![\"\"](\"https:\/\/news.ncsu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/pasta-bridge.jpg\")
<\/a>\u201cThe Bridge-a-Roni challenge is based on the concept of efficiency \u2013 using as little as we could to hold as much as we could,\u201d Mozick explains.<\/p>\n
By the time the students entered their final bridges in regional competition at Middle Creek Elementary School, Mozick’s teams had a keen eye, pointing out entries built with excess hot glue or lasagna noodles, which added weight.<\/p>\n
Their lighter bridges captured medals for all three teams: bronze for the varsity, and gold and silver for the junior varsity.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey were so excited to win they jumped up and down,\u201d Mozick says. \u201cI felt a sense of pride after working with them over the past two months. I really enjoyed helping the kids learn about something that\u2019s important to me and an interesting career.\u201d<\/p>\n
Fortunately, there\u2019s no Gatorade bath for winning coaches at Science Olympiad \u2013 otherwise, the 13 NC State students who volunteered this spring would have been soaked.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/news.ncsu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/Gorensek-Abby.jpg\")
<\/a>Natalie Gorensek\u2019s Backyard Biologist teams felt right at home waving sticks topped with fish during the boisterous awards ceremony. They\u2019d been studying trees, amphibians and reptiles for weeks.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe question I remember is getting is, \u2018Can we go over the reptiles again? They\u2019re so cute,\u2019\u201d says Gorensek, a junior chemical engineering major who created study guides and led weekly Jeopardy-style reviews with her all-female teams.<\/p>\n
When the team\u2019s JV gold medal was announced, the atmosphere was electric. \u201cThe kids were cheering, stomping and screaming. It was insane in there,\u201d Gorensek says.<\/p>\n
Madeline Downs\u2019 marshmallow catapult teams created one of the highlights of the competition. Elementary engineers took turns firing their custom-built marshmallow catapults at targets on the floor as coaches, families and competitors watched.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe crowd went wild when Aiden and Owen hit the bullseye on their first try. Everyone was so impressed,\u201d says Downs, a computer science engineering major whose JV team won a bronze in her second year as a volunteer coach.<\/p>\n
\u201cI love working with young kids in STEM education because I remember having experiences like this at summer engineering camp at NC State. That\u2019s what got me interested in engineering, and not only engineering, but NC State.\u201d<\/p>\n
Downs isn\u2019t the only one drawn to NC State\u2019s Think and Do approach. More than 1,300 NC State students mentioned Science Olympiad experiences in their applications for admissions, says Audrey Jaeger, an education professor, parent and one of two volunteer head coaches for Middle Creek Elementary. Jaeger plans to analyze the data to learn more about what influences students to pursue science and engineering.<\/p>\n
NC State hosted the 2017 Science Olympiad state tournament for middle and high school students April 21-22.<\/p>\n
This post was originally published<\/a> in NC State News.<\/em><\/p>","protected":false,"raw":"On Mondays this spring, NC State civil engineering student Miranda Mozick took a detour to Middle Creek Elementary, where she coached Science Olympiad teams in building strong, lightweight bridges with pasta and hot glue.\r\n\r\n\u201cAll of a sudden, I wasn\u2019t the student. I was the teacher,\u201d says Mozick, a junior with a construction company internship. \u201cI wasn\u2019t really sure how to build a bridge out of macaroni.\u201d\r\n\r\nAfter exploring design options \u2013 \u201cwe figured out early on that triangles are the strongest shape\u201d \u2013 the third- to fifth-graders experimented with building materials. They settled on linguine, strong but relatively light.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_440771\" align=\"alignright\" width=\"300\"]<\/a> A pasta bridge is put to the test during Science Olympiad regional competition at Middle Creek Elementary.[\/caption]\r\n\r\n\u201cThe Bridge-a-Roni challenge is based on the concept of efficiency \u2013 using as little as we could to hold as much as we could,\u201d Mozick explains.\r\n\r\nBy the time the students entered their final bridges in regional competition at Middle Creek Elementary School, Mozick's teams had a keen eye, pointing out entries built with excess hot glue or lasagna noodles, which added weight.\r\n\r\nTheir lighter bridges captured medals for all three teams: bronze for the varsity, and gold and silver for the junior varsity.\r\n\r\n\u201cThey were so excited to win they jumped up and down,\u201d Mozick says. \u201cI felt a sense of pride after working with them over the past two months. I really enjoyed helping the kids learn about something that\u2019s important to me and an interesting career.\u201d\r\n\r\nFortunately, there\u2019s no Gatorade bath for winning coaches at Science Olympiad \u2013 otherwise, the 13 NC State students who volunteered this spring would have been soaked.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_440671\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"210\"]<\/a> Natalie Gorensek, an NC State chemical engineering major, congratulates Abby, an elementary student she coached for Science Olympiad.[\/caption]\r\n\r\nNatalie Gorensek\u2019s Backyard Biologist teams felt right at home waving sticks topped with fish during the boisterous awards ceremony. They\u2019d been studying trees, amphibians and reptiles for weeks.\r\n\r\n\u201cThe question I remember is getting is, \u2018Can we go over the reptiles again? They\u2019re so cute,\u2019\u201d says Gorensek, a junior chemical engineering major who created study guides and led weekly Jeopardy-style reviews with her all-female teams.\r\n\r\nWhen the team\u2019s JV gold medal was announced, the atmosphere was electric. \u201cThe kids were cheering, stomping and screaming. It was insane in there,\u201d Gorensek says.\r\n\r\nMadeline Downs\u2019 marshmallow catapult teams created one of the highlights of the competition. Elementary engineers took turns firing their custom-built marshmallow catapults at targets on the floor as coaches, families and competitors watched.\r\n\r\n\u201cThe crowd went wild when Aiden and Owen hit the bullseye on their first try. Everyone was so impressed,\u201d says Downs, a computer science engineering major whose JV team won a bronze in her second year as a volunteer coach.\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\u201cI love working with young kids in STEM education because I remember having experiences like this at summer engineering camp at NC State. That\u2019s what got me interested in engineering, and not only engineering, but NC State.\u201d\r\n\r\nDowns isn\u2019t the only one drawn to NC State\u2019s Think and Do approach. More than 1,300 NC State students mentioned Science Olympiad experiences in their applications for admissions, says Audrey Jaeger, an education professor, parent and one of two volunteer head coaches for Middle Creek Elementary. Jaeger plans to analyze the data to learn more about what influences students to pursue science and engineering.\r\n\r\nNC State hosted the 2017 Science Olympiad state tournament for middle and high school students April 21-22."},"excerpt":{"rendered":"