I think I post this every year, but I just want to praise the Science Olympiad competition as an excellent way to get middle and high school kids engaged in science. It is a huge amount of work to coach a team (15 kids) to get ready for 23 events, but if your school has one or two will teachers and a couple willing parents, it is worthwhile. Our school has this as an afterschool activity and kids stay for 1.5 hrs a few times a week (Nov-Feb)to prepare.
The events range from building things (robots, towers, gliders) with very specific requirements, to amassing information (anatomy, astronomy, amphibians/reptiles), applied demos (bio process lab, forensics, metric mastery, food science). Kids get experience working with a partner to prepare and competing.
It is always nerve wracking for me (as a volunteer parent/coach), but I love how exciting it is for them--I've watched hundreds of soccer games over the years, and this is the one time I can cheer for their academic ability.
Our team just placed 3rd in the region and will go on to the State competition. Last year we were 5th in the state--not bad for a public school of only 60 kids, competing against some private mega-schools with a coach for each event.
