IT’S TIME TO REGISTER FOR NEXT YEAR’S SCIENCE BOWL!

TO:                  Elementary and Middle School Science Coordinators

FROM:            Dave Zahren, Television Specialist  & Science Bowl Producer

RE:                  “SCIENCE BOWL” Contestants for the 2012/2013 School Year

            “SCIENCE BOWL,” Prince George’s Schools’ own televised game show that features teams of elementary and middle school students in science competition, will begin its twenty-seventh season in late September.  The program, which airs regularly on cable channels 96 and 38 and can be viewed on-line, has hosted 150 schools and over 7100 students during the past twenty-six years. 

            If you would like your students to participate in next season’s competition, please complete and return this form to the Office of Television Resources & Web Services by Friday, June 1, 2012.  Email your entry to davez@pgcps.org (Please include the name of the school, sponsor’s name and principal’s name).  Forty-seven schools – thirty-two elementary and fifteen middle - will be chosen at random from among the respondents.  Nine schools, if they register by June 1st, will automatically be seeded in the quarterfinals based on their outstanding performances in the 2011/12 competition.  Those schools are Beacon Heights, Beltsville, Berwyn Heights, Cora Rice, Glenarden Woods, Magnolia, Martin L. King, Jr., Rosaryville, and University Park. Schools on last season’s Wait List will be given preference if they return new registration forms by June 1st; those schools are District Heights ES, Kenmoor MS, and Thomas Johnson MS.

            Student competitors at the elementary school level can be fourth, fifth or sixth graders.  Middle school students can be sixth, seventh or eighth graders.  So as to give as many schools as possible a chance to compete, please do not submit two registration forms if you are a K-8 school; decide if you would like to compete in the elementary division or the middle school division, but not both.

Each team is composed of three players, one of whom is the captain, plus a fourth student who serves as an alternate.  Taping for the shows will begin in late September and start airing in mid-October.

            For teachers not familiar with Science Bowl, please tune in Channels 96 or 38 to view current games through May 28th.  Science Bowl normally airs on Mondays and Wednesdays at 1 pm, Tuesdays at 9 am and 7 pm, Thursdays at 7 am and 7 pm, Fridays at 6 pm, and Saturdays and Sundays at 8 am and 9 pm. You can also click on the YouTube icon on the school system’s homepage and view this season’s games. Photos of this year’s championship teams and a press release on the winners can also be found under “Press Releases” at www.pgcps.org.

Science Bowl has received numerous Cable Ace and Telly Awards for excellence in educational programming and games are covered regularly by the Gazette newspapers