Mr. Lam's Classroom

Physics Competitions

Physics Competitions

UBC Physics Olympics

The UBC Physics Olympics is organized jointly by the Department of Curriculum and Pedagogy in the Faculty of Education, and the Department of Physics and Astronomy in the Faculty of Science at the University of British Columbia, Vancouver Campus. Every year, teams from high schools across British Columbia will compete for medals in 6 science events, and the school of the team with the highest overall score will receive a trophy and other awards.

Kwantlen Science Challenge

The Kwantlen Science Challenge is a day-long event for teams of Senior (grades 11/12) and Junior (grades 8/9/10) high school students. Each team will consist of five (5) students plus at most two (2) substitutes. The challenges consist of 5 one-hour-long, practical laboratory activities in Biology, Chemistry, Environmental Science, Geology, Engineering Design, Mathematics, and Physics. The activities are designed to be educational, entertaining, and challenging.

CAP High School Prize Exam

The Canadian Association of Physicists puts together a high school physics examination targeted for upper-year physics students across Canada. It stresses logical and creative thinking, by asking questions going beyond the expectation of the classroom. Prizes are awarded to the top students both provincially and nationally. The top 15 students will be invited to attend the week-long National Physics Olympiad camp at UBC to select Canada’s representatives for the International Physics Olympiad (IPhO).

International Physics Olympiad

The International Physics Olympiad (IPhO) is the most prestigious international physics competition for secondary school students. The main aim of IPhO is to test the highest level of knowledge, critical thinking, problem solving, right practices of presentation and analysis, and hands-on skills in theoretical and experimental physics. The IPhO is organized annually in different countries as 9-10-days competition wherein national teams comprising maximum of five of their best physics students and two team leaders participate.

To be selected for the team, students must first score in the top 15 nationally on the CAP exam. These students will be invited to the week-long National Physics Olympiad camp at UBC to select Canada’s representatives for the IPhO.

Sir Isaac Newton Exam

The Sir Isaac Newton (SIN) exam is a test of high school physics and is offered by the Department of Physics & Astronomy at the University of Waterloo to encourage the teaching of physics. The exam, although challenging, is meant to be refreshing and fun. Political and other topical humour have marked SIN exams for years. Students participate from across Canada, the USA and abroad.

Physics Bowl

The PhysicsBowl Contest is an international high school competition organized by the American Association of Physics Teachers (AAPT). School teams compete regionally with other school teams in will take a 40-question, 45-minute timed, multiple-choice test under their school’s supervision. Division I is for first-year physics students and Division II is for second-year physics students.

CanSat

A CanSat is a simplified satellite, integrated within the volume and shape of a soft drink can, and weighing between 300 and 350g. The CanSat is then launched by a rocket (or dropped from a drone) up to an altitude of approximately one kilometre. Then its mission begins, collecting air temperature and pressure data as it descends by parachute. Data is either stored on-board (Beginner category) or transmitted by radio (Advanced category), and is analysed after landing. Teams must also design and implement their own secondary mission, of which the possibilities are only limited by the creativity of the students!

For the Advanced category, teams are required to attend the Advanced Category Launch Campaign, which will be held in Lethbridge, Alberta, at the end of April. One of the teams would also be invited to attend a two-day workshop at the European Space Agency’s spacecraft facility in Noordwijk, Netherlands.