CHS Pics: A weekend of student science on Capitol Hill

Capitol Hill was awash in middle and high school kids this weekend — all in the name of science.

First, Seattle Central hosted 700 students and their fans cheering them toward victory in the Northwest Regional Science Olympiad Tournament.

(Image: Suzi Pratt)

Contests included constructing challenges like an aquifier, electric vehicles, bottle rockets and rubber-powered helicopters. Other teams tested their skills as crime busters by analyzing materials in a crime scenario, acting as disease detectives in a real-life health issue, and competing robot-to-robot in a double-elimination tournament to knock opponent robots out of the ring. Winning teams earned the opportunity to continue on to the Washington State Science Olympiad Tournament, April 16 at Clark College. On May 18-21, the University of Wisconsin-Madison will host the 27th annual National Science Olympiad Tournament. More than 7,000 students, educators, parents and volunteers are expected to attend from across the country. You can follow the action here http://soinc.org/

Meanwhile, over at Seattle University, more than 400 middle school girls from Washington and Oregon gathered Saturday for a morning of hands-on workshops in science, technology, engineering, and math. The annual Seattle Expanding Your Horizons conference involves local professional women from a variety of fields leading 40 workshops, addressing everything from the chemistry of fireworks to the truth behind lotion labels. SU says the mission for the event is to encourage young women to pursue technical careers by exposing them to role models and engaging scientific activities.

(Image: Frances Dinger/The Spectator special to CHS)