DOE National Science Bowl

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) National Science Bowl is a nationwide academic competition that tests students’ knowledge in all areas of science. High school and middle school students are quizzed in a fast paced question-and-answer format similar to Jeopardy. Competing teams from diverse backgrounds are comprised of four students, one alternate, and a teacher who serves as an advisor and coach.

A featured event at the National Finals for middle school students, the Model Car Challenge invites students to design, build, and race model cars. This competition tests the creative engineering skills of many of the brightest math and science students in the nation as they gain hands-on experience in the automotive design process and with electric battery technology.

DOE launched its National Science Bowl competition in 1991 to encourage high school students to excel in science and math and to pursue careers in those fields. The National Science Bowl’s high school competition now involves more than 13,000 students. DOE introduced the National Science Bowl’s competition for middle school students in 2002. It now involves more than 5,000 students. The National Science Bowl is the only science competition in the United States sponsored by a federal agency.

Regional science bowl championship teams receive an all-expenses paid trip to compete at the national event. High school and middle school teams travel to Washington, D.C. late April. The national events are several days of science activities, sightseeing, and competitions. Teams enjoy the entire science bowl experience and take home many prizes. There are cutting-edge science seminars and hands-on science activities.

The enrollment deadline for MS isn’t until the 13^th and the HS isn’t until the 20^th, but I’m only have a handful of teams registered.

Middle School Regional Science Bowl is at OSSM on January 21.  It is an event that is generated by the Department of Energy and hosted locally by the Oklahjoma Association of Academic Competitions.  The winning team receives a PAID trip to DC to compete in Nationals April 26-30.  It is a toss-up bonus format and the subjects covered in the competition are only science and mathematics.

High School Regional Science Bowl is at OU on January 28.  This winner also receives a PAID trip to DC to compete in Nationals on April 26-30.  Same format, same question areas.

DOE makes all of the travel arrangements and foots the bill for both MS and HS teams.

There is a $30 entry fee for the regional competition.  Last year Oologah Middle School and Memorial High School represented Oklahoma at Nationals.  It was a great learning experience for all of the team members and their coaches.

Registration, sample questions and information about nationals is available on their web site http://science.energy.gov/nsb/