National Science Bee Finals
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There are 3 levels of competition for Science Bee:
- Junior Science (JSC): Grades 1, 2 and 3
- Intermediate Science (ISC): Grades 4 and 5
- Senior Science (SSC): Grades 6, 7, and 8
- A contestant who participated in a higher level bee cannot participate in a lower level bee in subsequent years.
- The contest is conducted in two phases for JSC and ISC, and three phases for SSC. Phases I and II are written. All contestants participate in both Phase I and Phase II. SSC will feature a Phase III, which is oral (see below).
- Contestants are responsible to bring their own pencils and erasers.
- Contestants are seated by the badge number order from left to right.
- Calculators are NOT allowed at any level during Phase I and II.
- All sheets (including question and answer sheets) should be returned at the end of the contest. It is the responsibility of the contestant to write the badge number on the answer sheet.
- Unclear and illegible writing might be open for misinterpretation. Contestants are expected to write clearly and legibly.
- There will NOT be any partial credits for steps. There are NO negative points for any incorrect answer. If the final answer is incorrect, zero points are awarded, and if the answer is correct, one point is given.
- Each contestant is given a booklet containing 30 questions and has 30 minutes to answer them.
- Each contestant is given a booklet with 30 questions along with a student answer sheet (last page) with 30 numbered rows to write the final answer. While some questions may be in a multiple choice format, others may require the contestant to derive the answer with no answer choices being provided.
- Each question has adequate space to work out the answer. No other sheets are given. Contestants are allowed to use the backside of the question paper if more space is needed to work out the problems.
- Contestants are required to transfer the answers from the question paper to the corresponding numbered row in the student answer sheet.
- All contestants will move on to Phase II. Each contestant will answer a set of the same 20 questions. These questions will be projected on a screen and read by a pronuncer in sequence. The contestant has 45 seconds to answer each question. Contestants are required to transfer the answer to the corresponding numbered row in the student answer sheet.
- Senior Science Bee contestants - Top 10 winners of SSC are invited to participate in the new Senior Science Oral Round (SSOR) at the 2019 National Finals. Please read more about it here - Senior Science Oral Round
- Winners are determined based on the combined scores of Phase I (30 questions) and II (20 questions). The first place winner shall be ahead by at least one point to be declared as the champion. If there is any tie for the top ten positions, it is broken as per the tie-breaker rules outlined below. Since the Foundation recognizes only the top 10 ranks, any tie is broken among the top ten places.
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To break the ties, the scheme outlined below is followed in the order given:
- Combined Phase I and II score
- Phase I score alone
- Phase I score among questions 26-30
- Phase I score among questions 21-25
- Phase I score among questions 11-20
- Phase I score among questions 1-10
- If the above steps fail to break the tie in question, the Foundation may use additional measures including date of birth to resolve the tie.
Phase I (Written):
Phase II (Written):
Senior Science Oral Round
Winners and Ranks:
Tiebreaker Rules for Ranks 1-3 and for Ranks 4-10:
The following books contain good preparatory material for the NSF Science Bees. These could serve as reference for the Science Bee aspirants to explore and understand various scientific concepts. Students are encouraged to refer other materials as well in preparing for the Science Bee.
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Published by Macmillan/McGraw-HillTitle: Science A Closer Look Grade 1 Student EditionISBN: 9780022880057MHID: 0022880054
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Title: Science A Closer Look, Grade 2, Student EditionISBN: 9780022880064MHID: 0022880062
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Title: Science A Closer Look, Grade 3, Student EditionISBN: 9780022880071MHID: 0022880070
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Published by Macmillan/McGraw-HillTitle: Science: A Closer Look, Grade 4, Student EditionISBN: 9780022880088MHID: 0022880089
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Title: Science: A Closer Look, Grade 5, Student EditionISBN: 9780022880095MHID: 0022880097
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Published by Macmillan/McGraw-HillTitle: Science: A Closer Look, Grade 6, Student EditionISBN : 9780022880118MHID: 0022880119
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Published by Glencoe/McGraw-Hill, 2008Glencoe Science Level RedTitle: Glencoe Science: Level Red, Student EditionISBN: 9780078778063MHID: 0078778069
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Glencoe Science Level GreenTitle: Glencoe Science: Level Green, Student EditionISBN: 9780078778087MHID: 0078778085
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Glencoe Science Level BlueTitle: Glencoe Science: Level Blue, Student EditionISBN: 9780078778100MHID: 0078778107
- Science Quizzes
- National Science Bowl - Middle School Student Info
- National Science Bowl - Middle School Sample Questions
- National Science Bowl - Middle School Academic Question Resources
- NASA Jet Propulsion Lab - Education Resources
Apart from the above books and resources, listed below are several additional resources students can consult to learn about Science and to prepare for the Science Bee:
- www.harcourtschool.com This is a good free website with lots of visually presented science topics arranged by grade level. This constitutes a good website to begin with.
- Your school textbook: Since the syllabus drawn up for this Bee closely parallels textbooks used in US schools, the textbooks that students use in their own schools are likely to constitute excellent study resources for the Bee.
- www.edhelper.com
- www.softschools.com
- www.enchantedlearning.com
- www.brainpop.com
- Wiki Answers
- National Science Bowl - High School Sample Questions
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A new Science competition, called Senior Science Oral Round (SSOR) is being introduced at 2019 National Finals. This oral contest will closely follow the syllabus and question difficulty-level of the US National Science Bowl (NSB) Middle School competition, which can be found at these URLs:
- Unlike the National Science Bowl, which is a team-based event, the Senior Science Oral Round at the National Finals will be based solely on individual effort.
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The winners of top 10 ranks from the Senior Science Bee written contests (based on Phase I+II combined scores) will be invited to participate in the Senior Science Oral Round, with a live audience. The list of all winners of Senior Science Bee will be posted, in alphabetical order, after the judging of Senior Science Bee is completed.
Because of potential ties, more than 10 contestants may be awarded Senior Science Bee written contest awards. In these instances, judges will use tie-breaker rules outlined below to arrive at the top 10 contestants for the Senior Science Oral round. - Those selected for Senior Science Oral Round will all be seated in one room. Each of these 10 contestants will be provided a buzzer. The pronouncer faces the audience. The contestants face the judges and pronouncers.
- A set of 50 questions will be read to contestants, one after another. Questions will be very similar to NSB questions, except that there will be no questions on Mathematics. Questions will be of the "short answer" type.
- At the beginning of the oral contest, every contestant begins with a score of zero. After each question is read, the contestant who hits the buzzer first will be recognized by the moderator. Then, the contestant can say aloud his/her answer.
- Correct answer: 1 point is added to the score of the recognized contestant.
- Incorrect answer: 1 point is subtracted from the score of the recognized contestant.
- The following cases result in 1 point being subtracted from the score of any contestant who
- Provides an answer before being recognized by the moderator
- Has not provided the answer in 5 seconds
- Stalls instead of promptly saying the answer
- Scores of other contestants are not affected.
- If no contestant buzzes within 5 seconds of the question being completed by the pronouncer, the moderator will move on to the next question.
- Only the first verbalized answer of the recognized contestant will be counted as a response. If the recognized contestant stalls instead of promptly saying the answer, it will be counted as "incorrect", and 1 point will be subtracted.
- A contestant may buzz-in before the question is read in its entirety. In that case, the moderator will stop reading the question, and recognize the contestant. Buzzing-in before the question is completed does not affect the scoring in any way. However, if a contestant says the answer without buzzing-in, or says the answer before being recognized by the moderator, 1 point will be subtracted. So, buzzing-in and being recognized by the moderator is mandatory.
- Any contestant who attains a cumulative score of "-3" at any stage of the oral round will be eliminated.
- Once all 50 questions have been exhausted, the contestants remaining in the game will be ranked based on their cumulative scores. If the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd ranking contestants are clearly evident, the Oral contest concludes at this point. On the other hand, if score-ties preclude the definitive identification of the top 3 contestants, the contestants who are tied will continue playing 10 additional questions in order to break any ties.
- Since some questions may involve calculations, paper and pencils will be provided. No calculators are allowed. For quantitative answers, no units need to be provided, unless explicitly asked for.
- Since time is limited, no challenges will be entertained, from the participants or parents. The moderator/judge will have the final say. All feedback and questions should be addressed to the organizers AFTER the event.
- Throughout the contest, all audience members and participants should maintain absolute silence, except for the contestant who has buzzed-in to answer. Those who disobey this rule will be asked to leave the contest room.
Winners and Ranks:
The top 3 contestants who rank as 1st, 2nd and 3rd will be awarded at the Awards ceremony. Participation in Senior Science Oral Round does not qualify the contestant for any scholarships.
Tiebreaker Rules to identify the top 10 contestants for the Senior Science Oral Round:
If there are more than 10 winners for the top 10 ranks of the Senior Science Bee, then only the winners tied for the last rank will go through a set of oral tie-breaker questions. This oral tie-breaker session will be conducted at the beginning of the time period that is identified as Senior Science Oral Round in the schedule. The oral tie-breaker questions will be posed one at a time.
- The first person to buzz-in (within 5 seconds) and provide a correct answer gets to participate in the Senior Science Oral Round.
- Providing an incorrect answer at this stage will eliminate the contestant from further consideration.
- Tie-breaker questions will continue to be read until all ten participant spots for the Senior Science Oral Round are filled.
To provide further clarification on tiebreaker rules, some scenarios are provided below:
Scenario #1
| Contestant# | Placement |
|---|---|
| 9 | 9 |
| 10 | 10 |
| 11 | 10 |
| 12 | 10 |
| 13 | 10 |
Scenario #2
| Contestant# | Placement |
|---|---|
| 8 | 8 |
| 9 | 9 |
| 10 | 9 |
| 11 | 9 |
| 12 | 9 |
Scenario #3
| Contestant# | Placement |
|---|---|
| 7 | 7 |
| 8 | 8 |
| 9 | 8 |
| 10 | 8 |
| 11 | 8 |
| 12 | 8 |
Two contestants will be eliminated and only 3 of the last 5 contestants will go to the Senior Science Oral Round. As soon as two are eliminated, the oral tie-breaker round will close.
Scenario #4
| Contestant# | Placement |
|---|---|
| 6 | 6 |
| 7 | 7 |
| 8 | 7 |
| 9 | 7 |
| 10 | 7 |
| 11 | 7 |
One contestant gets eliminated and only 4 of the last 5 contestants will go to the Senior Science Oral Round. As soon as one is eliminated, the oral tie-breaker round will close.
The NSF Science Bee is intended as an opportunity for elementary and middle school children to study Science and become more aware of the importance of Science in day-to-day events.
It is unthinkable to imagine a world without science and technology. Science and technology are one of the core tenets of human advancement. Our quality of life and our day to day comforts are all results of application of science and technology. Medical advances are saving lives daily; space scientists have put man on moon; Internet and computers have revolutionized the way we access and consume information - the list is endless.
NSF Science Bee intends to ignite the young minds to explore the fascinating world of Science and Technology. Preparing for the Science Bee itself will take you on a journey of discovery and kindle interest in various branches of science. After all, the journey is more important than the destination.
The NSF Science Bee is a brand new product for 2010. A pilot project refers to an initial roll out of a product into production, targeting a limited scope of the intended final audience [def: Wikipedia]. This contest is expected to evolve in terms of content and format based on the feedback received from children, parents and volunteers during the pilot phase. Also, NSF will not be conducting National Finals for the Science Bee during 2010.
Although Science Bee is a pilot this year, the cost of running the contest is the same as other contests. Also 2/3rd of the fee is considered as donation by the parents to NSF. Thus the parents are helping the most deserving poor students going to college in India.
See the section on Rules .
No, a participant can only participate in one Science Bee and in one Regional center only.
Yes. A child in KG is allowed to participate in Junior Science Bee, on an equal basis without any special privileges or concessions. Parents should bring young children into the contest with the primary aim of getting them familiar with the Bee.
Online registration via NSF homepage is generally available, starting January. You can also refer to the NSF Contest Calendar or ask your Regional Coordinator about registration deadlines and contest dates.
See the section on Preparation.
NSF Senior Science Bee is available to be offered at all chapters. The local chapter can choose to offer this Bee or decide against it. Please consult your Chapter Coordinator for the specific contests being offered in your location.