March 09, 2019

Tests

Tests have now been publicly released to all schools! They can be found here. Additionally, photos from the competition can be found here.

Best of luck to all teams for the rest of the season!

February 15, 2019

Survey + Tests

Hello again from the Golden Gate Science Olympiad Team!

We were so pleased to have you join us for the third annual GGSO tournament this past weekend, and we want to offer a huge congratulations to all our coaches, competitors, spectators, and volunteers! Now that the tournament is over, we’d like to collect your thoughts about how it went: good, bad, annoying, wonderful.

We ask that at least one coach and one student from each participating team fills out the feedback survey here. As soon as at least one student and one coach have completed this form, a folder with the tests and score distributions will be shared with the team. Tests will be publicly released March 9 on our website so filling out the feedback early will give you a head start! (Plus we would really appreciate the chance to hear your thoughts).

We would also like to share with you the video you saw during the awards ceremony, linked here. Final scores can be found here and photos will be posted there in the next two weeks. Rubrics for Wright Stuff will be released individually to competing teams soon as well.

There were also a few lost and found items we discovered throughout the day and during cleanup. They include a few pairs of goggles, calculators, and beakers. Please send us a message with more information if these items sounds like they belong to someone on your team. These items may be picked up from Berkeley or your team can pay the cost of shipping and we will get them to you that way.

Again, we thank you and congratulate you on your achievements in STEM and Science Olympiad! We hope you will consider joining us again next year.

February 09, 2019

Final Results

Final results can be found here. Scores are considered final, so teams may not file an appeal/challenge scores. Tests/key distribution will occur within the next week (stay tuned for a future email!) Wright Stuff rubrics will be emailed out with the tests/keys. Photos will be posted within the next two weeks.

Thank you to all the teams that came out to compete today and congrats to all!

February 09, 2019

Awards

Awards will be 5:30 p.m. - 7:30 p.m. in Pauley Ballroom. Award seating can be found here (the seating diagram has been updated on 2/9/19) and program can be found here. Each team is assigned a row of 15 chairs (schools that have 2 teams have 2 rows). Extra seating can be found in the back by rows labeled S.

We are also pleased to announce our keynote speaker, Dr. Joshua Hug. Dr. Joshua Hug is an Assistant Teaching Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (EECS) at UC Berkeley. He teaches some of the largest computer science and data science courses at Berkeley, including Data Structures and Principles and Techniques of Data Science. He also conducts computer science education research. In 2017, he won the Diane S. McEntyre Award for Excellence in Teaching Computer Science.

After the awards ceremony ends, coaches can pick up tournament exams and score sheets from Tilden in MLK (5th floor, 3 floors above Pauley Ballroom.)

February 08, 2019

Quick Info

Last-minute questions: Contact Faith (701-595-4054)
Remind 101 service: Text @428ce7 to the number 81010.
Check-in: 8 a.m. Kerr Lobby.
Parking: Bus parking is first-come first-serve at West Circle/Crescent parking. Map here
Team homerooms and event locations: open at 8:15 a.m., close at 5:20 p.m. Homeroom locations
Campus Map: Digital map here
Event schedule: Event schedule here
Day Schedule: Day schedule here
Awards ceremony: 5:30 p.m. - 7:30 p.m. in Pauley Ballroom. Award seating here (Updated 2/9/19) and program here. Chairs for participants only. Pick up tournament exams and score sheets from Tilden in MLK.
NO FOOD in homerooms, Kerr Lobby, Pauley, Stephens Lounge, Tilden, etc. Food allowed in the ground floor of the MLK building and Eshleman Hall first floor ONLY.
Food options: Food options we like can be found in this document. Parking and food locations can also be found on our custom digital map.
Wifi: Free wifi is available on campus (connect to CalVisitor).
Attachment list: Please see the tournament details page for links to all attachments.
T-shirts: A limited number of shirts will be available for $15 in Kerr Lobby during the tournament, beginning at 10 a.m. (cash or check only).
Social media handles: Snapchat (ggscioly), Instagram (goldengatescioly) and Twitter (@goldengateso).

February 06, 2019

Final Reminders

The Golden Gate Science Olympiad tournament is TOMORROW, and we’re looking forward to welcoming you at Berkeley.

For any last-minute questions or concerns (Friday evening/during the day Saturday), the best person to contact is Faith. She can be reached at 701-595-4054.

This post is edited to contain updated announcements in later emails. This post contains announcements from 2/1/19, 2/6/19, and 2/8/19.

2/8/19 Reminders:

Check-in begins at 8 a.m. in Kerr Lobby. Bus parking is first-come first-serve at West Circle/Crescent parking, and there is also street parking and parking garages all marked on the maps included below.

Team homerooms open by 8:15 a.m. and close at 5:20 p.m. To see your homeroom, as well as event locations, please visit this link, keeping in mind there are multiple tabs to the spreadsheet:

We expect rain on the day of the tournament; please keep this in mind when transporting event materials for impound. While food is NOT allowed in homerooms, teams may eat together on the ground floor of the MLK building and Eshleman Hall first floor ONLY. Food cannot be brought into Kerr Lobby, Pauley, Stephens Lounge, Tilden, etc.

Protein Modeling National SciOly Clarification: We would like to let coaches know that MSOE recently changed the grading rubric of Protein Modeling from 40/30/30 (prebuilds/onsite/test) to 20/40/40 due to issues with their prebuild rubric. We will be using this new rubric for our event as well.

In Kerr Lobby we will also have an awesome handmade photobooth for students to pose with. Please also follow our other social media accounts, where we’ll post fun tournament photos, updates, and live stories throughout the day to Snapchat (ggscioly), Instagram (goldengatescioly) and Twitter (@goldengateso). Check us out!

If you haven’t already, please remind to sign up for Remind 101. Remind 101 is how we will communicate with coaches tomorrow, rather than through emails.

Remind 101 service [share with students]: We use this text message remind service to send out critical day-of updates aimed primarily at coaches, but we encourage any students and parents to sign up to stay updated as well. Phone numbers are kept completely confidential by the website service, we promise not to send any updates after the tournament, and you can opt out at any time. Our Remind101 system code is @428ce7 this year, and you can join by texting @428ce7 to the number 81010.

2/6/19 Reminders:

Forecast: We want coaches to be aware that the current weather forecast is predicting possible rain on the day of the tournament. Please prepare accordingly, especially for events which require the transportation of impound creations. See the weather forecast here for more specific information:

Video: We have an awesome pre-tournament video uploaded here. Please watch and share with students as well!

Wright Stuff dimensions: A rule mandates that all competitors for the event Wright Stuff must be provided with the dimensions of the room in which this event will take place. This room is called the RSF Fieldhouse, and its dimensions are: 180’ X 114’, with a ceiling height of 30’.

Admissions panel: The day schedule (below) includes information about the admissions panel. This panel is a special students-only event at 4 p.m. Saturday where Berkeley students will discuss student life, academics, and choosing Berkeley.

When to arrive: Please also remember that check-in begins at 8 a.m. in Kerr Lobby. We look forward to meeting you then!

2/1/19 Reminders:

Food Regulation Reminder: NO FOOD IS ALLOWED IN HOMEROOMS. We agree that this is a ridiculous and frustrating rule, but Berkeley’s Event Services has alerted us several times that custodians will be on patrol through our reserved areas. Similar student groups have faced fines on the order of $5000 for violating this rule. We’re hoping for great weather on Saturday, so we recommend a nice lunch outside or encourage students to visit any of the many cafes highlighted in the maps on our website.

Please consider the homerooms as a place to study and store equipment, but not a place to eat. Custodians will be passing by rooms as well as checking trash cans. No food should be brought back to or disposed of in homerooms.

Unfortunately, we feel obligated to enforce this rule harshly, since a university violation would prevent future GGSO tournaments from being possible (and violating schools may share financial burden of any fines). Teams with food in their homerooms and trash cans face possible point deductions on their score and blacklisting from future GGSO events. We deeply apologize for this inconvenience but hope that it’s not too troublesome.

Morning Check-in: Please check in to receive your coach packet (which includes last-minute information, maps, and student wristbands). Check-in will be run in Kerr Lobby, beginning at 8 a.m.

Campus Map: We have an awesome digital map to aid in directions this year. Find it here or on our website under details. Please share this map with your teams as well. For additional navigation purposes, including walking to home rooms, events, and food locations, we recommend Google Maps. Previous tournament competitors have found this helpful.

Wifi: Free wifi is available on campus (connect to CalVisitor).

Homerooms: See here to check which homeroom your team has been assigned to–as well as the event locations. There are multiple tabs to the spreadsheet. These homerooms open by 8:15am.

Car Parking and Food: Please check for parking at any of the locations in the parking map. Note that some may require a daily fee. Food options we like can be found in this document. Parking and food locations can also be found on our custom digital map.

T-shirts [share with students]: Last year there was huge demand for GGSO t-shirts that are otherwise reserved for volunteers. This year, we ordered some extra for competitors! A limited number of shirts will be available for $15 in Kerr Lobby during the tournament, beginning at 10 a.m. (cash or check only).

Awards ceremony: The awards ceremony will open to teams at 5:30 p.m. in Pauley Ballroom. Due to space constraints, chairs are reserved for competitors only. A seating chart will be provided. The awards ceremony will conclude by 7:30 p.m., when coaches can then pick up tournament exams and score sheets from Tilden in MLK.

Remind 101 service [share with students]: We use this text message remind service to send out critical day-of updates aimed primarily at coaches, but we encourage any students and parents to sign up to stay updated as well. Phone numbers are kept completely confidential by the website service, we promise not to send any updates after the tournament, and you can opt out at any time. An email at a later date will include the information for Remind101 set-up for coaches and interested students and parents.

Day and event schedule: An event schedule can be found here and a general day schedule for the tournament has been posted online here.

Phone number: If any issues arise during check-in or during the tournament, please contact Faith at 701-595-4054.

Social Media [Share with Students]: We’re online! We’ll be posting fun tournament photos, updates, and live stories throughout the day to our Snapchat (ggscioly) and Instagram (goldengatescioly) accounts, as well as Twitter (@goldengateso). Check us out!

Thank you for reading the update. As always, if you have any questions, please let us know!

Please see the tournament details page for links to all attachments.

January 07, 2019

Waivers

Hello again from the Golden Gate Science Olympiad Team! We wish you a Happy New Year and hope that your holidays were splendid. This email contains important reminders about waiver uploads, which are due by no later than January 18th. If you have already uploaded waivers, we thank you. If you would like to confirm, please reach out via email.

Every attending minor must fill out two forms prior to the tournament. The first form is a liability waiver that can be found here. The second form is a media authorization that can be found here and should be printed and distributed to all minors (including competing students, alternates, and siblings that choose to attend as spectators).

We are asking that coaches then scan the stack of forms and upload the file to a Google Drive folder (https://tinyurl.com/waiver-upload) that is private and only available to GGSO team coordinators (by turning off “view by link” in share settings). Each coach should create a folder with their school name and put the scanned pdf files in this folder. If schools have two teams, please make a folder for each team, with the team number clearly displayed. The forms may be submitted as a single pdf file or several, but a single is preferred. We will not require any paper copies to be submitted. If you haven’t worked with Google Drive before, consider asking a tech-savvy student to help you out! If you’re still having trouble, please reach out to us ASAP. Scans must be done on a scanner or a cell phone scanner app.

If you are having trouble uploading the forms into Google Drive, you may also submit forms through the Google Form located here: https://bit.ly/2snOzXL. Please do let us know if you have any further questions! We are happy to help.

December 03, 2018

Self-scheduled events

Welcome coaches! This is an instructional guide to self-schedule your team’s events. Self-schedules will open at 12:00 PM PT on December 10, 2018. If you have questions about the self-schedule process, please email us at goldengatescioly@gmail.com.

To begin, please log in to https://statescioly.org/golden-gate
At the top of the screen, find the “Coaches” tab. Click on this and find Head Coach Dashboard in the drop-down menu. The resulting page should look like this.
In the “Signup” section (second from top), click on Event Signup. The resulting page should look like this:
Note that the following events are self-schedule: Boomilever, Disease Detectives, Experimental Design, Mission Possible, Mousetrap Vehicle, Sounds of Music, Thermodynamics, and Wright Stuff. You can view our tentative events schedule here.
To sign your team up for an event, please click on the appropriate event block on the left-hand side of the column. Before 12:00 PM on December 10, every box in this column simply says “Blocked.” Make sure you have pop-ups enabled in your browser!
Follow the on-screen instructions to sign your team up, and double check that you selected the appropriate event and timeblock.
To view your event sign-ups, click “Show all my signups” (above the event timeblock table and to the left).

As always, feel free to send us an email at goldengatescioly@gmail.com if you are experiencing difficulty with self-scheduling events.

Quick links:
Scilympiad
Event schedule (tentative)
Team numbers

November 28, 2018

Volunteer

Calling all volunteers!

On February 9th, 2019, high school students from across the nation will arrive at UC Berkeley for the third Golden Gate Science Olympiad Invitational. This tournament is co-hosted by Science Olympiad alumni from Stanford and Cal, and will feature over 700 high school students competing in each of the 23 official events.

We need student volunteers from both Stanford and Berkeley to help this tournament be a success! For the majority of general volunteers, no Science Olympiad experience is necessary to help set up, administer, and judge events. Please fill out this form to indicate any interest in helping put on this incredible tournament!

Transportation will be provided or reimbursed for volunteers coming from the Bay Area, but costs will not be covered for those coming from farther distances.

Please contact us at goldengatescioly@gmail.com or check us out at goldengateso.com if you have any questions! Note that this form is NOT an absolute commitment.

This form will be due on Dec. 5, 2018 at 11:59pm

Form: https://goo.gl/forms/wxFwbq4zYEBJny743

November 16, 2018

Tournament/Campus Policies

An overview of basic practices and policies for the 2019 GGSO tournament.

Fairness: Out of fairness to all teams, the official event rules will be followed as closely as possible. Events will be run according to REGIONAL rules. If one block of competitors is adversely affected (i.e. starts late or receives a hint 15 minutes into the exam), we will attempt to treat each block the same. Additionally, clarifications affecting everyone will be made in the FIRST block. If a problem is found in later blocks, no change will be made.

Disqualification/Tiering: A team may be disqualified for the following reasons including but not limited to:

Persistent behavioral problems from students, parents, and/or coaches
Communicating with a non-competitor during an event (including parents and coaches)
Opening an unauthorized electronic device or unauthorized use of computer given during the event
Blatant cheating (e.g. looking at other competitors’ papers)
Going over the specified time limit
Giving information about the event to other teams
Cleanup penalties: Event supervisor will make clear beforehand (e.g. will state if students can be penalized for cleaning up after time is over)

Event challenges/concerns: If an issue with an event arises, the disputes should first be handled informally as a conversation between the competitor and the event supervisor. If there are any concerns that can’t be handled this way, please file an appeal through the Scilympiad online submission system at https://statescioly.org/golden-gate/. Coaches may also contact the arbitration committee by phone at 206-484-6767 or in person at the director headquarters in Tilden (5th floor MLK Student Union). Parents and coaches should NOT interact with event supervisors. Event supervisors have the right to issue scoring penalties or disqualifications to students due to aggression from parents or coaches.

Wristbands: Every competing student must be wearing a wristband. Students without wristbands will not be allowed to compete.

Waivers: Every attending minor must fill out two forms prior to the tournament. The first form is a liability waiver that can be found here. The second form is a media authorization that can be found here and should be printed and distributed to all minors (including competing students, alternates, and siblings that choose to attend as spectators). We are asking that coaches then scan the stack of forms and upload the file to a Google Drive folder by December 14. Each coach should create a folder with their school name and put the scanned pdf files in this folder. If schools have two teams, please make a folder for each team. The forms may be submitted as a single pdf file or several, but a single is preferred. We will not require any paper copies to be submitted. If you haven’t worked with Google Drive before, consider asking a tech-savvy student to help you out! If you’re still having trouble, please reach out to us ASAP. Scans must be done on a scanner or a cell phone scanner app.

Badges: All tournament directors and event supervisors will have lanyard badges. Coaches and parents will NOT be allowed into exam rooms or into event competition areas that are not open to the public.

Photography: For spectator events, only a team’s own coaches/parents may photograph that team and their devices. No one should take photos of other devices in impound. Breaking these rules could result in disqualification/tiering. Official tournament photographers will have badges and will take pictures of events to be shared with everyone!

Never alone policy: As we have minors on campus, we are following a “never alone” policy. There must never be a minor alone in a room with one adult at any time. Correspondingly, at no point should a minor be forced into a one-on-one situation with a volunteer, a member of our event staff, or other adult. We take our commitment to this policy very seriously. If you see an ongoing violation of this policy, notify headquarters immediately.

Food: Berkeley does not allow food in reserved rooms. Please DO NOT throw your trash away in the rooms. If food or food trash is found in the event rooms, UC Berkeley will fine you up to $5,000. Unfortunately, we feel obligated to enforce this rule harshly, since a university violation would prevent future GGSO tournaments from being possible (and violating schools may share financial burden of any fines). Teams with food in their homerooms and trash cans face possible point deductions on their score and blacklisting from future GGSO events. We deeply apologize for this inconvenience but hope that it’s not too troublesome. You are, however, allowed to have food anywhere outside!

Home Rooms: Each school will be assigned a spacious homeroom to use as a base for their teams. Schools may store tools, devices, and other belongings here, however, you should never leave your room vacant when you have valuables inside. Golden Gate Science Olympiad is not responsible for any stolen or missing items. You may move desks around if necessary, but all desks and chairs should be returned to their original position. We recommend taking a picture at the beginning of the day so you have a reference of how to put the room back together. Please refrain from adhering items to the wall and from using the projector and other built-in technology in the room. Again, food will not be allowed in any of the home rooms, classrooms, or any indoor area.

Open Flames: Open flames, flammable materials, and incense, are prohibited by the UC Berkeley fire code. In particular, this means no barbecues.

Damage to University property: We are lucky to be able to host the Golden Gate Invitational at UC Berkeley. To maintain a positive relationship with the University and out of respect for University property, we expect that all of our competitors, coaches, and parents will treat University facilities with care. Competitors, coaches, or parents who damage University property may be dismissed from the tournament. Among other things, damage may constitute: Littering or other inappropriate trash disposal, burn damage, and broken desks and chairs. Additionally, do not forget that we are subject to University and City of Berkeley code. It is your responsibility to be aware of and obey these rules.

Schedule: Additionally, find a schedule release here. Please remember that this is tentative, and we reserve the right to make any necessary changes should the university require us too. We will, however, make every effort to avoid any adjustments, and notify coaches ASAP should any occur. Detailed instructions on signing up for events will be given out in the next informational email.

Team numbers: Team numbers can be found here.

Thank you for your time, congratulations, and please feel free to reach out with questions! We are very exciting about hosting this tournament and wish you luck in your continued preparations.

Links:
File appeals: https://statescioly.org/golden-gate/
Liability waiver: https://tinyurl.com/ggso-activity-waiver
Media waiver: https://tinyurl.com/ggso-media-waiver
Waiver upload: https://tinyurl.com/waiver-upload
Tentative schedule
Team numbers

September 21, 2018

Volunteer at Golden Gate Invitational

Calling all Science Olympiad alumni!

Student organizations from Berkeley and Stanford are joining forces to co-host the third annual Golden Gate Science Olympiad Invitational Tournament! This competition will be hosting over 1,000 students and staff from across the country, and we need qualified test writers, proctors, general volunteers and event supervisors to join us! Our numerous volunteers have always been essential to the success of the tournament. The tournament will be on February 9th, 2018 at UC Berkeley. Sign up via this registration form if you are interested in helping out and we’ll reach out to you personally within a few weeks with more information.

Email: goldengatescioly@gmail.com
General Volunteer Interest Form

September 17, 2018

Payment Instructions

The registration fee per team is $150, and should be paid via PayPal through Scilympiad or via check made out to “Golden Gate Science League” and mailed to:

Kevin Meng ℅ Golden Gate Science League 1935 Addison St. Apt #206 Berkeley, California 94704
The registration fee is nonrefundable, except at the discretion of the tournament coordinators or in the unforeseen event of tournament cancellation. Receipts will be included in coaches’ packets to be distributed the day of competition. (Any requests for receipts to be mailed earlier should be made to goldengatescioly@gmail.com.)

The Golden Gate Invitational may also feature custom t-shirts for sale to competitors like last year! Teams may pre-order t-shirts using a separate t-shirt form available after registration.

Other documents, including waivers and liability releases, will be distributed to participating teams shortly after registration. Further tournament details, including the schedule and logistics, are on their way as well!

Please don’t hesitate to reach out with any questions or concerns at goldengatescioly@gmail.com. We’re so excited to welcome you to our campus!

September 10, 2018

Registration Announcement and Tournament Policies

Update: Registration is now full.

Hello from Golden Gate Science Olympiad! Every year we host a Science Olympiad invitational and this year it will be held on February 9th, 2019 at the University of California, Berkeley. Take a moment to visit our website here. Our team is comprised of Science Olympiad alumni at UC Berkeley and Stanford University. Our goal is to continue to run a competitive, fun tournament based on our collective experience in competing, event supervision, and tournament logistics. Last year, we welcomed a total of 50 teams, results can be found here, from as far as Hawaii and Pennsylvania. Invitational trips are a great way to boost team bonding, get students excited about competition, and encourage the team to get started early in their preparations. If you have any interest or questions about the Golden Gate Invitational tournament, please don’t hesitate to reach out via email! We highly recommend making it out to our invitational for an unforgettable experience.

Registration for our tournament this year is different and can be found here. We are using a new platform Scilympiad, that encompases not only school registration and sign ups, but also awards results and so much more. Instructions for this new platform are as follows:
1. As a coach you will sign up and fill out the necessary contact information.
2. Once you have successfully logged in, navigate to coaches -> school registration and fill out your School Name, District, and Division

Registration fee for this year will be the same, $150 per team registered.
Registration time for this year will be September 17th at 12:00 PM PST.

Click here for our eligiblity and registration policies.
Click here for payment instructions

If you have any questions or concerns feel free to reach out to us via email at goldengatescioly@gmail.com

Announcements

March 09, 2019

Tests

February 15, 2019

Survey + Tests

February 09, 2019

Final Results

February 09, 2019

Awards

February 08, 2019

Quick Info

February 06, 2019

Final Reminders

2/8/19 Reminders:

2/6/19 Reminders:

2/1/19 Reminders:

January 07, 2019

Waivers

December 03, 2018

Self-scheduled events

November 28, 2018

Volunteer

November 16, 2018

Tournament/Campus Policies

September 21, 2018

Volunteer at Golden Gate Invitational

September 17, 2018

Payment Instructions

September 10, 2018

Registration Announcement and Tournament Policies

Golden Gate Science Olympiad