WASHINGTON, DC- Students from 67 high school teams and 36 middle school teams from across the nation will compete next weekend for championship titles in the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) National Science Bowl in Washington D.C. The National Science Bowl is the nation's largest academic competition of its kind and the only one sponsored by a federal agency. The National Finals will be held from May 2 through May 4.
Each of the participating teams emerged from a regional competition to earn an all-expense-paid trip to the event. The participating teams represent 42 states, the District of Columbia, the U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico. More than 15,000 high school students and 6,000 middle school students participated in this year's regional competitions.
Regional winners have spent months preparing for the contest, which features head-to-head competition in a question-and-answer format similar to Jeopardy. The students will be quizzed on all science disciplines including biology, chemistry, earth science, physics and astronomy, as well as math. Below is a sample question from a previous year's high school competition:
ASTRONOMY: In a red giant, at about 100 million degrees, the helium nuclei will fuse to form more of this element than any other. ANSWER: CARBON
This is the first year that the DOE's National Science Bowl will hold the middle school and high school competitions simultaneously. The middle school question-and-answer competition begins Saturday, May 2 at 9:30 a.m. at the National 4-H Conference Center in Chevy Chase, MD. The high school teams will compete solving hands-on science experiments on Saturday afternoon, May 2. The high school question-and-answer competition begins Sunday, May 3 at 11:15 a.m. The championship rounds will be held Monday, May 4 from 10:00 am to 12:30 p.m. at the National Building Museum in Washington, D.C. Middle school teams will also compete in a day-long Hydrogen Fuel Cell Model Car Competition on Sunday, May 3, at the Bethesda Chevy Chase High School in Bethesda, MD. Additional details will be announced in the coming days.
The 16 high school and 16 middle school teams advancing past the first elimination rounds will each return home with $1000 and $500, respectively, for their school science programs. The high school national champion will win an all-expense-paid science research trip to attend the International Science School at the University of Sydney, Australia.
DOE created the National Science Bowl in 1991 to encourage students to excel in mathematics and science and to pursue careers in these fields. DOE supports mathematics and science education to help provide a technically trained and diverse workforce for the nation.
Biographical information about the teams and additional information about DOE's National Science Bowl are available on the National Science Bowl website.
The list of middle school and high school teams follows.
2009 Department of Energy National Science Bowl
Regional Champions
Alabama
Auburn
Middle - Auburn Junior High School
High - Auburn High School
Arizona
Phoenix
Middle - Madison Park School
High - Brophy College Preparatory
Arkansas
Fort Smith
Middle - Ramsey Junior High School
Huntsville
High - Huntsville High School
California
Albany
High - Albany High School
Cupertino
High - Homestead High School
Fremont
Middle - Hopkins Junior High School
High - Mission San Jose High School
Fresno
Middle - Edison Computech 7-8
Goleta
High - Dos Pueblos High School
La Jolla
Middle - The Preuss School UCSD
High - La Jolla High School
Los Angeles
Middle - Florence Nightingale Middle School
Lodi
High - Tokay High School
North Hollywood
High - North Hollywood High School
Palo Cedro
High - Foothill High School
Sacramento
High - Mira Loma High School
Santa Monica
High - Santa Monica High School
Sunnyvale
Middle - Challenger School
Colorado
Englewood
High - Cherry Creek High School
Fort Collins
High - Ridgeview Classical Schools
Connecticut
Hamden
High - Hamden High School
District of Columbia
High - Woodrow Wilson Senior High School
Florida
Gainsville
Middle - Lincoln Middle School
Plant City
High - Durant High School
Weston
High - Cypress Bay High School
Georgia
Lilburn
High - Parkview High School
Hawaii
Honolulu
High - Punahou School
Idaho
Boise
High - Treasure Valley Math and Science Center
Coeur d'Alene
High - Coeur d'Alene Charter Academy
Grangeville
High - Grangeville High School
Illinois
Chicago
High - Benito Juarez Academy
Naperville
High - Naperville North High School
River Forest
Middle - Eleanor Roosevelt Middle School
Rockford
High - Rockford Auburn High School
Indiana
Terre Haute
Middle - Honey Creek Middle School
High - Terre Haute South Vigo High School
Iowa
Des Moines
High - Central Academy
Dubuque
Middle - Eleanor Roosevelt Middle School
Kansas
Shawnee
High - Mill Valley High School
Kentucky
Goshen
Middle - North Oldham Middle School
Louisiana
Lafayette
High - Lafayette High School
Maryland
Silver Spring
Middle - Takoma Park Middle School, Silver Spring
High - Montgomery Blair High School, Silver Spring
Massachusetts
Lexington
Middle - Jonas Clarke Middle School
High - Lexington High School
Michigan
Detroit
High - Renaissance High School
Saginaw
Middle - Saginaw Arts and Sciences Academy
Minnesota
St. Paul
High - St. Paul Central High School
Springfield
Middle - Springfield Public Schools
Mississippi
Clinton
Middle - Clinton Junior High School
Columbus
High - Mississippi School for Mathematics and Science
Missouri
Kansas City
High - Pembroke Hill School
Montana
Billings
Middle - Will James Middle School
Helena
High - Helena High School
Nebraska
Lincoln
Middle - Lux Middle School
Omaha
High - Creighton Preparatory School
Nevada
Las Vegas
Middle - Faith Lutheran Jr/Sr High School
High - The Meadows School
New Hampshire
Exeter
High - Phillips Exeter Academy
New Jersey
Plainsboro
High - West Windsor-Plainsboro High School North
Princeton Junction
Middle - Thomas Grover Middle School
New Mexico
Albuquerque
Middle - Albuquerque Academy
High - Albuquerque Academy
Las Cruces
Middle - Sierra Middle School
High - Oñate High School
New York
Brooklyn
High - Brooklyn Technical High School, Brooklyn
Delmar
High - Bethlehem Central High School, Delmar
East Setauket
High - Ward Melville High School, East Setauket
Niskayuna
Middle - Van Antwerp Middle School, Niskayuna
Stony Brook
Middle - Robert Cushman Murphy Junior High School, Stony Brook
Syracuse
High - Syracuse University STEP, Syracuse
Tonawanda
Middle - St. Christopher School, Tonawanda
North Carolina
Raleigh
High - William G. Enloe High School
North Dakota
Dickinson
High - Dickinson High School
Ohio
Centerville
High - Centerville High School
Oregon
Beaverton
Middle - Summa Academy South
Pennsylvania
Pittsburgh
Middle - Carson Middle School
High - Pittsburgh Taylor Allderdice High School
Puerto Rico
Caguas
High - Colegio Catolico Notre Dame High School
South Carolina
Roebuck
High - Paul Dorman High School
South Dakota
Aberdeen
High - Aberdeen Central High School
Tennessee
Oak Ridge
High - Oak Ridge High School
Texas
Amarillo
Middle - St. Andrew's Episcopal School
High - Randall High School
Austin
Middle - Austin Area Homeschoolers
High - Austin Area Homeschoolers
Brownsville
Middle - Harmony Science Academy
Dallas
High - Science and Engineering Magnet
Mercedes
High - Science Academy of South Texas
San Antonio
Middle - Katherine Stinson Middle School
High - Saint Mary's Hall School
U.S. Virgin Islands
Kingshill
High - St. Croix Educational Complex
Vermont
Woodstock
Middle - Woodstock Union Middle School
Virginia
Alexandria
High - Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology
Herndon
Middle - Northern Virginia Homeschoolers
Washington
Pullman
Middle - Lincoln Middle School, Pullman
Richland
High - Hanford High School
Vancouver
High - Mountain View High School
West Virginia
Beckley
High - Woodrow Wilson High School
Wyoming
Gillette
High - Campbell County High School
Media contact(s):
Jeff Sherwood: (202) 586-5806
