Semiahmoo Secondary students win gold at UBC Physics Olympics
Up against 50 teams from around the province, Semiahmoo Secondary managed to snag gold at the recent 2022 UBC Physics Olympics.
While the event was cancelled in 2020 due to the pandemic, it returned last year in a virtual format that was used again for the 2022 iteration.
The Semiahmoo team is also no stranger to success at the competition. The team also came in first overall during the 2019 competition and came third during last year's event.
For this year's competition, teams took part in four activities, after which a cumulative score determined their overall rank.
Activities this year ranged from building a a href="https://physoly.phas.ubc.ca/rulebooks/2022-pre-build-smartphone-elevator/" target="_blank">smartphone elevator' to detecting and characterizing exoplanets as part of a a href="/NewsEvents/Posts/Lists/Posts/Planetary%20Astronomy%20Lab'" target="_blank">Planetary Astronomy Lab', in addition to a href="https://physoly.phas.ubc.ca/rulebooks/2022-quizzics/" target="_blank">Quizzics' and determining the answers to a href="https://physoly.phas.ubc.ca/rulebooks/fermi-questions/" target="_blank">Fermi Questions'.
As one of the largest competitions of its kind in North America, schools from around the province compete, usually in six events: Quizzics, Fermi, two labs and two engineering pre-builds,explained Semiahmoo physics teacher Louay El Halabi. But as the event was held virtually this year, there were only four major components.br>
The Semiahmoo team, made up of senior students (Grade 11 and 12) from both the school's International Baccalaureate program and physics classes, fielded 26 participants during the competition.
El Halabi could not be more proud of the team's performance.
The number one rule is to have fun and give it our best to represent the school,he said. These students are amazing as they put so many hours into it while keeping up with their busy day-to-day schedules and other academic challenges.
UBC has done an amazing job with hosting this event online, however, we look forward to the in-person competition next year to defend our first-place title.br>
While the event was cancelled in 2020 due to the pandemic, it returned last year in a virtual format that was used again for the 2022 iteration.
The Semiahmoo team's smartphone elevator.
For this year's competition, teams took part in four activities, after which a cumulative score determined their overall rank.
Activities this year ranged from building a a href="https://physoly.phas.ubc.ca/rulebooks/2022-pre-build-smartphone-elevator/" target="_blank">smartphone elevator' to detecting and characterizing exoplanets as part of a a href="/NewsEvents/Posts/Lists/Posts/Planetary%20Astronomy%20Lab'" target="_blank">Planetary Astronomy Lab', in addition to a href="https://physoly.phas.ubc.ca/rulebooks/2022-quizzics/" target="_blank">Quizzics' and determining the answers to a href="https://physoly.phas.ubc.ca/rulebooks/fermi-questions/" target="_blank">Fermi Questions'.
As one of the largest competitions of its kind in North America, schools from around the province compete, usually in six events: Quizzics, Fermi, two labs and two engineering pre-builds,explained Semiahmoo physics teacher Louay El Halabi. But as the event was held virtually this year, there were only four major components.br>
The Semiahmoo team, made up of senior students (Grade 11 and 12) from both the school's International Baccalaureate program and physics classes, fielded 26 participants during the competition.
El Halabi could not be more proud of the team's performance.
The number one rule is to have fun and give it our best to represent the school,he said. These students are amazing as they put so many hours into it while keeping up with their busy day-to-day schedules and other academic challenges.
UBC has done an amazing job with hosting this event online, however, we look forward to the in-person competition next year to defend our first-place title.br>
