BirdSO's inaugural tournament, first announced in early December 2020, took place virtually in the mini SO format from March 7–13, 2021. In this format, which allowed Science Olympiad to continue during the COVID-19 pandemic, students competed from their own homes over a weeklong testing period during which students could compete in their events at any time.
The events slate featured twenty-one official events and six trial events in each division. As the tournament took place in the mini SO format, details about event modifcations used to adapt events to a virtual experience were provided to all teams ahead of the tournament. All testing for events took place on the Scilympiad platform, and many events with device testing included video components. Alongside these modifications, policies detailing expectations for academic honesty as well as what resources would be allowed were implemented.
A total of 183 teams attended the inaugural tournament, with 62 teams in Division B and 121 teams in Division C. Across both divisions, these teams represented a total of 32 states!
Our tournament would not have been possible without the generous support of our volunteer Event Supervisors and graders. Visit the link below to learn more about the individuals who dedicated their time towards helping our tournament and making our events possible.
The Awards Ceremony was premiered on the BirdSO YouTube channel on March 20, 2021, at 6:00 PM Pacific Time. The top six places were announced for Division B and top twelve for Division C. Congratulations to Jeffrey Trail Middle School of Southern California and Mountain View High School of Northern California for winning Division B and Division C, respectively!
Following the tournament, tests, keys, and score distributions were publicly released. Graded tests were made available to participating teams over the Scilympiad platform.