N. Hollywood Team Wins Science Bowl

A brainy team from North Hollywood High School on Saturday conquered the annual Los Angeles area Science Bowl sponsored by the Department of Water and Power. Winning the regional title means that the North Hollywood squad will compete at national finals to be held in May in Washington, D.C.

In the final session of tough science questions, the students from the highly gifted magnet at North Hollywood defeated a team from the math/science magnet at Francis Polytechnic High School in Sun Valley, which placed second, according to DWP spokesman Walter Zeisl.

The results represented something of an upset for Venice High School, the national champion the past two years. On Saturday, Venice was eliminated before the quarterfinals.

In all, 42 teams from 32 public, private and parochial schools competed Saturday at the DWP headquarters in downtown Los Angeles. A second team from the North Hollywood magnet placed third, and fourth place went to the Bravo Medical Magnet High School, Zeisl said.

After elimination rounds all day, the final session was based on the old “General Electric College Bowl” television game show. Subjects included computer science, biology, physics, geology, astronomy, robotics and space travel.

The North Hollywood magnet will receive $1,000 in science equipment, materials or software and each of its five team members will receive Hitachi scholarships of $1,000. The second-, third- and fourth-place schools will also receive money for equipment, the DWP said.