Giants of Science, May 17-19, 2006

Registration & General Information

FAQ (updated May 10, 2006)

Parking

Questions: Where can we park?

Answer:
Bus Parking
Buses may park free of charge in the IU Stadium Parking Lots located on 17th Street between Dunn and Fee Lane. Buses may pull up in front of the Residence Halls for unloading, or behind McNutt Center for Team Check-In. Buses may come down Seventh Street to the central campus to drop off students, but they may NOT park anywhere other than the IU Stadium Lots. Buses may NOT come past the guard house on Seventh in front of the IMU.

Car Parking:
Parking is free at the IU Stadium (located very closely to McNutt & Foster Residence Halls). From the stadium, you may ride a campus bus to your competition. If you are registered to accompany a team, your name Badge will allow you to ride campus buses at no charge.

 If you want to park in the Residence Halls parking lots, you will need to purchase parking permits ($5/day) from the Center Desk at McNutt Center.

 For the central part of campus, there are two “fee” parking lots located next to the Indiana Memorial Union.  In addition, the Atwater Garage is located on Faculty Drive between Third Street and Atwater Avenue and the Poplars Garage is located off Sixth Street between Grant Avenue and Dunn Avenue.  Rates for the parking garages and fee lots begin at $1.00/ half-hour with a maximum daily rate of $20.00.

Other campus parking lots are designated by A’s, C’s, or E’s. The “holy grail” of campus parking is an A Permit. With this, you may park in any A, C or E spot. For more information on purchasing A permits, email Rob DeCleene at the Bloomington Visitors’ Center (rob@visitbloomington.com).

Swap Meet

Questions: What is the Swap Meet?

Answer: The Swap Meet is a traditional activity where students trade items from their school, city, or state. Each student should bring approximately 10-15 items to trade. Items traded in the past are t-shirts, pennants, lapel pins, candy, Hershey Chocolate (made in PA), cheese hats (WI), stickers, hats, etc. Be creative! Also remember to ask for donations from your Chamber of Commerce or Visitor's Center, local businesses and local universities. You shouldn't have to go out and purchase your trade items.

Swimming Pools and Fitness Facilities

Questions: Will we be able to use the swimming pools and fitness facilities on campus?

Answer: The Outdoor Swimming Pool will not open until Memorial weekend. The Indoor Pools at the HPER and SRSC along with their fitness facilities will be available. However, you will need to purchase a daily pass. HPER daily pass is $4.00/person and SRSC daily pass is $6.00/person.

Hoosier Jubilee

Questions: What is the Hoosier Jubilee and can we purchase tickets?

Answer: The Hoosier Jubilee is a social for all partcipating teams. Dinner & entertainment will be provided along with a couple of very cool activities. Tickets are $20 per person and can be purchased by coaches only on the online registration forms.

Questions: Do we need to dress up for the Hoosier Jubilee?

Answer: No - Casual Team Attire is appropriate for both the Hoosier Jubilee and the Opening Ceremony.

Steps to Success Passport

Questions: I’ve heard about the Steps to Success Passport. What is it, and how does it work?

Answer: The Steps to Success Passport is our way to encourage your students to attend as many of the campus and community events as they can. During the Thursday and Friday before the competition, Indiana University schools and departments are rolling out the red carpet for you, our NSO guests. Students will find stickers (seals) to place in their Passports at 30 different venues, all within easy walking distance of our Halls of Residence. After participating in all these exciting learning activities, students will bring their Passports to the Hoosier Jubilee on Friday afternoon. There, they will be awarded prizes based on the number of stickers they have collected.

Banquet Tickets

Question: Will Banquet tickets be available for those of us staying off campus?

Answer: Banquet tickets may be purchased at on-site registration by those teams staying off campus. However, there will be a limited amount of tickets available.

Question: Do we need to dress-up?

Answer: Yes! You should dress-up in your Sunday Best for the Banquet and the Closing Ceremony.

Bottle Rockets

Questions: Will Bottle Rockets run as a true walk-in?

Answer: NO - Teams will SIGN-UP for a specific time within their designated time slot. (Example: If you are team B14, you will sign-up for a time between 10:30 a.m.-2:45 p.m) Teams MUST sign-up between 3:00-4:30 p.m. on Friday, May 19 at the Hoosier Jubilee in the Mellencamp Pavilion.

Campus Bus System

Question: Will NSO participants be able to use the campus bus system?

Answer: Yes! Your official nametag will gain you access to the campus bus system at no charge. In fact, we've added more buses to the existing "A" route on Saturday, May 20.

Communication Devices

Question: What is the policy on communication devices?

Answer: All cell phones, pagers, walkie talkies, and text messaging devices must be turned off and placed in front of you while in competition. Anyone caught using a device while competing will be disqualified from that event. Any team caught more than once will be disqualified from the tournament.

Compute This (Division B & C)

Question: What hardware & software will be available to us?

Answer: Click on the link below to find out what is available in the computer labs being used for the National Compute This competition.

Hardware & Software list and classroom layout

Educational and Fun Activities

Question: Are there activities for students?

Answer: Indiana University academic units have rolled out the red carpet for our NSO guests. Hands-on learning opportunities, incredible teaching demonstrations, educational workshops, and research facility tours are scheduled in over twenty-two departments on the Bloomington campus.

Question: Where can I find more information about campus activities?

Answer: A full listing of educational activities is available on the Master Schedule of Events.

Housing & Food on Campus (Division B & C)

Question: Where can teams purchase meals “on their own” on Thursday, May 18 and Friday, May 19, 2006?

Answer: Cash meals will be available for breakfast (6:30 – 8) and lunch (11 – 1) on Thursday at McNutt. Friday breakfast is available at Wright and McNutt (6:30 – 8) for people who do not have that as part of their housing package. Carry out breakfast is available at Wright and McNutt (6:30 – 11) on Sunday. We are not offering a cash lunch option on Friday.

Question: What are the check-in & check-out times?

Answer: The Halls of Residence will have 24 hour service for check-in beginning Wednesday, May 17 - Friday, May 19. Sunday, May 21 check-out hours are from 7:00 a.m. -3:00 p.m. We will either have staff on call or a key drop available for teams that need to leave before that time.

Question: Can married couples room together in the Halls of Residence?

Answer: NO - The floors of the Halls of Residence are segregated by gender. The shower and restroom facilities are shared among all living on the floor. Therefore, the first floor may be all female, the second floor all male, etc.

Junkyard Challenge (Division B & C)

Question: What are the challenges for the trial event Junkyard Challenge?

Answer: For the challenges click on the appropriate division below:
  • Division B Challenges
  • Division C Chalenges

    • Just for Fun Science Olympiad Events

    Question: Who can compete in the "Just for Fun" events?

    Answer: Anyone. However, these are scheduled only across two one-hour time slots. They will begin on the hour each hour and are first come, first serve.

    General

    Question: When does the National Science Olympiad begin?

    Answer: The tournament itself is held on Saturday, May 20th, but activities leading up to the tournament begin on Thursday, May 18th.

    Home Rooms

    Question: Will home rooms be available to us on Thursday and Friday?

    Answer: No. Unfortunately NSO takes place during our first summer session and due to classes we were not able to secure enough rooms for everyone. One Saturday, May 20, all teams will be provided their own home room/classroom.

    Impounding

    Question: Can teachers, parents or alternates impound devices for our official competitors?

    Answer: Yes

    Mission Possible

    Question: Is there a deadline for submitting the Simple Machines Transfer List?

    Answer: Mission Transfer Lists must be submitted no later than Monday,
    May 15, by 9:00 PM in YOUR time zone. For complete instructions please go to www.indiana.edu/~nso/tournament/mission.pdf.

    Scores

    Question: When will we receive the final scores?

    Answer: At the end of the Awards Ceremony each team's head coach will be provided one copy of the final scores. Any scoring inconsistencies must be brought to the attention of the arbitrators within one hour of the completion of the ceremony. In the rare case of a "photo finish" or problem, a phone number and/or an email address will also be posted on the tournament website for coaches to contact. Scores are not final until they are posted on the Official Science Olympiad websites.

    Trial Events

    Question: Who can compete in trial events?

    Answer: Any student from your school may compete in pilot or trial events. That means official competitors, observers, and alternates may compete. The maximum number of competitors per school can be found on the official rules.

    Wright Stuff

    Question: What are the dimensions of the Mellencamp Pavilion?

    Answer: The Mellencamp Pavilion is 90,000 square feet. It is an indoor practice facility for football. There will be enough space to allow trim flights for Wright Stuff all day. Ceiling height is 72 feet - above that are rafters. The air ventilation system will be shut off.