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