Overview

An academic question and answer competition between 2 teams, played in single-elimination rounds.  

Number of Entries

1 team per school (4 students max play at a time)

Judging

The Moderator will serve as the judge for the rounds.  There are no practice rounds.  Teams advance through single-elimination rounds.

Procedure

The rules for this competition are extensive.  Sponsors should familiarize themselves with these rules and should ensure, through practice, that all team members are very familiar with how this competition operates in order to compete appropriately and enjoyably.

GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS

1. Questions — though not verbatim — are prepared from the bank of questions provided on this site (see links below).
2. The previous year’s winning team, if participating, will receive a “bye” on the first round of the seed chart.
3. Teams must be accompanied by a teacher sponsor or designated adult representative when competing in a round.
4. Teams can have up to six (6) members, but only four (4) may play during a round. Fewer may play, if need be.  Substitutions of alternates may only occur between rounds.  One playing team member must be designated as team Captain.
5. A team will forfeit its round if not present within 5 minutes of the designated start time for the round.
6. Observers are welcome; however, once a round has begun, no one is to enter or exit the room. Observers must remain quiet; there should be no talking or clapping until the entire round is over.  Disruptive observers will be removed from the room.
7. Tape recorders, video cameras, or student aids are not permitted. Pencils and paper are provided to each team.  These supplies will be collected after each round.
8. A round consists of ten (10) “Toss-up” questions, worth one (1) point each and as many “Bonus” questions as needed per round. Bonus questions are worth a total of four (4) points, each part valued at one (1) point.
9. Points are scored by correct answers to questions asked by the Moderator. There is no penalty for answering questions incorrectly.
10. The answers provided on the game script are the official answers. If the Moderator or a teacher finds that an answer is incorrect, a protest should be lodged.  The Moderator will determine if the question should be thrown out.
11. At the end of each round, the scorekeeper announces the score. If the score is tied, the tie is broken by a sudden death play-off of Toss-up questions. The team providing the first correct answer wins the round.
12. At the end of the competition, the winner of the final round is the winner.  In the event of a tie, the team with the highest average points per round is the winner (average points per round=a team’s total points earned divided by the number of rounds it played).  If there is still a tie, then another complete round of competition will be played to break the tie.
13. If an active player or coach wishes to protest procedures or scores, the protest must be lodged and resolved before the reading of the next question. The Moderator’s decision is final. After a competition is completed, there can be no protests of the results.
14. The Moderator will be a college professor when possible, or another adult with adequate experience and knowledge of French and quiz bowl competitions.
15. The Moderator enforces all the rules of the game in a fair and judicious manner. S/he runs the game. The other officials are there to back him/her up and to intervene only when the Moderator cannot handle the situation alone.
16. The Moderator must be able to see and hear all the action of the game, players, announcers, visual props, scoreboard and clock.
17. The Moderator enforces the 5-second rule on Toss-up questions and the 20-second rule on Bonus questions. When a player or team takes too long to answer, the Moderator enforces the time limit, ending the response window and moving on tot he next question.
18. The Moderator is to be thoroughly familiar with the questions and answers, and is to be ready to rule, upon request, on the acceptability of an answer. The Moderator may disallow an answer to any question upon prompting from the audience or any other member of the team on Toss-up.
19. The Scorekeeper keeps the official team and scoreboard scores. The scoreboard should be plainly visible for all to see.
20. The Timer is responsible for the signal to indicate the start and end of each round and for monitoring the time of each Toss-up and Bonus question.

TOSS-UP QUESTIONS (Scholar Bowl Toss-up Questions (2019 revision))

1. Any team member may press her/his buzzer to signal that s/he intends to answer the Toss-up question. The first play to buzz-in will be recognized by the Moderator.  S/he must wait until the Moderator acknowledges her/him before giving an answer.
   • If a player signals and gives an answer, correctly or incorrectly, before being recognized by the Moderator, the question will be offered to the other team.
   • If a player signals that s/he intends to answer, is recognized by the Moderator, yet another teammate responds to the question out of turn, correctly or incorrectly, the question will be offered to the other team.
2. Players will be given 5 seconds to buzz-in from the time the Moderator stops reading the question. Once the player is recognized, s/he must begin to answer within 5 seconds.
3. The first response given by a recognized player is the one that counts.
   • If a player answers the Toss-up question correctly, his/her team scores one (1) point and is given a chance at a Bonus question.
   • If the answer is incorrect, the Moderator will ask the opposing team for an answer. A player on the opposing team must buzz-in and answer within 5 seconds thereafter.  After the 5-second time limit has been called, any player’s response will not count.
4. A player on either team may interrupt the Moderator to answer a Toss-up question before it has been completely read. When a player’s buzzer sounds, the Moderator will immediately stop reading the question.
   • If the player’s answer is correct, the team earns the point.
   • If the player’s answer is incorrect, the question is repeated in its entirety for the opposing team, if no member of that team has buzzed-in. That team must answer within 5 seconds.
5. If a player confers with or signals to another teammate, the other team, or an audience member during a Toss-up question, the team loses the opportunity to answer that Toss-up question. The same question is offered to the other team who must answer within 5 seconds.
6. If, after Team A misses an answer to a Toss-up question, the Moderator inadvertently gives the answer before giving Team B an opportunity to answer, the Moderator will select another question from the extra questions in the round and give only Team B a chance to answer.
7. If someone in the audience shouts out an answer before either team has a chance to answer or after Team A has attempted and failed to answer correctly and the Moderator has not had a chance to turn the question over to Team B, then the Moderator discards the question and selects a Toss-up from the emergency questions.

BONUS QUESTIONS (Scholars Bowl Bonus Questions)

1. The team Captain will answer Bonus questions for the team, or s/he will designate which player will answer instead.
2. Unlike a Toss-up question, team members may confer for 20 seconds after a Bonus question has been read. At the end of 15 seconds the timekeeper will say “5 seconds” and say “Time” at the end of the 20 seconds.  The team Captain, or designated team member, must then answer immediately.
3. While conferring, the responding team may ask for the Bonus question to be repeated (in part or in whole), but the time taken for this re-reading is included in the 20 seconds total. Time is called at the end of 20 seconds if the answer has not begun.
4. Since Bonus questions have multiple parts, the Moderator will read the question in its entirety, and the team will have 20 seconds to begin its answer. One (1) point will be given for each correct part of the 4-part answer.
5. The opposing team should listen carefully to the Bonus questions, since incorrectly answered and unanswered Bonus questions shall then be offered to them. Their Captain or designee must begin answering immediately.  Bonus questions will NOT be re-read on the bounce-back.
6. As always, if an audience member shouts the answer, the Moderator will throw out the entire Bonus question and select another Bonus question from a list of spare questions.

Questions

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