April 10, 2018

Final Scores
The final scores for the 2018 Southern California State Science Olympiad are attached. Tabulation errors were found in Electric Wright Stuff C (Trial) and the final scores reflect this change. There are no changes to the overall team scores. Congratulations to Jeffrey Trail Middle School and Troy High School, who will be representing SoCal at the upcoming National Tournament!

Feedback Survey
Please fill out this feedback form if you have any complaints about and/or suggestions for the tournament:

Pictures
The link to download pictures from during the day and the awards ceremony has been sent to the head coach of each team. They will be available online until June 10th.

Graduating Seniors
If you are a graduating senior interested in volunteering next year, email us at scioly@caltech.edu. You do not have to be attending Caltech or a local college next year - we can connect you to tournament officials in other states as well.

Certificates of Excellence and Appreciation
The head coaches have been emailed the Certificates of Excellence and Appreciation for their use.

2018 Socal Summer Workshop
We will be hosting the 6th Annual SoCal Summer Workshop on July 14th, 2018. It is a condensed, one day version of the Science Olympiad Summer Institute hosted in Phoenix, Arizona each summer. This is the perfect place for coaches and tournament officials to learn more about 2018 events and to give feedback on these draft rules. More information can be found here.

April 7, 2018

The preliminary results for the 2018 Southern California State Science Olympiad Tournament are posted and they are subject to review. Head coaches have until Monday, April 9th at 5:00pm to submit any questions/concerns or issues regarding the Preliminary Scores. As a reminder, this period is only for tabulation questions (e.g. your team received a no show when your team was there). The scores will be considered finalized when they are posted on the State website following this review period.

March 26, 2018

Clarification Deadline:
The deadline to submit clarification questions is Wednesday, March 28th, 5:00pm. Any questions submitted after that time will not be answered. All clarifications will be final on Monday, April 2nd, 11:59 PM, after which there will not be any more clarifications posted.

ESUS Deadline:
The deadline to sign up/modify ESUS time slots is this Friday, March 30th at 6:00 PM. Please check here to see other teams who might want to swap time slots.

Game On C Asset Submission:
- The theme for Game On C for the 2018 Southern California State Tournament is "geology".
- Submitting files is optional and there will be no score penalty if a team chooses not to submit files in advance. However, teams should keep in mind that quality and originality of sprites and backgrounds is a component of the score, and that preparing files in advance can allow more time for other tasks during the competition.
- The deadline for submitting pre-made sprites and backgrounds to gameon@socalstatescioly.org is Friday, March 30, at 11:59 PM.
- When submitting, provide your team number and team name (ex: C01 Socal High School).
- Only image files will be accepted (no .sprite2 files or other); "sprite" and "background" refers only to images, and not to sounds or code that may be included in .sprite2 files.
- Acceptable formats:
1. a link to Dropbox / Google drive / online hosting where the images are stored
2. attachment of individual images to the email
3. archive format (like a .zip file) containing multiple images
- All game images must be in formats that can be imported by Scratch.
- Submitted images must not be password protected or encrypted.
- There will be a folder for each team on every computer station containing the submitted files. Each team will have access to and may use every team's submitted assets.
- If submitted content was not created by the team members (i.e. downloaded from the internet), the source of the material must be cited and proof must be given that the material is under a creative commons / similar royalty-free license.
- Teams may revise their submissions with additional emails up until the submission deadline.

March 21, 2018

Self-Scheduled Online Sign Up:
Thank you to all of you who have signed up. At this point, most teams have signed up for event times. We understand that some teams may want to exchange times, so we have created a spreadsheet for teams to seek out other teams for exchanging times. If two teams agree to switch times, please send an email (cc the other team) to esus@socalstatescioly.org prior to the deadline for the online signup (Friday, March 30th at 6:00PM).

Certificate of Insurance:
Please either email the Certificate of Insurance to insurance@socalstatescioly.org, or mail it to the following address:
Southern California Science Olympiad
4321 W. 168th St.
Lawndale, CA 90260

Detector Building B (Trial) Update:
Additional information has been provided for the Detector Building B event in the rules.

Deadline for Rules Clarifications:
As a reminder, 5:00 PM Wednesday, March 28th is the deadline to request a rules clarification. This is a week from today.

March 15, 2018

Self-Scheduled Online Sign Up (ESUS):
The head coach of each team should have received an email from noreply@esus.socalscioly.org with the username and password earlier today, Thursday, March 15, around 4:15 PM. If you're the registered head coach of a team but did not receive your login information, please email esus@socalstatescioly.org.

Certificate of Insurance:
In case your risk management is asking for a mailing address for the Certificate of Insurance, please use the following:
Southern California Science Olympiad
4321 W. 168th St.
Lawndale, CA 90260

Game On C - Submission Deadline:
The deadline for submitting pre-made sprites and backgrounds to gameon@socalstatescioly.org is Friday, March 30, at 11:59 PM.

Bookstore New Location:
The Caltech Bookstore has been moved to a new location - the first floor of the Millikan Library. This is right by Bechtel Mall, one of the home base locations. The bookstore is open from 8:30 AM to 5:00 PM in case you want to take advantage of the 15% discount for Science Olympiad teams!

Tournament Map:
We have added a tournament map.

Restrooms:
Please note that restrooms are available in most buildings that we're using for the tournament, and are shown on the Tournament Map. There is also a gender neutral restroom located in the Sherman Fairchild Library, to the east of Dabney Hall. The Sherman Fairchild Library will be open during the duration of the tournament for our use.

March 13, 2018

The 33rd annual Southern California State Science Olympiad will be hosted on the campuses of the California Institute of Technology and the Polytechnic School in Pasadena, CA on Saturday, April 7th, 2018.

Online Registration (Time Sensitive):
The form for registration for the State Tournament has been sent to the email address provided by the Regional Directors for those teams advancing to the State Tournament. Please fill out the form provided in the email to register your team by Wednesday, March 14th at 5pm. This is how we will confirm that you are receiving our emails and updates and are planning to attend the upcoming program. Please note that you do not need to submit the names of students, alternates, or parent volunteers during registration at this time, so please register ASAP. Only the first submission will be accepted, so please coordinate with any co-coaches.

Spring Break Recess:
We understand that many of you will be on Spring Break in the upcoming weeks. Please note that any updates will be sent to both your email address and posted online. Please ask your students to check the web page during their Spring Break, especially if you will not be able to relay relevant information to the team.

Certificate of Liability Coverage (Urgent and Time Sensitive Follow-Up):
The Southern California Science Olympiad, the California Institute of Technology, and the Polytechnic School require that your school/district provide us with a "Certificate of Liability Insurance" or "Evidence of Coverage" Certificate in order to attend and participate in the April 7th, 2018 State Science Olympiad program being held on the campuses of the California Institute of Technology and the Polytechnic School in Pasadena, CA.

Please request from your district/school/risk management office the insurance coverage for your team's participation in the State Science Olympiad 2018 program.

Insurance Certificate Language: (Certificate of Liability Insurance or Evidence of Coverage Certificate)
Certificate Holder:
Southern California Science Olympiad and their directors, officers, agents, employees and volunteers.
Additional Insured: The California Institute of Technology, its officers, agents, employees, and volunteers of each of them, the Polytechnic School, its officers, agents, employees, and volunteers of each of them, and the Southern California Science Olympiad, its officers, agents, employees, and volunteers of each of them.

If a district has more than one school participating in the upcoming program, one certificate for all the participating schools in a district can be issued providing all of the participating schools are named in the "Certificate of Liability" or "Evidence of Coverage" Certificate that is provided. Please contact Ed Rodevich at edrodevich@socalstatescioly.org or at 714-280-2681 if there are questions.

Once completed, you or your school district must e-mail a pdf copy of the Certificate of Liability to insurance@socalstatescioly.org

Schedule and Team Numbers:
The preliminary schedule and the team numbers are posted. While we do not expect any major changes to the schedule at this point, we will let you know if there are any updates to the schedule and send you a pre-final schedule a few days before the program. As we update the schedule, the one posted on this web page will also be updated. A final schedule will be provided on the day of the event for each team.

Please note that there will be 2 trial events in each division this year; their rules can be found here. The trial events do not count toward the team total but medals will be awarded. Any students from your school, including but not limited to the 15 official members, may participate in these events. These students will not receive or need wristbands but they must fill out all the forms as required for the 15 member teams as well as be listed on the team roster.

Integrated Digital Schedule and Map
https://app.socalscioly.org/
We're excited to announce the development of a WebApp that should facilitate your participation at the upcoming State Science Olympiad. This is a field test of the WebApp and I invite you to check it out.
- Event Locations will show approximate locations within the building. It will use your phone's GPS to navigate and should help your team find their way around campus.
- Schedule: Team members can save their own events in a personalized schedule.
Note: Although the information in the app has been reviewed and updated to match the Preliminary Schedule, rooms and venues are subject to change. Any last minute changes may not be reflected in this app. Any published schedule or announced changes overrule anything in the app.

15 Official Team Members Roster Requirement:
Our current practice at the Southern California State Science Olympiad is for the head coach of the team to bring and submit a final official roster of participating students (15 member team and students participating in the Trial Events) on the day of the tournament during the morning check-in time. The head coach needs to also submit any of the various release or code of ethics forms that are required. If there is a change in the composition of the team, this is simply recorded on the roster that you bring on the day of the event.

Wristbands will be provided for your team members. You will receive up to fifteen (15) wristbands, depending on the size of your team, when you check-in. Please be aware that there is no maximum or minimum number of events that a given student must compete in at the State Tournament. We are aware that teams may employ an organizational system that includes maximum or minimum numbers in order to manage the team and schedule, but that is not a requirement of the State Science Olympiad program. Please make sure you check the National Science Olympiad guidelines here on who can be on your 15 member team.

We do not expect schools to substitute team members during the tournament. However, if an emergency should arise and a student on your team is unable to compete, you should discuss that situation with a member of the Executive Steering Committee on the day of the event.

No Practicing at Polytechnic or Caltech
Please remind your parents and teams that practicing your devices on Polytechnic Campus and Caltech Campus are strictly prohibited prior to the tournament. Teams should arrive no earlier than 7 AM on Saturday, the time which we have received a city permit to host this event. We're grateful that Caltech and Polytechnic are willing to host the State Tournament and that they've committed to sharing their staff and selected facilities on Saturday, April 7th. Research and classes are still ongoing and it is not acceptable to come onto campus to practice in the gyms or other facilities. Please do not jeopardize the possibility of having Caltech and Polytechnic host this and other Science Olympiad events in the future and do not risk your team being penalized. Pictures of each event venue are available here

Online Sign Up for Self Scheduled Events (Time Sensitive):
We will be using the Event Sign Up System (ESUS), for the self-scheduled events sign ups. The links to access the self-schedule sign up are:
Division B
Division C

Usernames and passwords will be emailed to the head coach of the team on March 15th. If you do not receive the username and password by Friday, March 16th, please contact us immediately because the self-scheduled event online sign up will open Wednesday, March 21st at noon, and will close on Friday, March 30th at 6:00 PM, and you will NOT be able to sign up for these events after it closes. The available timeblocks for official events are the first 4 timeblocks: 08:30 - 09:30, 09:45 - 10:45, 11:00 - 12:00, and 12:15 - 13:15. The timeblocks for Electric Wright Stuff (Trial) are the last 3 timeblocks: 12:15 - 13:15, 13:30 - 14:30, and 14:45 - 15:45. For technical issues, please contact esus@socalstatescioly.org

Sign up for each event is on a first come, first serve basis starting at the date and time listed above. Each team should sign up for one of the timeblocks for each of the events they are interested in participating. Each timeblock is 1 hour long. On the day of the event, all of the teams should show up to their event during their selected timeblock and demonstrate/test their device according to the rules. The order in which the teams within the timeblock demonstrate/test their device will be done on a first come, first serve basis. It is advantageous for teams to get to the event at the beginning of their timeblock so that they do not have to wait for as many teams.

Important Note:
Mission Possible C: Teams must show up during the timeblock they sign up for in Mission Possible C to start their 30 minute set up. If students have to leave immediately after the timeblock is over, they should show up early to make sure they have sufficient time to run their device and get to their next event. Students should check with the Event Supervisors to see when they can start setting up. Please note that because of the setup time, a team that arrives in the middle of the timeblock may have their 30 minutes of setup time and their 3-minute run time go over into the following timeblock.

Parent Volunteer Assignments
The parent volunteer assignments are now posted. Teams must have 1 adult volunteer present for the entire duration listed for the given event. Coaches can either ask 1 parent volunteer to complete it or 2 parent volunteers to split up the time. Please make sure to let your parent volunteers know when and where they need to be on the day of the event. There are no cards or papers to sign. When they report to the assignment, they need to let the event supervisor(s) know that they're a parent volunteer and which school they're representing. If you have any questions regarding your assignment, please let us know.

Hosting Campus Location and Parking:
The physical addresses and maps of Caltech and Polytechnic School are listed below:
Caltech: 1200 E. California Blvd., Pasadena, CA 91125
Polytechnic School: 1030 E California Blvd, Pasadena, CA 91106

Parking is free within Caltech in any of the parking structures (Structure 1 (building 123), Structure 2 (building 124), Structure 3 (building 126), and Structure 4 (building 66)). Please follow all traffic signage posts and do not park in the surface lots or any 24-hour reserved spots. We're applying for a permit from City of Pasadena for a location for bus parking.
Note that there is new construction on campus and many of the surface lots are gone. Please do NOT park in any of the remaining surface lots as they are reserved for Caltech staff and employees working on Saturday.

Note that there are several buildings with similar names:
-Beckman Institute Auditorium (building 74) is where Dynamic Planet B/C take place.
Beckman Auditorium (building 91) is only for the award ceremony.
Dabney Hall (building 40) is where Mission Possible C takes place.
Dabney House (building 58) is not being used by the Science Olympiad.
Gates Annex (building 26) is where Astronomy C and Solar System B take place.
Gates-Thomas (building 44) is not being used by the Science Olympiad.
Keck Laboratories (building 78) is where Disease Detectives C and Ecology C take place.
Keck Center (building 127) is not being used by the Science Olympiad.

Check-In on the Day of the Tournament:
Head Coach Check-in is from 7:15 AM to 8:15 AM on April 7th, 2018 immediately west of the Millikan Library, the tallest building on campus. The city permit for this event does not begin until 7:00 AM. Please do not arrive on campus until 7:00 AM; there is no overnight camping on campus. The head coach of the team should go to the registration area to check in and turn in registration materials. The registration materials we're expecting are:
-Final team roster with the participants' names and grade levels
-Release form for all minors: participants, non-participating students, guests of the school who are under 18
-Release form for all adults: participants, non-participating students, chaperones, parents, coaches, volunteers, and guests of the school who are 18 years old or above.

If an event requires impound, the device must be impounded during the time stated in the schedule. Teams will not need wristbands to impound their devices since the impound period is the same as the period when the head coach checks in and receives wristbands. However, per the rules, all devices must still be impounded by one or more of the 15 official team members. Parents or other non-participants may not impound devices for their team, but they may accompany the team members to help transport or carry things.

Participants in Fast Facts B also will not need wristbands, but must be on the official 15-member team.

Home Base Areas: Due to construction, the locations for some of the home base areas have been moved. We're in the process of getting a permit from the City of Pasadena to use the two lawns for the home base areas. We hope to provide each team with a 25 ft x 20ft area (blue squares on the maps below); each team may bring up to two 10 ft x 10 ft tents (red squares on the maps), pending approval. Once the permit has been approved, we will assign teams to an area. Here is the preliminary home base map for teams.

All shade canopies must be constructed from a flame retardant material and must be tagged indicating compliance. The Fire Marshal may check for these tags and may require that canopies not in compliance be removed. Per city regulations, there must be a minimum of 5 ft between neighboring tents, and each tent must have a total of 160 lbs anchorage distributed amongst the 4 legs. Stakes are NOT allowed to be used to hold the tents down due to electrical wiring underground. Please be respectful of neighboring teams. The sidewalks are fire lanes, so please keep the sidewalks clear (including extension cables).

Open Flames:
Cooking and any open flames are prohibited due to safety regulations. Under no circumstances should you cook or reheat food during the day.

Food Availability:
Coffee and pastries will be available in the Red Cafe starting at 6:30 AM and lunch items will be available in Chandler Cafe from 9:00 AM to 3:00 PM.

Admissions Info Session:
Caltech Admissions will hold an informational session for students, parents, and coaches from 4:05 to 5:00 PM in East Bridge Lecture Hall Rm 201. Those interested in applying to or attending Caltech in the future should attend the info session.

Bookstore:
The Caltech Bookstore will be open from 8:30 AM - 5:00 PM on the of day the tournament, with exclusive Caltech/Science Olympiad merchandise available for purchase. There will be a 15% discount starting now until the day of the tournament.

Wheelchair Accessibility:
Please let us know if anyone on your team requires wheelchair access.

Emergency Contact Information:
In case of a medical emergency, please call (626) 395-5000 or the extension x5000 if yoú're using a campus phone. Messages can be emailed or texted to 5000@caltech.edu from your computer or phone. Campus security works with the city emergency services so that they can be directed to the correct location in the shortest possible time.

Science Olympiad Code of Ethics & General Rules:
Please review with your students and parents the Science Olympiad Code of Ethics & General Rules.

Photography on the Day of the Event:
We will have media and official photographers on the day of the tournament. If your student(s) wish not to be in photos/videos on the day of the event, they should be instructed to remove themselves from the photo, videos, and/or interview situation to avoid compromising the information for broadcasting and newscasts.

Please note that teams can only photograph or videotape a device if the device belongs to the photographer's affiliated school. In the case that a team wants to take pictures of another school's device(s), permission from the owner of the device(s) must be given. Please refer to the National Science Olympiad Media Recommendation. If your team has a unique design that you do not want other teams to use, please make sure you protect it by covering the device in some manner.

Awards Ceremony:
All attendees of the awards ceremony will be required to show a wristband of their division. During the morning check-in, head coaches will receive up to 15 wristbands of blue (Div B) or yellow (Div C) for each team depending on the number of students they have. They will also receive in their packet 19 additional color coded wristbands. Only those with the proper wristband will be admitted into the ceremony for the respective division. In order to make sure those who are not able to get into the awards ceremony still have the opportunity to share the experience of the awards ceremony, the ceremony will also be livestreamed on the SoCal state webpage. This livestream will be displayed in the Feynman Lecture Hall in Bridge 201.

Event Clarifications:
Please submit all rules clarification questions by filling out this form. The only clarifications we will be following will be the ones posted here. All clarification questions we answer will be automatically posted on the web page.

The deadline to submit clarification questions is Wednesday, March 28th, 5:00pm. Any questions submitted after that time will not be answered. All clarifications will be final on Monday, April 2nd, 11:59 PM, after which there will not be any more clarifications posted.

Wright Stuff B, Helicopters C, and Electric Wright Stuff C Venue Dimensions:
Wright Stuff B and Electric Wright Stuff C will take place in Polytechnic School - Scott Gym and the dimensions are: 25 m x 32 m x 9 m high.
Helicopters C will take place in Avery House - Dining Hall Fireplace and the cleared area for vehicle launch is about 4 meters in diameter and 11 m high. The top down layout is posted here.

Game On C:
The theme for Game On C for the 2018 Southern California State Tournament is "geology". Pre-made sprites and backgrounds should be submitted to gameon@socalstatescioly.org.

Detector Building B (Trial):
The environmental variable to be measured for Detector Building B (Trial) is "water temperature".

Feburary 13, 2018

The 2018 Trial Events are Code Busters B, Detector Building B, Protein Modeling C, and Electric Wright Stuff C. The Trial Event rules can be downloaded here. The schedule has now been updated to reflect this.

November 5, 2017

The 2018 Southern California Science Olympiad Tournament will be hosted by Caltech and Polytechnic School again this year on April 7, 2018! We're excited to be back! The schedule has now been updated to reflect this.

October 30, 2017

The 2018 Southern California Science Olympiad Tournament will be using the Official National List with no changes for Herpetology B/C.

October 18, 2017

Helicopter C and Wright Stuff B will require eye protection B as described by the National Science Olympiad Eye Protection Policies.

Sept 21, 2017

Game On 2018 Changes:

Southern California Science Olympiad will be using this scoring rubric. Partial credit will be applicable for all portions of the grading rubric (e.g. half points).

Each team will be allowed to create their own sprites and backgrounds for the competition. If teams are planning to use sprites and backgrounds from the Internet, then they must be under creative commons or royalty free. It is recommended that teams create their own sprites and backgrounds themselves using Scratch. These sprites and backgrounds will be provided in folders labeled by team name on the day of the competition, however the contents of these folders will be accessible to all participants.

Information regarding the theme and submission method will be announced in March. Late submissions are not allowed, and teams will not be allowed to bring sprites and backgrounds on the day of the competition. All sprites and backgrounds will be reviewed prior to the deadline. In the event that the submitted material is unacceptable, the team will be promptly notified.

Sept 5, 2017

Registration for the 2017-2018 Southern California Science Olympiad is now opened. Register your team here. The 2018 tentative state schedule is posted here. New this year, the rules are available online for free at store.soinc.org.