Teams worked against the clock, building creations with limited supplies like a tower from only one sheet of paper, a pair of scissors and tape.
Students didn't get into trouble flying paper airplanes on Friday as they constructed them in the Bakersfield College gymnasium and recorded their distance.
They built bridges made of Popsicle sticks and glue for the efficiency bridge competition. Teams had to create a bridge that was light in weight yet able hold at least ten pounds and not break.
James Hunter, a junior at Foothill High School ,said his bridge failed because it wasn’t long enough. "It’s pretty fun,” Hunter said. “I'm really into architecture, and so it's interesting putting a bridge together and seeing how well it did."
Charlotte Finzel teaches physics at Liberty High School. She says the 15 teams competing take the ultimate science exam by participating in the Olympics. “The concepts, the equations and all the things involved in physics is where the Physics Olympics refreshes their memory, and we go over things,” Finzel said.
One popular, yet messy project was the egg drop, where students dropped their creations from a top floor at B.C.
“It was a little challenging but fun at the same time,” said Ivonne Romero, a junior at Golden Valley High School, whose egg did not break in the competition. “We had to use our imagination with the supplies and be creative with our minds."
There was also a spring constant challenge and the trajectory competition, among the Olympics' 17 events. The winning paper tower was about six-feet tall and the winning bridge weighed 68.7 grams.
