Scioly Prep

Students teaching students to think like scientists.

We're a group of high schoolers who've competed in Science Olympiad. We go to middle school team practices and work with students in small groups, because one coach can't get to dozens of kids across 20+ events.

Louisville, KY · since 2024

A tall tutor in a black T-shirt talks with a group of middle schoolers standing around him in a science classroom. One student in a blue hoodie sits on the floor listening.
Talking a group through a problem at practice.
Year started
2024
Students tutored
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Practice sessions led
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Events covered
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Our story

We started Scioly Prep in 2024 after seeing the same thing at almost every practice: one coach, a room full of students, and more than 20 events to cover. Coaches do a lot, but there's only one of them.

So we show up and split the room. Some of us sit on the floor with a group working through a practice test. Someone takes the whiteboard and breaks down a problem that tripped people up. Others go desk to desk, checking work one-on-one.

We competed recently, so we still remember where we got stuck. That's usually where we start.

Overhead view of four middle schoolers lying and kneeling on the classroom floor in a tight circle around a worksheet, one pointing at a question.
Working through a practice test on the floor.

Our mission

Help every Science Olympiad student walk into competition knowing how to solve the problem, not just the answer to one.

One problem, start to finish

From a real session: if burning butane made 2.46 g of water, how many moles of water is that, and how many grams of butane were used up?

2C4H10 + 13O2 → 8CO2 + 10H2O

  1. Set up the givens

    Balanced equation first, then write down what you know. Water is 18 g/mol.

  2. Draw the butane

    Sketch C4H10 so everyone can see what's burning: four carbons in a chain, ten hydrogens around them.

  3. Grams to moles

    2.46 g H2O × 1 mol18 g ≈ 17 mol H2O

  4. Use the mole ratio

    17 mol H2O × 2 mol C4H1010 mol H2O ≈ 135 mol butane

    The 2 and the 10 come straight from the balanced equation.

Then we stopped. Turning 1/35 of a mole of butane into grams was the students' job.

A tutor smiles while finishing a line on the whiteboard: 1/7 mol H2O times 2 mol C4H10 over 10 mol H2O is about 1/35 mol. The answer 1/7 mol H2O is boxed above it.
The whiteboard at step 4.

Want Scioly Prep at your team's practice?

Tell us when your team meets and which events you need help with.

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