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SCIENCE
SCIENCE
Dear Students, Parents, and Teachers.
We are happy to introduce our Natural Science Olympiad. This Olympiad has 2 Rounds: the Preliminary Round and the Global Round.
Schools, Parents, and students can register themselves through our website, or by contacting their school concerned coordinator. The registration deadline is September 10, 2024. Students from Grades 2 to 12 can participate in this Olympiad.
The Preliminary Round will be held on the following date: September 30, 2024. The exam will have 25 multiple-choice questions. The exam will start at 10 am at your school under your Principal's supervision and will last 60 minutes. Students need to choose only one Preliminary Round to participate.
To qualify for the Global Round which will be held physically between 09 - 13 January 2025 at Rice University, Houston, Texas, United States. Students need to score 40% and higher in the Preliminary Round.
Students will be given a Certificate of Participation in the Preliminary Round, a Certificate of Achievement in the Preliminary Round, and Medals according to the following progress:
Top 10% – Gold Medal
Next 15% – Silver Medal
Next 25% – Bronze Medal
Next 10% – Honorable Mention Certificate
- Students who get at least 40% in the Preliminary Round become eligible to participate in the Global Round.
- Regardless of score, all participants of Preliminary Round will receive a Certificate of Participation.
***Hard copies of Medals will be distributed after the Global Round.
Syllabus
- Characteristics of living things
- Basic needs of living things
- Structures and functions of plants
- Structures and functions of animals
- Parts and functions of the human body
- Major organs of the human body
- Classification of animals – vertebrates and invertebrates
- Basic plant and animal adaptations to their environment
- Simple food chain
- Roles in ecosystem – producers, consumers, decomposers
- Definition of matter
- Classification of matter
- Characteristics of solid, liquid, gases
- Sorting objects as solid, liquid, gases
- Measuring volume and mass
- Definition of force
- Effects of force on matter
- Definition of energy
- Types of energy – potential and kinetic
- Forms of energy
- Types of weather
- Members of the solar system
- Human body systems – parts and functions
- Basic parts and functions of the cell
- Comparing prokaryotes and eukaryotes
- Plant reproduction – natural and artificial
- Reproductive parts of the plants
- Seed germination
- Life cycle of plants
- Animal reproduction – internal and external reproduction
- Life cycle of animals (i.e., insects, frog, mammal)
- Complete and incomplete metamorphosis
- Behavioral and structural adaptations of plants and animals
- Classification of animals based on the food they eat
- Food chain and food web
- Nutrient cycle (carbon, water, oxygen, nitrogen)
- Basic structure of an atom
- Subatomic particles
- Atom vs molecule
- Element vs compound
- Physical and chemical properties of matter
- Physical and chemical changes in matter
- Motion in one dimension
- Speed vs velocity
- Distance vs displacement
- Acceleration
- Transformation of energy
- Energy sources
- Heat vs temperature
- Circuits
- Phases of the moon
- Seasons and tides
- The Milky Way
- Types of galaxies
- Minerals and rocks
- Rock layers and soil formation
- Levels of biological organization
- Human body systems – parts, functions, and interactions
- Cell structure and function
- Cell theory
- Comparing plant and animal cells
- Vascular and nonvascular plants
- Angiosperm and gymnosperm
- Levels of ecological organization
- Biotic and abiotic factors of ecosystem
- Food chain, food web, and transfer of energy in ecosystem
- Interactions in ecosystem (symbiotic and non-symbiotic relationships)
- Microorganisms – bacteria, fungi, and protists
- History of life and earth formation (different eras)
- Classification of matter – pure substances and mixtures
- Phase changes
- The Periodic Table of Elements
- Chemical symbols and formulas
- Law of conservation of mass
- Two-dimensional motion
- Newton’s laws of motion
- Work, power, and energy
- Transformation of energy (potential to kinetic and vice versa)
- Magnetism
- Rock cycle
- Types of rocks
- Weathering, erosion, and deposition
- The Universe
- Human body systems – illnesses affecting organs
- Human reproduction
- Cell cycle
- Cell division – mitosis and meiosis
- Prokaryotes and viruses
- Energy pyramid and trophic levels
- Carrying capacity and limiting factors
- Factors affecting the population in an ecosystem
- Biodiversity and sustainability
- Mendel’s experiments
- Laws of inheritance (Mendelian and non-Mendelian
- Human genome and chromosome
- Punnett square – monohybrid and dihybrid cross
- Genetic disorders
- Atomic theory
- Isotopes and average atomic mass
- Chemical reactions
- Parts of a chemical equation
- Balancing a chemical equation
- Momentum
- Newton’s law of gravitation
- Waves and energy
- Electromagnetic waves
- Electromagnetism
- Optics
- Fossilization
- History of earth – ice cores
- Stars
- The Big Bang Theory
- Human body systems – homeostasis and feedback mechanisms
- Cell mutation
- Central dogma of molecular biology (DNA – structure and replication)
- Genetic engineering and ethical issues in biotechnology
- Biomolecules (carbohydrates, lipids, proteins, nucleic acids)
- Polymers
- Invertebrate diversity, evolution, and classification
- Vertebrates’ diversity, evolution, and classification
- Phylogeny and cladistics
- Theory of evolution and natural selection
- Forces of evolution
- Population genetics
- Scientific notation and significant figures
- Accuracy and precision
- Dimensional analysis
- Valence electrons
- Electron configurations
- Chemical bonding
- Endothermic and exothermic reactions
- Redox reaction
- Chemical nomenclature
- The Special Theory of Relativity
- Kepler’s law
- Laws of stratigraphy
- Relative and absolute dating (computing half-life)
- Expansion of universe
- Dark matter
PAST PAPERS
Students will receive the following:
-Certificate of Participation in Preliminary Round
-Achievement Medals in the Preliminary Round (Gold, Silver and Bronze)
-Certificate of Participation in Global Round (Paper Certificate),
-Certificate of Achievement: Gold, Silver, Bronze, Honorable Mention (Paper Certificate)
-Achievement Medals: Gold, Silver, and Bronze (Based on their performance)
Gold, Silver, and Bronze medals in the Global Round will be awarded based on the following percentages:
⁃ The top 10% will receive a Gold Medal
⁃ The next 15% will receive a Silver Medal
⁃ The next 25% will receive a Bronze Medal
⁃ The next 10% will receive an Honorable Mention Certificate
Moreover, the top three students of each category of Global Round will get special prizes listed below:
