The YPO is an all-day (8:30-4:30) physics competition for Connecticut and surrounding area high school students and teachers and is FREE for registered teams. Established in 1998, it has taken place annually every year in mid-October on a Saturday. Representing their high school or learning institution, students compete in teams of four to complete a pentathlon of a variety physics-themed activities. Different every year, they can involve: measuring an unknown quantity, optimizing a process, or constructing a device to perform a function. One event is always a quiz consisting of Fermi Problems, which require combining clever quantitative guesses to produce a good final estimate of some unknown number. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fermi_problem
In addition to the five competitive events, there is a make-and-take activity for team coaches, a demonstration show (for all participants), and a talk or presentation by a Yale scientist. At the end of the day in an awards ceremony, teams are awarded first, second and third prizes for best performance in each event. We also award first and second prizes for best overall performance and a trophy for overall best performance. There are spirit prizes too for best costume/T-shirt and best team name!
While this is a competition, it is friendly and accessible to all students. We make sure everyone has fun with physics! Space is limited to 50 teams so make sure you register as soon as you can.
For more information please e-mail Stephen Irons at stephen.irons@yale.edu or call the Physics Olympics Hotline at (203) 433-2154.