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Conquering the Most Prestigious MS Science Competition

Closing out middle school as an 8th grader, I faced many challenges and distractions from the people, technology, and projects that were around me and competing for my attention. Joining Tumwater’s Science Olympiad team gave me an opportunity to take up the most time-consuming projects I did all year, and the most fun ones too.

Ironically, out of the 3 projects I took on, the one I undoubtedly spent the most time on was also the one that I ranked the lowest, 4th place. I earned gold medals for each of the other two projects. But, this building project, known as Wheeled Vehicle, was a challenge for my partner and I, considering our lack of prior experience with design, construction, and continuous iteration. 

On the opposite end of the spectrum was Bio Process Lab, one of the most well-known middle school Science Olympiad events. This event didn’t require nearly as much preparation for my partner and I, as both of us had done many chemistry-related programs and competitions in the past like You Be The Chemist. Many of the questions regarding microscope use, lab safety, hypothesizing, measurement, and charts were extremely familiar to both of us. With only the biological side to cover, we quickly went through bacteria, cells, adaptation, etc., and earned a gold medal.

My other project was called Fast Facts. It was really a general knowledge memorization challenge. This project was the most individual out of all 3 events, requiring immense amounts of memorization of scientific concepts. Or, so we thought as the actual competition paper was nothing like what we had prepared for. Through our adaptability and quick thinking, we finessed most of the test paper. During the evening ceremony, we were surprised to learn that we earned a gold medal in 1st place position for this project!

Overall, my journey with the Science Olympiad team was a testament to perseverance, adaptability, and the joy of curiosity-based learning. Despite the setbacks and challenges, the experience enriched my understanding of science and helped me build friendships and connections that will last a lifetime.

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Connecting Biology & Chemistry to get the Gold

Participating in the Bio Process Lab event as a member of Tumwater’s Science Olympiad team in 2023 was a highly anticipated experience. Our preparations had been thorough, and we approached the competition with enthusiasm and confidence. However, the competition test paper left us feeling a bit underwhelmed until we were presented with the gold medal.

Food chains & food webs (article) | Ecology | Khan Academy
Food Chain Diagram

In the lead-up to the event, my partner and I diligently reviewed various chemistry concepts, drawing from prior experiences like the You Be the Chemist competition. As the dreaded March 18th state competition neared, we shifted our focus to mastering biology concepts by delving into topics such as cell functions, food chain, reproductive systems, bacteria, and genetics.

What is a Compound Microscope? | Microscope World Blog
Microscope Diagram

Under the guidance of our coach, Poulami aunty (my partner’s mother), we visited Portland Community College’s lab facilities. There, we honed our skills in operating compound microscopes, triple beam balances, vernier calipers, and handling chemical mixtures. We felt these hands-on sessions would better prepare us for the challenges we would face on the day of the competition.

When competition day arrived, we entered the room at the University of Portland with a mix of excitement and nerves. The professor briefed us on safety instructions and rules before directing us to our designated station, Station 4, where our test would start.

Each partnership received a paper with sections corresponding to five different stations positioned around the room. Each station covered diverse biochemistry topics, including mitosis, cell biology, bromothymol blue & pH, and more. As we progressed through the stations, we found the tasks seemingly getting easier, culminating with the final station involving weighing with a balance.

Upon completion, the professor inquired about our thoughts on the paper. Surprisingly, every single group, including ours, expressed that they found it relatively easy. This left us with an uncertain feeling about our ranking since it appeared that other groups might have performed as well or better than we did.

Later that evening, during the eagerly awaited awards ceremony, the tension among Tumwater’s entire team was palpable. We were all hoping to hear the magical words, “Tumwater Triumphant,” as they announced the gold medal winner for the celebrated Bio Process Lab event. When the moment finally arrived, and the announcement for “Stoller Legends, 2nd place” was made, excitement rippled through us. We knew that the gold medal was ours!

In a moment of confidence and anticipation, we began walking down the center aisle even before the final announcement. As the words “Tumwater Triumphant, 1st place” echoed through the air, we stood before the crowd, basking in the proud moment of victory as the gold medal was ceremoniously placed around our necks. The triumphant feeling was unforgettable and made the entire journey worth the effort we put in.

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Memorizing for nothing

Fast Facts is Science Olympiad’s general scientific knowledge and memorization test. It can be considered as two individuals combining their general knowledge and information, working together as a partnership. The majority of my memorization was done with the support of family and using flashcards, documents, and Google searches on scientific topics for more hours than I can remember.

The event is 3 rounds. Each round consists of a 5×5 grid paper, as shown below. We have to fill out the paper with words or sentences in each box that fit within the category at the top of the column and the starting letter on each row. Each round is 6 minutes. Correct spelling doesn’t count, but the judge must be able to comprehend your handwriting and the word.

Your score is determined based on how many grid spaces you fill with words or sentences that are deemed “accurate”. Multiple grid spaces in the same column or row give bonus points quadratically.

One correct term in a row / column1 point
Two correct terms in a row / column2 points
Three correct terms in a row / column3 points
Four correct terms in a row / column4 points
Five correct terms in a row / column5 points
Scoring guide

At our first partner meetup, we were dumbfounded. Most Science Olympiad events come with a suggestions guide or examples of prior questions either from the Wiki or the Starter Pack. This event’s wiki literally stated, “There is no one exact way to prepare for this event, as each competition will be different from the last.”

There was no guidance given us on which categories of scientific topics we could field questions from. This made it extremely difficult to study, and very ambiguous whether the many hours we were putting into preparation would actually be meaningful for the test.

We would have to come up with a strategy that would give us the most amount of memorization in the least amount of time. After some research, we decided that we would both study a word that starts with every letter from a list of scientific categories that my partner and I would split up. This strategy worked, but it took a lot of time! We were each spending at least half an hour every school day staring at text and then taking our 5×5 tests created by our families.

Later on, we were able to find a list of common categories made by a past Fast Facts participant. It came in handy when we had run out of categories we could come up with, and this helped us continue our studying into the 2 weeks before March 18th.

Then came the competition. And the first unfortunate event was our realization that it wasn’t going to be quiet. The classroom that was holding Fast Facts was packed and already had another event going on. As the professor went over the rules, we frantically tried to remember everything we had been memorizing for the past 4 months. At that moment, we received the first paper, just as the 6-minute timer started. I stared at the categories in shock. “This is nothing like what I’ve studied!” I thought in a panic. The categories were so arbitrary and random that they didn’t even make sense. “Go Green” and “Water Fishes” are 2 that I can recall.

My partner’s composure was at odds with my initial shock. She quickly jotted down a few climate action words that fit the “Go Green” category. Once I got over my dismay, I focused on identifying current events that could suit any category. This approach proved to be a winning strategy as both of us efficiently filled out 80% of the sheet.

As the first round concluded, I felt better about our chances, having successfully recovered from the initial shock. However, we remained unsure of how other groups were faring. The subsequent two rounds followed a similar pattern, with abstract categories challenging us to think about ongoing world events.

During the award ceremony, the announcement of “Fast Facts” as the first event to have its awards announced immediately spiked our anxiety. Thankfully, the announcer said “Stoller Legends, 2nd place” loud and clearly, which was our guarantee of the first-place award. Despite the countless hours spent on memorization, our efforts proved to be anything but in vain. Harnessing the power of adaptability and quick thinking, we emerged victorious, claiming the coveted gold medal.

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Constructing a “Wheeled Vehicle”

The most challenging project in my Science Olympiad project trio was the Wheeled Vehicle build event. My partner and I were tasked with creating a 4-wheeled vehicle powered solely by elastic energy. We incorporated a braking system using a wingnut and a pencil launcher activated by a trigger. The wingnut braking system wasn’t required but was essential to achieving maximum speed and stopping accurately when needed.  The two criteria that our score was dependent upon were:

1. The time it takes to make the run (ie, speed)
2. Proximity to the target (ie, accuracy)

During the competition, we had to navigate a distance between 9 and 12 meters, which was disclosed only at the competition. Thinking on our feet, my partner and I calibrated the vehicle by spinning the wingnut a specific number of turns, ensuring it would come to a stop at the desired 9.6 meters mark. The diagrams below can help you visualize what we were spinning.

Vehicle Diagram (angled view)
Vehicle Diagram (top-down view)
Run 2 of our Wheeled Vehicle for 9.6 meters

Despite being just a few centimeters off from our target, we were awarded 4th place at the ceremony, while we had hoped for 2nd. We lost to a team who, in my opinion, abandoned the core spirit of creativity and purchased a predesigned kit aptly called the Champion’s Kit – a kit that was optimized to be faster and more accurate than amateur kits created by participants. Reflecting on the experience, I realized that paying closer attention to every step, such as the angles when gluing the vehicle’s base and balancing its weight, could have made a significant difference to our results. Maybe I’ll pick up that hobby project at a later date.

Building the vehicle taught me the value of thorough planning. Rather than going with the flow, careful consideration and detailed planning play a vital role in achieving success. Architects and builders spend a considerable amount of time sketching ideas and creating plans before actual construction, and this event underscored the importance of such an approach.

If given the opportunity to participate in Science Olympiad again, I would take the chance to do another build event. Armed with the knowledge gained from this experience, I would ensure to plan every detail and set myself up for success before the construction even begins.

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Running a Bottle Drive as a 5th Grader

As an 11-year-old, I organized a plastic bottle & can drive at my elementary school, which remains the most remarkable experience I’ve ever had. The 2-week drive ended with over 100 bags, and around five thousand bottles and cans. Earlier today I found all of its files in my Google Drive and I’ve decided to reflect on it by writing this blog post.

It began with a take-action project in my class, where each student was tasked with creating something that could make a positive impact in the world. At first, I debated between following the conventional path of writing an article or creating a slideshow like every other boring student.

However, everything changed during one of our project workdays during a conversation with a classmate named Jonathan. He proposed the idea of organizing a schoolwide event to support Puplandia, a dog rescue service in the suburbs of Portland. I thought it was a great idea. Fortunately for me, Jonathan doubted his ability to execute the event, and by the end of that day, he had decided to become one of the 27 boring students in my class.

In the following days, I reflected extensively on Jonathan’s project and made the bold decision to take action myself. With limited research, I chose to focus on collecting plastic bottles and cans since I knew that returning them to BottleDrop would yield money in rewards.

BottleDrop: Oregon's Bottle & Can Return program

Lucky for me, my Spanish teacher Mrs. Janssen was already involved with Puplandia. And she was the one who informed me that there was already a partnership between BottleDrop and Puplandia. This revelation further strengthened my belief that I was on the right track.

After weeks of planning and collaboration with Dr. Marsh (school principal) and Mrs. Janssen, the date was set for my solo speech at a schoolwide assembly. Thanks to thorough preparation and an engaging slideshow, the speech resonated with the students, prompting them to go home and urge their parents to gather all their bottles and cans.

Within a few days, a high percentage of students had already surpassed the goal of collecting their eight bottles. However, progress slowed down as some students who lacked interest failed to follow up or discuss the assembly with their parents. To boost our collection, my sister and I took it upon ourselves to distribute bags throughout our neighborhood, encouraging people to fill them with their plastic bottles and cans.

BottleDrop Blue Bags

The campaign turned out to be a resounding success. I was astounded by the sheer number of old Coke cans people had stored in their homes when I went to collect them. Many families had hundreds of soda cans that had been sitting in their garages, and they were finally cleared out, all in support of the noble cause of Puplandia.

Dog Rescue | Puplandia Dog Rescue | Aloha, OR

When everything was said and done, the plastic bottle and can drive concluded with over 100 full blue bags that were sent to BottleDrop. To put this achievement into perspective, it takes three blue bags to provide necessary vaccines for a dog and twenty blue bags to cover the cost of a neuter procedure.

Considering the relatively short duration and scale of the bottle drive, I consider it a great success. Not only did the drive help the environment and dogs, but it also gave me the confidence to “be different” and do things that other people are embarrassed to do. It improved my public speaking, which became one of my biggest strengths. And it taught me how to be a leader and encourage my peers to do their part. Making the decision to actually follow the name of my 5th-grade assignment and “take action” was undoubtedly one of the best choices I have ever made.

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Back to my blog!

Guys I know it’s been a really long time since I last checked my blog but I think it’s finally time that I slowly come back to it.

I’m in 6th grade now and a lot has happened since my last post. I thought I’d talk about some of the good books I’ve read since 2019. First of all, at the end of 3rd grade I stopped reading WarriorCats but recently I’ve caught up with it and I’m back to the most recent book (Darkness Within). That’s been a good series. Another series that I really liked was Lord of The Rings because J.R.R. Tolkien really stretches out small parts and details of the book which makes the story more descriptive and interesting. If you don’t know what LOTR is, it’s a story about a group of people (hero’s) who go on a journey to save their world from evil.

This is the cover of Lord of The Rings.

Now, on the sports side of things, I’m still a fan of Stephen Curry and Tom Brady. Stephen Curry is still on the Warriors so I’m still supporting them, thought Tom Brady is now on the Bucs so I’m rooting for them now. You probably know it already, but AMAZING Tom Brady won another superbowl! He’s the Greatest Quarterback of All Time and there is almost no argument against it now. Even if you subtract the number of superbowls he’s lost (7-3) you still get 4 superbowls and that is tied with the second greatest quarterback of all time, Joe Montana.

I’ve also started thinking about what I want to be when I grow up. I enjoy writing but I definitely do not want to be an author. I’m interested in Video Editing, Data, Cars, and basically anything that has to do with computers. I think a Data Scientist would be an amazing job as there is a lot of demand for them these days. I also want to design cars because I like looking at exteriors/interiors of cars and wondering what could be changed.

Other than that, not much has happened. School hasn’t been good in the pandemic and I’m really excited to get to meet people again at the start of 7th grade. I want to get back to this blog so I’ll try to get 1 post our per week but that could very easily change.

I hope everyone is doing well during this pandemic and I’m excited to get back to my blog!

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Comparing BSD Schools

I have created a few charts show important data comparing the schools in the Beaverton School District. For elementary schools, I will cover the main points of how some schools are better then others in Mathematics, English Language Arts, and Science. I will also show the median class sizes of the schools. For high schools, I will show the on-time graduation rate, student enrollment, and the median class size of the core subjects.

Elementary Schools

English Language Arts

As you can see, Findley and Jacob Wismer are doing great in English Language Arts (ELA) while Sato is also keeping up. The school that is not doing to well in ELA is Bethany. The Oregon average is way below these schools at a surprising 51%, this is very low and this is saying that half the kids in Oregon are meeting state grade level expectations.

Mathematics

Findley is still up with the lead and Jacob Wismer is on Findley’s heels. Bethany is ahead of Sato at 81%. And Sato . . . . I don’t know what to say, they are failing badly against the other schools in math and are not too high in any of the subjects. I think that is fine because Sato is a new school and is still growing. It was in mid 2018. Again, the Oregon average is a surprising 44%! Like before, this is saying less then half the kids in Oregon are meeting state grade level expectations.

Science

None of the schools are doing to bad here though Sato is still down. Findley with the highest percentage 94% which is there highest in any category. Bethany is trying hard to keep up to Jacob Wismer and they are only down by 2 percent. For the crazy third time, Oregon average is way below this at 65%, a little bit more then half of the kids in Oregon are meeting state expectations.

Class Size

For the thing that doesn’t really mater, these schools are around the average class size in Oregon, the average is 25 kids per class. Jacob Wismer and Findley are at the average while Bethany and Sato are 2 kids less at 23 kids per class. It could be good if there are less kids in a class so the teacher gives each student more attention.

High Schools

Class Size

Now these are the main high schools in Beaverton. As you can see, both of the schools are around 30 kids in one class. Westview only has one more kid in each average class. The Oregon average in class size is 25 kids, these to schools have just a few more kids in each class then the average in Oregon.

On-Time Graduation

The schools are also around the same percentage of kids graduating within four years. Sunset has only 2% more kids graduating on time. As you can see 9/10 of the kids at both schools are getting their diploma on time. Sunset and Westview are both above the Oregon average for kids passing to college on time, the average in Oregon is 77%.

Student Enrollment

Westview is enrolling about 350 more kids then Sunset which is fine because Sunset is not as big as Westview and a lot of kids in Beaverton go to Westview. I don’t have an average for student enrollment.

As You Can See . . .

Most of the schools in Beaverton are doing good and are above the Oregon average.

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Franz Bakery, Portland

As you know, in summer I go to summer camp. This year I go to Sun Academy. I go Tuesday, Wednesday and, Thursday, on Monday and Friday they have field trips, but those are not the days I go. Last week they had a special field trip on Thursday to Franz Bakery. So, to get there and come back there are 2 ways, take the Sun Academy vans or take Max (public local train in Portland, OR) or a Trimet Bus (local bus in Portland, OR). We took both, first 1 Bus, then Max, then another Bus. Then we arrived and had to walk 2 miles to the bakery tour entrance. When we got there we met a lady that took us into the tour room, then we split up into groups. First A group gets a tour of the factory while B group eats lunch and watches a movie. After that B group gets a tour and A group eats lunch and watches a movie. One of the bad things was there was no A/C in the whole entire factory because there were bread ovens and they had to keep them hot. There where conveyor belts on going in every direction with bread. There were carts and boxes getting moved around, trucks picking up bread to deliver and much more.

This is a picture of Franz Bakery’s bread at a shop:

images.google.com

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Camping Story

Hi, I’m back. I had this idea, If we go camping why don’t we write a fiction story about a boy who also goes camping like us? So, I made a story about a boy named Jordan who goes camping and sees a whole new world. You can download the PDF story by clicking on the link below.

Road Trip Champoeg

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Champoeg State Park Camping

About 2 days ago we went to Champoeg (sh-am-poo-y) State Park to camp. There are many things to do there like hikes along the shores of water, outdoor movies, riding bikes around the campsite loops, and much more. When we arrived Mishka’s family had already arrived they were almost done building there tent! After us came Nirmay’s family. Then Aarit’s family came, and last but not least Roushil’s family. My friends are Roushil, Aarit, Nirmay and Hashvi – who are siblings – Mishka and Krishvi – also siblings – and of course my own little sister, Navya because we are the Shah Family.

We went biking and scootering a lot, My dad couldn’t fit my bike in our 2009 Toyota Camry LE trunk so we couldn’t take it. I definitely say ‘thank you’ to Nirmay becase he let me borrow his bike. And also a big thank you to Roushil and Aarit because I borrowed there scooters. There was a bike parade where you take your bike around the camp. We were camped in A loop, there are 2 loops A and B. Our campsite was towards the exit of A loop at A35 and A37 there are a total of about up to campsite A45. We combined 2 campsites  because there are so many people. We did a lot of fun activities like we went on hikes and we went to the camp public wooden play structure. We rode bikes around A loop and met a few friends.

At night we stayed up till 12:00a and played games that one of the uncles set up. There were 3 teams, one team led by my dad, one team led by Nirmay’s dad, and one led by Roushil’s dad. We had lots of contests and, in the end, Roushil’s dad’s team won. We even got to sit in Nirmay’s dad’s Honda Odyssey with our legs sticking out of the trunk with the trunk door open! (NEVER TRY AT HOME, ONLY AT CAMPING).

Now we have to thank Mishka’s dad, becase he was the reason this camping trip worked out. He bought most of the stuff, came first to make sure everything was prepared, brought the lights, the canopy, the foldable table, the stove, the First Aid kit, the bins, the water balloons, his list is endless.

All of the moms (my aunties) made all of the yummy food we ate for lunch and dinner so I also thank them.

At the end when we signed out of our campsite we went to Butteville General Store which is the longest operating store in all of Oregon.

Image source

I opened as a General Store in the mid 1800s when the settlers came to Oregon. Now they sell ice cream. There ice cream had a lot of different good flavors. They also sell brownies, chocolate chip cookies, mochas, Sundays, Milkshakes and a lot more side stuff, but main and most popular is ice cream. I definitely recommend to go there and try there ice cream if you go any area near Butteville city.

One time when I was riding Nirmay’s bike I fell off the bike which occurred because I was leaning too much when turning. My whole left knee started bleeding and some lady saw me and she took me back to our campsite.

There my dad put Neosporin on my knee and put a gauze pad on my knee and taped with medicine raping tape. Then the day after I got hurt we left the campsite.