The competition got fierce at times Saturday during the 2006 Optimist Brain Bowl at Thomas Jefferson High School in Denver.
“It was tense and I was jittery,” said Dylan Hall 12, a student at Goddard Middle School in Littleton.
More than 500 Denver-area students competed in the tournament in which five-student teams from sixth, seventh and eighth grades showed off team skills and answered questions about math, history, science, literature and current events.
Some of the 30 questions included:
Question: The scape, a pedicel in the middle, and a long flagellum at the top are the main sections of what insect appendage?
Answer: An antenna.
Question: The Tehran conference during World War II was the first Allied meeting to include what Soviet dictator, who killed millions of his own people?
Answer: Josef Stalin.
But the non-school day competition was all about fun for those who competed in it.
“We were buzzer-happy,” said Natalie Mathay, 11, a student at Littleton Academy.
First-place winners Saturday in each grade were Goddard Middle School in Littleton, 6A; All Souls Middle School in Englewood, 7A; and Powell Middle School in Littleton, 8A.
First-place winners took home a trophy and can claim glory for their school.
Because of the growing popularity of the tournament, organizers hope to have a tournament of champions in the future if they can find enough volunteers, according to Connie Ackerman, director of academic programs at the University of Denver.
The organizers include Optimist clubs in Colorado and Wyoming that have formed a partnership with DU, Denver Public Schools and Boulder Valley Schools.
In January, a Brain Bowl was held at Fairview High School in Boulder for schools in the Boulder region. First-place winners were Louisville Middle School, 6A; Webber Middle School in Fort Collins, 7A; and Fort Morgan Middle School, 8A.
Staff writer Annette Espinoza can be reached at 303-820-1655 or aespinoza@denverpost.com.
