Knowledge Bowl

KNOWLEDGE BOWL competitions are interdisciplinary academic contests for students in grades 7-12. During the contest, teams compete in written and oral rounds by answering questions related to all areas of learning, typical of secondary educational programs. Questions test student's recall, problem-solving, and critical thinking skills.

Currently over 800 teams from 290 Minnesota school districts participate in senior high knowledge bowl competitions. At the end of the season, teams compete in sub-region and region tournaments with a total of 48 teams advancing to the State Knowledge Bowl meet. Junior High competitions are held at the regional level throughout the state. 

Selecting a team for competition can be conducted in various ways. The selection process is left up to each school district. For grades 9-12, teams are comprised of five students. For grades 7-8, teams have six students. 

Written Round: Each competition consists of one round of sixty multiple choice written questions. One point is awarded for each correctly answered question; points are not deducted for incorrect answers. The written round scores determine team placement for the oral rounds.

Oral Round: In an oral round, forty-five questions are asked. One team member serves as an alternate, so only four members compete during the oral round (at Jr. High level, we allow five on a team). The reader asks the question orally and the teams press down on a pressure sensitive strip attached to a computer when they think they can answer the question. After buzzing in, team members may discuss their answer with one another before providing the judge with a final answer. An appointed spokesperson is the official answer person for each team. Points are awarded for correctly answered questions.