page_title: National Science Bowl
section_title: General rules
hierarchical_section_title: National Science Bowl / Rules and guidelines of the national competition / General rules
caption_attribution_description: English: An example scoreboard of the Hypatia division from the 2007 National Science Bowl National Competition.
context_page_description: The National Science Bowl is a high school and middle school science knowledge competition using a quiz bowl format held in the United States. A buzzer system similar to those seen on popular television game shows is used to signal an answer. The competition has been organized and sponsored by the United States Department of Energy since its inception in 1991.
context_section_description: A team consists of 4 or 5 students from a single school. Only 4 students play at any one time, while the 5th is designated as the alternate. Substitutions and switching captains may occur at halftime and between rounds.
  Two teams compete against each other in each match. Each team member is given a number A1, A Captain, A2, A3, B1, B Captain, B2, B3, according to the position each student sits in. In regional competitions, each round consists of 23 questions (that is, 23 toss-ups and 23 corresponding bonuses). At the National Finals, each round consists of 25 questions. The match is over when all the toss-up questions have been read (and any bonuses related to correctly answered toss-ups), or after two halves have elapsed, whichever occurs first. The team with the most points at this time is the winner. At the regional level, all matches consist of two 8-minute halves, separated by a 2-minute break.  At the national level for middle schools, all matches consist of two 10-minute halves.  For high schools, all round robin and some double elimination matches consist of two 10-minute halves, with the final rounds consisting of two 12-minute halves to accommodate the longer visual bonus questions.
caption: A blank score display board from the Hypatia division at the 2007 Nationals.
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