Participants will solve problems and answer questions about agricultural sciences using their knowledge of ecology, plant biology, and environmental chemistry. This event consists of:

  • an online exam
  • an experiment conducted at home and a notebook detailing it
  • a live interview on tournament day to answer questions about the experiment.

Agricultural Sciences will be run as a trial event for Division C teams during the 2021 state tournament, which will be virtual. Students can earn medals for first, second and third place but points will NOT be counted toward the school team’s overall score. Participants will be asked to give feedback on the event (this feedback is optional and will not count toward points).

Thank you to the MSU College of Agriculture and the Crop Science Society for sponsoring this contest!

Rules

Download National Science Olympiad rules from the Promising Pilots section. Students must also follow the Montana modifications below. (Also available as downloadable PDF; same content as on this page).

Modifications

NOTE: All Montana students will ALSO need to follow these modifications to the national rules:

3a – due to the virtual nature of the tournament, there will be no stations, and the event will consist of THREE (not four) sections following the point distribution shown below:

  • Notebook detailing the experiment – submitted in advance – 25%
  • Interview about the experiment – live on the day of the tournament – 25%
  • Online test – 50%

3b – As this is Year 1, the focus will be on PLANTS.

3c – Even though competing virtually, students will still perform an agricultural experiment on one or more plants and submit a notebook no later than four days prior to the tournament (due Saturday, April 3, 2021 – 11:59pm). We will share a link for submitting your notebook. This may be a digital notebook or photos of a handwritten notebook. Student teams may submit ONE notebook, or, if students are physically separated, items from each students’ notebooks.

The notebook(s) must include at least three items to show evidence of teamwork

Required: AT LEAST ONE PHOTO PER STUDENT: If students can gather together, the notebook should include a photo of them working together. If students can NOT gather together, the notebook should include at least one photo of each student working with the plants.

Other options:

  • Screenshot of a zoom/webex meeting between the students
  • Chat transcript or email exchange showing both students’ contributions
  • Other ideas? Be creative! We just need proof that you worked as a team.

5a – Scoring. High score wins. Final score = Exam (50%) + Notebook submitted in advance (25%) plus live interview on tournament day (25%). The notebook will be scored as per the scoresheet on page 2 of the national rules.

 

Other clarifications

Students will complete an agricultural experiment on plants.

To the extent possible, students will work as a team. Students can use an experiment that is already underway for other activities like science fair, class projects, etc., as long as the notebook includes the items on the Science Olympiad score sheet.

Students will submit a notebook(s) that documents their experiment.

The notebook will be submitted electronically no later than 4 days prior to the tournament (we will provide a link to upload it to MSU). The notebook may be a digital file in any format (google doc, online portfolio system, etc.) OR may be photos of the pages from a handwritten notebook. Students who are socially distanced may combine files from their separate notebooks into one file that is submitted.

Exam and interview

Students will take an online exam of approximately 30 minutes on tournament day and will also sign up for an interview with the judges of approximately 10 minutes (schedule slots will be provided in advance).

Students who compete as a team should both be in the live interview.

Questions?

Please email [email protected]