North’s A team won second place at Ocean Bowl regionals Saturday, Feb. 28, only ranking below Lexington High School, with North’s B team in seventh. There were 12 schools and 24 teams at the buzzing-style competition about marine science according to senior Luke Fisher, the captain.
“We achieved a lot higher than our goals,” said Fisher, “We did not think we would ever get second place, but we did!”
The team “buzzed” to demonstrate its knowledge on topics of physical and geological oceanography, marine biology, chemical oceanography, ocean history, marine technology, and marine policy.
A member of the A team, junior Amy Huang, explained the key to succeed in a buzzing-style science competition like Ocean Bowl. “Knowing the material is obviously important, because the questions get increasingly complicated as the day progresses,” she explained, “but once you know the material, it all depends on being confident enough to buzz.”
Knowledge in the subject areas comes with time, and improvement throughout the season took effort, according to freshman Sam Kesselman, a member of B team. “I studied with experienced members and picked topics I had some background in,” Kesselman said. “I did sheets and sheets of practice some days. Studying for topics is very tedious, but you get out what you put in.”