The 2006 Western Kentucky Physics Olympics – Saturday, February 25
 The WKU Department of Physics and Astronomy is
inviting each high school in the region to send one or more teams of
four to compete in the 2006 Western Kentucky Physics Olympics. This
year’s event will be held Saturday, February 25 from
8:30 a.m. until about 2:00 p.m. in the
Thompson Center, Central Wing on WKU’s Bowling Green campus.
The theme for the 2006 Western Kentucky Physics
Olympics is centered around "Star Wars".
As has been the custom the event will consist of five different
activities. The competition will commence with two
activities that involve competitors arriving at the event ready to
compete with devices they have designed, constructed, and tested.
The Do-Ahead Project is titled "Han Solo in Carbonite", and the Plan-Ahead Project is called
"Corellian Rocket Trials". The Calculation/Communication Challenge, requiring two
members of the team to make a series of measurements and the other two
members to use that data to calculate the desired result is still
being planned. The final two events -- the On-the-Spot Activity,
a mostly hands-on, impromptu challenge, and the Order-of-Magnitude Quiz, a brain teaser which
asks contestants to quickly estimate answers for extreme situations --
will remain cloaked in secrecy until those events actually begin.
Additional details about the 2006 event can be found
on the Event Descriptions page.
Registration
 Teams can register online at
http://physics.wku.edu/olympics/registration.html.
The registration deadline is 5:00 p.m., Wednesday, February 22, 2006. Registered teams will be contacted with
information on obtaining rocket kits and engines for the Corellian
Rocket Trials.
Prizes
Overall winners:
Each of the four contestants on the team with the best score in the
overall competition will receive a $500 scholarship to attend Western
Kentucky University. The scholarship is to be used during the freshman
year and is awarded above and beyond any other scholarships the
student might otherwise earn.
Medals for the team members and a plaque for the
school will be awarded to the top 3 teams in the overall competition.
Certificates will be awarded to the top three teams in
each event.
Tentative Schedule of Events
|
Time |
Activity |
Location |
|
8:00 - 8:30 |
Mandatory check-in for all teams
-
Results posted for Do-Ahead Project: Han
Solo in Carbonite
-
submit Corellian Rocket Trial entries
for saftey check
-
submit predicted time aloft for Corellian
Rocket Trial
|
TCCW
201 |
|
8:45 |
Plan-Ahead Project :Corellian Rocket Trial
competition begins |
Practice Field between
Smith Stadium and Dennes Field |
|
10:45 |
Order-of-Magnitude Quiz begins |
TCCW
201 |
|
11:00 |
Lunch |
TCCW
238/239 |
|
11:45 |
Calculation/Communication Challenge
competition begins |
TCCW
201 |
|
1:00 |
On-the-Spot Activity begins |
TBA |
|
1:45 |
Awards Ceremony |
TCCW
201 |
Snow Date
In case of cancellation due to inclement weather,
Physics Olympics will be rescheduled for the same times on an
alternate Saturday to be announced.
|
