Elementary Science Olympiad
We are excited that your student is interested in the Georgia Elementary Science Olympiad! Tritt Elementary is looking forward to fielding a competitive team this season, and we need passionate scientists!
Our team will be limited (by ESO rule) to 20 students who will work in pairs to prepare for and compete in their assigned events. 3rd, 4th & 5th grade students may apply. Students will be chosen based on their interests, availability and teacher recommendations. Applications are due by November 1st. Apply HERE.
Mandatory practices will be held every Wednesday, November through mid-March, from 2:30-3:30. Students MUST be available on March 15th, 2025 for the Cobb Regional ESO and on May 3rd, 2025 for the GA State ESO at Kennesaw State University. The program fee is $50, which includes all materials and a team t-shirt.
Interested students and families can learn more here: https://www.georgiascienceteacher.org/GAESO
Please contact Mrs. Kelly Smith, Mrs. Stone, or Mr. Giunta with any questions or concerns.
Barge Building
It’s barge building time! During this mission you will experiment with forces and how to balance them. You’ll become an expert in mass, calculating cargo and the best part…there’s water!
Mission 1: Balancing force & motion - Complete all three sections as an introduction to balanced forces.
Mission 2: Scale Simulator - Compare the weight of everyday items.
Mission 3: Online Game - Explore properties of matter to see how they impact balance and motion.
Mission 4: Barge Building - Complete the Barge Building challenge. How much stuff do you think your "barge" will hold? Make a prediction, an educated guess based on the three previous missions, then test it out! Send me pictures of the final result with notes on how much the materials weighed, or at least a good picture of them with the barge. I'll also want to confirm the size of your barge, 15 sq cm max!
Starry Starry Night
NASA has been given its most ambitious and challenging mission in half a century: to rapidly accelerate its human lunar program and land the first woman and the next man on the surface of the Moon in 2024. This program is named Artemis, after the Greek goddess of the Moon. Artemis is the twin of Apollo, the historic NASA program that first landed humankind on the Moon 50 years ago. Artemis will establish a long-term presence in lunar orbit and on the surface of the Moon. The goal of Artemis is continuous exploration of the lunar surface through a sustainable human presence on the Moon. Your mission is to learn about the Commercial Crew program, build a balloon-powered rocket, and creating a lunar habitat that can sustain our astronauts.
Mission 1: Watch “Commercial Crew - What’s it all about?” and explore the Expeditionary Skills for Life page from NASA.
Mission 2: Play Rocket Science: Ride to the Station. The interactive app gives an overview of the complexities of getting to and conduct research on the International Space Station.
Mission 3: Heavy Lifting. Building a balloon rocket to lift as many paperclips as possible.
Mission 4: Lunar Habitat Planning Challenge. Imagine what it would be like to live and work on the moon? What kind of work might astronauts do? How might they live? Read an article on Moonquakes, then design and draw astronaut housing.
Rock Hound
Calling all Rock Hounds, your mission is to explore rocks! You’ll be able to identify rocks, learn about multiple uses of rocks, explore how rocks are formed and create a presentation about rocks all around you. Uses these online resources to complete the challenges below: Rockhounding in Georgia, Natural History Rock Tour, Cooper Mining Field Trip, Fredrick’s Mineral Gallery, and the Mineralogical Society of America rock key.
Have fun and remember to be safe!
Mission 1: Create your own virtual rock collection! Choose six rocks, explore how they are formed, and create a rock cycle. Complete this quiz when you are finished.
Mission 2: Study the properties and uses of different rocks, then complete this online challenge.
Mission 3: Test your knowledge on planet Earth by completing this online quiz.
Mission 4: Create a visual presentation (e.g. video, slideshow, poster, game board, etc) to share with the rest of the team. Be sure to include the following criteria:
Identify four different rocks in your everyday world and how they are used.
Identify four different minerals in your everyday world and how they are used.
Identify Georgia’s state rock, explaining why it was chosen, and what rock, if any, you would have chosen and why.
Identify Georgia’s state mineral, explaining why it was chosen, and what mineral, if any, you would have chosen and why.
Identify Georgia’s state gemstone, explaining why it was chosen, and what gemstone, if any, you would have chosen and why.
Identify Georgia’s state fossil, explaining why it was chosen, and what fossil, if any, you would have chosen and why.
Deep Blue Sea
Dive into oceanography to learn about diverse ocean habitats and conservation efforts by scientists and researchers by watching this video. Afterwards you will complete Missions (Parts) I - IV using the hotlinks in the Deep Blue Sea resources page. Be sure to record your work and share with Mr. Giunta.
Mission I: The ocean is teeming with unique plants and animals. Review the images of Georgia Aquarium organisms and identify the species along with one of its adaptations.
Mission II: Many important interactions occur where land meets ocean. Watch a video to learn about estuaries and analyze additional information to answer questions.
Mission III: Diving is a vital activity to explore Earth’s oceans. Read the information and view the video to learn about the Georgia Aquarium’s SCUBA team. Identify the SCUBA equipment used by divers.
Mission IV: Coral reefs are an important part of the ocean that supports about 25% of ocean life. Learn about the symbiotic relationship between coral and Zooxanthellae (algae) and then apply information learned to assess a coral transect looking for evidence of coral bleaching.
Disease Detectives
Become a CDC disease detective and solve the outbreak!
Use the online CDC Solve the Outbreak platform to explore different types of disease outbreaks and design a plan to prevent the further spread of disease.
Complete the Student Sheet to earn the GSO badge, and earn badges and ribbons within the CDC Platform! See additional directions here.
Bridge Building
Let’s build a bridge! Your challenge is to build a new bridge. This bridge must be the longest, strongest, and most stable bridge that you can build given the constraints of the challenge. To get ready for the build, you will complete missions that will introduce you to careers associated with bridges, types of bridges, and bridge building materials. In the end, you will use your new knowledge of bridge building to construct a bridge.
Download the Student Event Resource Sheet. It contains embedded links and resources for all four missions of this event.
Mission I: Who designs and builds bridges?
Mission II: Explore types of bridges.
Mission III: What makes a lengthy, strong and stable bridge?
Mission IV: Bridge Building Challenge.
Weather Or Not
Weather is something that affects all of us. It can be fascinating and frightening. This adventure will help you learn about weather phenomena so you can better understand what’s happening with your local weather and weather around the world. Use this PowerPoint presentation to work through the four missions below. Submit your work using this answer sheet.
Mission I: Explore Air Masses, Fronts & Weather Stations
Mission II: Explore Weather Forecasting
Mission III: Explore a Tornado Simulation
Mission IV: Explore a Lightning Simulation
Mystery Architecture
Let’s build a structure! Your team has been challenged to design and build multiple structures using a variety of materials. These structures should be the tallest and most stable structures that you can build given the constraints of the challenge. To get ready for the build using and design like you never have before! In the end, you will work with your team to use your new knowledge of architecture to construct the tallest mystery structure.
Use this PowerPoint presentation to work through the four missions below and share phots with Mr. Giunta.
Mission I: Blueprints! Learn about different parts of buildings. Then use these parts to design and draw blueprints for an original building of your choice.
Mission II: Explore what it takes to be a champion card stacker. How can you build stable structures using only playing cards?
Mission III: What makes a stable structure? Triangles, that’s what! Learn how triangles resist forces of compression and tension. Then build your own skyscraper using kitchen objects!
Mission IV: Mystery Architecture! Using limited materials and time, build the tallest stable structure to support a tennis ball.