SCIENCE CHAMPS TO PURSUE REPEAT OF U.S. TITLE.

Byline: Lisa M. Sodders Staff Writer

The five-member Science Bowl team from North Hollywood High School will face top scholars from around the country Sunday as it defends its national championship title.

For the past four years, the team has finished first at the regional contest for the U.S. Department of Energy's National Science Bowl Competition, and it's placed no lower than fourth at the nationals just outside Washington, D.C.

``It's pressure until you realize that it's really about challenging yourself,'' said team member Julia Hu, who was on last year's championship team, before the group left for this weekend's contest near the nation's capital.

``Once you realize that, there's no outside pressure, it's all what you make it to be,'' she said. ``So we really have fun doing this.''

The five students - Hu, David Lee, Justin Burdick, Edward Marti, Zahra Yazdani - and coach Len Soloff left for Washington late Wednesday night, so they would have time to shake jet lag and prepare for the contest.

The Science Bowl is structured as a fast-paced, game show-style competition, with questions in the fields of physics, chemistry, biology, Earth science, astronomy, computer science, math and current events, Hu said.

``Because it's such a broad base, all you can really do is try to cover as much as you can,'' Hu said. ``You can build upon it every year. We just take textbooks, and each of us takes something that we really love and we read about that.''

Lee is the team's physics guy, Hu covers astronomy and Earth science, Marti does chemistry, and Yazdani and Burdick do biology, but there's overlap as the team is pretty well-rounded, Hu said.

Among the possible questions: If a person passes a yardstick at one-half light speed, what length would he measure the yard to be, rounded to the second decimal place?

Answer: 0.87 of a yard.

Or how about: What term, coined by Mendel, delineates the variant form of a gene? Answer: allele.

A little tougher than a typical quiz show, the students know.

Science Bowl teams are made up of four players and one alternate; the team can opt to switch players after each round, Soloff said. The North Hollywood team, however, is made up of five equal players who rotate depending on who's having the best day, Hu said. There's also a five-member B team from which Soloff can draw for next year's team.

``We've chosen the most efficient system, so everyone has fun,'' Hu said.

The competition will begin Sunday afternoon at the National 4-H Center in Chevy Chase, Md., and will end Monday morning with an awards ceremony at 12:30 p.m. followed by a luncheon.

One of the regional sponsors, the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, participates in the program to encourage students of all backgrounds to pursue science, math and computer-related fields, said DWP spokesman Walter Zeisl.

``It brings a competitive spirit and mode to academics and we hope it will encourage students,'' Zeisl added.

Hu hopes to study astrophysics at Stanford University, and plans to also double-major in business. Burdick is deciding between the University of California at Berkeley and Stanford, and Lee will be going to MIT.

Marti and Yazdani are juniors who will be back next year, Soloff said.

``Science Bowl is what got me totally interested in science,'' Hu said. ``Before, I had no direction, but Science Bowl directed me to a field.''

``It's really just an awesome time to go and see how you compare to the other people,'' Hu said. ``It's an opportunity to play with the best in the country, so we're very honored.''

CAPTION(S):

2 photos

Photo:

(1) Members of the champion Science Bowl team at North Hollywood High School bone up to defend their title at the national competition this weekend near Washington, D.C.

(2) Students must combine science knowledge with game-show reflexes to succeed in Science Bowl competition.

Gus Ruelas/Staff Photographer