Elementary Science Olympiad

Elementary Science Olympiad

Clark College hosted close to 300 elementary school students from 17 different schools during an invitational science olympiad tournament Nov. 14. Some schools had two teams, so the organizers designated the differences with a color added to their name. The first-, second- and third-place awards are for the whole team from the named school. Each team was divided into five groups of two or three students. The top, group winner was the group that scored the highest out of all the groups. Winners of the five events were as follows:

AERODYNAMICS: Build a paper airplane to be flown a distance of at least 5 meters, landing on a predetermined target. First: Team No. 4, Grass Valley Second: Team No. 16, Prune Hill Black Third: Team No. 20, Tukes Valley Silver Top Group: Group 4E, Grass Valley

BARGE BUILDING: Construct a barge using aluminum foil that can support a cargo of the largest number of objects without getting them wet. First: Team No. 11, Captain Strong Blue Second: Team No. 5, Salmon Creek Third: Team No. 6, CAM Top Group: Group 17A, Eisenhower

BRIDGE BUILDING: Using only the materials given, build a bridge to span the longest distance possible and support a cup with as many small weights as possible. First: Team No. 19, Tukes Valley Green Second: Team No. 3, Minnehaha Third: Team No. 6, CAM Top Group: Group 5C, Salmon Creek

CRIME BUSTERS: Use paper chromatography and print identification to solve a simple crime. First: Team No. 17, Eisenhower Second: Team No. 6, CAM Third: Team No. 8, Dorothy Fox Top Group: Group 17B, Eisenhower

GUMMI BEAR LONG JUMP: Using a pre-made catapult device, collect data and determine the best angle of the launching arm to land a Gummi bear in the center of a target. First: Team No. 14, Hockinson Second: Team No. 15, Prune Hill Red Third: Team No. 6, CAM Top Group: Group 15E, Prune Hill Red

‘We The People’ Competition

The Third Congressional District Championships for “We the People” took place at Washington State University Vancouver on Nov. 13. Seven teams from four high schools competed this year, making it the largest congressional district competition in the state. The teams included Heritage High School, Ridgefield High School, Evergreen High School and R.A. Long High School, which brought four teams, for a total of approximately 225 student participants. Judges included Sen. Craig Pridemore; Mark Stephan of WSUV; legislative aides from Reps. Jaime Herrera, Deb Wallace and Tim Probst’s offices, as well as members of the league of women voters and several attorneys. The top two teams will continue to the state competition at the state Capitol on Jan. 9. The results were:

First Place: Evergreen High School, teachers Patti McMaster and John Martin.

Second Place: Heritage High School, teacher Jeff Brick.

Third Place: Ridgefield High School, teacher Bob Ford.

Fourth through Seventh Place: R.A. Long High School, teacher Dennis Weber.

Items for Spotlight on Youth should be brought to The Columbian, News Department, 701 W. Eighth St., mailed to P.O. Box 180, Vancouver, WA 98666, e-mailed to kim.jarvis@columbian.com or faxed to 360-735-4598. Please include an address, which won’t be published, so we can ascertain the correct neighborhood.