2019 Los Angeles Regional Science Bowl winners

After a full day of intense competition, a team of students from University High School in Irvine, California, earned first place in a regional round of the U.S. Department of Energy National Science Bowl on Jan. 26, 2019. This is the second consecutive year that the school has placed first in the regional round, and it's the 27th year that NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, has hosted the competition.

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The Arcadia High School team at JPL

Arcadia High School triumphed at the National Science Bowl regional competition at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. The event was held Jan. 31.

The team, consisting of four main players, an alternate and a coach, reigned supreme against 23 other teams from Southern California. Team members earned a trip to the National Science Bowl finals in Washington, which will be held April 30 through May 4.

The format of the competition resembled a fast-paced game show, with students buzzing in to answer questions at the college freshman level. They were not permitted to use calculators or notes. The questions spanned various topics in Earth and space sciences, including astronomy, biology, chemistry, physics and math.

Contestants at JPL proved themselves quick-witted in a wide range of questions - for instance, knowing that 1,600 + 81 makes a perfect square. Many people in the audience were awed whenever students buzzed in with correct answers before the announcer had finished asking the question.

The second-place team, from Dos Pueblos High School in Goleta, gave the Arcadia team a suspenseful challenge as the competition neared its end. The two teams tied at 82 points at one point, resulting in a tiebreaker that Dos Pueblos won. But Arcadia made a comeback in the very last match. Santa Monica High School placed third.

All members of the Arcadia team are high school seniors, and all said that they want to pursue mathematics, science or computer science in college. One team member, Chris Chi, already works in a biology lab.

"We all do a lot of science in our spare time," said Kevin Wang, captain of the Arcadia team.

The National Science Bowl is designed to inspire students to pursue careers in science or math. Over the 24-year history of the competition, about 240,000 students have participated. JPL, managed for NASA by the California Institute of Technology, has hosted the regional Science Bowl for 23 years.

For information about the National Science Bowl, visit: http://science.energy.gov/wdts/nsb/

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TAGS: Science Bowl, Team Competitions, Arcadia High School, High School

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University High School at the Regional Science Bowl competition

University High School of Irvine, Calif., beat out 23 other local high schools in an all-day, "buzzer-beater"-style Science Bowl held at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

They came from many areas of Southern California -- from Palm Desert to Santa Barbara, from Irvine to Pasadena -- 24 teams of five students -- to compete in the 22nd annual JPL-sponsored Regional Science Bowl, a "Jeopardy"-style competition. The event was held over eight hours on Feb. 1 at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.

But at the end of the long day, only one team survived the double-elimination-style tournament: University High School from Irvine, Calif.

"We started this process in July," said University captain Jiho Park. "So it's the culmination of all our efforts since last summer, practicing as much as four or five hours a week as the competition got closer."

Jiho was in the same position last year, as they won the regional but then only placed fourth in the national. This time, he said, they hoped to go all the way.

Coordinated by the Department of Energy, the National Science Bowl quizzes students on biology, chemistry, physics, mathematics, and Earth and space sciences. The competition, which attracts about 20,000 middle and high school students nationwide, is designed to inspire students to pursue a career in science or math.

The program clearly works. When Jiho Park graduates University High School, he hopes to attend Stanford University in Palo Alto, Calif., and study biochemistry. From there, he says he'll get a Ph.D and work on research and development of drugs to fight cancer.

The University High School team will receive an all-expense-paid trip to Washington, to compete in the National Science Bowl on April 24 to 28. Other prizes included a trophy, medals, winner's banner and NASA gear.

The runner up, Arcadia High School, also received medals and NASA gear. The sportsmanship award went to San Dimas High School for their exceptional graciousness with other teams and competition officials, spirit of fair play and enthusiasm for science. They were awarded a trip to Catalina Island to visit the Wrigley Marine Science Center, part of USC's Wrigley Institute for Environmental Studies.

TAGS: Science Bowl, Team Competitions, High School, University High School

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Regional Science Bowl 2013 winners

University High School of Irvine buzzed their way to victory on Saturday, Feb. 2, in the Los Angeles regional round of the National Science Bowl competition at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. Battling through questions about Saturn's moon Mimas, parallel-plate capacitors and hydrogen bonding in organic molecules, University earned 80 points in the final match against the second place team, Arcadia High School, which scored 24 points.

Santa Monica High School placed third out of the 24 teams from Los Angeles, Orange and Santa Barbara counties that gathered at JPL on Feb. 2. The sportsmanship award went to Maranatha High School of Pasadena for their exceptional graciousness with other teams and competition officials, spirit of fair play and enthusiasm for science.

Coordinated by the Department of Energy, the National Science Bowl quizzes students on biology, chemistry, physics, mathematics, and Earth and space sciences. The competition, which attracts about 20,000 middle and high school students nationwide, is designed to inspire students to pursue a career in science or math. The JPL regional high school competition has been in existence for 21 years.

The main prize for the winners of the regional competition is an all-expense-paid trip to Washington, D.C., to compete in the National Science Bowl on April 25 to 29, 2013. Other prizes for University High School included a trophy, medals, winner's banner, a NASA backpack, calendars with space images and a toy version of NASA's Mars Curiosity rover. The main prize for the sportsmanship award winners is a trip to Catalina Island to visit the Wrigley Marine Science Center, part of USC's Wrigley Institute for Environmental Studies.

TAGS: University High School, Irvine, Team Competitions, Science Bowl

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