Sartartia Middle School

Science Bowl is a nationwide academic team competition that tests students' knowledge in all areas of science and mathematics. Middle school teams are made up of 4 students, 1 alternate, and a teacher to serve as the student's coach/advisor. Teams face-off in a fast-paced question-and-answer format, being tested on a range of science disciplines including Biology, Chemistry, Earth science, Physics, Energy, and Mathematics. 

Here at Sartartia, all students have an opportunity to tryout. Students are selected for the team based on their performance during tryouts, where their skills and potential are evaluated. Individual placement is then determined by each student’s dedication and motivation to improve by attending regular practices at school, studying at home, supporting their teammates, and staying committed to the goals of the club. Those who consistently put in effort and show a strong commitment to growth are best positioned to succeed and contribute positively to the team.

During the 2025-2026 school year, our A Team placed 2nd at the Regional competition at A&M during February, which then led to an invitation to Nationals in Washington DC at the beginning of May. While there, the team placed 9th overall out of the 48 teams that attended from around the nation!

Tryouts have been closed for the 2025-2026 School year. Tryouts for the A team for the 2026-2027 school year will take place in the spring.

Practices are every Wednesday after school from 4:20-5:30 PM in room 427.

For more information please contact Ms. Brittany Knox.

Email: brittany.knox@fortbendisd.gov 

How to do well on National Science Bowl

• Understanding all the content: The concepts asked in NSB go beyond the school curriculum, so you need to go deeper into the different subjects. The High School Nationals is significantly harder and requires using many topic specific textbooks (for example, Organic Chemistry or Cell Biology). Olympiad Preparation (USABO, USNCO, USAPHO, USAAO, USESO) helps a lot as well. Many accompanying resources (like Chapter Notes, Videos) can be useful for learning and review as well.
• Being able to answer fast: NSB is a buzzer-based competition, so you need to practice fast buzzing speeds especially for the toss-up rounds.
• ​Subject and Topic coverage: This is a team event where 4 members compete (with 1 alternate). It is best to divide the topics such that every topic is covered across the team.
• ​Practice Team Strategies: To maximize your chances, you need to work on team strategies like taking notes, non-verbal clues, and double checking answers. 

Tips for Fast Buzzing

• Know the content extremely well: The better understanding you have of a topic, the less time it will take for you to figure out the answer.
• Exact Answer for multiple choice: Remember that for multiple choice questions, your answer must be exactly as written in the answer choices. So it is generally better to just say w, x, y, or z. This is also why it’s risky to buzz before the choices are read. 
• Buzz as soon as you hear the correct choice: When you are confident of the answer, just buzz as soon as the answer choice (w, x, y) is spoken. And if you realize that w, x, and y are not correct, then you can buzz right after y and give the answer as z (don’t even need to wait for the reader to finish reading z)
• Predict the answer choice: Sometimes, you can predict the format of the choices after hearing the first option (w), and then you can guess the exact wording of an upcoming answer choice. 
• Predict the question: Sometimes, you don’t need to wait for the question to be finished. A few words in the beginning may hint at what the question might be asking.

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