Objective Events

This activity provides a panoramic picture of international cultural arts history through the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D. C., as well as Texas art history through museums located across the state. All prints are reproductions of paintings from these galleries. Students are challenged to identify the artist and the work and answer questions about the art and the artists found in the Art Smart Bulletin, published every other year by TuneIn.  • The 2009-2011 bulletin will be in use this year.  2 students advance from combined grade levels to State.

Students compete as individuals, awarded by grade level, to identify composers and selections from some of the world's best-known classics. Contestants have approximately 30 seconds to write answers as they hear 15-second segments of the music in competition. Students also take a 20-item multiple choice/true-false test over concepts found in Arts Education IDEAS current year PSIA Music Memory Student Handbook. Multiple teaching resources also accompany the handbook.  The PSIA version should be purchased through the "PSIA Academic Study Materials Order Form."
• Grade levels are combined for grades 3, 4 and 5 competition and for grades 6 and 7 competition. 1 from each grade level advances to State.

In a comprehensive, multiple choice, 30-minute math test, students are challenged beyond their grade levels in a variety of general math questions, including algebraic equations introduced in grades 6-8. • 2 from each grade advance to State.

Contestants find high-speed solutions to math problems in this exciting and challenging 10-minute contest in mental mathematics.  • Grade levels 4 and 5 are combined for competition, and grade levels 6, 7, and 8 are combined for competition. 1 from each grade level advances to State.

A thinker's delight, this 30-minute contest develops mathematical reasoning and knowledge and requires application of problem solving skills toward realistic problems. Any calculator may be used in competition. • Grades 6 through 8 are combined in this contest, with 2 advancing to State.

Earth, Life, and Physical Science information found in current textbooks, plus items from current science publications list, are tested in this 30-minute, multiple choice contest, which usually consists of 50 test questions. • 2 from each grade advance to State.

This event is designed to provide students with experience in obtaining information from visual sources, Test include maps, graphs & charts needed to answer multiiple choice questions derived from the 2008 or newer editions of the Nystrom Desk Atlas, which students bring to the contest. The grade 6-8 test includes additional questions from general geography and National Geographic GeoBee website. • 2 from each grade advance to State.

As spelling words are pronounced at approximately five words per minute, contestants may either write or print each word. While 20% of the test words come from outside sources, 80% come from the PSIA Spelling List. A different list is published annually for the three grade groups: grades 2/3, grades 4/5, and grades 6-8.  All grades compete separately, • except grades 7 and 8, which are combined for competition.

SAT preparation skills, including word usage, reading comprehension, and analogies, are honed through this challenging multiple choice, 30-minute contest.  • 2 advance from each grade, except for combined grades 7/8. Grade levels 7 and 8 are combined for competition.  Grades 5 and 6 are graded separately. 

Students use all elements of the dictionary (Merriam Webster Collegiate Dictionary, 11th edition) in the contest room, as they learn practical techniques for extracting and applying resource information.  • Combined contest for grades 4/5 & 6-8, with the top 2 advancing from each combined contest to State.

Good listening skills enhance any academic area, and the study materials are useful for all students. Contestants may take notes as they listen to the contest script on CD, and then use these notes as they answer objective test questions in 10 minutes.  • Combined for competition are grades 4 & 5 and grades 6-8, with the top 2 advancing to State from each combined contest.