February 28, 2006
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Consol students to test notion of ocean
A team from A&M Consolidated High School will test its ocean knowledge against 14 other teams from 10 Texas high schools for a trip to California in May.
Students Jessica Wang, Brian Liu, Jeffrey Chen, Dimitar Popov and Gilbert Huang will compete in the Dolphin Challenge Texas Regional Ocean Sciences Bowl on Saturday, March 4, beginning at 8 a.m. in the Wehner Building on the Texas A&M University campus. The Dolphin Challenge is one of 25 regional competitions that are part of the National Ocean Sciences Bowl (NOSB®).
Teams of four students and one alternate participate in a series of head-to-head matches comprising multiple-choice or short-answer questions on varying aspects of the ocean, including its physics, chemistry, geology and biology. The finals are scheduled to begin at 1:30 p.m., followed by an awards ceremony at 2 p.m.
NOSB® is managed by the Consortium for Oceanographic Research and Education (CORE), which represents 85 oceanographic institutions, universities and aquaria across the nation. The Dolphin Challenge is being coordinated by the Texas Sea Grant College Program.
This competition is intended to increase knowledge of the oceans on the part of high school students, their teachers and parents, as well as to raise the visibility and public understanding of the national investment in ocean-related research. Specific objectives of the National Ocean Sciences Bowl are to:
- Broaden students' and teachers' awareness of the latest scientific research on the oceans and the critical impact of the oceans on global climate and weather, economic well-being, history and culture.
- Help teachers use the oceans as an interdisciplinary vehicle for teaching biology, chemistry, geology, physics, and mathematics by giving them access to marine science education and scientific professionals.
- Give oceanographic research programs the opportunity to develop new links with their local pre-college community and open student’s eyes to ocean-related career options.
- Reach out to new students and communities to boost participation by populations under-represented in the ocean sciences.
The National Ocean Sciences Bowl consists of a round-robin/double-elimination format for teams of high school students; teams consist of four students plus one alternate and a coach. The format involves a timed competition of multiple-choice or short-answer questions within the broad category of the oceans. Questions are drawn from the scientific and technical disciplines used in studying the oceans (physics, chemistry, geology, atmospheric science, biology, etc.) as well as from topics on the contributions of the oceans to national and international economics, history and culture.
In addition to A&M Consolidated High School, this year’s Dolphin Challenge teams come from Langham Creek High School in Houston, Stephen F. Austin High School in Sugar Land, Breckenridge High School in Breckenridge, Gilmer High School in Gilmer, Cassata High School in Fort Worth, Coronado High School in Lubbock, CyFair High School in Cypress, New Caney High School in New Caney, Rockwall High School in Rockwall and Poteet High School in Mesquite.
The winning teams from each of the 25 regional competitions are provided transportation and room and board for the final national competition. This year’s national competition will be held in Pacific Grove, Calif., May 12-15.
For more information contact:
Bianca Whitaker
NOSB Regional Coordinator
979-204-2741
whitakerb@tamug.edu
NR 06-05
— Hiney
The Texas Sea Grant College Program is a partnership of university,
government and industry, focusing on marine research, education
and advisory services. Visit our web site at http://texas-sea-grant.tamu.edu
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