2012 Grand Haven High School Science Olympiad Team

Michigan Region 12 Champions

Michigan State Champions

National 3^rd Place

Mr. Reed

Chemistry, Honors Chemistry, and AP Chemistry Teacher

Head Coach of the Grand Haven High School Science Olympiad Team

Room 0202

616-850-6245

reed@ghaps.org

This is my 23^rd year of teaching at Grand Haven High School. My teaching schedule for the third trimester is:

7:40 – 8:51 1^st – Chemistry B

8:57 – 10:08 2^nd – Chemistry B

10:14 – 11:28 3^rd – Planning

11:34 – 12:45 4^th – Chemistry B

12:45 – 1:26 C Lunch

1:26 – 2:37 5^th – Chemistry B

Here are some interesting and helpful chemistry web sites. Please take some time to look at them.

World of Chemistry – the textbook companion site for Chemistry A and Chemistry B:

Chemistry: Principles and Reactions – a textbook companion site for Honors Chemistry A and Honors Chemistry B containing a set of 27 easy-to-use essential videos you can purchase and download to your video iPod or portable video player.

AP Chemistry Course Home Page – the official College Board site for AP Chemistry

California State University, Dominguez Hills: Chemistry Electronic Homework - a series of exercises covering 88 different chemistry topics

ChemTutor – a very popular site for chemistry help

List of websites for chemistry students – another site to direct you to help for specific topics

Avogadro - a site with topic specific information

Web Elements.com - the periodic table on the Web

Periodic Table.com - the photographic periodic table of the elements

American Chemical Society Interactive Periodic Table

The Elements: a song about the elements on the periodic table by Tom Lehrer

American Chemical Society National Historic Chemical Landmarks

ACD Labs: 3-D molecular model creation site: ACD/ChemSketch Freeware (free download)

Atomic Spectra (absorption and emission):

Eric Weisstein’s World of Science: The most extensive online science encyclopedia:

Michigan High School Curriculum Content Expectations in Chemistry

Michigan High School Curriculum Content Expectations in Chemistry Clarifications Companion Document

GRAND HAVEN HIGH SCHOOL SCIENCE OLYMPIAD

This is my 16^th year as head coach of the Grand Haven High School Science Olympiad Team and my 23^rd year overall working with the GHHS team. The history of our team goes back to 1986. Our team has won 22 regional championships, 16 state championships, and three national championships. We have competed at the National Science Olympiad tournament each of the last 22 years and we have never placed lower than 12^th in the nation. In 2012, we finished in first place at the GVSU regional tournament, first place at the Michigan state tournament and third place at the national tournament at the University of Central Florida -Orlando.

2013 Science Olympiad Dates

March 23^rd, Michigan Region 12 Science Olympiad Tournament at Grand Valley State University – Grand Haven High School First Place

April 27^th, Michigan Science Olympiad State Tournament at Michigan State University – Grand Haven High School First Place

May 18^th, National Science Olympiad Tournament at Wright State University, Dayton, Ohio

GRAND HAVEN HIGH SCHOOL SCIENCE OLYMPIAD

A TRADITION OF EXCELLENCE

What is the Science Olympiad?

(Taken from the National Science Olympiad website)

The Science Olympiad is an international 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. These goals are accomplished through classroom activities, research, training workshops and the encouragement of intramural, district, regional, state and national tournaments. The Science Olympiad tournaments are rigorous academic interscholastic competitions that consist of a series of individual and team events that students prepare for during the year. The competitions follow the format of popular board games, TV shows and athletic games. These challenging and motivational events are well balanced between the various science disciplines of biology, earth science, chemistry, physics, computers and technology. There is also a balance between events requiring knowledge of science facts, concepts, processes, skills and science applications. In addition, during the day there are open house activities that consist of science and mathematics demonstrations, activities and career counseling sessions conducted by professors and scientists at the host institution occurring concurrently with the events.

Many states and regions have organized physics, biology or chemistry Olympiads, but few have combined all disciplines in one large Olympiad. The excitement of many students from all science areas competing and cheering one another on to greater learning caused one school district to coin the phrase "intellete". When they searched for a place to house their newly won Olympiad State Championship trophy, the only location available was outside the principal's office in the "athlete" showcase, so they convinced the school board to build an "intellete" showcase. An intellete is any person who demonstrates outstanding performance in an academic or intellectual pursuit (in this case, science). One of the goals of the Science Olympiad is to elevate science education and learning to a level of enthusiasm and support that is normally reserved only for varsity sports programs.

The Science Olympiad Mission:

To improve the quality of K-12 science education throughout the nation.

The Science Olympiad Vision to accomplish this mission is:

1.To create a passion for learning science by supporting elementary and secondary Science Olympiad tournaments at building, district, county, state and national levels with an emphasis on teamwork and a commitment to excellence.

2.To improve the quality of K-12 science education throughout the nation to change the way science is perceived and the way it is taught (with an emphasis on problem solving skills and hand-on, minds-on constructivist learning practices). This goal is accomplished through in-depth core curriculum training workshops and the distribution of curriculum materials to thousand of teachers.

3.To celebrate and recognize the outstanding achievement of both students and teachers in the areas of science and technology by awarding thousand of certificates, medals and scholarships.

4.To promote partnerships among community, businesses, industry, government and education. There are over 45,000 volunteers representing these groups at the Science Olympiad events.

5.To improve and restructure the way science is taught and learned by conducting staff development and curriculum development workshops.

The specific purposes of the Science Olympiad Tournaments are:

1.To bring science to life, to show how science works, to emphasize problem solving aspects of science and the understanding of science concepts.

2.To develop teamwork and cooperative learning strategies among students.

3.To make science education more exciting so more students will enroll in science courses and engage in other science activities like science reading, fairs, meetings and field trips.

4.To promote high levels of achievement and a commitment to excellence, to demonstrate that American students can perform at levels that surpasses expectations of even practicing scientists and engineers.

5.To attract more students particularly females and minorities to professional and technical careers in science, technology and science teaching.

Science Olympiad and Grand Haven High School

The first Science Olympiad team at Grand Haven High School was in 1986. No one knew how big Science Olympiad would become at Grand Haven High School. The 1986 team won first place in their first regional tournament, and as the saying goes, the rest is history. Grand Haven High School Science Olympiad teams have won tournaments at the regional, state, and national levels. In fact, the Grand Haven High School teams have won 22 regional tournaments (the last 9 in a row), 16 state tournaments (the last 8 in a row and the most of any high school team in Michigan), and three national tournaments as well as having five second place finishes and two third place finishes and three fourth place finishes at the national tournament (that is, 13 top four finishes in 22 consecutive years of competing at the national tournament). Science Olympiad teams from Grand Haven High School have competed in 22 consecutive national tournaments and have an average place of just over 4.7 against teams from across the United States. Very few high school Science Olympiad teams in the country can match the record compiled by the Grand Haven High School Science Olympiad teams.

What does it take to be part of the Grand Haven High School Science Olympiad Team?

To be part of the best Science Olympiad team in the state and one of the best teams in the country takes many hours of study and preparation. We are looking for students who can dedicate and commit to putting all of their efforts into making the Grand Haven High School Science Olympiad team the best team. We are looking for students who have a great interest in science and technology and have excellent academic preparation. We need students who are self-motivated, responsible, honest, mature, and have a thirst for knowledge. We need students who can follow directions easily and who can work well with others.

Students on the Science Olympiad team spend at least one hour per week with a coach and the other team members for each academic event in which they are practicing. Outside studying is a necessity for success in Science Olympiad. Students must learn as much as they can about their events in a short amount of time. Practices begin in December and go until the end of the national tournament. The regional tournament is normally held at the end of March at Grand Valley State University. The state tournament is normally held at the end of April at Michigan State University. The national tournament is usually held the third Saturday of May at a different university around the country each year.

For more information about the Grand Haven High School Science Olympiad team please contact Mr. Reed, the head coach of the Grand Haven High School Science Olympiad team, at 616-850-6245 or e-mail at reed@ghaps.org

Regional Tournament Results	State Tournament Results	National Tournament Results
1986 1^st 1987 4^th 1988 2^nd 1989 2^nd 1990 1^st 1991 1^st 393 points 1992 1^st 417 points 1993 1^st 411 points 1994 1^st 426 points 1995 1^st 444 points 1996 1^st 435 points 1997 1^st 388 points 1998 2^nd 411 points 1999 1^st 435 points 2000 2^nd 419 points 2001 1^st 104 points 2002 1^st 105 points 2003 1^st 118 points 2004 3^rd 101 points 2005 1^st 64 points 2006 1^st 68 points 2007 1^st 59 points 2008 1^st 67 points 2009 1^st 98 points 2010 1^st 85 points 2011 1^st 43 points 2012 1^st 66 points 2013 1^st 60 points	1986 8^th 1987 15^th 1988 8^th 1989 3^rd 1990 9^th 1991 2^nd 315 points 1992 2^nd 316 points 1993 2^nd 285 points 1994 2^nd 341 points 1995 1^st 395 points 1996 1^st 369 points 1997 1^st 386 points 1998 2^nd 332 points 1999 1^st 547points 2000 1^st 556 points 2001 2^nd 245 points 2002 1^st 223 points 2003 1^st 196 points 2004 1^st 161 points 2005 2^nd 185 points 2006 1^st 124 points 2007 1^st 118 points 2008 1^st 169 points 2009 1^st 180 points 2010 1^st 116 points 2011 1^st 85 points 2012 1^st 136 points 2013 1^st 159 points	1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 10^th 78 points 1992 8^th 75 points 1993 1^st 106 points 1994 1^st 345 points 1995 4^th 306 points 1996 2^nd 390 points 1997 1^st 367 points 1998 4^th 618 points 1999 4^th 575 points 2000 6^th 625 points 2001 9^th 437 points 2002 9^th 438 points 2003 12^th 418 points 2004 2^nd 311 points 2005 7^th 397 points 2006 2^nd 212 points 2007 3^rd 251 points 2008 6^th 321 points 2009 2^nd 205 points 2010 2^nd 212 points 2011 6^th 293 points 2012 3^rd 235 points 2013