BOISE, Idaho — On Saturday, 18 teams of middle schoolers from across western Idaho competed in a Jeopardy-style math and science competition.
The National Science Bowl is part of a national competition that the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science helps put on and is the largest national competition that the United States government puts on.
The science bowl was first started 30 years ago and organizer Mark Anderson told KTVB that there have been nearly a quarter of a million students who have been part of it, including some notable students.
"Over 200,000 American students have participated in this competition and I don't think there is a Nobel Peace Prize winner yet but they are getting close and there are lots of Ph.D. students, famous math and science academics come out of the science bowl," he said.
The middle school team who wins the science bowl on Saturday will travel to Washington D.C. for an all-expenses-paid trip for five days to represent western Idaho in the national competition on April 30.
Schools at the regional competition included: Centennial Middle School from Provo, UT, Coeur D'Alene Charter Academy School, Hillside Junior High School, Jefferson Middle School, Lincoln Middle School of Pullman, WA, Treasure Valley Math/Science, West Middle School, Syringa Middle School, Riverstone International School, North Idaho STEM Charter Academy, and Marsing Middle School.