Where to obtain question sets?

[Jennifer Osborne]

A couple players from my school are trying to host a science/math-only tournament locally to get more kids interested in quizbowl. The problem is, we're going to need about a dozen rounds of purely science tossups and bonuses in just a few months. I know NAQT does not provide subject-specific sets, so does anyone know of a relatively cheap alternative to hiring our own writers? We're looking at a pretty low budget- after extra buzzers and a venue, we'll probably have around $500 left for questions.

Please let me know if you have any suggestions.

[On a lurgid bee]

Well I mean you could just go on quizbowlpackets.com if people don't know about that (which they probably don't considering they don't play) and cull science tossups from some middle school packets to give them an easier start.

[alexdz]

What age of students are you targeting with this event? Elementary, middle school or high school kids?

[jonpin]

Well I mean you could just go on quizbowlpackets.com if people don't know about that (which they probably don't considering they don't play) and cull science tossups from some middle school packets to give them an easier start.

Just as a note, if any registration fee is being charged, it is expressly forbidden to use anything on quizbowlpackets, regardless of whether or not any of the competitors are likely to have seen them.

Everything posted here is copyright the writers and tournament hosts. Not the archives. It is illegal to make money from the use or sale of these questions without the explicit permission of the owners.

[noobynoob]

At one time I tried writing a set of math/science tossups (no bonuses), but then realized that I would run out of answerlines, given that it was a high-school level set, so I only ended up writing about 30 tossups. This begs the question of whether there really are approximately 960 hs canon science answerlines in the first place unless you are fine with repeating answerlines of course.

[Jennifer Osborne]

What age of students are you targeting with this event? Elementary, middle school or high school kids?

We're targeting high school kids (grade 9-12), and would like to avoid using an old set if possible. At this point we've only ruled out science bowl questions because they're not at all pyramidal.

[Joshua Rutsky]

OK, so dumb question here, but why would you want many, many rounds of JUST science and math tossups in order to attract students to quiz bowl? I understand that you might be trying to pull in a specific crowd, but let's say you're successful, and you recruit a bunch of really hardcore math/science kids. Now what? If you are recruiting them to play quizbowl, they're going to be sitting there unhappy for 2/3 of the game, and maybe they feel like you misrepresented the game as a whole.

Quizbowl isn't just about math and science; it's about knowledge in all areas. That's what makes it different than Science Olympiad or Mu Alpha Theta or the like. If you really need a math/science player or two, that's fine, but it shouldn't take ten rounds to find them. If you want a team of players, then you need them to want to play for the right reasons, not just for one fraction of the game. If they really love learning and knowledge, they'll be into it even if there's some other material in there. Maybe you can get a regular set (10-12 packets, 20-24 questions) and then request permission to only use 15 question rounds and to pick out some of the stuff that's going to be so far out of the knowledge base of the group you're aiming for as to be offputting. At least then you'd be giving them some of the math/science with a little variety that represents QB in there. Just be sure that if you do take that route, you get permission from the packet editor/owners. Some people are very open to use of their packets for a variety of reasons, but some people want their work left intact, and you want to respect their wishes.

Anyway, I'm not trying to be judgmental here--I understand as a coach how it can be hard to "sell" quizbowl to a group of people. I do believe, however, that kids fall in love with the game as a whole, not with one category. They may specialize, but the game isn't the game without that diversity in it.

Good luck!

[alexdz]

The high-level issue with your plan: I agree with Coach Rutsky that a science/math only event seems like a better idea to try out potential specialists than it does to attract people to quiz bowl in general. Even if you are hoping to attract people who seem to only have interest in science, you are better off to portray quiz bowl for its emphasis on multiple categories of knowledge and not just one. There are, as you mentioned, existing events focused solely on science knowledge already.

The more pressing issue with your plan: It's near impossible to find that many non-overlapping answers at an achievable difficulty, not to mention someone to write them.

[Jennifer Osborne]

OK, so dumb question here, but why would you want many, many rounds of JUST science and math tossups in order to attract students to quiz bowl? I understand that you might be trying to pull in a specific crowd, but let's say you're successful, and you recruit a bunch of really hardcore math/science kids. Now what? If you are recruiting them to play quizbowl, they're going to be sitting there unhappy for 2/3 of the game, and maybe they feel like you misrepresented the game as a whole.

We have tried to market the game as a whole- hosting invitationals, going to school club fairs and talking about quiz- but have only succeeded in drawing two school over three years, one of which is now inactive. The ONLY quizbowl event that has really had success locally is the International History Bowl, which first came to Singapore last year and brought a new team into the area. Since our previous methods clearly weren't working and Singaporeans tend to put a lot more stock in math and science than humanities subjects, we'd like to try having a tournament that focuses specifically on that. At the moment, only hardcore history players here have experienced quiz at all- we're merely trying to bring more people in.

[Joshua Rutsky]

That makes sense, Jennifer. Even so, I would suggest that you are going about this in the wrong direction--bottom up instead of top down. Establishing a quiz bowl team by way of student interest is a good thing, and it often works, but having a faculty member at the other schools that WANTS to do this is just as essential. As you say, you can't go out there and pull in other teams with weekly events. Someone at that other school has to take point to make the program something that works. Frequently, that's a teacher with some charisma and enthusiasm who can motivate some of their students to try this new activity and knows who to ask to find the kid who is the bookworm, the science skill set, etc.

Have you tried reaching out to teachers at other schools who have run programs or who might be interested that you know through professional connections? Can you offer any resources to help that other team start things up?

Alternatively, if the community is really one that puts a high value on science and math achievement, could you find a corporate or business sponsor willing to pay for commissioned questions?

I hope you understand I'm trying to be helpful with suggestions, not make this harder for you. I certainly applaud your effort here to spread quizbowl in your area.

[Great Bustard]

OK, so dumb question here, but why would you want many, many rounds of JUST science and math tossups in order to attract students to quiz bowl? I understand that you might be trying to pull in a specific crowd, but let's say you're successful, and you recruit a bunch of really hardcore math/science kids. Now what? If you are recruiting them to play quizbowl, they're going to be sitting there unhappy for 2/3 of the game, and maybe they feel like you misrepresented the game as a whole.

We have tried to market the game as a whole- hosting invitationals, going to school club fairs and talking about quiz- but have only succeeded in drawing two school over three years, one of which is now inactive. The ONLY quizbowl event that has really had success locally is the International History Bowl, which first came to Singapore last year and brought a new team into the area. Since our previous methods clearly weren't working and Singaporeans tend to put a lot more stock in math and science than humanities subjects, we'd like to try having a tournament that focuses specifically on that. At the moment, only hardcore history players here have experienced quiz at all- we're merely trying to bring more people in.

I wouldn't say that everyone on the 20 IHBB teams in Singapore that competed last year is a hardcore history person. Or, if you meant SAS students in particular, note that with the exception of computational math and "hard" science, almost anything that could come up in quizbowl could come up in IHBB too, so feel free to bring generalists and humanities players as well. Anyway, last month in the space of one week Nolwenn personally visited 28 separate schools in Singapore - none of which competed last year and was in touch with about a dozen more. So I think Singapore puts a high emphasis on all aspects of learning. I'll see you on Feb. 28 at our tournament at Dunmore, and can give you more advice then on team building. Good luck!