Madeline Yang
Writer '20
You may have recently seen those pastel pink shirts with animated cats and corny incomprehensible chemistry jokes around the school. And yes, it is that time of year again, when the Great Neck North High School Science Olympiads Club competes in the Regional Science Olympiad Competition with all schools from Long Island!
This year on February 3rd, Science Olympiads Club’s A Team placed ninth in the region taking home two first place medals for Experimental Design and Fermi questions, a second place medal for Microbe Mission, a third place medal for Optics, and a fourth place medal for Materials Science. Science Olympiad’s B Team placed 24th, in which they beat Great Neck North High School’s A Team in Rocks and Minerals, placing eighth, and placing 19th in Write it Do it.
This year’s competition was held in Kellenberg High School where Ms. Sicurella, a health teacher from the middle school, graduated and where Mr. Ceasar's wife teaches in. In Kellenberg, there are parrots, birds, and fish that greet you before and after the competition. In total, there were 25 events, and 35 teams from all over Long Island. The 25 events included: Anatomy & Physiology, Astronomy, Chemistry Lab, Disease Detectives, Dynamic Planet, Ecology, Electric Vehicle, Experimental Design, Fermi Questions, Forensics, Game On, Helicopters, Herpetology, Hovercraft, Hydrogeology, Invasive Species, Material Science, Microbe Mission, Optics, Remote Sensing, Robot Arm, Rocks and Minerals, Towers, Wind Power and Write it Do it. In Experimental Design, Anne Goldsmith, Josh Rothbaum and Amy Shetyman burned cheese puffs to measure the caloric content and to bring home the gold. “The room smelled terrible after” said freshman Anne Goldsmith. In Fermi, Joshua Rothbaum and Scott Rothbaum estimated the amount of candy that could fit in a 10-foot-tall pumpkin, receiving first place. “It wasn’t that hard,” recalls sophomore Josh Rothbaum. Michelle Goh and Annette Hopkins placed second in Microbe Mission by determining each microbe using multiple instruments and techniques. Placing third, Scott Rothbaum and Tim Lee bounced the light of a laser off mirror without touching the laser itself. “We thought that the target was the center of the board” said senior Scott Rothbaum explaining why they were their target angle was off after the exam.
Despite all of the team's hard work, they still did not beat any of South's teams. South’s C team came in 6th, ahead of its B team which came in 8th. Sadly, South’s A team came in first, crushing the whole regional competition.