SEG Challenge Bowl

The SEG Challenge Bowl competition is an international contest testing students’ breadth and depth of knowledge about the field of geoscience.

History

Under Peter Duncan’s initiative, the SEG first launched the SEG Challenge Bowl program in 2006. Since then, much excitement has been created on campuses in the USA and abroad. Local organizations host regional competitions and the winning teams, consisting of two students each, attend the International Meeting for Applied Geoscience and Energy (IMAGE) and compete in the world championships. The number of teams competing around the globe has exploded from just six teams in 2007 to more than 50 teams in recent years.

The SEG Challenge Bowl competition is an international contest testing students’ breadth and depth of knowledge about the field of geoscience. The quiz-show format results in intense competition as the contestants attempt to “buzz in” first with the answers to challenging geoscience questions.

The contest itself is in the form of a short-answer, multiple-choice quiz on topics in the geosciences (geology, geophysics, geography, and some geodesy), as well as some questions about the history of our science and SEG itself. Questions range in difficulty from second- or third-year undergraduate level to first-year graduate school. All geoscience students are encouraged to participate in this unique event, which combines knowledge, competition, and fun.

Challenge Bowl Districts

Due to existing Challenge Bowl (CB) competitions, limitations on the buzzer system, and size of stage during the finals, the proposed regions are limited to no more than 12. Also, local Challenge Bowls may be organized in countries with sufficient student team representation. Local CB winners will then proceed to compete in the Regional Challenge Bowls. Only winners from the 11 regional Challenge Bowls are allowed to participate in the International Finals at the International Meeting for Applied Geoscience and Energy (IMAGE).

 Local Competitions

The following points serve as guidelines to running a local SEG Challenge Bowl competition at your university:

1. Establish feasibility of organizing a Challenge Bowl for the region
2. Obtain University, SEG Section, and Country Representative (if applicable) support for this event
3. Understand and agree to SEG “Challenge Bowl Regional Procedures Manual”
4. Propose budget for hosting event
5. Apply to SEG to host the Challenge Bowl
6. Secure local sponsorship (promotion, T-shirts, prizes, refreshment, venue, etc.) to host the event, and provide a travel grant to local winners to travel to regional Challenge Bowl, or IMAGE and Challenge Bowl Finals (if applicable)
7. Send sponsor/s’ information to SEG
8. Secure an emcee (faculty advisor or senior geophysicist) to hold the event
9. Assist the emcee to recruit assistants
10. Contact regional Student Chapters to advertise and recruit teams. A minimum of eight teams from at least five universities are needed
11. Hold the event as scheduled
12. After the event, send SEG a write-up of the event, including pictures, names of participants and their universities, and names/contact information of winners
13. Assist winners in their travel arrangements
14. Send appreciation letter to sponsor/s
15. Work with sponsor(s) on finances

Competition Rules

Contestants should be student members of SEG and may be at the graduate or undergraduate level. Each team consists of two players who are usually from the same school, but not necessarily so.

The contest itself is in the form of a short answer/multiple choice quiz in the geosciences (geology, geophysics, geography, and some geodesy) as well as some questions about the history of our science and the SEG itself. Questions will range in difficulty from 2nd or 3rd year undergraduate level to perhaps first-year graduate school.

The following procedures for a given contest are based on having five to eight teams participating. Some adjustments will have to be made for contests with more or fewer teams competing.

The contest will consist of three legs of three rounds each – nine rounds in total. All eight teams participate in the first leg after which the four teams with the lowest cumulative score on the first three rounds retire leaving the four top teams to continue on. After the second leg of three rounds, the two teams with the lowest cumulative score on the second leg only (not including the first leg scoring) retire leaving the top two teams to compete in the final three rounds. Scoring is reset for each leg rather than being carried over between legs.

Within each leg, the three rounds follow the same format each time as follows:

1. Round 1a – assigned questions. Each team in succession will be asked an assigned question. They will have 10 seconds to answer. If they get the correct answer they will score 20 points. There is no penalty for an incorrect answer. But in the case of an incorrect answer the question is thrown open to the other teams. The first team to “buzz in” will get the opportunity to answer. They will be awarded 10 points for a correct answer but penalized -10 points for an incorrect answer. Typically we will cycle through the teams twice for this round.
2. Round 1b – category questions. There are four questions in each of four categories: geology, seismic, un-seismic, and My SEG (history of geoscience and SEG related questions). The category is selected by the leader from Round 1a for the first question and then by the correct respondent to each question thereafter until all 16 questions have been asked. The questions are open to the first team to “buzz in.” A correct answer scores 20 points. An incorrect answer scores a -20 and the question is thrown open to the floor. If this happens, the correct answer is worth 10 points and an incorrect answer is worth -10 as a penalty.
3. Round 1c – short snappers. These are “True/False” or 2 choice questions that are run through very quickly. Typically there are 10 questions in the round. They are open to the floor on a “buzz in” basis with the correct answer scoring 10 points and a penalty of -10 for an incorrect answer. There is no second chance. There is no penalty for an incorrect answer in the final round.

Subsequent legs follow exactly the same format with three rounds each as described. In the final leg with only two teams competing, the second chance point scheme still applies, but obviously there is no need for the second team to “buzz in.” Also, in the second and third legs it is reasonable to have three assigned questions per team in the assigned question round.