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Knowledge Bowl Competition Rules.
What is Knowledge
Bowl, anyway? Knowledge Bowl is an interdisciplinary,
academic contest in which teams of students compete on
the basis of their ability to recall information relating
to practically any part of the secondary curriculum.
Although Knowledge Bowl has every appearance of a
contest, the most important intent is the recognition of
students and schools committed to scholastic excellence.
The emphasis is on participation rather than on winning.
Another important aspect is the educational opportunity
offered by the contest itself. Since all teams take part
in virtually all rounds, there are ample chances to
respond to all questions and to learn from
others.
Any high school
student is eligible to be on the team representing each
school. Alternates may participate by switching halfway
through an oral round, although alternates cannot take
part in the written round. Since speed is very important
in the contest, schools have found it beneficial for
students to be aggressive and not too concerned about
making mistakes from time to time. Knowledge Bowl meets
are arranged as "power" tournaments. Teams are arranged
in groups of three teams per room. The first round is a
timed, written objective test taken by each team as a
team. Scores from the first round will determine the team
grouping for the first oral round.
Thereafter, following
each round through out the contest, teams will be
rearranged on the basis of the total number of points
amassed. In this way, competition is bound to be more
intense for each grouping of teams, since the strongest
teams will not compete directly with lower scoring teams.
Oral rounds consist of 50 questions read orally by a
selected reader. For each question, the reader announces
the category, followed by the question. At any point
while the question is being read, teams may interrupt by
"buzzing in." The reader stops immediately, the person
watching to timer box calls out the team name, and then
one person attempts to answer. Any student on the team
may answer for any given question, but there can be no
discussion among the team members about the question or
the answer. Teams are allowed only to discuss which
member will attempt an answer.
Once a team buzzes in,
its answer must be given within 15 seconds. When a reader
is able to finish completely a question, teams have 15
seconds to buzz in and another 15 seconds after they buzz
in to answer. They questions may be reread, but only for
those teams which have not buzzed in. Once a team has
buzzed in, the reader cannot provide any further
information. If the first team responds with a wrong
answer, then the next team to buzz in has a chance to
try. If that team also misses it, them the third team has
a chance. One point is awarded for each correct answer.
Although the score keeper is responsible for keeping the
official scores, inevitably there will be some disputes
from time to time about accuracy. Therefore, it is
advisable for the reader to keep track on his or her
question sheet. There are no penalty points for incorrect
answers.
Since questions are
from many different sources, it is not possible to
actually study in preparation for the contest. However,
team members participate in practice sessions in which
they can learn strategies for "buzzing in," for working
efficiently on written rounds, and for learning teamwork.
Most questions in the actual meets are answered prior to
being completely read.