The National Science Bowl is a highly competitive science education and academic event among teams of high school and middle school students who compete in a fast-paced verbal forum to solve technical problems and answer questions in all branches of science and math. The Science Bowl was started by the Department of Energy (DOE) in 1991 to encourage America's best and brightest high school students to explore the fields of science and engineering. Since its inception, more than 100,000 high school science and mathematics students and their teachers have participated. The Science Bowl is a lockout round robin competition. Teams are quizzed on multiple choice and short answer questions in the categories of biology, chemistry, physics, astronomy, earth science, general science and mathematics. The teams are comprised of four to five students and a coach. Many participating students have gone on to careers in scientific fields.

The only way to qualify for the National Science Bowl is to win a regional competition. The Minnesota Science Academy holds two regional competitions for the state of Minnesota; one for Middle School students and the other for High School students. The High School tournament is Friday January 22, 2010 and Middle School tournament is Saturday February 13, 2010 . Team registrations are accepted in the order they are received, those exceeding the 36-team maximum in either competition will be placed on a waiting list. All participants receive a free T-shirt and food. Monetary prizes are awarded to the schools of the top four teams, and the winning team from each tournament gets an all-expense-paid trip to the National Science Bowl, hosted by the Department of Energy, .



The National Science Bowl event includes several days of science activities, sightseeing, and competitions. It's a mini-conference and valuable experience. There are cutting-edge science seminars and hands-on science activities. All national participants receive certificates and have the opportunity to win small prizes for activities. The teams who advance to the elimination rounds will earn a monetary prize for their school. Top teams also receive trophies and other awards, including science trips for the high school teams.

The National Science Bowl for Middle School Students includes two types of competitions, an academic math and science competition and a model solar cell car race. The model solar fuel cell car race provides the students with a hands-on science and engineering experience where the teams design, guild, and race their model cars.

Any current public, private, or home school is welcome to participate. The high school science bowl is for current ninth through twelfth grade students. The middle school science bowl is for current sixth through eighth grade students.

Form a team of 4 to 5 students.

Find a coach and register for the Minnesota regional tournament.

Study and practice answering the sample questions.

Compete in the Minnesota regional tournament

The Minnesota regional winning team will receive and all-expense paid trip to Washington, D.C. to participate in the National Science Bowl.

How can I volunteer?

Science Bowl events depend on local volunteers from all ages and skills to serve as competition officials and run the events. If you are interested in sharing your love of science and math with students, contact Lisa Warbritton at lwarbritton@mnmas.org to volunteer.