April 30, 2009
DOE’s National Science Bowl® Kicks Off Saturday
Energy Secretary Chu to Make Remarks, Present Awards on Monday, May 4
WASHINGTON, D.C. – One hundred and three high school and middle school teams representing 42 states, the District of Columbia, U.S. Virgin Islands, and Puerto Rico will compete in the 19th annual U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) National Science Bowl® in Washington D.C. May 2 through May 4. The preliminary rounds of the competition will be held at the National 4-H Conference Center and the championship rounds will be held at the National Building Museum.
U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu will attend the championship rounds and awards ceremony on Monday, May 4, 2009. Secretary Chu will give brief remarks and congratulate the students on a successful tournament. Further details about Secretary Chu’s visit to the National Building Museum will be released in the coming days.
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.
The middle school question-and-answer portion of the competition will begin Saturday, May 2 and the question-and-and-answer high school competition will be held on Sunday May 3. The championship rounds will be held on Monday May 4. In addition, in a special middle school competition to be held Sunday, May 3, the teams will race hydrogen-powered model cars they have designed and built.
Each participating team emerged from one of the event’s regional tournaments (36 middle school regional champions and 67 high school regional champions) to earn an all-expense-paid trip to the National Finals of the National Science Bowl. This year, more than 20,000 students competed in regional Science Bowl events. Since the event’s inception in 1991, more than 150,000 students and teachers have participated.
The DOE National Science Bowl is the nation’s largest academic competition of its kind and the only competition sponsored by a federal agency. 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.
A list of the 103 teams, their biographical information, as well as additional details about the National Science bowl are available on the National Science Bowl website.
NOTE: All the competitions are open to the media. Teams will be available for interviews throughout the competition by calling the Science Bowl Press Room at 301/961-2854.
NATIONAL SCIENCE BOWL SCHEDULE FOR MEDIA
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Saturday, May 2 |
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Plenary Speaker, Science Day Seminars |
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WHO: |
Dr. Helio Takai, DOE’s Brookhaven National Laboratory
“Harry Particle and the Chamber of Mesons — A Journey through Particle Physics” |
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WHEN: |
9:00 a.m. – 10:15 a.m. |
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WHERE: |
National 4-H Youth Conference Center 7100 Connecticut Ave. Chevy Chase, MD |
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Middle School Academic Competition Begins with Round Robin Matches |
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WHO: |
36 Regional Champion Teams |
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WHEN: |
9:30 a.m. – 3:00 p.m. |
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WHERE: |
National 4-H Youth Conference Center 7100 Connecticut Ave. Chevy Chase, MD |
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Middle School Competition Double Elimination Matches |
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WHO: |
16 Teams Advancing from Round Robin |
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WHEN: |
3:45 p.m. – 7:00 p.m. |
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WHERE: |
National 4-H Youth Conference Center 7100 Connecticut Ave. Chevy Chase, MD |
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High School Division Team Challenge Competitions |
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WHO: |
67 Teams solve hands-on science experiments. |
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WHEN: |
3:30 p.m. – 5:30 p.m. |
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WHERE: |
National 4-H Youth Conference Center 7100 Connecticut Ave. Chevy Chase, MD |
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Sunday, May 3 |
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High School Academic Competition Begins with Round Robin Matches |
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WHO: |
67 Regional Champion Teams |
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WHEN: |
11:15 a.m. – 4:45 p.m. |
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WHERE: |
National 4-H Youth Conference Center
7100 Connecticut Ave.
Chevy Chase, MD |
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Middle School Hydrogen Fuel Cell Model Car Challenge |
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WHO: |
36 Teams will race model cars they have designed and built. |
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WHEN: |
10:00 am – 5:30 pm |
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WHERE: |
Bethesda Chevy Chase High School
4301 East West Hwy
Bethesda, MD |
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High School Double-Elimination Matches |
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WHO: |
16 Teams Advancing from Round Robin |
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WHEN: |
7:00 p.m. – 9:30 p.m. |
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WHERE: |
National 4-H Youth Conference Center
7100 Connecticut Ave.
Chevy Chase, MD |
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Satellite Feed of Footage from Hydrogen Fuel Cell Model Car Speed Races |
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WHO: |
Middle School Teams and their model cars! |
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WHEN: |
Sunday, May 3, 9:00 P.M. EDT |
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WHERE: |
Satellite coordinates to be provided in a separate advisory for TVs. |
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Monday, May 4 |
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Championship Rounds and Awards Ceremony |
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WHEN: |
10:00 a.m. – 10:30 a.m. (Middle School Final Match)
11:10 a.m. – 11:50 a.m. (High School Final Match)
12:30 p.m. – 1:45 p.m.
U.S. Secretary of Energy Steven Chu will make remarks and present awards |
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WHERE: |
National Building Museum 401 F Street, NW Washington, D.C. |
Media
contact(s):
Jeff Sherwood: (202) 586-4826
Science Bowl Press Room (May 2-4): (301) 961-2854
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