Have you ever longed to be on Jeopardy, surrounded by smart people while being thrown even smarter questions? Well look no further because Arcadia High School’s regional-winning Science Bowl team is hosting a SLAP Bowl competition. The tournament is open to high schoolers and middle schoolers in the district. The high school tournament will take place on campus on Friday, Mar. 18 from 3:45 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. Meanwhile, the middle school division will be a week later, on Friday, Mar. 25 from 3:45 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. 

Similar to most trivia-style competitions, teams of up to four will compete against each other on a variety of topics, including chemistry, biology, physics, earth science, space, and (for good measure) mathematics.

Senior Selena Zhang is captain of Science Bowl this year and was part of the five-person team that won regionals earlier this year. 

“SLAP Bowl is a buzzer-based tournament for high schoolers and middle schoolers that will hopefully create more interest surrounding science and logic,” said Zhang. “Two teams [face] off against each other at a time. A moderator will read a packet of fast-paced questions, in which both teams are competing to answer first.” 

While this may seem easy at first, each team only has five seconds to answer once buzzing in, so prolonged “uhhh’s” and “errr’s” are a definite no.

Zhang also explained that the word SLAP is actually a “fun acronym” and stands for ‘Science and Logic Arcadia Practice Bowl’. It, fortunately, has nothing to do with the physical action of slapping.

Senior Jeshwanth Mohan has been in Science Bowl for two years and competed alongside Zhang at the Science Bowl regionals. 

Participants “get the opportunity to experience the Science Bowl format and expand their interests without the pressure to win,” he said. “[T]his is a more casual tournament held for fun.”

One major incentive to play is the tournament prize. If you’re still undecided about signing up, maybe the prizes will convince you. The winning team will be awarded gift cards for their superior science skills.

One group determined to win is junior Brandon Ha and his team Unbowlievabowl, team name credit to junior Nathan Vuong. 

“I signed up for SLAP bowl because my friends and I enjoy science as a subject…Rushing to answer questions is very fun and gives you a rush of adrenaline,” said Ha. He also added, “It is also nice to flex your science knowledge.”

Aside from the notable opportunity to show off, Ha also noted that he and his teammates have still been going through practice questions using the website Protobowl.com. The site spits out rapid questions based on category and is great practice for any buzzer-style competitions.

Perhaps, the most candid advice comes from Mohan, who has accomplished a lot in his short time with Science Bowl.

“Be confident in yourself; there is nothing wrong with guessing and getting it wrong. Also, trust your gut instinct because a lot of the time, you probably have covered the idea in your science class and have some vague idea of the answer,” said Mohan. 

It’s true that nerves can be the downfall for inexperienced players, but as Mohan pointed out, “I have made so many mistakes yet I am a part of the competing team. If you are confident, you are also less likely to make mistakes.”

If you are interested in competing, or have high school/middle school friends interested, you can sign up at tinyurl.com/slapbowlsignup. The form will close according to interest, so don’t hesitate to SLAP that submit button!

Photo courtesy of Science Bowl