Marine Science Competition Plumbs of Oceans of Knowledge
Filed under: NOSB,News & Resources,Understanding
Wyoming Area Team A prepares to compete against the team representing Lakewood High School.
From The Jersey Shoreline
by Marsha Samuel, Communications Specialist
New Jersey Marine Sciences Consortium/New Jersey Sea Grant
In late February, eleven high school teams from throughout New Jersey and eastern Pennsylvania descended on Rutgers University's Busch Campus in Piscataway, New Jersey for the ninth annual Shore Bowl competition. The Shore Bowl is part of the National Ocean Sciences Bowl (NOSB), a nationwide academic competition for high school students which tests student knowledge of the ocean in the fields of biology, chemistry, physics, and geology. According to the NOSB website (nosb.org), the competition "prepares the next generation of marine scientists, policy makers, teachers, explorers, researchers, technicians, environmental advocates, and informed citizens" to accept the challenge "to continue the exploration [of] and develop strategies for managing the oceans' resources."
NOSB is a program through the Consortium for Ocean Leadership and has been in existence since 1998 and was created to celebrate the International Year of the Ocean. According to Kathleen Meehan Coop, director of the national program, over 20,000 students have participated in NOSB regional competitions in the past twelve years. The NOSB has a significant impact on the lives of the students who participate. "If their knowledge of the ocean has increased [as a result of participating], then we've created better students," Meehan Coop stated. "A number of students say that NOSB had directly impacted their decision to study the ocean sciences at the collegiate level."
There are, in total, twenty-five regions in which over 2,000 students from around 300 schools participate each year; the Shore region was instituted back in 2000. Interest in the competition goes beyond students in coastal areas; in spite of the competition's marine-based theme, NOSB participants come from all across the country, including many of the landlocked states like Kansas, Utah, and Arizona. In fact, according to Meehan Coop, Colorado boasts one of the fastest growing regions. Lisa Auermuller, Shore Bowl Coordinator and Watershed/Outreach Coordinator for the Jacques Cousteau Coastal Education Center, suggested that "Topics on the ocean are so compelling to these students who typically get involved with math and science bowls. It's a natural fit for them."
Team A from the Marine Academy of Science and Technology emerged as the winners of this year's Shore Bowl.
The regional competitions, like the Shore Bowl, are comprised of a series of "round robin" matches in which two teams of four students each compete against each other for points. Winning teams are awarded points for each victory, and at the end of the session, the eight teams with the highest score proceed into the double elimination rounds, leaving two teams to compete in the final round. This year's Shore Bowl saw Marine Academy of Science and Technology's (MAST) Team A compete against Marine Academy of Technology and Environmental Science's (MATES) Team B. The MAST team emerged as the winner and continued on to represent the Shore Region.
Teams from the twenty-five regions met in Washington D.C. at the Smithsonian Natural History Museum's Sant Ocean Hall in late April to compete in the twelfth annual national competition. The contest took place over two days during which Marshfield High School in Marshfield, Wisconsin defeated Lexington High School from Lexington, Massachusetts to claim the national title. The winning school received prizes and scholarships. Robert B. Gagosian, President & CEO of the Consortium for Ocean Leadership, said "The enthusiasm and excitement of the students was pervasive and it was thrilling to see the optimism and spirit of such young people, the future leaders of our country."
