NEWPORT NEWS, Va. - Some of the brightest young minds in the Commonwealth will meet at the Department of Energy's Jefferson Lab on Saturday, March 1, to compete in the Virginia Regional Middle School Science Bowl. Teams from 16 middle schools are registered for this year's academic competition.
The National Science Bowl® – sponsored and managed by the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Science since 1991 – is an annual competition among teams of students. The teams face off in an intense, question-and-answer format where contestants are quizzed on their knowledge in math and a wide range of scientific disciplines, including biology, chemistry, earth science, physics and astronomy.
The top three teams from this event will earn cash prizes and team trophies for their respective schools. The top team also wins an expenses-paid trip to the National Science Bowl® finals to be held in Washington, D.C., April 24-28.
"These events champion an interest in science, math and engineering among our nation's youth," notes Jan Tyler, Jefferson Lab's Science Education manager and Science Bowl coordinator.
"Competition like this encourages our nation's youth to become the next generation of scientists, engineers and innovators. Nurturing interest in and knowledge of science, math and technology will help ensure America's strong competitive edge," Tyler adds.
The U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Science manages the National Science Bowl®, and sponsors the NSB finals competition. The DOE Office of Science is the single largest supporter of fundamental research in the physical sciences in the United States, and is working to address some of the most pressing challenges of our time. The Office of Science supports a diverse portfolio of research at more than 300 colleges and universities nationwide, manages 10 world-class national laboratories with unmatched capabilities for solving complex interdisciplinary scientific problems, and builds and operates the world’s finest suite of scientific facilities and instruments. In Fiscal Year 2012 more than 29,000 researchers from academia, industry, and government laboratories, spanning all 50 states and the District of Columbia, used these facilities to perform new scientific research. For more information on DOE’s Office of Science, visit: www.science.energy.gov.
Schools registered for the tournament include (in alphabetical order):
Albert Hill Middle School, Richmond
Broadwater Academy, Exmore
Catholic STEM, Virginia Beach
Floris Elementary School, Herndon
Glade Spring Middle School, Glade Spring
Grafton Middle School, Yorktown
Hampton Roads Academy, Newport News
Joyce Kilmer Middle School, Vienna
Longfellow Middle School, Falls Church
Northern Virginia Homeschoolers, Centreville
Nysmith School, Herndon
Rachel Carson Middle School, Herndon
Robert Frost Middle School, Fairfax
St. Matthews Catholic School, Virginia Beach
Trinity Lutheran School, Newport News
Wallace Middle School, Bristol
Learn more about DOE's National Science Bowl® competition at: http://science.energy.gov/wdts/nsb/
Science Bowl rules, the locations of regional middle school competitions and sample questions are posted at: http://science.energy.gov/wdts/nsb/middle-school/
Contact: Deb Magaldi, Jefferson Lab Public Affairs, ph. 757-269-5102, magaldi@jlab.org