13 teams studying for first elementary Science Olympiad

Ask a third-grader on one of the state's 13 new elementary Science Olympiad teams to identify a cardinal and be prepared for an in-depth answer.

Teams of kids at two schools in Naperville and 11 others in the area are spending some of their after-school time studying the characteristics of 15 common birds or preparing for one of nine other Olympiad events in advance of their first competition May 7 in Arlington Heights.

For Val Goldstein, volunteer coach of the team at Elmwood Elementary in Naperville Unit District 203, this means helping kids learn about birds for the Backyard Biologist event, which she says helps them notice science in the everyday world.

She's teaching what the birds eat, what they look like, how they build their nests and especially what sounds they make.

"You don't have to learn 100 birds. Our list is 15," Goldstein said. "That's a perfect number for kids at elementary level to absorb the information and go out and see how the different sciences that they're learning are all around them. With the birds event, kids can go out and say, 'Oh, hey, that's a blue jay.' Or, 'There's a cardinal. I remember doing that in science club.'"

Clubs to prepare for the May competition formed this year at Elmwood and Meadow Glens elementaries in District 203, as well as Greenbrook and Waterbury in Keeneyville, Townline in Vernon Hills, Durand and Wiesbrook in Wheaton, Maercker in Westmont, Gower West in Willowbrook, Edison in Skokie, LaSalle II and Our Lady of Mount Carmel in Chicago and Washington in Rockford.

Illinois Science Olympiad leaders wanted to expand the long-standing scientific competition for junior high, high school and college students to younger kids this year after studying successful elementary programs in other states, said Kent Schielke of Naperville, who was part of a committee that developed this year's pilot program.

Schielke said hosting Science Olympiad for second- through fifth-grade students allows teachers and parent volunteers to instill more detailed scientific knowledge than they can in today's busy classrooms.

"Elementary schools may lack the time," Schielke said. "Teachers want to do a good job with science for the younger students, but they don't all have the science background themselves."

Enter parents such as Goldstein, a computer science major at the University of Illinois who has worked in computer consulting and been involved with Science Olympiad as a competitor or volunteer for 20 years.

Goldstein said the biggest thing young participants such as her second-grade daughter Ashlynn gain is a chance to delve into anatomy, geology, weather, chemistry, engineering and aerodynamics without becoming overwhelmed.

"It's exploration," Goldstein said. "At that age, kids haven't been exposed to many of those topics yet."

Schielke said a low emphasis on competition also keeps elementary Science Olympiad from becoming too high-pressure. The top five finishers in each of 10 events will receive medals, but there won't be a team champion as in older levels of Olympiad.

"Winning is only a secondary thing," Schielke said.

Plus, there's only a regional competition, hosted Saturday, May 7, by South Middle School in Arlington Heights, without a state final afterward.

Still, participants in after-school clubs are enjoying the challenge, said Hannah Koo, a parent volunteer and leader of the School Family Community Partnership at Meadow Glens Elementary.

For an event called "Trajeggtory," kids create a system that will toss a raw egg over an obstacle and catch it without the shell breaking, Koo said. And for a team event called "Write It Do It," one participant looks at a model and composes directions to build it, then the other follows the directions without being able to see the finished product.

"They realized it's a lot more work than they had anticipated," Koo said. "Even so, they really enjoy the hands-on aspect of it and just challenging themselves."

As schools for younger children increasingly focus on STEM, or science, technology, engineering and math, Meadow Glens Principal Katy Lynch said the new Science Olympiad program expands elementary kids' boundaries. Officials hope to offer the program at more interested schools next year.

"It's an opportunity for (students) to experience some things that might not necessarily be within our District 203 curriculum, and also an opportunity for the parents to really volunteer and share their expertise," Lynch said.

"Many of these people are in that field and have a lot of expertise to share. I think it has pulled in a part of our school population that sometimes would not necessarily participate or be involved in other events or activities. It's really reaching out to a whole different part of our school community."