Clancy’s Science Olympiad Team traveled to Dayton, Ohio, May 15 for a six-day trip to the Science Olympiad National Tournament. Twenty-six students and twelve adults made the journey. The competition was not the only highlight of the trip. The team explored the field of aerospace at the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force. Four hangers and twenty acres display the history of aviation – from the Wright brothers’ first plane to the Stealth Bomber and all planes in between. Students became fighter pilots in a 360-degree flight simulator, doing multiple maneuvers in mock dog- fights.
The team also flew to Mars in a 3-D movie experience and got to try their hand at landing a mock Space Shuttle. Clancy students then studied physics first hand at King’s Island Amusement Park – testing velocity, G-forces, centripetal acceleration, and inertia as they traveled up, down, and upside-down. They also tested out the water cycle by getting wet to experience the effects of evaporation.
Life sciences were not to be left out. Students traveled to Cincinnati to observe animal behavior at the Cincinnati Zoo. Some of the students got to feed the giraffes (and discovered they have black tongues) while others observed nocturnal animals in the Night Hunters exhibit. Many of the animals had babies, a special treat for the Clancy visitors. The team saw hippos, black rattlesnakes, polar bears, elephants and a sloth (who was “hanging around”) just to name a few.
