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Scholar Quiz at MCHS and MBMS

June 9th, 2014

These past few weeks excitement waas in the air as Scholar Quiz took place! Both the Mira Costa High School study body and the Manhattan Beach Middle School student body, both competed in what we like the call, “The Scholar Quiz.”

Teams of 4 compete in different rounds of Lightning Rounds and Bonus Rounds. During the bonus rounds, you can score up to 20 points. Scholar Quiz’s premise is the same as that of the popular game ‘Jeopardy’. Each team includes four students. The the game consists of two teams of four students each, a Reader, Judge, and a Scorer.

Other schools put on their own Scholar Quiz as well. The idea started at Mira Costa High School in Manhattan Beach. Mr. Cooper, former PV High Econ teacher and Football coach, and  Barton, PV High teacher, took the idea from Costa. Both teachers attended and taught at Mira Costa High School. Cooper approached Barton, and PV High’s Scholar Quiz began in 2005.

There are three types of questions asked in the Scholar Quiz- Toss Up, Bonus, and Lightning Round questions. A toss up question is one that either team can answer. The first team raising a placard is given the first opportunity to answer. If they answer incorrectly,  the second team has a chance to answer the same question. A toss up question may lead to a Bonus Round. The Bonus Round includes a specific topic with four questions. This round is where teammates work together to come up with the final answer. Only the team that wins the Toss Up can benefit from the Bonus Round. A Lightning Round question is one where ten questions are given in quick succession to the teams, with each team being allowed to answer only once. If a team answers a Lightning Round question incorrectly, they are penalized with a loss of points.

Pictured below are the winners from the MCHS Scholar Quiz

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Pictured below are the winners from the MBMS Scholar Quiz

 

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Parras Middle School 2014 Science Fair

April 30th, 2014

Parras Middle School 2014 Science Fair

It’s Science Fair season once again! We are excited to return as judges to Parras Middle School in Redondo Beach on Wednesday May 14th. The students have been hard at work hypothesizing and experimenting and we cannot wait to see what they have come up with this year! As we saw last year, there is no limit to a child’s imagination. The most talked about and memorable experiment amongst our tutors was titled “Fat Cats: Is your cat overweight?” in which a student “interviewed” several cats of various weights and tested their mental abilities. He theorized a high correlation between heavier weights and lower mental ability. In conclusion, he found significant evidence that proved his hypothesis to be true.

To prepare for this year’s science fair, we are currently working closely with the Parras science teachers to create a unique grading rubric for each student’s project and presentation that will correspond with the project guidelines that have been provided to the students. Last year, each student took his or her turn presenting their project to a pair of judges. After they completed their presentations, the judges asked them a series of questions about their experiments and findings.

It was a great experience last to year to see some of our regular students in action at their school, presenting projects some of us tutors even helped them create! We are looking forward to this year’s science fair and hoping we can help make it a fun and memorable experience for the teachers, students, and their families. It is our greatest pleasure to give back to a community that continues to give us its infinite support.