Sonoma Valley students display science prowess at Science Olympiad

Presentation School students place in nine events.|

More than 300 students on 24 teams representing elementary schools from around the county competed in the Sonoma County Science Olympiad on April 16. The Sonoma County Office of Education (SCOE) sponsors this annual academic event.

The Science Olympiad challenges teams of fourth-, fifth- and sixth-graders to demonstrate scientific knowledge, understanding and teamwork as they rotate through a series of team events that may require them to construct a paper airplane for flight precision using aerodynamic concepts, compete in a calculator contest, identify science related artifacts or explain the results of a science experiment. The Science Olympiad culminates in the “Naked Egg Drop,” a team event where students construct “egg catchers” from 10 pieces of paper and masking tape. The effectiveness of each egg catcher is tested as raw eggs are dropped from increasing heights in the nail-biting event finale.

Presentation School was the only Sonoma Valley team among the 17 participants. The school came in fifth place overall. Its team has been practicing since late January, according to coach Jamie Mitchell. Presentation’s team placed in nine of the events.

Its top results were: a second place finish in the calculator contest by fifth-grader Cristian Oscar and sixth-grader Lucca Sebastiani; first place in the barge building competition by fourth-grader Cooper Steffensen and sixth-grader Riley Wilde; first place in the Lego construction competition by fifth-grader Will Schuler and Cristian Oscar; and first place in the culminating egg drop by Lucca Sebastiani and fifth-grader Carter Henley.

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