Supporting Excellent Science Teaching for Georgia
The 2025–2026 Elementary Science Olympiad (ESO) season is here. Schools across Georgia will have the opportunity to participate in a series of regional ESO competitions, with top teams earning a spot at the State Elementary Science Olympiad, held in person at Kennesaw State University.
This year’s competition will include all 18 ESO events. While there are no major changes, Backyard Biologist has been updated for this season. Information about regional competition opportunities for schools has also been refreshed for 2025–2026.
ESO Events for 2025-2026
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Event Descriptions Event descriptions may be found in the Elementary Science Olympiad manual. These may be purchased from the Science Olympiad Store. The National Science Olympiad Association has graciously granted permission for us to link to event descriptions from the ESO manual. You can click each event icon above to access the event description. Many teams like to know how events will be grouped at the State ESO so they can practice. Here is a document with the event grouping for state. | Event Clarifications Some events may be interpreted a bit broadly. We have created a series of event clarifications to help coaches and students understand each event. Georgia unique event descriptions may be accessed by clicking on the event logo above or the links below. Georgia unique events are:
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The Georgia Elementary Science Olympiad will be held in early May 2026 for teams that qualify to compete. Teams must compete at a Regional ESO Tournament to earn a spot at the State competition. A list of regional ESO tournaments will be posted below on September 1, 2025.
Click Here to see a live spreadsheet with links.
We are excited to announce that the Georgia Elementary Science Olympiad will continue to offer the Expedition ESO as a science enrichment opportunity for any interested student. We will post challenges for Expedition ESO groups to explore. Expedition ESO will feature traditional events that look and feel a little different. These events have been adapted to allow coaches to extend the learning beyond the scope of some of the ESO competition events. Coaches can form non-competition clubs that complete missions to earn event badges, awarded at the discretion of the coaches. Students have the opportunity to earn different badges! Click the Expedition ESO Logo below to learn more.
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What is the GA Elementary Science Olympiad?
Elementary Science Olympiad provides students engaging learning opportunities in STEM in a variety of ways. ESO may be used for classroom instruction, Science Days/Nights, Inter-grade level competition (such as a Science Field Day) and as a Competition. Each state/event organizer determines whether to offer ESO competitions. Georgia hosts one of the largest ESO competitions with 65 teams each May at Kennesaw State University.
State Competition Qualification for GA ESO
Affiliated ESO competitions will again be given an allotment of team slots for the state ESO competition. Only 1 team per school/organization may advance to the state competition even if a school/organization competes with multiple teams an affiliated qualifying ESO competition. Schools/organizations may compete at only 1 regional qualifying tournament. This models the structure for middle and high school GASO.
What defines a TEAM for ESO competition?
The ESO state competition advisory board has defined a TEAM for ESO competition as:
Teams my be composed of up to 20 3rd-6th grade students. Each team may have up to eight 5th grade students or up to six 6th grade students, with no more than 8 total 5th and 6th grade students. 6th grade students may only be included if they are part of the same school as the other team members, (i.e. at K-6 campus).
Event Rule Books: These may be purchased from the Science Olympiad Store for a cost of $15 plus shipping.
http://store.soinc.org/c-3-elementary-science-olympiad-materials.aspx
Division B & C
