Trial Event
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A trial event is an event held at a competition that does not count towards overall team score. How many, if any, and which trial events are held is usually under the discretion of the organization hosting the competition. At most competitions which hold them, alternate team members (members additional to those competing in the official events) are eligible to compete in trial events.
Trial events provide an opportunity for testing the efficacy and gauging student interest of the events themselves without the risk of affecting team scores. To find out if any trial events will be held at a competition, check the tournament's webpage or contact a tournament director.
Some states may also run alternate event slates or replacement events, which are different from trial events in that they count towards a team's score. These trials that are being run for placements will have rules published to the states' respective websites.
Removal of Official Events
If inconsistencies in how an official event was run are brought to the attention of tournament officials, the decision to exclude the event from overall scoring may be made. In such a case, it is often said that the event "was made a trial event." Medals and ribbons may still be awarded to the winners of the event, although how medals are awarded may vary from the other official events (in one unusual example, now jokingly referred to as The Lance Crimm Award, medals were awarded to every single team at the tournament).
List of Trial Events
This is not a comprehensive list. Both the list of events and the list of locations where an event was run may be incomplete.
| Event | Locations Run (as trial) and other notes | Years Run (nationally) |
|---|---|---|
| Adventures in Ag | 2007 Missouri State Tournament, 2013 Texas State Tournament, 2014 Delaware State Tournament for Division C. | N/A |
| Aerial Scramble | 2019 Wisconsin State Tournament, 2020 North Carolina State Tournament, 2020 National Tournament for Division B and Division C, 2018-2019 North Carolina State Tournaments, 2018-2019 Indiana State Tournament, 2019 Georgia State Tournament in Division B. | N/A |
| Aerodynamic Challenge | 2020 Wisconsin State Tournament for Division B and Division C. | N/A |
| Agribio | 2020 Delaware State Tournament, 2021 Missouri State Tournament for Division B and Division C. | N/A |
| Air Trajectory | 2008 National Tournament (as Airjectory), 2009 Missouri State Tournament (as Airjectory) for Division B, 2020 North Carolina State Tournament (as Trajectory), 2020 National Tournament (as Trajectory) for Division C, 2014 National Tournament (as Airjectory) for Division B and Division C. | 2015-2016 (B/C) |
| Amazing Mechatronics | 2018, 2020 North Carolina State Tournaments, 2019 Wisconsin State Tournament, 2019 Virginia State Tournament, 2020 National Tournament for Division B and Division C. | N/A |
| Applied Anatomy and Physiology | 2019 North Carolina State Tournament for Division B and Division C. | N/A |
| Awesome Aquifers | 2004 National Tournament for Division B and Division C. | 2011-2012 (B) |
| Bag of Bones | 2012 Indiana State Tournament, 2017 Pennsylvania State Tournament for Division B and Division C. | N/A |
| Balloon Launch Glider | 2006 National Tournament for Division B. | 2007-2009 (B) |
| Biology Blitz | 2009 Missouri State Tournament, 2011 Texas State Tournament (as BioBlitz) for Division B and Division C, 2010 Missouri State Tournament for Division B, 2010 Texas State Tournament for Division C. | N/A |
| Bio-sphere | 2014 Pennsylvania State Tournament for Division B and Division C. | N/A |
| Botany | 2020 Virginia State Tournament for Division B and Division C, 2020 Illinois State Tournament for Division B, 2020 Hawaii and New Jersey State Tournaments for Division C. | N/A |
| Bottle Rocket | 2011 New York State Tournament, 2019 Delaware State Tournament for Division B and Division C, 2007 National Tournament, 2009 National Tournament, 2014 Delaware State Tournament for Division B. | 2011-2012, 2015-2017 (B) |
| Bridge Building | 2014 National Tournament for Division B. | 2015-2016 (B) |
| Can't Judge a Powder | 2019 Texas State Tournament for Division B. | 2010-2011, 2014-2015 (B) |
| Chem Clue | 2019 Illinois State Tournament for Division B, 2010 Minnesota State Tournament, 2012 Texas State Tournament, 2019 New Jersey State Tournament for Division C. | 1997-1998 (C) |
| Chiropterology | 2021 California (South) Joint Regional Tournament for Division B and Division C, 2021 California (South) State Tournament for Division B and Division C, 2021 Arizona State Tournament for Division B and Division C. | 2020-2021 (B/C) |
| Circuit Lab | 2012 California (South) State Tournament (as Shock Value) for Division B, 2005 National Tournament, 2009 Missouri State Tournament (as Shock Value), 2010-2011 Texas State Tournaments (as Shock Value) for Division C. | 2010-2011, 2013-2014 (B), 2019-2021 (C) |
| Code Analysis | 2018 Virginia State Tournament, 2019 Wisconsin State Tournament, 2020 Washington State Tournament for Division C. | N/A |
| Code Busters | 2016 North Carolina State Tournament, 2017 Pennsylvania State Tournament for Division B and Division C, 2019 North Carolina State Tournament for Division B, 2020 North Carolina and Washington State Tournaments, 2020 National Tournament for Division B, 2018 Texas State Tournament, 2016 National Tournament, 2018 National Tournament for Division C. | 2019-2022 (C) |
| Compute This | 2002 National Tournament, 2004 National Tournament for Division B and Division C, 2002 New Mexico State Tournament for Division B and Division C, 2004 New Mexico State Tournament for Division C. | 2009-2012 (C) |
| Crave the Wave | 2020 Illinois State Tournament for Division B. | 2008-2009, 2015-2016 (B) |
| Data Science | 2020 Texas State Tournament for Division C. | N/A |
| Density Lab/Buoy oh Buoy/Buoyancy | 2012 New York State Tournament, 2018 Texas State Tournament for Division B, 2018 North Carolina State Tournament for Division B, 2018 Washington State Tournament for Division B, 2018 National Tournament for Division B, 2018 Illinois State Tournament for Division C and Division B. | 2019-2021 (B) |
| Detector Building | 2018 and 2019 Illinois State Tournament for Division C, 2019 North Carolina State Tournament, 2019 Texas State Tournament, 2019 National Tournament for Division C. | 2020-2022 (C) |
| Disease Detectives | 2005 National Tournament for Division B. | 2007-2022 (B/C) |
| Duct Tape Challenge | 2018-2019 New York State Tournaments for Division B and Division C, 2019 North Carolina State Tournament for Division C, 2019-2020 Wisconsin State Tournament for Division B. | N/A |
| Ecology | 2005 National Tournament for Division C. | 2009-2011, 2017-2018 (B/C) |
| Elastic Launched Glider | 2012 National Tournament for Division C, 2003 New Mexico State Tournament (as Gliders) for Division C. | 2013-2014 (C), 2015-2016, 2019-2021 (B) |
| Electric Aircraft Cargo Challenge | 2015 Washington State Tournament for Division B and Division C. | N/A |
| Electric Wright Stuff | 2011 National Tournament (as Wright Stuff Capacitor), 2020 California (South) State Tournament for Division B, 2017 National Tournament for Division C, 2018-2019 Illinois State Tournament for Division C | 2022 (B) |
| Endangered, Extinct, and Exotic Animals | 2013 New York State Tournament, 2015 National Tournament for Division B and Division C, 2010 Texas State Tournament, 2012-2016 Texas State Tournaments for Division B. | N/A |
| Entomology | 2005 National Tournament (as Don't Bug Me) for Division B and Division C, 2013 Texas State Tournament for Division C. | 2014-2015 (B/C) |
| Environmental Chemistry | 2019 National Tournament, 2020 North Carolina State Tournament, 2020 National Tournament for Division C, 2019 Washington State Tournament for Division B and Division C. | 2009-2010 (B/C), 2022 (C) |
| Evolution | 2008 Missouri State Tournament for Division B and Division C. | N/A |
| Fermi Questions | 2002 National Tournament, 2003 National Tournament, 2004 National Tournament, 2014-2019, 2021 Texas State Tournaments for Division C, 2018 North Carolina State Tournament for Division C, 2002-2003 New Mexico State Tournament for Division C. | 2005-2008, 2012-2013, 2018-2019 (C) |
| Flying Bird | 2008 National Tournament, for Division C, 2011 National Tournament for Division B and Division C. | N/A |
| Food Science | 2005 National Tournament, 2015 Texas State Tournament for Division B and Division C, 2011 Texas State Tournament for Division B, 2014 New York State Tournament (as Chemistry of Food), 2019 Wisconsin State Tournament for Division C, 2019 North Carolina State Tournament for Division B. | 2012-2013, 2016-2022 (B) |
| Fossils | 2014 Texas State Tournament for Division B and Division C. | 2009-2011, 2015-2016, 2019-2021 (B/C) |
| Game On | 2014 National Tournament, 2015 Texas State Tournament, 2015 New York State Tournament, 2015 Washington State Tournament, 2015 National Tournament for Division C. | 2016-2018 (C), 2019-2021 (B) |
| The Garden State | 2020 New Jersey State Tournament for Division B. | N/A |
| Geocaching | 2011, 2019 and 2020 Illinois State Tournaments for Division B and Division C, 2020 Wisconsin State Tournament for Division B and Division C, 2007 National Tournament, 2008 National Tournament, 2015 National Tournament (as GPS) for Division B. | N/A |
| Geologic Mapping | 2012-2013 New York State Tournaments, 2013 National Tournament for Division C. | 2014-2016 (C) |
| Get Your Bearing | 2004 National Tournament for Division B. | 2001 (B) |
| Green Generation | 2013 National Tournament, 2014 New York State Tournament for Division B and Division C. | 2015-2016 (B/C), 2022 (C) |
| Helicopters | 2010 Missouri State Tournament, 2010 National Tournament for Division B and Division C. | 2011, 2013-2014 (B), 2012, 2017-2018 (C) |
| Herpetology | 2017 New York State Tournament for Division B and Division C. | 2009, 2018-2019 (B/C) |
| History of Science | 2010-2011 Texas State Tournament for Division C. | N/A |
| Horticulture Science | 2020 Wisconsin State Tournament for Division B and Division C. | N/A |
| Hovercraft | 2016 National Tournament for Division B. | 2017-2018 (B/C) |
| Hydrogeology | 2014 and 2015 Washington State Tournaments, 2014 National Tournament, 2015 National Tournament for Division C. | 2016-2017 (C) |
| Interrogating the Brain | 2018 Washington State Tournament for Division C. | N/A |
| Invasive Species | 2012 Wisconsin State Tournament (as Invasives) for Division C, 2013 National Tournament, 2014 New York State Tournament (as Invasives) for Division B, 2014 and 2015 Washington State Tournaments, 2015 New York State Tournament for Division B and Division C. | 2016-2017 (B/C) |
| It's About Time | 2020 Illinois State Tournament for Division C. | 1996, 2009-2010, 2015-2016 (C), 2022 (C) |
| Junkyard Challenge | 2006 National Tournament, 2007 National Tournament, 2008 Missouri State Tournament for Division C, 2008 National Tournament for Division B and Division C. | 2009 (C), 2010-2011 (B) |
| LEAF Challenge | 2016 Washington State Tournament for Division B and Division C. | N/A |
| Lean Mean Meme Machine | 2020 MIT Invitational and 2020 Solon Invitational for Division C. This event is not an official Science Olympiad trial event. | N/A |
| Machines | 2017 New Jersey State Tournament (as Compound Machines) for Division C. | 2014-2015, 2020-2021 (B/C) |
| MagLev | 2010 New York State Tournament (as Car of Tomorrow) for Division B, the 2011 New York State Tournament for Division B and Division C, 2011 National Tournament for Division B, 2012 New York State Tournament, 2012 National Tournament for Division C. | 2013-2014 (C) |
| Marine Biology | 2007 Missouri State Tournament for Division B. | N/A |
| Materials Science | 2011 National Tournament, 2016 Texas State Tournament for Division C. | 2013-2014, 2017-2018 (C) |
| Mechathlon | 2018 Texas State Tournament for Division C. | N/A |
| Microbe Mission | 2009 National Tournament, 2015 Mississippi State Tournament for Division B and Division C, 2016 New York State Tournament for Division B, 2010 Indiana State Tournament for Division C. | 2011-2012, 2017-2018 (B/C) |
| Mining the Mind | 2001-2005 New Mexico State Tournament for Division B and Division C. | N/A |
| Model This | 2010 National Tournament for Division B and Division C. | N/A |
| Mousetrap Vehicle | 2006 National Tournament (as Mousetrap Out & Back) for Division B, 2009 National Tournament (as Out and Back) for Division B and Division C. | 2010-2011, 2018-2019 (C), 2012-2013, 2020-2022 (B) |
| Mystery Architecture | 2013 New York State Tournament, 2015 Texas State Tournament for Division B, 2016 National Tournament (as Mystery Design) for Division C, 2018 North Carolina State Tournament (as Mystery Design) for Division B and Division C. | 2018-2019 (B) |
| Naked Egg Drop | 2011 Texas State Tournament (as Egg Drop), 2018-2019 Texas State Tournaments for Division B. | 1996-1999, 2001-2005 (B), 1997 (C) |
| Neuroscience | 2007 Missouri State Tournament for Division B. | N/A |
| Nuclear Science Lab | 2010-2011 Texas State Tournament for Division C. | N/A |
| Optics | 2010 National Tournament, 2016 New York State Tournament for Division B and Division C. | 2011-2012, 2017-2018 (B/C) |
| Ornithology | 2019 Maryland State Tournament for Division B and Division C, 2019 New Jersey State Tournament for Division C, 2019 Illinois State Tournament for Division B, 2001 New Mexico State Tournament for Division B and Division C (as For the Birds). | 2010-2011, 2020-2022 (B/C) |
| Parasitology | 2018-2019 New York State Tournaments for Division B and Division C, 2019 National Tournament for Division B, 2020 New Jersey State Tournament for Division C. | N/A |
| Paper Science | 2018-2019 North Carolina State Tournaments for Division C. | N/A |
| Pentathlon | 2003 National Tournament, 2008 Missouri State Tournament, 2008 National Tournament, 2019 and 2020 Illinois State Tournaments for Division B, 2003 New Mexico State Tournament (2-person version) for Division B, 2004 New Mexico State Tournament for Division B. | 2009-2010 (B) |
| Picture This | 2013-2014 and 2018 Texas State Tournaments, 2019-2020 New Jersey State Tournaments, 2019 Wisconsin State Tournament for Division B, 2010-2012 and 2017 Texas State Tournaments for Division C. | 2016 (B) |
| Ping Pong Parachute/Indoor Bottle Rocket | 2017-2018 North Carolina State Tournaments, 2018 and 2019 Washington State Tournaments for Division B and Division C, 2018 Texas State Tournament, 2019 New Jersey State Tournament for Division B, 2017 Nebraska State Tournament, 2017 National Tournament for Division C, 2019 Illinois State Tournament for Division B and Division C. | 2020-2021 (B/C) |
| Polymer Detective | 2002 National Tournament for Division B, 2002 New Mexico State Tournament for Division B | N/A |
| Potions and Poisons | 2016 and 2017 Washington State Tournaments, 2016 National Tournament, 2016-2018 Texas State Tournament, 2015 New York State Tournament for Division B. | 2018-2019 (B) |
| Protein Modeling | 2008 National Tournament, 2009 National Tournament, 2010 Missouri State Tournament, 2010 National Tournament, 2017 New Jersey State Tournament for Division C. | 2010-2012, 2015-2016, 2019-2021 (C) |
| Quantum Quandaries | 2006 National Tournament for Division C and 2016 MIT Invitational. | N/A |
| Radio Lab/WiFi Lab | 2012 Texas State Tournament, 2017 Ohio State Tournament, 2017 Boyceville Invitational, 2018-2019 Texas State Tournaments, 2018 Hawaii State Tournament, 2018 Illinois State Tournament, 2018 National Tournament, 2016, 2017 and 2019 Washington State Tournaments, 2019 and 2020 Illinois State Tournaments for Division C. | N/A |
| Remote Sensing | 2001 National Tournament (as From A Distance) for Division B and Division C, 2016 National Tournament for Division C, 2001 New Mexico State Tournament (as From a Distance) for Division B. | 2006-2013, 2017-2018 (C) |
| Robo-Billiards | 2002 National Tournament for Division B. | 2003-2005 (B) |
| Robo-Cross | 2020 Wisconsin State Tournament for Division B and Division C. | 2008, 2010, 2014-2015 (B) |
| Robot Arm | 2011 National Tournament for Division C. | 2012-2013, 2016-2017 (C) |
| Robot Maze | 2002 National Tournament for Division B, 2002 New Mexico State Tournament for Division B. | N/A |
| Robot Tour | 2020 Ohio State Tournament for Division C. | N/A |
| Robot Ramble | 2001 National Tournament for Division C, 2001 New Mexico State Tournament for Division C. | 2002-2008 (C) |
| Roller Coaster | 2016-2018 Texas State Tournament for Division B and Division C, 2017 Washington State Tournament, 2015 National Tournament, 2017 National Tournament for Division B. | 2018-2019 (B) |
| Rotor Egg Drop | 2012 New York State Tournament, 2012 National Tournament (as Helicopter Egg Drop), 2017 National Tournament for Division B. | 2013-2014 (B) |
| Science Bowl | 2015 National Tournament for Division B and Division C. | 1995 (B/C) |
| Science of Cancer | 2019 Southeastern Pennsylvania Regional Tournament for Division B and Division C. | N/A |
| Science Quiz Bowl | 2018-2019 New York State Tournaments (as SciTech Bowl in 2019) for Division B and Division C, 2019 National Tournament for Division B. | N/A |
| Science Word | 2010-2013 Texas State Tournaments for Division B, 2013-2019 Texas State Tournaments, 2013 Colorado State Tournament for Division C. | 2008 |
| Solar Power | 2018 National Tournament for Division B, 2020 South Carolina, Virginia and Washington State Tournaments for Division B and Division C. | N/A |
| Solar Vehicle | 2018 New Jersey State Tournament for Division C. | N/A |
| Sounds of Music | 2001 National Tournament, 2002 National Tournament, 2003 National Tournament for Division B, 2001 New Mexico State Tournament for Division B and Division C, 2002-2004 New Mexico State Tournament for Division B. | 2011-2012, 2019-2021 (C), 2013-2014 (B), |
| Source Code | 2016-2019 Michigan State Tournaments, 2018 Texas State Tournament for Division B and Division C, 2020 Illinois State Tournament for Division C. | N/A |
| Storm the Castle | 2002 National Tournament, 2003 National Tournament, 2020 National Tournament for Division B and Division C, 2020 North Carolina State Tournament for Division B, 2013-2014 Texas State Tournament for Division C, 2002-2003 New Mexico State Tournament for Division B and Division C. | 2004-2006 (B/C), 2007, 2011-2012, 2022 (B) |
| Stuck on Science | 2018-2019 North Carolina State Tournaments for Division B and Division C. | N/A |
| Sumo Bots | 2007 National Tournament for Division B and Division C, 2010 National Tournament for Division B, 2012 Ohio State Tournament, 2015 National Tournament for Division C. | N/A |
| Texas Wildflowers | 2010-2017 Texas State Tournaments for Division B. | N/A |
| Thermodynamics | 2017 Illinois State Tournament for Division C, 2003 New Mexico State Tournament (as Keep the Heat) for Division B, 2003 New Mexico State Tournament (as Keep Your Cool) for Division B. | 2017-2019 (B/C) |
| This is a CATastrophe! | 2023 Mentor Invitational for Division B and Division C. This event is not an official Science Olympiad trial event. | N/A |
| Tree of Life | 2019 Lebanon Practice Tournament for Division B. | N/A |
| Water Strider | 2002 National Tournament for Division B, 2002 New Mexico State Tournament for Division C. | 2000 (B) |
| We've Got Your Number | 2012-2019, 2022 Texas State Tournaments, 2017 Pennsylvania State Tournament for Division B and Division C, 2010 Texas State Tournament for Division B. | N/A |
| What the Function | 2019 MIT Invitational for Division C. This event is not an official Science Olympiad trial event. | N/A |
| Wholey Moley | 2002 National Tournament for Division C, 2002 New Mexico State Tournament for Division C. | N/A |
| Wind Power | 2008 National Tournament for Division B and Division C, 2013 Texas State Tournament for Division B, 2007 Missouri State Tournament for Division C. | 2009-2011, 2016-2017 (B) |
| Wonders of Electricity | 2015-2018 Delaware State Tournaments for Division B and Division C. | N/A |
For additonal trial events, see soinc.org's trial event page.