Communique 6 April 18, 2023

The final scores for the 2024 Southern California State Science Olympiad: - Division B - Division C In Division B, the rankings for Air Trajectory and Experimental Design were updated. Team Rankings for Division B changed, but not in the top 6. There were no changes to Division C scores.
Congratulations to Sierra Vista Middle School and Troy High School, who will be representing SoCal at the upcoming National Tournament!

Please fill out this feedback form and ask your students to do so as well.

Pictures from during the day and the awards ceremony will be available next week. We�ll send the link when this becomes available.

Please ask your seniors who are interested in volunteering next year to email our Event Supervisor Coordinator, Antonio Velasco. They don't have to be attending Caltech or a local college next year - we can connect them to tournament officials in other states too.

We�re working with the National Office on potential workshops this summer. We do not have any confirmation as of now but will keep everyone updated as soon as we have additional information.

Thank you again for all that you do for the students and the program, and we look forward to seeing you at the local tournaments next year!

Communique 5 - Preliminary Scores April 6, 2024

The preliminary results for the 2024 Southern California State Science Olympiad Tournament are posted in the Downloads section below and they are subject to review. Head coaches have until Monday, April 8th at 5:00PM to submit any questions/concerns or issues regarding the Preliminary Scores by emailing kevinkha@socalscioly.org. 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.

Awards Livestream April 6, 2024

Communqiue 4 April 5, 2024

As we approach this year's State Tournament, please remind your team (students, parents, and guests) of the following:

• Do not park or arrive on campus until 7:00 AM. The Fire Marshal will be there, and the permit for the event does not start until 7:00 AM.
• Please remind team members and guests to stay near the base camp. It is okay to enjoy the campus outdoors, but please do not wander around within buildings as research is taking place even on weekends. Because we are borrowing shared building spaces, please keep noise levels to a minimum to be respectful to those working and carrying out research in the other parts of the building.
• Food and drinks are not allowed inside academic buildings. Food will be available for sale in Browne Dining Hall throughout the event.
• Do not photograph or take videos of another team's device without their permission.
• Review the Code of Conduct and Media Recommendation.

The final schedule and team numbers have been 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. As we update the schedule, the schedule on the Map App will also be updated.

This will be tested at the Regional level. As a reminder, students must bring a laptop and may also bring mice/keyboards.

Please note that restrooms are available in most buildings that we're using for the tournament, and are shown on the Tournament Map. From the home bases, the closest restrooms to Beckman Lawn are in Baxter, Red Door Cafe, and Beckman Institute. From Bechtel Mall, the closest restrooms are in Kerckhoff, East Bridge, and Crellin/Gates. Food Availability

Browne Dining Hall 9:00 AM - 3:00 PM: food and beverage service
Red Door 3:00 PM - 2:00 AM: food and beverage service

Due to construction, the home base locations have been changed for Teams C19, C21, C22, C23, C24 to Parsons/Gates Lawn and can be seen on the tournament map.

Parking is free in any of the Caltech parking structures shown on the map above (North Wilson, South Wilson, California, and Holliston). Do not park or drop off in the surface lots or any 24-hour named/reserved spots. Surface lots will require parking passes. Street parking around Polytechnic School is either restricted to 1 hour or no parking. Please follow all traffic signage posts. Tickets will be issued for any violators.

When the head coach arrives on the morning of the event, they should submit all of the following in an envelope at the check-in table on the south side of Beckman Auditorium:

• Team Roster with the official team of 15 participants from the school
• Release Forms for everyone affiliated with the team who will be on campus that day

In case of a medical emergency, dial 5000 from any campus telephone. Security can respond much quicker than Pasadena emergency services and will make this notification as necessary.

On the day of the event, this is the number for quick procedural issues (Event Supervisor is missing for an event, Event Supervisor asking for student ID to let students in, Event Supervisors not allowing certain items that should be allowed, etc.) In general, call this number to get something fixed quickly (not to appeal).

If your team needs to file an appeal, the head coach must submit an online appeal form here.

All the Event Clarifications that we will be following for the upcoming 2024 Southern California State Science Olympiad Tournament have been posted and can be downloaded at the clarifications ta. Please note that these are the only clarifications we will be utilizing at the tournament, in addition to the rules found in the rules manual.

We will provide you with a trash bag at check-in. Please be courteous and help pick up any trash in your area as a way of thanking the school for their hospitality and help in hosting this year's program. The goal is to keep the grounds free of any debris and trash and restore it to its pre-event condition before our arrival. Thanks for your help and support in making this possible.

Caltech Admissions will hold a 1-hour informational session for students, parents, and coaches at 11 AM in Beckman Institute 134 Auditorium. Due to limited seating, only the first 200 guests will be allowed. A Caltech admissions officer will talk about opportunities and the admissions process, with plenty of time for Q&A. Please note that this is in Room 134 Auditorium of Beckman Institute, which is different from Beckman Auditorium where Awards will be. Those who attend the 11AM session will receive a wristband for a walking tour of campus at 1:30pm, departing from Beckman Institute East Arches. The campus tours are open to all, but priority will be given to those with wristbands from the Admissions Talk.

Coaches have been notified if their school was selected by lottery for a Caltech lab tour. All lab tours will depart from in front of Beckman Auditorium at their assigned time. 19 students (15 competitors and 4 alternates) with wristbands will be allowed on the tour. Lab tour assignments are linked here.

Participants are invited to Caltech scientist, Dr. Spiros Michalakis' talk, “The Real Science Behind Marvel's Quantum Realm” happening at 4pm at the Beckman Institute Auditorium. Come hear from the Caltech scientist who introduced the Quantum Realm into the Marvel Cinematic Universe about the very real science behind concepts like quantum superposition and quantum entanglement.

The Awards Ceremony will be separated by division: Div B 5:30 PM-6:30 PM, Div C 6:30 PM-7:30 PM. Doors will open at ~4:45 PM for the Div B Awards. All attendees of the awards ceremony will be required to show a wristband of their division. Each team will receive the following wristbands:

• 15 wristbands for the 15 member official team members - will be seated in the front section of the auditorium. (B: Blue | C: Yellow)
• 4 wristbands for the trial event participants and 1 wristband for the coach - will be seated in the front section of the auditorium. (B: Purple | C: Orange)
• 14 wristbands for other guests of the team - will be seated in the balcony section or the back of the first floor. (B: Green | C: Red)

Due to the limited availability of seating in Beckman Auditorium, we will livestream the Awards Ceremony. The livestream may be viewed from this webpage on the day of the tournament or in the Feynman Lecture Hall in East Bridge 201.

Preliminary scores will be posted for review in the downloads section and on Duosmium by the end of Saturday, April 6th and they are subject to review. Head coaches have until Monday, April 8th at 5:00 pm to submit any questions, concerns, or issues regarding the Preliminary Scores to kevinkha@socalscioly.org. The scores will be considered finalized when they are posted following a review period.

We look forward to seeing you and your team on April 6th at Caltech. We wish you a very successful visit, filled with enthusiasm, praiseworthy conduct, personal integrity, and a wonderful learning experience. We exhort your team to once again utilize and uphold the rich traditions embodied by the Science Olympiad program. Best wishes to you and all the members of your team and supporting community.

Communqiue 3 March 28, 2024

Schedule
The latest version of the schedule (v3) has been uploaded. Please note that the locations have changed for many events.

Tournament Map
The tournament map can be found here. We have marked the location of each building/event on the map. Please share this with your participants and guests to help them navigate the campus. Although the information in the app has been reviewed and updated to match the Preliminary Schedule, rooms and venues are subject to change.
- Zooming in will show the approximate location of the room within the building.
- Clicking on rooms/buildings will show when and what events are taking place.
- Clicking on rooms will also show what floor the room is on.
- There are rooms in basements; "B1xx" would be a room in the first basement level, "B2xx" would be in the sub-basement (2 levels down from ground level).

Team Home Bases
Team home base locations have been assigned and can be viewed in the tournament map above. Please note that there are two home base areas, Bechtel Mall and Beckman Mall. Home base areas will be marked by flags on the day of the tournament to help teams determine their area.
Follow the instructions from the Fire Marshal regarding tents. As a reminder, each 10'x10' tent requires 160lb of anchorage and there is absolutely no use of stakes because of electrical lines running under the grass. Please see these guidelines on tents.

[T] Agricultural Science
Part A: Students will be tested on YEAR 1 topics.
Part B: Students will still be expected to have performed an agricultural experiment and submit a "notebook". The notebook may just be a printed document - it does not need to be actual notes or a bound notebook. No impound is required; students should just bring their notebook to the event when they go to compete.

Communique 2 March 22, 2024

Self-Schedule Event Sign-Up opens today Friday, March 24th at 5:00 PM. The login info was sent out around 2:00 PM yesterday from esus@socalscioly.org. If the head coach of the team has not received the username and password by now, please contact us immediately at esus@socalscioly.org. Self-Scheduled Sign Up will close on Friday, March 31st at 5:00 PM.

The parent volunteer assignments are now posted below in the downloads section. 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 2 hours. 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. Parent Volunteers should report directly to the assignment (not check in table), they need to let the event supervisor(s) know which school they're representing and that they're a parent volunteer. If you have any questions regarding your assignment, please let us know.

As a reminder, there can be a maximum of seven 12th graders on a Div C team and five 9th graders on a Div B team. This applies only to the official 15-member team. There can be additional 12th graders/9th graders listed as alternates and they can replace one of the official 15-member team members the morning of the tournament as long as the total number of 12th graders/9th graders stays within the maximum limit. Those participating in the trial events do not have to follow the maximum 12th/9th grader limit as the scores for the trial events do not impact team ranking.

For teams participating in the Trial Event Engineering CAD, please be sure to bring only 1 laptop per team to the event. More instructions for this event will be coming next week.

Communique 1 March 17, 2024

Congratulations and welcome to the 39th annual Southern California State Science Olympiad hosted on the campuses of the California Institute of Technology and the Polytechnic School in Pasadena, CA on Saturday, April 6th, 2024. Below, you will find some important and useful information about the upcoming program. Please be aware that some of these items are time-sensitive and require immediate attention!

Online Registration (Time Sensitive):
The team registration form has been emailed to the head coach of each team. Please fill out the form to register your team by Thursday, March 21st at 5 pm. This is how we will confirm that you are receiving our emails and updates and are planning to attend the upcoming program. You can also add the contact information for one co-coach and one team email, so we have more than one way to contact your team since many of you will be on break. 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 here during their Spring Break, especially if you will not be able to relay relevant information to the team. You can also add the contact information for one co-coach and one team email in the online registration form.

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 6th, 2024 SoCal State Science Olympiad program being held on the campuses of the California Institute of Technology and the Polytechnic School in Pasadena, CA.

Please request the insurance coverage from your district/school/risk management office for your team's participation in the 2023 State Science Olympiad 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 Peter Hung at peterhung@socalscioly.org if there are questions.

Once completed, you or your school district must e-mail a pdf copy of the Certificate of Liability to peterhung@socalscioly.org
A hard copy can also be mailed to:
Southern California Science Olympiad
4321 W. 168th St.
Lawndale, CA 90260

Schedule and Team Numbers:
An updated preliminary schedule and team numbers have been posted in the download section below. 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. As we update the schedule, the one posted on this web page will also be updated.

Trial Events
There are 2 trial events in each division this year- Agricultural Science B/C and Engineering CAD B/C. The rules for these events are in the rules manual. 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 receive wristbands and they must fill out all the forms as required for the 15-member teams as well as be listed on the team roster.

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 upon check-in. You will receive up to fifteen (15) wristbands, depending on the size of your team. Please be aware that there is no maximum or minimum number of events that any 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 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 an Event Coordinator 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 is 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 8th. 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 by clicking on the location of the event on the schedule.

Online Sign Up for Self-Scheduled Events:
We will be using the Event Sign Up System (ESUS), for the self-scheduled events sign ups.

Login information will be emailed to the head coaches of each team by 8 AM Thursday, March 21st. If you do not receive the username and password by Thursday, March 21st noon, please contact us immediately because the self-scheduled event online sign-up will open on Friday, March 22nd at 5:00 PM, and will close on Friday, March 29th at 5:00 PM.You will NOT be able to sign up for these events after it closes. For technical issues, please contact esus@socalscioly.org.

Parent Volunteer Assignments:
Each team must provide about 3.5 people-hours of volunteers on the day of the event. The assignments will not require technical knowledge of the events and may include: making sure the doors are shut for the flight events, helping with delivering lunches, checking in students, helping at the registration table, etc. Most assignments can be performed by just 1 adult volunteer for 3 hours and 30 minutes. Some assignments require having 3 adult volunteers simultaneously for 1 hour. If you can provide 3 adult volunteers for 1 hour simultaneously, please let us know immediately. Please make sure that the adult volunteer(s) do not have any conflicts of interest with their role (e.g. coaching a team in the division they're volunteering with, or having relatives competing in the division they're volunteering with).

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:
Wilson Parking Structure: 341 S Wilson Ave, Pasadena, CA 91106
South Wilson Parking Structure: 405 S Wilson Ave, Pasadena, CA 91106
Holliston Parking Structure: 372 S Holliston Ave, Pasadena, CA 91106
California Underground Parking Structure: 1240 East California Boulevard, Pasadena, CA

Please follow all traffic signage posts and do not park in the surface lots or any 24-hour reserved spots. Please do NOT park in any of the remaining surface lots as they are reserved for Caltech staff and employees working on Saturday.

Check-In on the Day of the Tournament:
Head Coach Check-in is from 7:15 AM to 8:15 AM on April 6th, 2024, south of the Beckman Auditorium (big cylindrical white building). 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 check in and turn in the following material:
- Final team roster with the participants' names and grade levels.
- Release form for all participants, non-participating students, guests of the school

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.

Home Base Areas:
We're in the process of getting a permit from the City of Pasadena to use lawn spaces as home base areas. We hope to provide each team with a 25ft x 20ft area ; each team may bring up to two 10 ft x 10 ft tents (red squares on the maps), pending approval.

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). Please see this guidelines on tents.

On the day of the event, please follow the instructions from the Fire Marshal regarding tents.

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:
Food will be availability for sale at Caltech on tournament day. Specific hours and location of operations will be include in the next update.

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 you'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.

Food Availability:
Red Door 3:00 PM - 2:00 AM - food and beverage service
Browne Dining Hall 9:00 AM - 3:00 PM - food and beverage service

Restrooms:
There are restrooms located within each building at Caltech and the gym at Polytechnic. Many buildings at Caltech also have all-gendered restrooms including Baxter and Gates near the home bases

Lab Tours:
This year, teams will have the opportunity to enter a lottery to tour a Caltech lab, led by Caltech scientists! Students will be able to interact with the scientists and ask questions. Lab tours will run for approximately 45 minutes between the end of the events (3:30 PM) and the start of the awards (5:30 for Div B, 6:30 for Div C). Spots are limited, so teams that register their interest will be entered into a lottery. If selected, each team must provide a coach, parent, or adult volunteer to attend the tour as a chaperone. The deadline to register on the form is March 27th at 11:59 PM PT. The link to the form has been sent to the head coaches. Coaches will be notified by Tuesday, April 2nd whether their team has been selected and provided further details.

Caltech Bookstore:
The Caltech Bookstore will be open from 9:00 AM - 4:00 PM on the day of the tournament, with exclusive Caltech/Science Olympiad merchandise available for purchase. The bookstore will have Science Olympiad sweatshirts, tees, tumblers, water bottles, posters, mugs, and backpacks. It is located in the new Hameetman Center.

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 wristbands for up to 4 students competing in the Trial Events, the head coach, and 14 guests of the team . 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 on the SoCal State web page. All clarification questions we answer will be automatically posted on the web page, and also sent to the SoCal clarifications mailing list.

The deadline to submit clarification questions is Wednesday, March 27th, 5:00pm. Any questions submitted after that time will not be answered. All clarifications will be final on Monday, April 1th, 11:59 PM, after which there will not be any more clarifications posted.

Flight B/C Venue Dimensions:
Flight B/C will take place in Polytechnic School - Scott Gym and the dimensions are: 25 m x 32 m x 9 m (29.5 ft.) high.