By Rony Shahidain
A team of five kids from Princeton High School, Sadik Shahidain, Sasha Chabra, Kathy Huang, Yuval Wigderson, and Enric Boix won the Department of Energy’s New Jersey regional science bowl tournament held at Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory facilities yesterday on February 25, 2012. The PHS team was undefeated and had to beat West Windsor Plainsboro South team twice to clinch the championship trophy. PHS team was coached by Mr. Tim Anderson. A group of thirty two high school teams from New Jersey participated in the tournament. This is the first time PHS became the champion of this prestigious tournament.
Participants have to answer questions in Biology, Chemistry, Earth Science, Mathematics, and Physics in a fast paced environment like JEOPARDY acquiring points in toss ups and bonuses. If you know the answer to a question like: Solve the following trigonometric equation for x, giving your answer in degrees such that 0º ≤ x < 360º: 2 sin x – 1 = 0 and give an answer in 3 to10 seconds as ANSWER: 30º AND 150º, then you will qualify for these teams.
.The PHS team earned an all expenses paid trip to Washington DC to participate in the national science bowl tournament which will be held in April. From PPPL News releases, "The DOE launched its National Science Bowl competition in 1991 to encourage high school students to excel in science and math and to pursue careers in those fields. The agency introduced the National Science Bowl’s competition for middle school students in 2002. It now involves more than 4,500 students. The National Science Bowl is the only science competition in the United States sponsored by a federal agency."
