On Jan. 20, the Science Olympiad participated in the Science Olympiad invitational held at the University of Wisconsin River Falls. This competition is the first time SPA has competed in a tournament outside of regular regional competitions. SPA competed in the small school division, facing 29 other schools and around 850 students.
All Science Olympiad events are either test events, where students compete by taking a written exam, or application events, where students compete by doing hands-on activities like building or coding. Sophomore Zain Kizilbash participated in four events, including Fossils, Fermi questions, Forestry and Chemistry Lab. Kizilbash’s only application event was Chemistry Lab. “[The Lab event is] half applicate and half test, there was a test portion, and then there were two lab segments in which you’d have to do a brief application and then write down your results,” Kizilbash said.

Of the four events he participated in, his favorite was Fossils, where he placed second in the small school division and fourth overall. Kizilbash explains, “I was super into dinosaurs and stuff as a kid, so I just have all of this knowledge that’s just still in my brain.”
This invitational was freshman Nabeeha Qadri’s first competition after joining the team this year. “I wanted to try something new … I would never study these things outside of school, so this was a good way for me to learn something new,” Qadri said.
Partnering with Kizilbash, she also competed in the Fossils event and helped SPA secure a medal. “I honestly wasn’t expecting to get anything because it was such a large competition,” Qadri said. Her other three events included Forensics, Microbe Mission and Anatomy.
To prepare for the competition, students attended Science Olympiad practices after school and studied on their own time. “It was kind of difficult to know where to start first, but once you got the general sense, it’s easier to go into the details,” Qadri said.
When pairing up for an event, Qadri also emphasizes collaboration: “I think the key to success [is] communication with my partners.”
Depending on whether the events allow notes or not, Kizilbash will change his studying techniques. “[Make sure to] fill up the note stock … if you don’t get any notes then make sure you study big juicy conversions, you know, like miles to meters,” Kizilbash said. He is also planning to tailor his study plan based on the results of this tournament.

“[This invitational is] mainly useful to just see how you’re stacking up against people and see where you need to improve … before regionals,” Kizilbash said.
Many team members are now looking ahead to regionals. Kizilabash explains, “It’s kind of just one big cumulative studying. The studying that I did for this will help in regionals … and I’ll then work even more until state.”
Overall, SPA took part in 28 events and was awarded medals for finishing in the top four in seven events. In the small school division, SPA finished eighth out of 29 schools and 22nd out of 62 teams overall.
Both Kizilbash and Qadri plan to compete in the regional competition held on Feb. 3.