Students will compete as individuals. When the results are announced, each participant and the participant’s coach will be recognized. If multiple students from the same school are interested in participating, each needs to be registered individually. The same coach may register any number of interested students.

No.  To keep the rules and the registration process as simple as possible, all relevant details are in the original announcement.

Here are the simple rules:

• The Olympiad is a one-day, virtual event. The two-part competition will comprise morning and afternoon sessions on March 28, 2024.
• The competition will ask students to answer questions and solve problems in the fields of mechanics, optics, and electricity & magnetism. The list of topics is provided below.
• The first part of the competition will give students 90 minutes to answer 25 multiple-choice questions. They will be delivered electronically to the coaches of registered participants at 8 a.m. (local time for each participant) on March 9. Coaches will be responsible for supervising students, scanning their answers and returning all responses for evaluation by noon (participants’ local time).
• The second part of the competition consists of six, open-response, pre-algebra-based physics problems to be completed within 90 minutes. These problems will be delivered electronically to the coaches of registered participants at 1 p.m. (local time for each participant), with all answers to be submitted by 5 p.m.

All interested students are highly encouraged to participate. Many questions and problems will be conceptual and “life based,” allowing students to apply critical thinking and general life knowledge.

We encourage participation by students in every middle-school grade.  Both younger and older students can benefit from their participation. They not only can take pride in their participation (which will be recognized when results are announced), they will gain an understanding of what is required for future competitions.

In creating the Middle-School Physics Olympiad, Physcira analyzed the main academic standards for middle-school physical-science classes nationwide, including those provided by a number of State Departments of Education. Most importantly, we evaluated and analyzed the breadth and depth of the knowledge provided to students in a cross-section of public, charter and private middle schools in different states.

Based on our evaluation, and taking into account that this is only the third nation-wide competition for middle schoolers, the Olympiad will present students with challenges on a “middle level” so all participants have a fair chance. All participants will be recognized when the results are announced, and awards will be made in a variety of categories.

As we see it, the willingness to be challenged in this event speaks volumes about the high caliber and commitment to excellence of every participating school, student, coach and leadership team.

All questions and problems will be either conceptual or pre-algebra-based (with elements of geometry), with simple measurement and graphing elements.

For example, problems may involve solving for a variable in a linear equation; calculating areas of common shapes (rectangle, triangle); and determining volumes of regular solids: cube, rectangular prism (parallelepiped), cylinder and sphere.

Students may use a pen/pencil, paper, eraser, calculator, protractor, compass and a ruler.

Here are the topics on which Olympiad questions will be based:

1. Mechanics

• Metric system: meter, kilogram, second, degrees of Celsius.
• Unit transformations: millimeters, centimeters and meters, units for area and units for volume.
• Density of solids and liquids.
• Mechanical motion: speed, velocity and acceleration.
• Collisions and momentum. The law of conservation of linear momentum.
• Free fall and free fall acceleration.
• Forces. Gravitational force, weight, friction force, elastic force and Archimedes’ force.
• Newton’s laws.
• Potential and kinetic energy. The law of conservation of mechanical energy.
• Simple machines: levers, pulleys and inclines.
• Waves and sound.

2. Optics

• Reflection of light and the law of reflection of light.
• Refraction of light and the law of refraction of light.
• Lenses. Converging and diverging lenses.
• Lens equation.

3) Electricity and Magnetism

• Positive and negative charges.
• Current and its carriers (electrons).
• Voltage, current and resistance as main characteristics of an electrical circuit.
• Ohm’s law.
• Resistors in series and parallel circuits.
• Magnets.
• Magnetic and electric fields.

There is no fee for the competition. The event is being sponsored entirely by private donors and organizations that share Physcira’s deep commitment to advancing physics education in our nation’s middle- and junior-high schools.

On the day of the Olympiad, coaches will receive the competition problems from the Olympiad Committee by email and will be responsible for distributing them to their students.  Since students who are participating are expected to be on site at their schools, the problems can simply be printed out. Students will not be allowed to participate remotely barring a drastic change in the environment (e.g., a significant pandemic resurgence). In such cases, a change to remote participation will be announced prior to the Olympiad. All answers should be collected by coaches, scanned and returned to the Olympiad Committee by the stated deadline.

If this change occurs, it can best be addressed with frank communication between coaches and their students well before the event.  Students should be made aware that, given the unique circumstances leading to their remote participation, the competition must be held under an honor system that assumes every student will uphold the highest standards of honesty and integrity. Students should understand that they will be part of an event that will attract national attention and, we hope, lead to increased support for middle- and junior-high school physics education. They are not just participating for themselves, their coaches and their schools; they are helping future students and serving as role models for their peers.