<p>Here's the link to the National Science Olympiad page, which will give you an idea of what goes on.<br>
<a href="http://www.soinc.org/%5B/url%5D">http://www.soinc.org/</a>
It's a somewhat time consuming competition, particularly if you participate in the engineering events where you have to build things. About half of the events are engineering, the others are tests only. I think most teams have about 15 students, with 2 students participating in each event, so each person does 2, 3 or 4 events. It can also get expensive when you have to buy parts, supplies and batteries, plus if you make it to the state competition you have travel, hotel and food expenses. </p>
<p>You don't have to parfticipate in each event; some schools don't have enough students so they only do some events. In some states SO is VERY competitive, in some it's not. In our state we have 5 or 6 regional events, and the top 3 in each region go to the state competition. The top team in each state goes to nationals. (Some very populous states with a lot of money may send 2 teams to nationals.)</p>
<p>The competition itself takes about 6 or 7 hours, with numerous events scheduled at the same time, so it can get tricky getting where you're supposed to be and making sure you don't have events that conflict. </p>
<p>My suggestion is to find a school in your area that already competes and go talk to their coach and some of the students. </p>
<p>There is also a SO forum where the students discuss all things science olympiadian. I don't think I'm allowed to post that link, so just google: science olympiad forum</p>