Three Irvine schools compete for Science Bowl spot

Students from three Irvine high schools hope to exercise some major brain power in an upcoming scholastic competition that will determine which regional team advances to the National Science Bowl.

The regional competition, which takes place Jan. 30 at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, is one of 68 tournaments nationwide that lead up to the finals sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy.

The winning team from each of the 68 regions will earn a spot to compete in the nationals, April 28 to May 2 in Washington, D.C.

Irvine, Northwood and Woodbridge High Schools plan to go up against 28 other teams from Orange, Los Angeles, Riverside and Santa Barbara counties.

They were selected on a first-come, first-serve basis, according to Energy Department spokesman Ethan Alpern.

Each participating school will send four students and, if they choose, an alternate.

“These are highly ambitious kids who study and dive into really complex material in science,” said Bryan Pacheco, a biology teacher and team instructor at Woodbridge High School. “It’s pretty fierce.”

Competitors will battle their brains out in question-and-answer sessions, one team against another. Moderators will read science- and math-related questions aloud, and competitors will press their team’s buzzer to chime in with their answers.

The high school contenders will continue to face off in the fast-paced Q&As until one team is left standing.

At Woodbridge, Pacheco has his students sharpen their skills with simulated practice sessions.

“It’s mainly meant to have them work on their confidence with the buzzer,” Pacheco said. “Some might be too slow, and others can even be too aggressive. That’s important to know because if you click in too early and say the wrong answer, you’ll lose points.”

Pacheco has around 15 students at Woodbridge who study as a team for regionals, and the group selects which members they will send to the competition.

Students at Northwood High School meet in science instructor Victoria Rossetti’s classroom during lunch once a week to go over practice questions.

Their team has been reviewing biology, chemistry, astronomy, forensics and other subjects.

“You can tell by the rigor of the questions at the competition that these students need to study well above what’s in the classroom,” Rossetti said. “They stay home during weekends to study and meet at lunch during school to practice. They work very hard.”

The winning team at the regional competition will receive an all-expenses-paid trip to nationals.

Since the first Science Bowl in 1991, over 250,000 students have participated.