Smart Science House Quiz
Two weeks ago, schools around Australia celebrated National Science Week, and Shore was no exception, with activities ranging from scavenger hunts to egg drops. One event was the annual House Science Quiz competition. The competition works like this: Three people from each House, one Year 7 to 8, one Year 9 to 10 and one in Year 11, are asked questions by Mr Byrnes. If they know the answer, they slam their buzzer. -5 points if the answer is wrong, +5 if the answer is right, with the most points at the end win. Simple. Until he started asking questions. The questions were difficult, ranging from general knowledge of famous scientists to obscure terminology.
The competition started with six rounds of 15 questions. Mathers and Burns narrowly secured their round win by one question, while Eldershaw and Anderson won theirs by two questions. However, Tiley and Wight mopped the floor with their opponents. The victorious Houses in the first round went on to compete in the semi-finals. The winner from each would compete in the final, while those who won 2nd place from each semi-final would face off for the final spot.
The semis started with a series of 20 tough questions, ranging from biology to geology. The three teams, Tiley, Mathers, and Eldershaw, lost many points at the beginning, especially Tiley, getting three questions wrong. But as the semi-final went on, Tiley managed to creep back up to first, beating Mathers by a slim margin. In the second semi-final, Burns, Anderson, and Wight had a close round, with no clear winner until the last question. Right at the end, Burns hit on a streak, allowing them into the finals. Whight House then was pitted against Mathers in a rapid-fire round. It was Mathers who narrowly won to face Tiley and Burns in the final.
As the teams took their seats, the tension was palpable. That didn’t stop Mr Burns from asking the toughest questions yet. Mathers and Tiley answered question after question, getting up to 65 points each by the end of the round, resulting in a tie. There was one final question to decide the winner. If the team who buzzed first got it right, they would win; if wrong, they would lose. The question came, and Mathers was slightly faster than Tiley. Mathers said their answer. Mr Burns paused. And said ‘Incorrect’.
Tiley had won for the second year in a row, carried by Alan Li (Year 11). Thanks to Mr Byrnes and Mr Jones for organising and running the House Science Competition (And thanks for all the chocolates!).
Digby Wood
Year 8
Top image: Only one question separated Tiley and Mathers, but everyone had fun.
