What is knowledge bowl, anyway? Knowledge Bowl is an interdisciplinary,
academic contest in which teams of students compete on the basis of
their ability to recall information relating to practically any part
of the secondary curriculum. Although Knowledge Bowl has every appearance
of a contest, the most important intent is the recognition of students
and schools committed to scholastic excellence. The emphasis is on
participation rather than on winning. Another important aspect is
the educational opportunity offered by the contest itself. Since all
teams take part in virtually all rounds, there are ample chances to
respond to all questions and to learn from others. Any high school
student is eligible to be on the four-person team representing each
school. Alternates may participate by switching halfway through an
oral round, although alternates cannot take part in the written round.
Many schools also have JV teams. Since speed is very important in
the contest, schools have found it beneficial for students to be aggressive
and not too concerned about making mistakes from time to time. Knowledge
Bowl meets are arranged as "power" tournaments. Teams are
arranged in groups of three teams per room. The first round is a timed,
written objective test taken by each team as a team. Scores from the
first round will determine the team grouping for the first oral round.
Thereafter, following each round through out the contest, teams will
be rearranged on the basis of the total number of points amassed.
In this way, competition is bound to be more intense for each grouping
of teams, since the strongest teams will not compete directly with
lower scoring teams. Oral rounds consist of 50 questions read orally
by a selected reader. For each question, the reader announces the
category, followed by the question. At any point while the question
is being read, teams may interrupt by "buzzing in." The
reader stops immediately, the person watching to timer box calls out
the team name, and then one person attempts to answer. Any student
on the team may answer for any given question, but there can be no
discussion among the team members about the question or the answer.
Teams are allowed only to discuss which member will attempt an answer.
Once a team buzzes in, its answer must be given within 15 seconds.
When a reader is able to finish completely a question, teams have
15 seconds to buzz in and another 15 seconds after they buzz in to
answer. They questions may be reread, but only for those teams which
have not buzzed in. Once a team has buzzed in, the reader cannot provide
any further information. If the first team responds with a wrong answer,
then the next team to buzz in has a chance to try. If that team also
misses it, them the third team has a chance. One point is awarded
for each correct answer. Although the score keeper is responsible
for keeping the official scores, inevitably there will be some disputes
from time to time about accuracy. Therefore, it is advisable for the
reader to keep track on his or her question sheet. There are no penalty
points for incorrect answers. Since questions are from many different
sources, it is not possible to actually study in preparation for the
contest. However, team members participate in practice sessions in
which they can learn strategies for "buzzing in," for working
efficiently on written rounds, and for learning teamwork. Most questions
in the actual meets are answered prior to being completely read.
In the Spring of 1996, the Creede Knowledge Bowl team became Colorado's
State Champions!
For more information on Knowledge Bowl or to send comments to Creede's
Knowledge Bowl coach, please e-mail to Mr. Goss at jogo@creede.k12.co.us.
Knowledge Bowl 
