South Africa receives the overall Gold! Olympic Organizing Committee and Judges - L-R: Mary DiQuinzio, Blair Parker, Tim Harger, Daniela Bailey, Brendan Moriarty, Elizabeth Dudrow, Deb Virtue, Laura Slocum, Elna Clevenger

South Africa Goes for Gold in the 2013 History-Physics Olympics

Elizabeth Gray
9th-grade students competed for supremacy in an energetic alternative to midterm exams.
On Jan. 18, NCS 9th-grade students took a break from standard exam week fare to compete in the 6th annual History-Physics Olympics. This alternative midterm assessment was played out in a series of competitions designed to test what they’ve learned so far this year. Students were divided into teams representing nine different nations – Argentina, China, France, Ghana, India, Mexico, Russia, South Africa, and Turkey – all countries studied in their 9th-grade Modern World History course.

The first portion of the Olympics tested their history knowledge. Teams competed in six events, including primary source matching, secondary source matching, a scavenger hunt, a game show, and essay writing. The final event, a relay race, combined history with physics, requiring students to match primary sources and the answers to physics word problems with an Olympiad year.

The second series of events tested their grasp of physics. The students solved logic puzzles, constructed balloon rockets, built aluminum barges, estimated metric measurements, wrote instructions for teammates to construct a structure, and used vector navigation to move an object along a path. The final physics event was an animated round of Inertia Ball, which required teams to move a 14 lb. bowling ball through an obstacle course using only a broom. Each team also had to answer a history question by ending the obstacle course with the bowling ball on the correct Olympic year.

South Africa took home the overall gold medal, followed closely by Russia and India. In a rare turn of events, Ghana and Mexico tied for this year’s Physics silver medal. The complete list of winners is below; check out the photo gallery to see Olympic highlights!

History
Gold: South Africa
Silver: Russia
Bronze: India

Physics
Gold: France
Silver: Ghana & Mexico
Bronze: Russia

Overall Olympiad
Gold: South Africa
Silver: Russia
Bronze: India
Back

    • South Africa receives the overall Gold!

    • Olympic Organizing Committee and Judges - L-R: Mary DiQuinzio, Blair Parker, Tim Harger, Daniela Bailey, Brendan Moriarty, Elizabeth Dudrow, Deb Virtue, Laura Slocum, Elna Clevenger