THE RIGHT CHEMISTRY; VALLEY KIDS TO BE IN SCIENCE BOWL.Byline: Deborah Sullivan Daily News Staff Writer The five North Hollywood High School North Hollywood High School, originally called Lankershim High School when it opened in 1927, is a secondary school in North Hollywood in Los Angeles, California. The school mascot is the husky, and the school colors are blue, white, grey. students heading to the national Science Bowl in Washington, D.C., tonight are trying not to think about the three-year winning streak Noun 1. winning streak - a streak of wins streak, run - an unbroken series of events; "had a streak of bad luck"; "Nicklaus had a run of birdies" Los Angeles schools have at the event. They're trying not to think about the 47 other top teams of physics, chemistry, biology and computer science buffs they'll confront. ``We're all under a tremendous amount of pressure,'' said team captain Greg Marsden, a senior. ``That's why we have to keep our focus on taking it one question at a time. If everything works out, maybe we'll win, but it's an honor just to be there.'' The team leaves on a red-eye flight A red-eye flight is a flight operated by an airline late at night or very early in the morning, during the period from 9:00 p.m. to 5:00 a.m. local time. The term "red-eye" derives from the fatigue symptom of having red eyes. Red-eye flights are often called a "dry flight". tonight and will visit the city and meet other teams before the contest Sunday and Monday. A round-robin competition will begin at noon Sunday, followed by double-elimination rounds that evening. Those rounds will continue Monday morning until a winner is established around noon. In the game-show-style contest, two four-member teams sit poised over eight buzzers. At each question, the first contestant to slam the buzzer and respond correctly racks up a point for his or her team. The winning team will receive scientific equipment and a trip to Lindau, Germany, for a meeting of Nobel laureates Winners of the Nobel Prize are scientists, writers and peacemakers who have been awarded in their field of endeavour, and who are known collectively as either Nobel laureates or Nobel Prize winners. in chemistry. ``As strange as it sounds, the competition is really fun,'' Marsden said. ``It's also one of the most grueling things I've faced.'' A typical question might be as basic as, ``How many chromosomes are in a haploid cell haploid cell: see meiosis. of a human?'' said the team's coach, North Hollywood High School science teacher Koh Ikeda. (The answer is 23 - half the full number of human chromosomes.) Or it could be a bit of science trivia: ``Who was the Nobel Prize Nobel Prize, award given for outstanding achievement in physics, chemistry, physiology or medicine, peace, or literature. The awards were established by the will of Alfred Nobel, who left a fund to provide annual prizes in the five areas listed above. laureate in 1923 in chemistry?'' (That would be Fritz Pregl Fritz (Friderik) Pregl (September 3, 1869 – December 13, 1930) was a physician and chemist. He won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1923 for making important contributions to quantitative organic microanalysis, one of which was the improvement of the combustion train technique of Austria, for inventing a way to microanalyze organic substances.) Throughout the school year, the five team members have prepared for such brain-teasers by studying together four to six hours a week. Over the past week, they have stepped that up to four to six hours a day, Marsden said. Junior Iris Ahronowitz and seniors Marsden, Emily Wang, Emily Kuwahara and Michael Saji have puzzled through problem sets and pored over textbooks including college-level tomes on physics and molecular biology molecular biology, scientific study of the molecular basis of life processes, including cellular respiration, excretion, and reproduction. The term molecular biology was coined in 1938 by Warren Weaver, then director of the natural sciences program at the Rockefeller . If they win, they'll be the fourth Los Angeles area school in a row to claim the Science Bowl championship. Venice High School Venice High School may refer to:
To diffuse the tension, they have relied on humor, developing ``a whole repertoire of jokes that only we can understand,'' Marsden said. ``Whatever the outcome is, I'm proud of my team,'' Ikeda said. ``They've given their best and you can't ask for any more.'' CAPTION(S): Photo PHOTO From left, North Hollywood High School students Emily Kuwahara, Greg Marsden and Emily Wang answer questions from Michael Saji. David R. Crane/Daily News |
|
||||||||||||

Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion