HARBOR BRANCH OCEANOGRAPHIC INSTITUTION HOSTING "NATIONAL OCEAN SCIENCES BOWL" REGIONALS |
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FORT PIERCE, FL., Jan. 29, 2002 - Many of the "best and brightest" science students from
high schools all over Florida will meet this Saturday, Feb. 2nd, at HARBOR BRANCH Oceanographic
Institution to face off in regional National Ocean Sciences Bowl competition.
Eighteen teams of five students each (four competitors and an alternate) will converge for the all-day event, which is designed to test students' knowledge of the oceans in areas of chemistry, biology, physical oceanography, geology, physics, marine engineering, and technology. The students have to compete in their local areas to get to the regionals, and have already shown that they excel in math and science and have demonstrated a special interest in the marine sciences. Competition will begin promptly at 9am, and last all day as teams are eliminated in a "round-robin/double elimination" format. At approximately 4pm the final two teams will face off in the main auditorium at the Johnson Education Center in front of hundreds of students, volunteers, teachers, coaches and organizers. Dr. Dennis Hanisak, HARBOR BRANCH Director of Marine Education and coordinator of this year's event calls it "an opportunity for Florida's high school students to showcase their interest and understanding of one of our greatest resources, our oceans." "It's going to be a challenging and fun event not only for the students, but for anyone else involved," Dr. Hanisak said. The competition is fast-paced and exciting. There are two teams per room, each team seated at a table with a button in front of each student. As the questions are read, the students have to "buzz in" to be recognized, and the pressure is on for each team to be first with the correct answer to the questions read by a moderator. There is a rules judge, science judge, a timekeeper and a scorekeeper monitoring each team. Each round consists of a "half" lasting eight minutes, followed by a two-minute break, followed by another eight-minute half, for completion of the round. Multiple competitions will be conducted at once in different rooms in the Education Center All members of the media will be given an opportunity to videotape or take pictures of the actual competition, but must be scheduled in advance in order to be placed into a room before actual competition begins for each round. Dr. Hanisak and students involved in the competition will be available for interviews. Members of the media should report to the main lobby of the Education Center, where they will be given a nametag and pass and told where to go to observe the competition. Background material will also be provided This year the Florida Regional Ocean Sciences Bowl competition is being hosted by HARBOR BRANCH Oceanographic Institution and co-hosted by the University of Miami's Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences. For information about the nature of the competition itself or to obtain resource guides, practice questions, or for other background please go to the NOSB website at www.nosb.org. For specific information pertaining to the Florida regional competition, email us at education@hboi.edu. For more information or to make arrangements for coverage, please call HARBOR BRANCH, at 772.465.2400 . HARBOR BRANCH Oceanographic Institution, Inc., is one of the world's leading nonprofit oceanographic research organizations dedicated to exploration of the earth's oceans, estuaries and coastal regions for the benefit of mankind. |