The Cook County Middle School Knowledge Bowl Team ended its regular season competition in 15th place out of 48 teams. They advanced to the challenging final tournament at Mountain Iron on November 13. The Middle School Knowledge Bowl team was (L-R, front) Linnea Gesch, Bryn Soland, Maya McHugh. (L-R, back) Claire Sherburne, Marin Hay, Brooke Sherer, Alyssa Martinson, Julia Larsen, Coach Dorie Carlson.
The Cook County Middle School Knowledge Bowl team finished its season at the final tournament at Mountain Iron on November 13. The team, with seven new members out of eight participants, finished 15th out of 48 teams.
Coach Dorie Carlson said the students practiced every day during their lunchtime in her classroom, as well as on the long ride over to the competition.
Students use the practice questions from previous years with buzzers to help them learn to anticipate the answers. Carlson noted that on many questions, it is just a matter of who buzzes in first. Sometimes success is due to the anticipation of what they think will be asked. “They call this ‘shotgunning,’” explained Carlson. “Many times it will work, but they take a strong chance that they will be wrong. This skill is very important to being successful.”
Along with their knowledge of every subject, Knowledge Bowl participants must also work as a team. They have 15 seconds to answer a question, so the spokesperson must gather answers from everyone and choose which one to use. “Discussing an answer is very important in teamwork,” said Carlson.
The questions vary greatly, although Carlson said this year many of the answers had been discussed in Ms. Nelson’s English classes. There are also many questions about the U.S. Constitution and the Revolutionary War.
“One or two students usually become our math experts, while others know their science or sports. It is amazing what small bits of information come from different team members,” said Coach Carlson.
“This was the first experience in the Knowledge Bowl competition for seven out of the eight team members. They quickly discovered the need to buzz in quickly, concentrate on the questions and to work together. They were a fun, energetic team and we are looking forward to using our experience and knowledge next year,” said Carlson.
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