The Science Olympiad is a national nonprofit organization devoted to improving the quality of science education, increasing student interest in science, and providing recognition for outstanding achievement in science education by both students and teachers. The Science Olympiad is also designed to encourage classroom teachers to explore new and challenging ways of teaching science. Students who participate in the Science Olympiad are taught advanced science through active, hands-on participation. All events involve teamwork, group planning and cooperation, and promote team spirit and good sportsmanship.

There are now over 12,000 schools from all 50 states, grades K-12, who actively participate in the Olympiad. In the past twenty years, the Science Olympiad has increased student attendance at the tournaments, encouraged students to be multi-year participants, and has increased enrollment in school science courses in many areas.

The Science Olympiad was created in 1983 to expand interest in science for students, and to serve as an alternative to the conventional science fair and tournaments. The Olympiad consists of over 100 individual and team events that require expertise in biology, earth science, chemistry, physics, problem solving, and technology.

Broken into three main divisions, Science Olympiad caters to students of all ages. Division A encompasses students from kindergarten through the sixth grade. Through a series of hands-on events, young students gain valuable experiences that encourage further exploration into the world of science. The Elementary Science Olympiad offers a unique opportunity for students to test their creative and cooperative skills, interact with other motivated students, and expand their minds with science. The emphasis is on learning, participation, interaction, and having fun.

For older students, the Science Olympiad utilizes a more competitive approach. Division B (grades 6-9) and C (grades 9-12) teams compete in regional, state, and national tournaments. Science Olympiad tournaments are academic interscholastic competitions that consist of a series of individual and team events for which students prepare during the year. Most Science Olympiad events are team competitions that require teamwork, group planning and cooperation. The subject matter of the 23 events selected each year is balanced among the various fields of science and among three broad areas of science education: concepts and knowledge, processes and thinking skills, and applications and technology. Each year, new events are introduced while others are dropped in an effort to keep the program fresh.

Division B and C teams consist of 15 students. Each team member generally participates in several different events at a tournament. In larger schools, students may need to compete to join the team. In smaller schools, there may not be enough students on a team to compete in every event.

Alabama Science Olympiad 2007 included 78 registered Division B teams and 76 Division C teams. At the elementary level, 52 teams competed in the A2 Elementary Science Olympiad. For the several years, the state has sent four teams (2 Division B, 2 Division C) to the national tournament.

Division A teams may select the Olympiad of their choice in which to participate and may take part in multiple Olympiads. Division B and C teams initially compete in regional tournaments hosted at colleges and universities around the state in February and March. The top teams in each regional advance (usually 20% of the number registered on Nov 1 or top 3) to the state tournament usually held by early to mid-April. Please visit our Tournament page for regional and state Olympiad site information and competition dates.

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If a child has an academic relationship (such as taking a course) with a public or private school, they can only compete on that school's team. They may not be a member of a home school team even if that school has no team. An exception would be providing a letter from that school's principal that they could not compete on that school's team whether or not there is a team.

It is presumed that a home school team will be composed of children who have a pre-existing relationship of working together on a regular basis. We will require a statement from the coach as to the nature of that relationship. An "all star" team assembled by student abilities rather than by their pre-existing regular study relationship would not be allowed. Since this is a new aspect of the Alabama Science Olympiad, we may establish additional criteria as the home school activity materializes and unforeseen problems become known. Our desire is to provide this opportunity to as many children as possible while, at the same time, keeping the playing field level. For additional information please contact Jane Nall.

The Alabama Science Olympiad is an activity of the Alabama Academy of Science. The State Director of Alabama Science Olympiad is Ms. Jane Nall, 31110 Wakefield Drive, Spanish Fort, Alabama, 36527, who can be reached at 251.621.2911 (phone) or drnall(at)hotmail.com (email).