Woodbridge High School, winners of the regional National Science Bowl competition at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, lay still during a rover demonstration. This group of students, currently in Washington, DC, representing the Southern California region, are set to compete at the National Science Bowl Championships in Chevy Chase, Md., April 26 to April 30, 2012. The U.S. Department of Energy National Science Bowl is a nationwide academic competition that tests students' knowledge in all areas of science. Competing teams from diverse backgrounds are composed of four students, one alternate and a teacher who serves as an advisor and coach. Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltechi>
The National Science Bowl®, coordinated by the Department of Energy, is a round robin/double elimination tournament that challenges high school students with questions about chemistry, biology, physics, mathematics and astronomy, as well as general, earth and computer science. This past year over 20,000 students participated in 105 regional competitions at both the high school and middle school levels, and winners from each of these events received an all-expense paid trip to Washington, D.C., to compete in the National Science Bowl finals.
The National Science Bowl is the nation's largest science competition, and is the only one sponsored by a federal agency. The high school competition is now in its 21st year and has seen the participation of nearly 200,000 students. The 2012 Regional Science Bowl was held Saturday, January 21, 2012, at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena. Twenty-three teams of students and coaches from local high schools participated in the event. The competition was won by Woodbridge High School (Irvine, CA), when they defeated Santa Monica High School (2nd place) in a closely contested race. Third place went to Arcadia High School. The Sportsmanship Award went to John Marshall Fundamental High School. As the winners of this Regional Event, the students from Woodbridge High School will go on to compete at the National Science Bowl Finals on April 26-30, 2012.
