THE EARTH SCIENCE OLYMPIAD

The International Earth Science Olympiad (IESO), one of the twelve International Science Olympiads, is an annual competition for secondary school students that tests their abilities in disciplines such asgeology, meteorology, environmental science, and terrestrial astronomy. Students who are winners of the respective national competitions are invited to participate in the IESO, and all interested countries are encouraged to contribute to the IESO.

It is one of the major activities of the International Geoscience Education Organization - IGEO(http://www.geoscied.org) that aims at raising student interest in and public awareness of Earth sciences, as well as to enhance Earth science learning of students.

History

The IESO was first suggested by Korean earth scientists. In 2003, the Korean Earth Science Society (KESS) organized the first Korean Earth Science Olympiad. The international competition was adopted as one of major activities of International Geosciences Education Organization later that year.

In November 2004 in Seoul, representatives from ten countries gathered to discuss the curriculum and the format of IESO. 23 presentations were made and the IESO Advisory Committee was established with 11 members including Chairperson Moo Young Song. The IESO Syllabus Commission was then developed in 2005, and the first International competition was held in 2007.

The first IESO was held in October 2007 in Daegu, South Korea, where the Taiwanese team won first place with three gold medals and one silver medal. The Korean team placed second with one gold and three silver medals, and the United States followed in third with two silver and two bronze medals.

Second (2008) competition took place in Manila, Philippines, with the theme "Cooptation in Addressing Climate Change" (the word "cooptation" refers to a combination of competition and cooperation). Its aim was to promote global Earth science education and international cooperation in mitigating anthropogenic harm to the environment.

Third IESO took place in Taipei, Taiwan, in September 2009 with the theme "Human Environment".

Fourth IESO took place in Yogyakarta, Indonesia in September 2010 with the theme "The Present is the key to the Future".

The IESO is the only International Olympiad to include an International Team Competition. Past International Team Competitions have included developing stratigraphic sequences, evaluating living on the Mt. Mayon volcano, and evaluating the fault escarpment of the Chi-Chi earthquake.

In 2010 in Indonesia, the International Team Competition focus on sustainability and the use of underground water.

 List of past and future venues

§  2007 – South Korea

§  2008 – Philippines

§  2009 – Taiwan

§  2010 –Indonesia

§  2011 –Italy

§  2012 –Japan Japan has withdrawn after the natural disasters of March 2011. Argentina has agreed to host in 2012

§  2013 – India

Aims of the IESO

The IESO is intended to raise student interest in and public awareness of Earth Science, to enhance Earth science learning of students, and to identify talented and gifted students in Earth science. The IESO is also developed in pursuit of encouraging friendly relationship among young learners from different countries and promoting international cooperation in exchanging ideas and materials about Earth science and Earth science education. The IESO is aimed at improvement of teaching of Earth science in school.

Competition

All major areas of Earth Sciences, including geology, geophysics, meteorology, oceanography, astronomy, and environmental sciences, are considered for selecting topics for the competition.

The International competition consists of a theoretical and a practical examination. The written examination includes problems which are developed to measure the participants' robust knowledge and understanding in Earth science areas.

The practical examination consists of tasks which are designed to assess participants' abilities to carry out scientific investigations in earth science inquiries. Participants are allowed to bring non-programmable calculators for the examinations. Sometimes special tool are provides as telescopes, geology compass, meteorological instruments and so on.

The competition is individual.

Teams

Each team consists of up to four competing students, an alternate, and mentors. The mentors must be specialists in Earth science and/or Earth science education and capable of serving as members of the International Jury. The official language of the competition is English, and the mentors must also translate for their teams from their native language. Students qualify to attend the IESO by winning national Earth science competitions in their home countries.

In the United States, selection of the traveling Earth Science team was run through the Global Challenge Award organization in 2007 and 2008. Selection of the team members involves theoretical assessments as well as essay writing and participation in an online training camp. The team is chosen based on skill in earth science, ability to solve complex problems, interaction with other students, and ability to diplomatically discuss pressing environmental issues.

SYLLABUS FOR THE INTERNATIONAL EARTH SCIENCE OLYMPIAD ENTRANCE TEST 

(WRITTEN)

GEOSPHERE

Mineral & Rocks

1.  Identification of selected minerals from the list (Appendix 1).
2. Classification of selected rocks from the list (Appendix 1).
3. Idenfication of reefal limestones and reef-building organisms.

Historical geology (sedimentology, paleontology, stratigraphy, paleo-global change)

1. Sedimentary structure and interpretation, identification of selected fossils from the list (Appendix 2), and geological records in global change.

Principle of plate tectonics and its application.

Plate tectonics & Seismology

1. Crustal deformation and its relation to earthquakes.
2. Principle of seismology and related calculation.

Physical Geography

1. Physical Geography (geomorphology, climatology, hydrology, soil geography, major vegetation zones): landform vs. process, landform vs. geological structures, basic hydrology, soil development, identification of major soil types, landscape I dentification, human vs. environments, and groundwater.

ASTRONOMY

 Observational Astronomy

1. Relative motion between the Sun, Moon and Earth – day and night, seasons, lunar phases, solar and lunar eclipses, calendar
2. Sky – constellations, Bayer’s designation of stars, celestial coordinates (right ascension, declination), ecliptic plane, precession
3. Planetary observations – conjunction, opposition, greatest elongation, albedo
4. Stellar brightness and colour – brightness, luminosity, colour, spectral classification
5. Telescopes – optics and operation of small telescopes, radio telescopes, space telescopes…

Introduction to Solar System

1. Sun – interior, atmosphere (photosphere, chromosphere, corona), sunspots…
2. Terrestrial plants – Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars
3. Outer planets – Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune
4. Dwarf planets
5. Comets
6. Asteroids
7. Satellites
8. Planetary rings
9. Space exploration in the solar system

The Sun is a star

1. Nuclear fusion in the solar interior
2. The birth of the solar system
3. The concept of color-magnitude diagram (HR diagram)
4. (All the above do not get involved in stellar evolution.)

The Earth in the Universe

1. The Earth in the solar system
2. The Sun in the Milky Way
3. The Milky Way in the Universe

Space Science

1. Thermosphere, magnetosphere, solar wind
2. The influence of solar surface activities to the Earth

ATMOSPHERE

1.      Basics and Energy of the Atmosphere:

      Composition, history of atmosphere, pressure, density, temperature, ideal gas law, vertical layers, hydrostatic equilibrium, energy, heat and sensible heat, heat transfer, radiation, solar and terrestrial radiation, albedo, energy balance, the Greenhouse Effect, seasons, temperature variation and its controls.

2.      Moisture, Clouds, and Precipitation:

      Water and its three phases, latent heat, hydrological cycle, humidity and its related variables, saturation, dew and frost, cloud condensation nuclei, fog and its types, adiabatic warming/cooling, clouds, cloud identification and classification, unusual clouds, atmospheric stability, inversion, instability and its causes, buoyancy, topographic effect, thermodynamic diagrams, precipitation processes, cloud seeding, precipitation types and formation mechanisms.

3.      Air Pressure and Motion:

      Atmospheric pressure, weather maps, Newton’s law of motion, basic forces acting on the air, atmospheric motion (wind), winds produced by balanced forces, surface winds, divergence and convergence, vertical motion, scales of weather systems, synoptic-scale systems, local wind systems (land-sea and mountain-valley breezes), katabatic winds, feohn, small-scale winds, turbulence and eddies.

4.      Weather Systems and Patterns:

      Air masses and their classification, fronts and their types, upper-air fronts, jet streams, polar front theory, extratropical cyclones, upper-level waves and surface storms, tropical cyclones (hurricanes) and their classification, mesoscale convective systems, local thunderstorms, floods, cloud electrification and lightning, tornadoes and the damaging scale, waterspouts, convective cells.

5.      Climate and Climate Change:

      Mean temperature and pressure patterns, general circulation, precipitation (rainfall) patterns, polar front and subtropical jets, monsoon, atmosphere-ocean interaction, ocean currents and upwelling, El Niño and the Southern Oscillation, climate patterns and classification, climate change and its causes, past climate, global warming and its consequences, air pollution and aerosols, ozone depletion, acid rain, climate-related environmental issues.

6.      Observations, Weather Forecasts, and Atmospheric Optics:

      Instrument shelter, thermometers, barometers, hygrometers, psychrometer, rain gauges, anemometers, radiosonde, dropsonde, sky conditions, visibility, remote-sensing of weather, satellite and radar observations, rainfall estimates, Doppler effect and Doppler radar, acquisition of weather data, conventional and unconventional data, weather maps, forecasting methods and tools, uncertainty and predictability, probability forecasts, reflection, scattering, transmission, refraction, color of objects, aurora, twinkling, twilight, the green flash, mirage, halos, sundogs, sun pillars, rainbows, coronas.

HYDROSPHERE

Hydrography

1. Water temperature	10. Color of sea water
2. Water depth	11. Nutrients in ocean
3. Water density	12. Dissolved oxygen
4. Salinity	13. Light intensity in ocean
5. Sea level	14. Altimeter
6. Pressure	15. Evaporation
7. T-S diagram	16. Precipitation
8. Mixing layer	17. River runoff
9. Sound velocity in ocean

Current

1. Geostrophic current	4. Sea surface dynamic topography
2. Eddy	5. Thermohaline circulation
3. Coriolis force	6. Friction force

Tide

1. Semi-diurnal tide	6. Tide-generating force
2. Diurnal tide	7. Low water
3. Neap tide	8. High water
4. Spring tide	9. tidal range
5. Equilibrium theory of tide

Wave

1. Wave height	4. Wave speed in shallow water
2. Wave period	5. Wave speed in deep water
3. Wave length	6. Tsunami

Appendix 1. Rock & mineral list for International Earth Science Olympiad Entrance Test.

Minerals:      

Albite [Plagioclase], Apatite, Aragonite, Augite, Barite, Beryl, Biotite, Calcite, Chalcopyrite, Corundum, Diamond, Dolomite, Fluorite, Galena, Garnet, Graphite, Gypsum, Halite, Hematite, Hornblende, Kaolinite, Magnetite, Malachite, Muscovite, Olivine, Opal,    Orthoclase, Pyrite, Quartz, Sphalerite, Sulphur, Talc, Topaz, Tourmaline and Tremolite.

Metamorphic Rocks:

Gneiss, Marble, Phyllite, Quartzite, Schist and Slate.

Igneous Rocks:         

Andesite, Basalt, Diorite, Gabbro, Granite, Obsidian, Pegmatite, Pumice, and Rhyolite.

Sedimentary Rocks: 

Breccia, Conglomerate, Dolomite Rock, Limestone (reefal limestone), Sandstone and Shale.

Appendix 2. Fossil list for International Earth Science Olympiad Entrance Test.

         

Kingdom	Phylum	Class	Genus	Note
Protoctista				Foraminifera
Eubacteria or Plantae				Stromatolites
Animalia	Cnidaria			(solitary and colonial corals)
	Mollusca
	Arthropoda	Trilobita	Elrathia
			Cryptolithus
			Phacops
		Crustacea
		Insecta
		Arachnida
	Bryozoa
	Brachiopoda
	Echinodermata	Blastoidea	Pentremites
		Crinoidea		(crinoid stems, calyxes)
		Echinoidea		(urchins, sea biscuits, sand dollars)
		Stelleroida		(starfish, brittle stars)
	Chordata
Fossil evidence				Amber; Coprolite; Internal /external molds; Petrified wood; Carbon traces; Trace fossils