by Madeline Vernaci
On Saturday, February 4 Coronado’s Science Bowl competed in the regional competition held at the College of Southern Nevada. They did extremely well, placing 4th at the state level, losing only to two teams from reigning champion Davidson High School as well as one team from former champion Clark High School. In placing 4th in the competition, they won $1,000 for Coronado’s math and science department.
This year, Coronado’s Science Bowl team has five members: Frank Abbeduto, Adrian Espanto, Mason Graves, Hugh Kramer, and Daniel Zelich. Each member brings a different set of skills to their competition, and they all bring a huge level of dedication. With the help of the team captain Mr. Aberman, the AP US History teacher, all five students made sure they were prepared before heading to the competition.
“Practice for the competition is usually like a 3 on 3 game,” senior Frank Abbeduto said. “It’s not studying; our science classes usually cover most things in the competition. However, as the questions get more difficult, they become more obscure, and the team becomes more specialized.”
In a Science Bowl competition, there are two types of questions: toss-up questions and bonus questions. A toss-up question is worth 4 points for a correct answer and can be answered by either team, whereas a bonus question is worth 10 points and can only be answered by the team that correctly answers the toss-up question. Encompassing many subjects in the area of math and science, the question categories include Biology, Chemistry, Earth and Space Science, Energy, Mathematics, and Physics.
“With the format of the competition including a broad range of topics and varied questions, I found it hard to study anything specific beforehand, so a lot of it was just reviewing prior knowledge instead of intensive study on new topics,” junior Daniel Zelich said. “We had group practices, where we’d drill the format of the competition, but for the most part we all just brought what we knew and played to each other’s strengths.”
An important part of any team is being able to work well with your teammates, and Coronado’s Science Bowl team has that chemistry. Each of them, some already having been on the team for a couple of years, have different strengths and as they learned more about each others’ skills it became easier for them to work together.
“Going into the competition we were all friends, so it was easy cooperating and working as a team,” Zelich said. “Overall, the experience of competing was great; we went into it with the intention of doing as well as we could, but it never felt like there was any pressure in doing so. There was zero animosity amongst team members, and we all knew what we could expect from each other. It was just an amazing time in general.”
Being a part of the Science Bowl team had a positive impact on every member who competed this year. Competing with people who share the same passion and interests is sure to leave good memories, and maybe inspire you to go further into the subject yourself.
“For the past two years, Science Bowl has helped me stay motivated in pursuing STEM both during and after high school,” senior Adrian Espanto said. “Since I also happen to be competing in other academic competitions this year, Science Bowl also helped with preparing for those as well. It was a reminder for me that there are others who are just as passionate, if not more so, about STEM as I am, and I was able to strengthen these bonds with the other teammates because of this fact.”
Science Bowl can be an experience that truly makes a difference in the lives of the team members, and while Coronado’s team has outstanding members this year, many are graduating seniors. In order to continue competing at the high level that they were able to do this year, they’ll need more students interested in subjects involving science and math, who share the same passion.
“Probably the best piece of advice I can give for joining the Science Bowl is to challenge yourself to do something that pushes you to learn more about science,” Espanto said. “Additionally, having other friends to push you on gives you the motivation not just to do well in Science Bowl, but also in your classes. Of course, pretty much none of this can happen if you don’t already have some interest or passion in science. I know that Science Bowl isn’t for everyone, but for those who want to challenge themselves, meet like-minded people, and see themselves pursuing STEM in the future, I highly recommend trying out Science Bowl.”
