LADWP Science Bowl is Most Successful Regional Competition in U.S.
Department of Energy National Program; 13th Annual Event Set for
Sat. Feb. 26 with 42 Team Field
LOS ANGELES–(BUSINESS WIRE)—- North Hollywood To Defend Regional
Title
With the 2005 theme, “Give Me a Place to Stand, and I Will Move the
Earth,” by Archimedes, the 13th Annual LADWP Science Bowl, the most
successful regional high school competition in the U.S. Department of
Energy National Science Bowl program, will be held Saturday, Feb. 26
from 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. at the L.A. Department of Water and Power
downtown headquarters, 111 N. Hope St. The public is welcome to
attend.
A total of 42 teams from 26 public and private high schools throughout
the city of Los Angeles are expected to participate this year. Last
year North Hollywood High School won the LADWP Science Bowl and won
the fifth place trophy at the National Science Bowl in Washington,
D.C. LADWP regional championship teams have won four national titles
and placed in the top five ranking teams eight out of the last 10
years, a record.
Dr. E.C. Krupp, director of the Griffith Observatory, will serve as
the celebrity moderator at the final round of the competition.
Also for the first time, an alumni moderator, Adam Diament, PhD, a
former Science Bowl team member, will serve as one of the officials
asking the difficult questions during competition. Dr. Diament is a
post doctoral fellow in genetics at UCLA. He was a member of the 1993
Venice High School Team that was the first LADWP regional champion to
represent the city at the National Science Bowl.
“We are indeed proud that the LADWP Science Bowl has grown to become
an important annual event attracting some of the nation’s most
talented and hardworking students. The amount of knowledge and depth
of understanding that the students possess is amazing,” said Melinda
Rho, chair of the Science Bowl Volunteer Steering Committee.
Rho added that the program encourages participation by students from
all backgrounds and parts of the city. The program, she said, has
attained such high esteem that colleges look to a student’s success at
the event as a hallmark of achievement.
Winning participating team members, she said, at regional and national
levels have gone on to attend some of the most competitive colleges
and universities in the nation including Harvard University, Yale
University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, California
Institute of Technology, University of California, Berkeley, Columbia
University, University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) and Stanford
University.
Science Bowl is a fast-paced game-show style competition in which two
teams of four students, with an alternate, answer toss-up questions
from a moderator. Individual students buzz in. The student that
buzzes in the fastest with the correct answer earns four points for
his or her team. Then that team has the exclusive right to answer the
bonus question worth 10 points.
The LADWP Science Bowl buzzer competition is in two parts. In the
morning, from 8:30 a.m. to approximately 12:30 p.m., teams will be
competing in six divisions or leagues of seven teams each. The top two
or three schools from each division will advance to the double
elimination tournament in the afternoon. The final round to determine
the champion is expected to start about 4:30 p.m.
Based on the format of the General Electric College Bowl television
program, Science Bowl questions cover such technical fields as
physics, chemistry, astronomy, earth and physical science, calculus,
trigonometry, technology and current events in math, science and
computer fields.
The winning team members in the LADWP Science Bowl will each receive
the $1000 Hitachi Scholarship. Their school will also receive a trophy
and $2000 toward the purchase of science equipment or materials.
Additional prizes for second to fourth place team members range from
$1,000 U.S. Savings Bonds to $200 gift cards. Also, $1250 to $1750 in
equipment or materials will be awarded to schools for teams placing
second through fourth. The winning team will travel to Washington,
D.C., April 28 to May 2, to represent the city and the regional
competition at the National Science Bowl.
The national grand prize this year is a trip to Australia to attend
the International Science School in Sydney. Other prizes for the
second to fourth place national finishers and to the team winning the
Good Sportsmanship Award include weeklong trips to U.S. Department of
Energy labs and facilities.
In addition to the “buzzer competition,” schools in the Science Bowl
also have an opportunity to participate in the Franklin Lu Hands-On
Competition, which poses a different activity and challenge every
year. A separate group of prizes are provided to student team members
that are successful in this event. The hands-on competition is named
for the late Franklin Lu, a DWP engineer and volunteer, who was
instrumental in establishing this event as part of the LADWP Science
Bowl program.
This year more than 11,000 students in 1800 high from 40 states, the
District of Columbia, the Virgin Island and the Indian Nations will
participate in one of the 66 regional competitions. Since the National
Science Bowl program began in 1991, more than 70,000 students have
participated. Nine regional competitions are held in California
including the JPL Science Bowl for schools outside the city of Los
Angeles and Los Angeles Unified School District areas.
The LADWP Science Bowl is made possible by 100 volunteers, mainly
LADWP employees and their families. In addition to the Department of
Water and Power, other sponsors include the Hitachi Southern
California Regional Community Action Committee, Institute of
Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE), the Water and Power
Community Credit Union, the San Fernando Valley Engineers’ Council,
and the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD).
The Science Bowl is one of several LADWP educational partnership
programs that include the Youth Services Academy; Teacher Workshop
Series and Adopt-A-Schools. Additional information about LADWP
education programs can be received by logging on to and
clicking on the community and safety section or by calling 1-800-DIAL
DWP.
The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power is the nation’s largest
municipally owned utility. It has provided services to the residents
and businesses of the city for more than a century. LADWP Science
Bowl XIII Participating Schools A.G.B.U. Demirdjian High School
Lincoln High School Arshag Dickranian Armenian School Louisville High
School Birmingham High School Manual Arts High School Bravo Medical
Magnet High School Marshall High School Downtown Magnet High School
Milken Community High School El Camino Real High School North
Hollywood High School Fairfax High School Reseda High School Francis
Polytechnic High School San Pedro High School Gardena High School
Sherman Oaks Center for Granada Hills Charter High School Enriched
Studies Grant High School St. Genevieve High School Hamilton High
School Van Nuys High School Hollywood High School Venice High School
Holy Martyrs Ferrahian High School
Los Angeles Department of Water and Power Walter Zeisl, 213-367-1342
cell phone: 213-792-5521 Kimberley Hughes, 213-367-4417 cell phone:
213-792-5521
02/23/2005 15:34 ET