De Soto High School has gained a new academic team with Science Olympiad this year.

“Science Olympiad is a competition for students where they can problem solve and do application in science with different experiments and real life [problems],” said science teacher and Science Olympiad sponsor Laura Sixta.

Science Olympiad is a national organization that aims to promote science education with over 20 events to compete in. Students can choose to conduct tests or build/design a project. Students prepare these projects by running trials and taking notes on their own. They then present their experiments at the competition.

Physics teacher Todd Peterson cosponsors the team with Sixta. Every Monday and Wednesday, students involved in the Science Olympiad team have the opportunity to come to an “Open Lab.”

“Between Scholar’s Bowl and other extracurricular activities, it’s hard to organize a time to all be together,” Peterson said. “The events are more individual experimental projects, and most students come in just to use us as resources.”

DHS students participating in the Science Olympiad are currently composing projects such as an elastic launch glider, tests on water quality and the construction of a boomilever.

“It’s kind of like our big game of science, like any football game, just a way to show what we know and compete,” Sixta said.

Students are starting to compile their projects for the upcoming invitational tournament Jan. 19.