Part game show, part test of knowledge and teamwork, the science bowl is an academic competition and rite of passage for many kids. And the students at North Hollywood High School won the LADWP’s regional science bowl on March 3. They are now headed to defend their national title in Washington D.C. in April.
“One of the fun things about science bowl is that there's not very well defined boundaries insofar as what they'll ask about,” says coach Altair Maine. “Some of the questions I think the kids might have learned in middle or elementary school, and some of them are graduate course material or taken from somebody's research. So the questions range from pretty easy to extremely hard. And nobody really tells the students what they've got to know or what they've got to study. It’s just everything. ”
Richard Zhu, senior-year student and science bowl team captain, adds: “Whenever we can, especially after school practices, we spend several hours ‘buzzing’ or practicing. We also dedicate a lot of time on weekends, or after school when we're participating in other activities like science olympiad. It's a lot of time, but really, it makes it worth it because science is just so interesting. ”