Lakeside High School-Team 1 of Evans, Georgia, has earned an all-expense paid trip to the national DOE Science Bowl competition in Washington, D.C., from April 27 to May 1. The team was among the many future scientists, engineers and mathematicians who recently put their knowledge to the test during this year’s DOE Savannah River Site (SRS) Regional Science Bowl Competition, which attracted 19 teams from across South Carolina and the greater Augusta, Georgia area. Southside High School-Team 1, Greenville, South Carolina, came in second, and third place went to Lakeside High School-Team 2.

During the daylong regional Science Bowl, tension and excitement filled the rooms of the University of South Carolina Aiken facility where competing teams listened carefully to questions, hands ready to “buzz in,” knowing every correct response is a step closer to representing their schools and region on the national stage. The Science Bowl format is similar to the television show “Jeopardy,” where teams face off during a timed period of fast-paced questions and answers covering a range of academic disciplines, including biology, chemistry, energy, math, physics, and earth and space science.

The competition tests the students’ abilities to perform quickly and confidently under pressure, according to Kim Mitchell, with the education outreach division at Savannah River Nuclear Solutions, the SRS managing and operating contractor. “Practice is essential,” she said. “However, teamwork, along with academic performance, makes a difference as to who succeeds.” Mitchell also noted that team members depend on the academic strength of each other during the demanding academic contest. Each Science Bowl team consist of four students, an alternate and a teacher who serves as an advisor and coach. This year’s regional contest involved 95 students from 13 high schools and is the only academic competition of its kind that tests students’ knowledge in all areas of science and is sponsored by a federal agency