Announcements

December 13, 2024

2025 Self-Scheduling & Reminders

Hi GGSO Community,

As we get closer to the tournament, we would like to give some friendly reminders and updates.

First, there are various waivers and forms due Friday, January 17th, 2024, so please remind your competitors to complete them as soon as possible. Please have all competitors fill out a (1) liability waiver, (2) photo release form, and (3) consent to treatment of minor form. Completed documents for all team members should be scanned into one PDF and submitted by the coach through this Google Form. Additionally, competitors should complete the release form on Scilympiad.

Second, the event list can be found here and the event schedule can be found here. As a reminder, we will follow State-level rules and National-level conflicts for all events. This year’s self-scheduled events are Air Trajectory, Bungee, Electric Vehicle, Helicopter, Robot Tour, and Tower. Self-scheduled event sign-ups open on Monday, January 13th at 4:00 PM PT; more information about this process will be sent at a later date.

Finally, a compilation of all tournament emails can be found here. We will share a folder with all publicly available documents and information soon.

We hope you all get some much-needed rest this holiday break, and as always, please feel free to reach out with questions or concerns!

Links
Scilympiad Liability Waiver Photo Release Form Consent to Treatment of Minor Form Submit Forms Here!
Event List Event Schedule Tournament Emails Volunteer Sign Up Form Email Us




November 20, 2024

2025 Required Forms & Tournament Updates

Hello GGSO community,

We hope you are all doing well and getting excited for Thanksgiving break! As we get closer to the tournament, we would like to give some friendly reminders and updates.

Forms
Every minor attending the 2025 tournament (including alternates, spectators, etc.) must fill out four forms:

  1. First is the general student release form which can be found in Scilympiad.
  2. Second is a liability waiver that can be found here.
  3. Third is a photo release form that can be found here.
  4. Fourth is a consent to treatment of minor form that can be found here.

The general student release form should be submitted through Scilympiad. The liability waiver, photo release form, and consent to treatment form should be submitted through this Google Form. All four forms are due by January 17th, 2025. Please note that we will destroy submitted documents right after the tournament, in case there is any concern about the information we are gathering.

Additional Updates
The event list for the tournament can be found here. The event schedule with time blocks following National-level conflicts can be found here. This year, we will use State-level rules for all events.

As always, please feel free to reach out with any questions or concerns!

Links
Scilympiad Liability Waiver Photo Release Form Consent to Treatment of Minor Form Submit Forms Here!
Event List Event Schedule Volunteer Sign Up Form Email Us




October 29, 2024

2025 Tournament Volunteer Application

Hello GGSO community,

Golden Gate Science Olympiad will be hosting its 9th annual invitational at UC Berkeley on Saturday, February 22nd, 2025 and we are in need of volunteers!

GGSO, directed entirely by Stanford and Berkeley students, is the West Coast’s premier Science Olympiad invitational and will be hosting nearly 1000 high school students from 60 teams across the country. For those unfamiliar with Science Olympiad, it functions like an academic track meet with 23 different events in all areas of science and engineering, including topics such as astronomy, Earth science, and cryptography. Science Olympiad is the nation’s largest team-based science competition for middle and high school students!

Generally, volunteers assist with grading exams, setting up, monitoring students, and other day-of activities. All volunteers will receive a free GGSO t-shirt, guaranteed transportation to and from Berkeley campus on tournament day (for Stanford students), all-you-can-eat snacks (while supplies last), and free lunch.

No prior Science Olympiad knowledge is required, so sign up here by January 15th, 2025! If you are somebody interested in advancing science education, need volunteer hours, or are just excited to get involved with a fun science competition, we’d love to have you on board.

Links
Sign Up Form Email Us




September 23, 2024

Event Supervisor/Test Committee Applications

Hello GGSO Community,

We are releasing our Event Supervisor/Test Committee (ES/TC) application for the 2025 Golden Gate Invitational! Event Supervisors are responsible for writing the tests and supervising competitors on tournament day, whereas Test Committee members evaluate the test drafts prior to tournament day. These roles are only available to students who have graduated from high school. The link for the application can be found here, and the deadline to apply is October 7th, 2024 at 11:59 PM PT.

If you are interested in being a general volunteer for the tournament (grading tests under the guidance of an event supervisor), we will also be sending out an interest form for that soon. Thank you for your continued interest in running our tournament, and if you have any questions, please feel free to reach out!

Links
Application Form Email Us




September 20, 2024

Tournament Registration Announcement

Hi GGSO Community,

We hope you are doing well! We recently announced that our 9th annual Golden Gate Science Olympiad Invitational will take place on Saturday, February 22nd, 2025, and we now have an update on registration details.

Tournament registration will take place on Scilympiad, and it will be open from Saturday, September 28th, 2024 at 12:00PM PDT until Saturday, October 5th, 2024 at 12:00PM PDT. This year, we will be holding registration on a first-come, first-serve basis, with a total of 60 spots available for teams. When registration is open, there will be an initial cap of one team per school and 50 spots available for different schools. If a school would like to register two teams, then its second team will automatically be placed on the waitlist, ordered based on the time at which the first team was registered. Any school that did not register within the first 50 slots will also be added to the waitlist as normal, regardless of whether it has a second team. After registration closes, we will take teams from the waitlist to fill the remaining 10 spots and additional spots that were not filled originally. A registration fee of $305 per team will be due by November 1st, 2024; further payment details and instructions will be sent out in a future update. For more information regarding registration policies, please see our website.

As a reminder, the t-shirt design contest for GGSO 2025 is also officially open. All Science Olympiad community members are invited to submit a design by November 1st, 2024. The winning design will be printed on this season’s t-shirts (plus the winner gets free merch!).

We will send a reminder email with additional details on registration logistics closer to when registration opens. In the meantime, please feel free to email us with any questions or concerns.

Links

Scilympiad T-shirt design contest Email Us




September 06, 2024

2025 Tournament Announcement

Hi GGSO Community,

The 9th annual Division C Golden Gate Science Olympiad Invitational will be hosted in person at UC Berkeley on Saturday, February 22nd, 2025! Registration details will be announced in an upcoming announcement.

As always, we hope to create an unforgettable competition experience for all teams. To help us plan for this season’s invite, please let us know your Awards Ceremony preferences via this form.

The t-shirt design contest for GGSO 2025 is also officially open. All Science Olympiad community members are invited to submit a design by Friday, November 1st, 2024. The winning design will be printed on this season’s t-shirts (plus the winner gets free merch!).

If you have any questions or suggestions, feel free to email us at goldengatescioly@gmail.com. We can’t wait to welcome you back to our campus!

Links
Awards Ceremony Preferences T-shirt design contest Email Us




March 09, 2024

Test Release

Hello GGSO Community,

Tests and keys are now publicly available and can be found here.

Links
Tests and Keys




February 12, 2024

Final Results

Hello GGSO Community,

Final scores can be found here.

Thank you to all the teams who participated in our tournament, and we hope to see everyone again next year!

Links
Final Scores




February 02, 2024

Tournament Logistics

Hello GGSO community,

It’s officially the month of our tournament! In preparation for the 2024 Golden Gate Science Olympiad Invitational on Sunday, February 11th, we would like to share some important tournament logistics.

You can view the coaches packet here. Please review the coaches packet carefully and in its entirety. A summary of its contents is below:

  1. Remind:
    This will be our primary mode of communication during tournament day; we will use Remind to send updates and answer any questions you ask. To join our class, text the code @ggso2024 to the number 81010 or input the code into the join site. A maximum of two coaches per team may join.

  2. Schedule:
    • Check-in begins at 8:00am in Kerr Lobby, where you will be able to pick up your coach packet that contains student wristbands (required for competitors) and all the information in the google drive folder linked above. After checking in, head to your homeroom and settle in.
    • See the full event schedule for our impound and block schedule. It now contains a new sheet that outlines what times each team is assigned to for self-scheduled events (Air Trajectory, Flight, Robot Tour, Scrambler, Tower, Cybersecurity). Please let us know ASAP if any conflicts come up regarding self-scheduling.
    • The Awards Ceremony will take place in Pauley Ballroom. Doors will open at 5:30pm, and, due to space constraints, we ask that only coaches and competitors attend. The ceremony will conclude by 7:30pm, after which coaches can pick up graded exams and score sheets from Wheeler 120.

  3. Logistics:
    • The weather looks clear on Sunday, but please continue monitoring and prepare accordingly for transporting devices, etc.
    • The campus map can be viewed via pdf or Google Maps. A parking map can be viewed here. For check-in, bus parking is first come, first served at West Circle/Crescent parking (cars cannot park in this lot), and there are also street parking and parking garage options.
    • No food is allowed in homerooms, and homerooms must be vacated by 4:30pm. Unfortunately, we must enforce the food rule very strictly to avoid facing a $5,000 fine. Note that custodians will be monitoring the homerooms and checking trash bins for food waste. If the weather is as forecasted, we hope your team can grab a bite to eat outside instead—here are some of our recommendations.
    • Sponsors can be found in Wheeler lobby starting at 10:00am. Feel free to speak with some of the organizations and departments sponsoring our tournament this year.
    • Free WiFi is available through CalVisitor.
    • Everyone must abide by the “never alone” policy, which states that there should never be a minor alone in a room with one adult at any time—nor should a minor ever be forced into a one-on-one situation with a volunteer, event staffer, or other adult. We take this very seriously; if you see a violation of this policy, notify headquarters in Wheeler immediately.

  4. Event Update:
    For Cybersecurity (trial event), the rules state that supervisors will provide a computer; however, we ask that competitors participating in Cybersecurity bring their own laptops. If this poses an issue, please let us know so we can make arrangements.

  5. Self-scheduled event sign-ups:
    Sign-ups close at the end of this week, so please complete them ASAP.

Thank you for reading through all these reminders and updates. As always, please don’t hesitate to reach out with any questions at goldengatescioly@gmail.com.

Links
Coaches Packet Remind Join Site Homerooms Event Schedule Awards Schedule Parking Map Campus Map Digital Map Food Options Email Us




November 20, 2023

General Tournament Policies

Hello GGSO Community,

As we get closer to the tournament, we would like to give some friendly reminders and updates.

Firstly, if you have not done so already, please complete and submit the student release forms. We also require your competitors to fill out these additional forms: liability waiver, photo release form, and consent to treatment of minor form. We will destroy these documents right after the tournament, just in case there is any concern about the information we are gathering. The deadline for all of these forms is January 12th, 2024 along with the release forms on Scilympiad.

Secondly, the event list can be found here. The event schedule with time blocks can be found here. This year, we will follow the Regional rules and hold Cybersecurity as our trial event.

As always, please feel free to reach out with any questions or concerns.

Links
Liability Waiver Photo Release Form Consent to Treatment of Minor Form Event List Event Schedule




October 09, 2023

Volunteer Applications

Hello GGSO Community,

We’re excited to host our 8th annual Golden Gate Invitational on Sunday, February 11th, 2024, and we are now looking for volunteers. Please spread the word to SciOly alumni and/or friends who might want to get involved!

Volunteer requirements:

  • College/graduate student from Stanford or UC Berkeley. (We are happy to take volunteers not from these universities, but we cannot coordinate or reimburse transportation.)

  • Available to grade tests in-person at UC Berkeley the weekend of the tournament.

  • All experience levels are welcome! If you happen to have any Science Olympiad experience, relevant coursework, or knowledge applicable to one of our events, make sure to mention that in your application.

For those interested, the Tournament Volunteer Application will be due January 7th, 2024 at 11:59pm PST. As always, please feel free to reach out to us if you have any questions or concerns.

We also wanted to remind all GGSO community members of our t-shirt design contest; please submit your design by November 1st, 2023 at 11:59pm PDT to enter. Along with having their art featured on this year’s tournament shirt, the winner will receive a free shirt. We can’t wait to see your designs!

If you have any questions, feel free to email us at goldengatescioly@gmail.com.

Links
Volunteer Application T-shirt Design Contest

Email Us




September 18, 2023

Event Supervisor/Test Committee Applications

Hello GGSO Community,

Our Event Supervisor/Test Committee(ES/TC) application for the upcoming GGSO invitational is now available here! The deadline to apply is October 1st, 2023 at 11:59 PM PDT.

If you are interested in being a general volunteer for the tournament (grading tests under the guidance of an event supervisor), we will also be sending out an interest form for that soon. Thank you for your continued interest in running our tournament, and if you have any questions, feel free to email us at goldengatescioly@gmail.com!

Links
Application Form Email Us




September 16, 2023

Tournament Announcement

Hello GGSO Community,

We’re excited to announce that the 8th annual Division C Golden Gate Science Olympiad Invitational will be hosted in-person at UC Berkeley on February 11th, 2024!

We know that the Sunday timing isn’t ideal, but unfortunately, campus availability made this our best option. As always, we hope to create an unforgettable competition experience for all teams. To help us plan for this season’s invite, please let us know your Awards Ceremony preferences via this form.

Tournament registration will open on September 30th, 2023 at 12:00PM PDT via Scilympiad. (For help with registering on Scilympiad, see this step-by-step guide.) Registration will be on a first come, first served basis with up to 2 teams per school and a cap of 60 teams total. A registration fee of $250 per team will be due by November 1st, 2023; further payment details and instructions will be sent out in a future update.

The t-shirt design contest for GGSO 2024 is also officially open. All Science Olympiad community members are invited to submit a design by November 1st, 2023. The winning design will be printed on this season’s t-shirts (plus the winner gets free merch!).

As always, the safety of our competitors is a top priority; any health guidelines or changes to the tournament format will be communicated in the coming months in accordance with UC Berkeley’s campus policies.

If you have any questions, feel free to email us at goldengatescioly@gmail.com. We can’t wait to welcome you back to our campus!

Links
Awards Ceremony Preferences Scilympiad Scilympiad Guide T-shirt design contest Email Us




March 26, 2023

Tests and Keys

Hello GGSO Community,

Tests and keys are now publicly available and can be found here.

Links
Tests and Keys




February 13, 2023

Final Scores

Hello GGSO Community,

Final scores can be found here.

Thank you to all the teams who participated in our tournament, and we hope to see everyone again next year!

If you have any questions, feel free to email us at goldengatescioly@gmail.com!

Links
Final Scores




February 11, 2023

Quick Info

  • Remind 101: Text @ggso2023 to the number 81010.

  • Check-in: 8 a.m. Kerr Lobby

  • Coaches Packet: Contains essential information, picked up upon check-in and also found here.

  • Parking: Check for parking at any of the locations on this map.

  • Campus Map: Map with buildings highlightedhere. Digital map here.

  • Event Schedule: Found here.

  • Event Locations: Found here.

  • Events in Latimer Hall: Latimer Hall (Chem Lab, Experimental Design, Environmental Chemistry, and Forensics) will be locked during the day. A volunteer will be there to let competitors in 10 minutes before the event block until 10 minutes after it starts.

  • Tournament Day Schedule: Found here.

  • Homerooms: Will be open by 8:15am, found under “Team Numbers” here. Please vacate by 4:30pm.

  • Food Regulations: No food is allowed in homerooms (fine on the order of $5000 by the university).

  • Food Options: Food options we like can be found in this document.

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

  • Sponsorship Booths: Stop by Wheeler Lobby to speak with some of the organizations and departments sponsoring our tournament.

  • Awards Ceremony: 5:30-7:30pm in Pauley Ballroom. Coachers and competitors only. Pick up tournament exams and score sheets from Tilden in MLK.

  • Tournament Trailer: Can be watched here.

  • Social Media: Instagram (@goldengatescioly)

  • Scavenger Hunt: Look for details on our instagram (@goldengatescioly).




February 10, 2023

Final Reminders

Hello GGSO community,

The 2023 GGSO Invitational is tomorrow, February 11th!

This is our final announcement before tournament day. We have included new information at the top for convenience and reminders from previous announcements below.

  • Locations: Some of the event rooms have been updated since we first sent out the event schedule, so please review this document to see the most up to date locations. For some clarification on where some of these buildings are located, Bixby Commons North is in Latimer Hall and Kerr Lobby, Stephens, Tilden, Madrone, and Pauley are located in MLK Student Union. There will be signs to help direct competitors to the right location on the day of.
  • Event Updates:
    • WiFi Lab will have a maximum distance of 25 m for competitors to test their antennas.
    • For the lab events (Chemistry Lab, Environmental Chemistry, and Forensics), we will be running a hands-on lab portion. We will not be providing lab equipment for the competitors to use, so we highly recommend bringing lab materials and equipment to conduct this portion of the test. You can refer to this list of recommended materials.
    • For the lab and build events, be sure to check the rules for what types of safety goggles and potentially lab aprons are required. This document describes the different types of eye protection (different levels are permitted for different events).
    • For events being held in the RSF Fieldhouse (Flight and Trajectory), there will be competitor-only spectating, meaning we will not allow any coaches, parents, or other individuals without wristbands to spectate. While we would love everyone to be able to watch, we want to abide by the Berkeley policies, and this system allows us to still have competitors spectate.
    • Flight will be tested in the RSF Fieldhouse which has dimensions 180’ x 114’ x 30’ (height). We are allowing competitors to practice flights before the first event block.
    • Scrambler will be run with the egg in a thin, transparent plastic bag.
    • Chemistry Lab, Experimental Design, Environmental Chemistry, and Forensics will all be run in Latimer Hall which is locked during the day. For these events, you must come at least 5 minutes before or at most 10 minutes after the block starts since these large companies are visiting our class.
  • Remind: You can join our Remind group with code @ggso2023, by texting @ggso2023 to the number 81010, or via this link. This will be our primary mode of communication on Saturday, and it’s also where you can ask us any and all questions as they come up.
    • For more urgent questions that you would like to speak to a tournament director in person, you can go to Wheeler 222.
  • Scilympiad Release Forms: We are still missing this from at least one competitor on nearly all teams. This is crucial for students to participate, so please double check that everyone on your team(s) has filled it out. The release form link to send to competitors can be accessed by following step 13 on our registration guide; you can verify its completion on the Student/Team/Event Assignment page. If any of your competitors have not yet filled it out, they will not be able to compete.
  • Schedule: See our tournament day schedule overview here.
    • Check-in will be at 8am in Kerr Lobby (MLK), where you will be able to pick up your Coach Packet that contains student wristbands (required for competitors), maps, etc. After checking in, head to your homeroom and settle in.
    • See the full event schedule for our impound and block schedule. It now contains a new sheet that outlines what times each team is assigned to for self-scheduled events (Bridge, Flight, Scrambler, Trajectory, Mission Possible). Please let us know ASAP if any conflicts come up regarding self-scheduling.
    • The Awards Ceremony will take place in Pauley Ballroom. Doors will open at 5:30pm, and due to space constraints we ask that only coaches and competitors enter. The ceremony will conclude by 7:30pm, after which coaches can pick up graded exams and score sheets from Tilden in MLK.
  • Scavenger Hunt: If competitors have free time on their hands (like while waiting for the Awards Ceremony) and want to explore, we’re excited to announce our scavenger hunt challenge! Be on the lookout for more details via our Instagram account (@goldengatescioly) for the chance to win a free GGSO shirt. The first stop on our scavenger hunt is our social media booth in Wheeler Hall where competitors can find free stickers, a photo frame, and more information about some of our university departmental sponsors. And in other social media news, the GGSO Tournament Trailer is out!
  • Logistics:
    • The weather generally looks clear on Saturday, but please continue monitoring any changes throughout the week—prepare accordingly for transporting devices, etc.
    • Parking locations can be found on this map (some may require a daily fee). Campus maps can be found here and here. For check-in, bus parking is first-come first-serve at West Circle/Crescent parking (cars cannot park in this lot), and there is also street parking and parking garages all marked on the linked maps.
    • No food is allowed in homerooms, and homerooms must be vacated by 4:30pm. Unfortunately, we must enforce the food rule very strictly to avoid facing a $5,000 fine. Note that custodians will be monitoring the homerooms and checking trash for food waste. If the weather is as forecasted, we hope your team can grab a bite to eat outside instead—here are some of our recommendations.
    • Free WiFi is available through CalVisitor.
    • Everyone must abide by the “never alone” policy, where there should never be a minor alone in a room with one adult at any time—nor should a minor ever be forced into a one-on-one situation with a volunteer, a member of our event staff, or another adult.

If you have any questions, feel free to email us at goldengatescioly@gmail.com!

Links
Email Us




February 08, 2023

Plans for Saturday

Hello GGSO community,

The 2023 Golden Gate Science Olympiad Invitational is this Saturday, February 11th. We can’t wait to welcome you all to UC Berkeley!

This is one of our last announcements before tournament day (another coming the night before) so please read through the following items carefully.

  • Remind: You can join our Remind group by using code @ggso2023, by texting @ggso2023 to the number 81010, or via this link. This will be our primary mode of communication on Saturday, and it’s also where you can ask us any and all questions as they come up.
  • Scilympiad Release Forms: We are still missing this from at least one competitor on nearly all teams. This is crucial for students to participate, so please double check that everyone on your team(s) has filled it out. The release form link to send to competitors can be accessed by following step 13 on our registration guide; you can verify the form’s completion on the Student/Team/Event Assignment page.
  • Schedule: See our tournament day schedule overview here.
    • Check-in will be at 8am in Kerr Lobby, where you will be able to pick up your Coach Packet that contains student wristbands (required for competitors), maps, etc. After checking in, head to your homeroom and settle in.
    • See the full event schedule for our impound and block schedule. It now contains a new sheet that outlines what times each team is assigned to for self-scheduled events (Bridge, Flight, Scrambler, Trajectory, Mission Possible). Please let us know ASAP if any conflicts come up regarding self-scheduling.
    • The Awards Ceremony will take place in Pauley Ballroom. Doors will open at 5:30pm, and due to space constraints we ask that only coaches and competitors attend. The ceremony will conclude by 7:30pm, after which coaches can pick up graded exams and score sheets from Tilden in MLK.
  • Scavenger Hunt: If competitors have free time on their hands (like while waiting for the Awards Ceremony) and want to explore, we’re excited to announce our scavenger hunt challenge! Be on the lookout for more details via our Instagram account (@goldengatescioly) for the chance to win a free GGSO shirt. The first stop on our scavenger hunt is our social media booth in Wheeler Hall where competitors can find free stickers, a photo frame, and more information about some of our Stanford departmental sponsors. And in other social media news, the GGSO Tournament Trailer is out!
  • Logistics:
    • The weather generally looks clear on Saturday, but please continue monitoring for any changes throughout the week—prepare accordingly for transporting devices, etc.
    • Parking locations can be found on this map (some may require a daily fee). Campus maps can be found here and here. For check-in, bus parking is first-come first-serve at West Circle/Crescent parking (cars cannot park in this lot), and there are also street parking and parking garage options all marked on the linked maps.
    • No food is allowed in homerooms, and homerooms must be vacated by 4:30pm. Unfortunately, we must enforce the food rule very strictly to avoid facing a $5,000 fine. Note that custodians will be monitoring the homerooms and checking trash bins for food waste. If the weather is as forecasted, we hope your team can grab a bite to eat outside instead—here are some of our recommendations.
    • Free WiFi is available through CalVisitor.
    • Everyone must abide by the “never alone” policy, where there should never be a minor alone in a room with one adult at any time—nor should a minor ever be forced into a one-on-one situation with a volunteer, event staffer, or other adult. We take this very seriously; if you see a violation of this policy, notify headquarters in Wheeler immediately.
  • Event Updates:
    • Flight will be tested in the RSF Fieldhouse which has dimensions 180’ x 114’ x 30’ (height). Teams are allowed to do practice flights in RSF during the Impound period.
    • Neither Flight nor Trajectory will allow spectators.
    • Scrambler will be run with the egg in a thin, transparent plastic bag.
    • Chemistry Lab, Experimental Design, Environmental Chemistry, and Forensics will all be run in Latimer Hall which is locked during the day. For these events, a volunteer will be there to let competitors in starting from 10 minutes before the event block begins till 10 minutes after it begins.

If you have any questions, feel free to email us at goldengatescioly@gmail.com!

Links
Email Us Remind Registration Guide Tournament Schedule Coaches Packet Homerooms Event Schedule GGSO Trailer Parking Map Campus Map Digital Map Food Options




January 31, 2023

Tournament Information

Hello GGSO community,

The Golden Gate Science Olympiad tournament is only eleven days away, and we’re looking forward to welcoming you next Saturday, February 11th at Berkeley.

Please read this carefully, as it contains critical updates on the tournament schedule and day-of logistics.

Remind 101: We use this text message remind service to send out critical day-of updates aimed primarily at coaches. 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 @ggso2023 this year, and you can join by texting @ggso2023 to the number 81010 or signing up with this link.

Forecast: The weather forecast looks good for competition next Saturday, but be aware that the conditions may change. Please prepare accordingly, especially for events which require the transportation of impound creations. See the weather forecast for more specific information.

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

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.

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: Here is the map of campus, with the buildings that competitors will likely need to go to highlighted. We also have a digital map linked here to aid in directions. 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.

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

Homerooms: Homerooms have been updated on this spreadsheet on the tab with the team numbers. These homerooms will open by 8:15am. You can also check where each of the events will take place on the event schedule.

Flight dimensions: A rule mandates that all competitors for the event Flight 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’.

Scrambler details: As mentioned in the rules, the event supervisors are allowed to place the egg in a thin transparent plastic bag. Our event supervisors have decided to do this, so we just wanted to give you all a heads ụp

Events in Latimer Hall: This year, Latimer Hall (the building for Chem Lab, Experimental Design, Environmental Chemistry, and Forensics) will be locked during the day. However, a volunteer will be there to let competitors in 10 minutes before the event block is scheduled to start till 10 minutes after it starts.

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 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.

Sponsorship Booths: The day schedule (above) includes information about the sponsorship booths in Wheeler Lobby. Stop by to speak with some of the organizations and departments sponsoring our tournament this year.

T-shirts: This year, we ordered some extra GGSO t-shirts for competitors! A limited number of shirts will be available for $15 in Wheeler 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 coaches and competitors only, so no parents or other spectators. Seating will be on a first come first serve basis, and we ask that you do not move any of the chairs. 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.

Other info: Additional information about the tournament can be found in the coaches packet here.

Social Media: We’re online! We’ll be posting fun tournament photos, updates, and live stories throughout the day to our Instagram (@goldengatescioly) account. Check us out!

If you have any questions, feel free to email us at goldengatescioly@gmail.com!

Links
Email Us Remind Event Schedule Tournament Schedule Parking Map Food Options Campus Map Digital Map Homerooms Coaches Packet




January 17, 2023

Self-Scheduling Instructions

Hello GGSO community,

Self-scheduling for Bridge, Flight, Scrambler, Trajectory, and Mission Possible (trial) will open tomorrow, January 18th, at 12PM PT via Scilympiad. Instructions for self-scheduling can be found here.

This is required for your team to compete in any of these 5 events; if your team isn’t competing in an event, there’s no need to self-schedule that event.

If you have any questions, feel free to email us at goldengatescioly@gmail.com!

Links
Email Us Scilympiad ESUS Instructions




January 05, 2023

January Updates

Hello GGSO community,

Happy New Year! We hope you and your team had a safe and restful winter break.

As we prepare for our invitational next month, we have a few general tournament reminders.

  • January 9th: Any schools interested in ordering a 2023 GGSO shirt should fill out the pre-order form by this date. Shirts are $15 each and will be given to teams in-person on tournament day. Please email us if you’re unable to collect sizes on time!
  • January 13th: Competitor forms are due, including the release waiver on Scilympiad, a liability waiver, a photo release form, and a consent to treatment of minor form. Please submit the latter three forms as one combined PDF per team to this Google Form.
    • For the Scilympiad release waiver, follow steps 12 and 13 on our Scilympiad Guide. Some teams have skipped step 12, so please ensure that you are assigning students to teams in addition to sending out the release form link. Let us know if Scilympiad is giving you trouble—we’re happy to help.
    • For the photo release form, all individuals attending GGSO (coaches, competitors, any parent volunteers, other spectators, etc.) should fill this out. Minors can have the ‘Witnessed By’ section signed by their head coach.
  • January 18th: Self-scheduling for Bridge, Flight, Trajectory, Scrambler, and Mission Possible (trial) will open via Scilympiad at 12pm; instructions will be sent out closer to the sign-up date.
  • February 11th: Tournament day! Have the event schedule handy, and be sure all competitors know their team number before heading to any event. Going forward, please email us directly rather than updating Scilympiad if you’d like to make any changes to your team name. Note that only certain events (Bridge, Scrambler, and Trajectory) are open to spectators due to building restrictions.
  • Event Reminders: Both Rocks & Minerals and Mission Possible (trial) will follow National rules. All other events will follow Regional rules.

That’s all for now! Thanks for staying on top of these deadlines, and please don’t hesitate to reach out with any questions as we approach February 11th.

If you have any questions, feel free to email us at goldengatescioly@gmail.com!

Links
Email Us T-shirt Orders Liability Waiver Photo Release Treatment Consent Form Submission Scilympiad Guide Event Schedule Team Numbers Event Rules




December 14, 2022

Event Update and Reminders

Hello GGSO community,

We wanted to provide some important reminders for deadlines and updates about the tournament.

First, as mentioned before, there are many waivers and forms that need to be completed by January 13, 2023, so please ask the competitors to complete them as soon as they can. These forms include the release waiver on Scilympiad, a liability waiver, a photo release form, and a consent to treatment of minor form. For the photo release form, please distribute it to all minors who plan to attend the tournament in person and have them sign it. We ask that the last three forms from all the competitors be scanned and submitted as one PDF through this Google Form.

Secondly, the event list can be found here. The event schedule along with the time blocks and some room assignments can be found here. We have finalized team numbers as well, so you can access them here. As a reminder, Mission Possible will be our trial event for this season, and we will be following the National level rules. Also, we are modifying Rocks and Minerals to be following National rules as well to provide a unique learning opportunity for the competitors. All other events will be held according to the Regional rules. For your convenience, we have linked the rules here.

Additionally, we are planning to hold ESUS sign ups for the self-scheduled events on January 18th, 2023, so make sure to mark this date on your calendars. These events include Bridge, Flight, Trajectory, Scrambler, and Mission Possible.

Lastly, thank you to everyone who submitted a t-shirt design. We have chosen the design for this year, which you can view on the t-shirt order form. If you would like to order a t-shirt, please submit the order form and payment no later than January 9th, 2023. More information about the t-shirts can be found in the form.

If you have any questions, feel free to email us at goldengatescioly@gmail.com!

Links
Email Us Liability Waiver Photo Release Treatment Consent Form Submission Event List Event Schedule Team Numbers Event Rules T-shirt Orders




November 16, 2022

Event Modifications

Hello GGSO community,

We hope you all are doing well and getting excited for the holiday season! As we get closer to the tournament, we would like to just give some friendly reminders and updates. First, if you have not done so already, please complete and submit the student release forms. We also require that your competitors fill out these additional forms: a liability waiver, a photo release form, and a consent to treatment of minor form. We will be destroying these documents right after the tournament, just in case there is any concern about the information we are gathering. The deadline for all of these forms will be January 13th, 2023 along with the release form on Scilympiad.

Secondly, the event list can be found here. The event schedule along with the time blocks and some room assignments can be found here. This year, we will be holding Mission Possible for our trial event, and we will be following the National rules. Additionally, we will be modifying the Rocks and Minerals event to follow the National rules as well, since we gained access to some resources to make this possible. Keep in mind that we plan to have this portion less than 10% of the exam to make it fair for competitors. The rules are linked here for your convenience.

Lastly, due to some constraints in the building reservations, we will not be able to have spectators for Flight. However, the other build events listed on the event schedule will be open to spectators.

If you have any questions, feel free to email us at goldengatescioly@gmail.com!

Links
Email Us Liability Waiver Photo Release Treatment Consent Event List Event Schedule Event Rules




Golden Gate Science Olympiad

    Golden Gate Science Olympiad is run by Golden Gate Science League, a California 501(c)(3) nonprofit.

    Questions? Interested in sponsoring? Joining us as a student at Stanford or UC Berkeley next year? Shoot us an email to get involved with our team!

    Science Olympiad invitational run by UC Berkeley and Stanford University students. Coming 2025.