India Triumphs in the 2014 History-Physics Olympics

On Jan. 17, NCS 9th-grade students took a break from standard exam week fare to compete in the 7th 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, while the second series challenged their grasp of physics. Teams competed in a variety of events, including primary source matching, essay writing, balloon rocket construction, and metric measurement estimating.

Both the history and physics portion end with a combined event. The final history 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 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.

 

The competition was tough, but India overcame China to capture the overall gold medal. Turkey edged out Argentina and Ghana to take home the overall bronze. The complete list of winners is below; check out the photo gallery to see Olympic highlights!

 

Gold: China

Silver: India

Bronze: Argentina

Physics
Gold: Ghana

Silver: India

Bronze: China

Overall Olympiad

Gold: India

Silver: China

Bronze: Turkey