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

TO:                  Elementary and Middle School Science Coordinators

FROM:            Dave Zahren, Senior Television Producer & Science Bowl Host

RE:                   “SCIENCE BOWL” Contestants for the 2009/2010 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-fourth season in October.  The program, which airs regularly on cable channels 96 and 38, has hosted 150 schools and over 6000 students during the past twenty-three years.

If you would like your students to participate in next season’s competition, please complete and return the form provided to the Office of Television Resources & Web Services by Friday, May 15, 2009.  You can also 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.  Seven elementary schools, should they decide to compete, will automatically be seeded in the quarterfinals based on their outstanding performances in the 2008/09 competition.  Those schools are Oakcrest, Henry Ferguson, Hollywood, Rockledge, Rogers Heights, Hyattsville and University Park.  The only other guaranteed entrants are the winners of this year’s top prizes – Montpelier Elementary and Hyattsville Middle.  Schools on last season’s Wait List will be given preference if they return new registration forms by May 15; those schools are Cesar Chavez, Columbia Park, Concord, Cool Spring, Cooper Lane, Fort Washington Forest, Kingsford, Longfields, Patuxent, Turning Point Academy, Waldon Woods, and Woodmore.

Student competitors at the elementary school level can be fourth, fifth or sixth graders.  Middle school students can be sixth, seventh or eighth graders.  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 October.

For teachers not familiar with Science Bowl, please tune in Channels 96 or 38 to view current games.  The TV 96/38 Viewing Guide is posted on the school system’s web site (www.pgcps.org).  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 “PGCPS Webcasts” on the home page and scroll down to the Science Bowl shows.  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.

From the PGCPS Press Release on this year’s Science Bowl winners: Science Bowl started in 1986 as way to give elementary and middle school students a chance to demonstrate their science knowledge in an academic competition.  Not a trivia bowl or a game based on rote memorization, Science Bowl features questions that ask students to connect the science of the classroom to current events and popular culture.  Some examples: "When foreign species like pythons are released into the Everglades and end up in combat with the resident alligators, it's like a real-life version of the movie "Alien versus what? (Predator)" and "Since the lament in France is 'No oil, no coal, no choice," the French have had to turn to what form of energy that is often controversial?" (nuclear).

 Science Bowl has received numerous Cable Ace and Telly Awards for excellence in educational programming.

The Gazette Newspaper closely follows our competition and you can see highlights of the elementary and middle school finals at http://www.gazette.net/stories/03122009/collnew174526_32476.shtml. and http://www.gazette.net/stories/03052009/portnew192054_32492.shtml ). 

SCIENCE BOWL PARTICIPANT FORM

NAME OF SCHOOL:___________________________________________________

DESIGNATED SPONSOR:______________________________________________ 

SPONSOR’S PHONE NUMBER:_________________________________________ 

SPONSOR’S FAX NUMBER:____________________________________________

SPONSOR’S EMAIL ADDRESS: ________________________________________

PRINCIPAL’S SIGNATURE:_____________________________________________

 Please return to David Zahren at the Bonnie Johns Educational Media Center, Office of Television Resources by Friday, May 15, 2009.

 This information can also be emailed to davez@pgcps.org