Intellectual Fun
For 16-year-old Jeff Zira, it is common knowledge that Mars has two moons, and oyster shells are primarily composed of calcium carbonate.
Along with his four teammates on North Hollywood High School’s Science Bowl team, Jeff knows snails belong to the mollusk class Gastropoda, and according to the principles of physics, a real image always appears inverted.
The self-professed “nerds” know these facts just as they know that tonight they will board a plane for Washington to represent Los Angeles and compete against 60 teams from 40 states in the prestigious U.S. Department of Energy National Science Bowl.
Troy High School in Orange County also will compete.
For the past two years, North Hollywood High took second place in the rapid-fire, high-energy, game-show-style contest that tests students’ knowledge in biology, chemistry, physics, calculus, astronomy, trigonometry, earth and physical sciences, computer programming and related current events.
“We’re nerds,” 16-year-old Daniel Bersohn said, laughing. “I don’t see it as a derogatory term. Some people like sports or English, we like science.”
Daniel, Jeff, Nina Han, Tyler Rubin and Jackie Wong will compete against 300 young scholars Sunday and Monday at the National 4H Center in Chevy Chase, Md. Winners will be announced Monday and receive expense-paid trips to national science laboratories.
Teams representing Los Angeles, winners of the regional Science Bowl sponsored by the Department of Water and Power, boast the best record of any region or state team at the national competition.
Van Nuys High in 1995 and Venice High in 1996 and 1997 won the national championship. No other region has won more than two titles.
“We’ve won second [in national competition] for the past two years, and we’re hoping the third time is a charm,” said Koh Ikeda, an advanced placement science teacher who has coached the team through hundreds of hours of study.
“But it doesn’t really matter,” Ikeda said. “These students are very ambitious. They can do miraculous things.”
Team members said they are relaxed. On the days leading to the competition, the students will tour the District of Columbia and attend seminars with top scientists from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Naval Research Laboratory, National Aeronautics and Space Administration and Yale University.
“I know it will be fun,” said Nina, who competed in the National Science Bowl last year and was recently admitted to Yale on an early admission. “We’ve grown close studying. We have fun together.”
Plus, team members emphasized, science is fun.
“It eases our intellectual curiosity,” said Jackie, a Stanford University-bound senior. “Some people don’t like science or are afraid of it. They just haven’t seen the light.”
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Science Queries
Test your knowledge of science with sample questions provided by North Hollywood High School. Answers are below.
1. Triton, Neptune’s moon, has an ocean made of liquid. What is this liquid?
2. What is a selenologist?
3. In daylight, the human eye is most sensitive to which color?
4. The rate of absenteeism for 45 male employees during one month was 15%. For the 60 female employees absenteeism was 5%. What was the overall rate of absenteeeism?
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Answers: 1. Nitrogen; 2. Lunar geologist; 3. Green; 4. 9.29%
