential energy as its sole means of propulsion to travel as close as possible to a Target Time.
Tower	Teams will design and build a Tower (Structure) meeting requirements specified in these rules to achieve the highest structural efficiency.
Wheeled Vehicle	Teams must design, build, and test one Vehicle that uses a non-metallic, elastic material as its sole means of propulsion to travel a distance as quickly and accurately as possible.
Wind Power	Teams construct a blade assembly device prior to the tournament that is designed to capture wind power and complete a written test on the principles of alternative energy.
Write It Do It	One student will write a description of an object and how to build it, and then the other student will attempt to construct the object from this description.