The NOSB is a nationwide academic competition among teams of high school students. Regional competitions will be held around the U.S. in February 1999 with the final national competition held in Washington, D.C. in April. The NOSB will test students' math and science skills as applied to topics on ocean (and Great Lakes) biology, chemistry, geology, physics, technology, history, and economics. The NOSB 1999 Resource Guide is available online to help students and teachers prepare for the competition. It includes a list of books and web sites that cover the material competition questions will be based on. Click here to go to the guide.

When / Where will it be held?

The Midwest Regional Competition of the NOSB will be held on Saturday, February 27 at the Francois Xavier Bagnoud Center, College of Engineering, University of Michigan North Campus, Ann Arbor, Michigan.

Who competes?

High school teams of four students, one alternate and a coach will compete in 18 minute long rapid-fire question and answer matches during the day-long round-robin, double elimination competition.

What are the prizes?

The Midwest Regional Competition will award trophies, medals, and other prizes to top-finishers. The overall winning team of the competition wins a paid trip to Washington, DC in April to compete in the National Ocean Science Bowl finals. The grand prize for the winning team of the finals competition has not yet been determined, but last year's grand prize included a paid trip to attend the Ocean Expo '98 exhibition in Lisbon, Portugal during the summer. Other prizes of the NOSB finals are expected to include cruises on oceanographic research vessels, visits to oceanographic research laboratories, computer hardware/software for the winning team's school, scientific equipment and laboratory supplies, scholarships, endowments, t-shirts, trophies, and medals.

The entry deadline for the 1999 Midwest Regional Competition was December 15, 1998. We are happy to announce that 11 teams have confirmed their participation in the 1999 competition. The teams are:

• Kalamazoo Central High School, Kalamazoo, MI
• Mecosta-Osceola M/S/T Center, Big Rapids, MI
• Sterling Heights High School, Sterling Heights, MI
• Berrien County M/S Center, Berrien Springs, MI
• Dexter High School, Dexter, MI
• Washtenaw Tech Middle College, Ann Arbor, MI
• Port Hope School, Port Hope, MI
• Sankore Marine Immersion High School and Academy, Detroit, MI
• Birmingham Groves High School, Beverly Hills, MI
• Linworth Alternative Program, Worthington, OH
• Huron High School, Ann Arbor, MI

Information on next year's 2000 Midwest Regional Competition can be obtained from:

Suzanne Schafer or Mike Quigley
Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory
2205 Commonwealth Blvd.
Ann Arbor, MI 48105-2945
TEL: 734-741-2355 or FAX: 734-741-2003
email: michael.a.quigley@noaa.gov

Who hosts/ coordinates it?

Midwest Regional Hosts

• NOAA, Great Lakes Environmental Research
  Laboratory (GLERL)
• Cooperative Institute for Limnology and
  Ecosystem Research (CILER)
• Michigan Sea Grant Program

• Consortium for Oceanographic Research
  and Education (CORE)
• National Marine Educators Association (NMEA)

• National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
• Office of Naval Research
• Oceanographer of the Navy
• National Science Foundation
• National Aeronautics and Space Administration