The 2018 Science Bowl took place on March 3 at Dakota Ridge High School. 41 teams from schools all across Colorado attended the event this year to compete against each other in a game of science trivia questions.
The teams are made up of at least four people. Each team has a buzzer, and they will hit the buzzer if they know the answer to the trivia question they are given. Within a five minute block of time, the teams will be asked ten questions. Then they will take a few minutes for a break, and after, they will be asked the rest of the ten questions. The questions are evenly split between math, chemistry, Earth science, and physics.
The two HR teams did not win this year, but they still have hope. “I mean, there’s 41 teams and only three get to place, and there’s no participation award or anything,” said Thomas Conyers, science teacher and coordinator for the team. “There’s two tiers, and in the morning they start the competition. And then the top 16 teams out of the 41 teams get to move on. One of our teams did move on to the next tier, so that is an accomplishment in of itself.”
From those 16 teams, only three are chosen, and only the team in first place will be sent to a national competition, where they will compete against the top teams from other states.
Jack Liu, junior, is a member of the team, and although he only joined this year, he was one of the team members who managed to advance to the second tier of the competition. “I was nervous at first,” Liu said, “but then I felt excited because you’re just getting asked all these questions and you’re just doing your best.”
Melanie Pierce, senior, has also only been on the team one year, and she was also a part of the team who advanced. “It was really exciting,” Pierce said regarding advancing, “but we weren’t expecting it, so it was kind of surprising. We were just really excited for that opportunity to advance.”
Yet although the team feels advancing was already a big step in their Science Bowl career, they say they still hope to win in the future.
“A lot of what happens in Science Bowl depends on the experience of the members and the effort that each of the members put in,” Pierce said. “That’s what I think is what’s going to really help us improve in the future. It was really fun just to kind of be able to participate in this, and while it’s fun to do, it’s more fun to do well.”
Currently, the competitions are over, but there will be another competition next year. The Science Bowl team meets every Monday after school in room 2210, and anyone who is interested in science and willing to participate can join.
Kathryn Lopez, Staff Reporter
