Each team will play one match against each team. If there are 10 teams participating, each team will compete in nine matches. During the season, a team might have a bye for the meet (no transportation needed) and also some byes during the meet, where teams would wait in the holding room. Snacks will be provided in the holding room. Since we are sharing space, we appreciate when teams clean up and return rooms to their normal state.

The Moderator will accept only the first answer given by a team member or captain.  If the student changes his/her answer, the first answer given will be the only answer considered by the Moderator.

If a buzzer system fails, team members will indicate their wish to respond by tapping their buzzer lightly with their pencil. The action complimented with the sound will help with judging.  The Judge will confirm with the Announcer to indicate who responded first by identifying the team member by school and name.

If a question requires two or more answers, all parts must be answered correctly to earn the 10 points.  (Example:  What two feuding families figure in Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet? Ans: the Montagues and the Capulets.)  If one or more parts are incorrect, no points will be earned, and the question will be repeated for the second team. All correct answers score ten points.  There is no penalty for incorrect answers or passing.

The Moderator will use his/her judgment concerning the correctness of any answer. However, if there is an inquiry about a question or a response, the question will be referred to the Judge who will make a determination. The moderator will discretely ask the Judge for an inquiry as facial expressions or ‘Close!’ comments may sway an answer from the other team.

Only the Moderator or the Judge may make inquiries during a match. Coaches may make inquiries during the half time break or the break before wrap-up.  Team members or spectators are only allowed to make inquiries through the coach.

If a team fails to attend a scheduled competition, its matches scheduled for that day are forfeited. *If one school is closed, the Program Coordinator will decide if the whole competition is cancelled and will be re-scheduled, OR if the competition will continue and the closed school can be re-scheduled.

The top four scoring teams through the regular season will continue on to the Final Four. In case of a tie, the head-to-head results in matches involving tied teams will be used to clarify the eligible team. All teams are invited to the Final Four. The four teams are requested to remain for the entire event, and the awards ceremony.

The playoff will meet in one room as follows:
First Semi-Final:  #1 ranked team vs. #4 ranked team
Second Semi-Final: #2 ranked team vs. #3 ranked team
Final: Winner of First Semi Final vs. Winner of Second Semi-Final
*Awards Ceremony to follow.

Academic Challenge Bowl is designed for students in grades six, seven and eight.  Any student in a grade higher than eighth is not eligible for this competition.

Teams should be composed of eight to 12 members.  During competition, four members play in Round A and four different members play in Round B.  A team may compete with fewer than eight members, however, no member may compete in both rounds of a match. Only 12 students from the team may come to each meet, due to space constrictions in the competition rooms.

A roster of up to 20 members will be due two weeks before the first competition.  Additional names may be added to incomplete rosters at any time during the regular season. If one student has played and dropped the team, the name can not be dropped from the roster. A student whose name was on the roster, but never played may be dropped and replaced.

If a team has less than eight players at one meet, they can still participate, but they can only play each student once during each match. For example, if a school has five students, they may play three in the first half and two in the second half, or four and one, etc. The opposing team has the advantage with keeping a full team.

A running score will be kept.  The score should be visible to the Moderator as well as the teams and the audience, whenever possible. In addition, each team is asked to keep score.  The scores will be verified at the end of each round.

Regular Rounds:
Ten points will be awarded for each correct answer.
There will be no penalty points for incorrect answers.

Bonus Rounds:
Ten points will be awarded for each correct answer.

In addition, if a team answers all six questions of one Bonus Round correctly, they will be awarded a 20 point bonus (a total of 80 points).

Today’s Event = Meet
When two schools compete = Match
Parts within the match = Rounds

Round 1
Team A players, four students from each school, eight total
Four minutes of regular questions
Bonus Round A (lower score school-2 chooses first, then high score school-1)
Four minutes of regular questions

Change to four new team members

Round 2
Team B players, four students from both schools, eight total (none from team A)
Four minutes of regular questions
Bonus Round B (school-1 chooses first, then school-2)
Four minutes of regular questions

At the end of the Round 2, the team with the higher score wins the match.  In the event of a tie, a ‘sudden-death’ will decide the match. Players must remain the same.

The Moderator will ask the question, and team members will indicate their desire to answer the question by buzzing in.

No conferences are allowed among team members on the first reading of a question.  If, in the opinion of the Moderator, a team did have a conference on the first reading of a question, (s)he will declare that answer incorrect and read the question for the second team.

Team members must buzz in within four seconds after the reading of the question. For specified math questions, teams will be given ten seconds in which to buzz in on the first reading only. Subsequent readings of these problems will be given only four seconds in which to buzz in.  These special questions will be clearly announced by the Moderator.

If neither team buzzes in at the end of four seconds, the Moderator will give the correct answer, no points will be awarded and the Moderator will continue with the next question.

When a team member buzzes in, the announcer will indicate who responded first by school and by the individual’s name (Example:  Dansville, Jim).

If a team member answers any question without first being recognized verbally by the announcer, that question will be thrown out and no points scored.

Once the announcer has indicated the school/name who buzzed first, the team member must respond immediately to the question.

If an incorrect answer is given, the question will be repeated completely for the second team. This team may have a brief conference during the second reading of the question and in the four seconds following the reading.  However, they must buzz within four seconds, be recognized by the announcer, and answer immediately. If this procedure is not followed, no points will be scored, regardless of a correct answer given.

If no answer is given immediately, the Moderator will declare it to be an incorrect answer and the same procedure will be followed as stated above for an incorrect answer.

If the Moderator is in the process of asking a question at the end of either of any regular four minute session, (s)he will stop that question and the session will end.  If, however, a team member has buzzed in, the team member will be given the opportunity to respond.  If an incorrect answer is given, the question will be re-read for the other team.

The Moderator will clearly state “correct” or “incorrect” when a question is answered to help create a standardized scoring system.

The Bonus Round begins with four topics, each of which consists of six questions.  The four Bonus Round topics will be displayed at the beginning of each match.  Each team must designate a team captain who will act as spokesperson for the team.

During the first Bonus Round (mid-way through Round 1), each team will select one topic.

The school with the lower score will select a topic first. If teams are tied at the end of the first four minutes, a coin toss will determine which team selects a Bonus Round topic first.

This team, through its designated captain, will respond to each of six questions within the usual time of four seconds (no buzzer is used).  The team may conference, but all answers must be given by the team captain.  They may:

Answer correctly (10 points each)
Answer incorrectly (no points/no penalty) Pass (no points/no penalty)
Answering all six questions correctly = 20 extra points for a total of 80 points!

If a team fails to answer or indicate ‘pass’ within four seconds, they are considered to have answered incorrectly (no points/no penalty).

After all six questions have been read to the first team, the Moderator will re-read any ‘passed’ questions.  The team captain must respond with an answer within four seconds. If another team mate other than the captain responds, the answer is considered incorrect.

Any questions that were answered incorrectly (or not at all) will be repeated for the second team.  The second team may conference within the four seconds, at which time the team captain will give the team answer.  There will be no passes or second readings for this part of the Bonus Round.

The second school will now select from the remaining Bonus Round topics, and the same procedure will be followed. The second Bonus Round (mid-way through the second half) will follow the same procedure except that the second team from the first Bonus Round will choose from the remaining two topics first, regardless of score.

If the Moderator reads the answer to a regular question by mistake, the question will be thrown out and no points are lost. The Moderator will ask the same team another question.

Students need not wait for the complete question to be read to buzz in. However, once buzzed, the Moderator will cease to read the question, the student will be recognized by the announcer, and must answer immediately.

The team that buzzes first to the question with the correct answer will be the most successful team. However, it is important to remember that if the team that buzzes in first gives an incorrect answer, the entire question will be repeated for the second team, and that team will be given four seconds to buzz. Therefore, keep in mind:

Hear enough of the question to make sure that you are going to respond with the type of information being asked. If the other team answers first, but incorrectly, take advantage of the time given to hear the question read again, and decide on the proper response.  Brief conferences are allowed on the second reading of a question.

Make sure that you buzz and are identified by the announcer before you give your answer. You must signal and be recognized even if the other team has answered first, but incorrectly.

Once you buzz and are recognized by the announcer, you must answer immediately or the Moderator will declare your answer to be incorrect.

Since there is no penalty for incorrect answers, if the opposing team answers incorrectly, the second school should take advantage of the second reading, and at least take a guess at the answer.

During the bonus round, it may be beneficial to wait three seconds and "pass" on all questions. Then, collect your team’s answers, confer and answer during the second reading. Remember, the captain must be ready to give the answers immediately upon the second reading!

During the bonus round, the non-playing team members should listen attentively and jot down the opponent’s answers.  This may assist them as they prepare to answer any questions missed by the first team.

In some cases, a non-specific answer may suffice.  (Example:  Who was the first President of the United States?  Ans. Washington). In other cases, the answer must be specific.  (Examples: Who said, “Walk softly and carry a big stick?”  Ans. Theodore Roosevelt; or who wrote Wuthering Heights?  Ans. Emily Bronte).  It will be left to the judgment of the officials to determine how specific the answer must be, although they might ask the team member to ‘be more specific’, if necessary. This prompt, “be more specific”, will only be asked once. The answer must still be given immediately, after the prompt.

Most of all, have fun! Enjoy your friends, teamwork, and learning new trivia!

For Regular and Bonus Round Questions

People/Teams/Mascots Rules/Equipment. Places: Cities/Stadiums/Competitions/Finals/Cups etc.

Literature
World Religions/Mythology
Mechanics: Grammar/Spelling

Four Basic Functions
Probability
Statistics
Fractions
Word Problems
Geometry
Algebra

Physical Science
Earth Science
Biology
Physics/Engineering
Health

U.S. History
World History
NYS History and Government
Geography (World & US)
Economics/Business

Theatre/Television/Movies Awards
People: Musicians, Artists, Thespians, Actors, Composers, Dancers, etc.
Places: Architecture, Stages/Auditoriums, Museums, etc.
Genres: Music History, Visual Arts History, Dance History, Theatre/Film History
Tools of the trades
Techniques and Theories

World Religions
General Knowledge
Current Events