Quiz bowl facts for kids
| Other name(s) | Quizbowl, scholastic bowl, academic bowl, etc. |
|---|---|
| Years active | c. 1953–present |
| Genre(s) | Quiz |
| Players | 2–10 |
| Playing time | ~30 minutes (can vary) |
| Skill(s) required | recall, knowledge, memory, reflex |
| Material(s) required | Lockout buzzer system, questions |
Quiz bowl is a fun competition where players answer questions about many different school subjects. It's also known as quizbowl, scholar bowl, scholastic bowl, or academic bowl. Students from elementary school, middle school, high school, and college play this game. You can find quiz bowl teams in the United States, Germany, Switzerland, Canada, Asia, and the United Kingdom.
The game usually uses a special buzzer system. Two or more teams, often with four or five players each, compete. A person called a moderator reads out questions. Players try to buzz in first and give the correct answer to earn points for their team.
Quiz bowl often uses a "toss-up/bonus" format. This means there are two main types of questions. Sometimes, local games might have slightly different rules.
Contents
How to Play Quiz Bowl
In a quiz bowl game, a moderator reads questions to two or more teams. Each team usually has up to four or five players. The two main types of questions are toss-ups and bonuses.
Toss-up Questions
Toss-ups are questions that any single player can answer. Players usually cannot talk to their teammates during these questions. If you talk to your team, you might lose points. Each player has a buzzer to signal when they know the answer. You can buzz in at any time while the question is being read.
If you answer incorrectly, no one else on your team can try to answer that question. If your team answers a toss-up correctly, you get a chance to answer a bonus question.
Correctly answering a toss-up usually gives your team 10 points. Sometimes, you can get extra points (like 15 or 20) if you answer very early in the question. This is called "powering." Answering a toss-up incorrectly is called "negging." This might make your team lose 5 points. If a team "negs," the moderator will finish reading the question for the other team.
There are two common types of toss-ups:
- Buzzer-beaters: These are short questions, often just a sentence or two. They have few clues and test how fast you can remember facts. These are not usually used in big state or national tournaments.
- Pyramidal toss-ups: These questions start with harder clues and get easier. This way, the player who knows the most about the topic can answer first. These are common in college quiz bowl.
This instrument plays the opening Promenade in Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition, as well as the rising theme C-G-C in the opening of Richard Strauss' Thus Spake Zarathustra. This instrument's tone can be lowered by one-and-a-half steps by pressing either its third or both its first and second (*) valves. For 10 points, name this brass instrument whose timbre is slightly brighter than that of a cornet.
ANSWER: 'trumpet's
Bonus Questions
Bonuses are usually worth 30 points in total. They have three smaller questions, each worth 10 points. Team members are allowed to talk to each other and work together on bonus questions.
Usually, only the team that answered the toss-up correctly gets to answer the bonus. Sometimes, if the first team doesn't answer all parts of the bonus, the other team can try to answer the remaining parts. This is called a "bounceback."
These biological monomers are usually in a zwitterionic form. For 10 points each:
[10] Name this class of molecules that make up proteins, examples of which include tryptophan, alanine, and lysine.
ANSWER: amino acids
[10] During translation, amino acids are polymerized by these complexes, which are formed in the nucleolus.
ANSWER: ribosomes
[10] Some proteins can become infectious agents. This is the name of those misfolded proteins that are responsible for mad cow disease and Kuru.
ANSWER: prions
Other Game Rules
Some local tournaments might have different rules. For example, some games only have toss-ups and no bonuses. Other formats might include a "lightning round." In this round, a team tries to answer many questions as fast as possible within a time limit, usually 60 seconds.
Games usually end when all the questions in a set have been read. If there's a tie, extra toss-up questions are read until one team wins.
Quiz bowl tests players on many school subjects. These include literature, science, history, and fine arts. Some events also include a small amount of popular culture like sports or popular music.
Players and coaches can sometimes ask the moderator to review an answer. This happens if they think their correct answer was rejected, or an opponent's wrong answer was accepted. If a protest is not valid, it can lead to penalties.
Different Ways to Play
There are different versions of quiz bowl. These variations can change how questions are written, the rules, and how a round is played. Two common formats are NAQT and ACF.
Many quiz bowl groups, like ACF and NAQT, share lists of subjects that will be in their questions. This helps teams prepare.
- ACF questions are usually longer and focus more on academic subjects. Games are often untimed and last until 20 toss-ups are read.
- NAQT questions balance academic topics with a wider range of subjects. These include popular culture, current events, and geography. NAQT games usually have two nine-minute halves and 24 toss-ups.
Other formats include the Honda Campus All Star Challenge and University Challenge. Some tournaments, like the National Academic Championship, have four quarters with different game styles in each.
How to Prepare
Players often study old questions to get ready for tournaments. Websites like QuizDB, Protobowl, and QuizBug 2 help players practice. NAQT also offers free articles called "You Gotta Know" on common topics.
Being good at school subjects helps a lot in quiz bowl. Some players also research and write their own questions to prepare. It's helpful to know a lot about many different subjects. Players also get better at remembering facts and working as a team.
Quiz Bowl Competitions
Most quiz bowl events are single-day tournaments. Some tournaments have rules about who can play, like only allowing younger students. Many tournaments let a school have more than one team compete.
Some schools have "intramural" tournaments. These are just for students from that school. High school quiz bowl can also be played over a longer time, like a league, or in single games against other schools.
There are also regional versions for younger students, like Knowledge Bowl or It's Academic. Sports and activities groups in some US states also organize quiz bowl.
Specialized quiz bowl events test knowledge in specific areas. These include the Bible, classics, science, or business topics. There are also "trash" tournaments that focus on pop culture and sports trivia.
National Tournaments
Several national championships exist for college teams. Teams usually qualify by doing well in regional competitions. Some of these include:
- NAQT's Intercollegiate Championship Tournament (ICT)
- ACF Nationals
- Honda Campus All-Star Challenge (HCASC)
For high school students, there are many national tournaments. Some of the biggest are:
- NAQT's High School National Championship Tournament (HSNCT)
- Partnership for Academic Competition Excellence's National Scholastic Championship (PACE NSC)
- The National Academic Association's National Academic Championship (NAC)
There are also national tournaments for all-star teams from each US state, like the National All-Star Academic Tournament (NASAT). Since 2018, NAQT has also held an Individual Player National Championship Tournament (IPNCT) for high school and middle school students.
Educational Benefits
Many people believe quiz bowl is very educational, especially when it uses pyramidal questions. Some competitions for younger students are criticized for using "speed-check" questions. These questions might make players focus more on buzzing in fast than on really knowing the subject.
Some older tournaments have been criticized for not being academic enough or for reusing questions. Overall, quiz bowl helps students learn a lot, improve their memory, and work well in teams.
Quiz Bowl on TV
Quiz bowl shows have been on television for many years. They often feature students from local high schools. The rules on these TV shows might be a little different from standard quiz bowl.
College Bowl was a famous quiz bowl show. It was on radio from 1953 to 1955 and then on TV from 1959 to 1970. Other shows like University Challenge in the UK and Reach for the Top in Canada are also popular.
Game Show Stars
Many successful game show contestants, especially on Jeopardy!, have played quiz bowl. NAQT keeps a list of former quiz bowl players who have appeared on TV game shows. Famous Jeopardy! winners like Ken Jennings and Brad Rutter played quiz bowl. Ken Jennings even called quiz bowl a "minor league" for game shows.
