North Polk students, Isabelle Friedman, Ava Fosselman, Kynsly Gehling, Whitney Jameson, and Autumn Tiedens, participated in the virtual Ames Laboratory / Department of Energy High School Science Bowl on Monday, Jan. 25. 

The High School Science Bowl is an annual competition in Iowa for students to face-off against each other. They are given an intense question and answer format that tests students’ knowledge in the range of science disciplines. The questions test students on their biology, chemistry, Earth and space science, physical science, energy, and math. There were 22 high school teams participating in this year’s competition. The top four teams get to advance forward to the elimination rounds where it is then determined which Iowa team will be able to compete at Nationals in April.

The team was led by Danielle Wolfe, our extended learning program teacher. To prepare for the competition, Wolfe stated “the NSB provided practice questions on their site, so the girls were able to use those questions to prepare when they found a free moment. 

Overall, they placed 13th. Jameson, a junior, felt “as though we could have done better, but the questions were very difficult and it was hard to be competitive in an online environment.” This year’s competition was Jameson’s first time participating in the HS Science Bowl. She did it because “I am competitive, I enjoy learning about science and math, and I like to push myself to compete in events such as these because it is a good activity to put on a college application.” 

If you are interested in the competition, Wolfe shared she “ would recommend the competition to any student who enjoys trivia – specifically science, with a little math on the side.”