Prometheus Science Bowl Rules

Prometheus Science Bowl is a school-based competition. All participants on a team must attend the same school or provide reasonable evidence that they are home-schooled, in which case they must reside in the same state. Teams will be composed of anywhere from three to five participants and can include students in any grade within middle or high school (grades 6-12). Citizenship or residency is not required for participants, but any teams that win cash prizes may be required to show identification in order to receive them. Teams who win prizes will need a parent or teacher coach to accept it, but no coach is required during the tournament. If these requirements create undue hardship, teams may contact us to grant exceptions on a case-by-case basis.

Toss-up questions, worth 4 points, and bonus questions, worth 10 points, will be used in “pairs” of the same category during gameplay. Toss-up questions may be answered by any player on a team that has the opportunity to answer the question. The first team to correctly answer the toss-up question will receive the bonus question for that pair. If a team answers a toss-up question incorrectly, they will lose the opportunity to answer the question. If both teams answer the toss-up question incorrectly, the associated bonus will not be read. The question categories for Prometheus Science Bowl will be X-Risk, Biology, Chemistry, Earth and Space Science, Mathematics, and Physics. Rounds will consist of 24 toss-up and bonus pairs, with 4 of each category.

Questions are either multiple-choice or short answer. Multiple choice answers must be exact – either the letter or exact wording of the choice, including singular/plural. Short answer choices may not be exact, and variations on a particular answer are up to the moderator's discretion.

The only player who may answer a toss-up question is the one who activates the buzzer system (“buzzes in”) first. Before answering, they must wait to be verbally recognized by the moderator. If the player answers before being recognized (blurts), their answer will be judged as incorrect, regardless of its actual accuracy. The toss-up question will then be offered to the other team if they are still eligible to answer it. If the moderator accidentally recognizes a different person from the one who buzzed in, the person who buzzed in still has the right to answer the question; if any other person responds, their team will lose the opportunity to answer the question.

Players may buzz in at any point after the category name is read. If a team buzzes in before the moderator finishes reading the question (interrupts) and is incorrect, the moderator will reread the question in its entirety for the other team. If a team buzzes in after the moderator finishes reading the question, the question will not be reread. Teams will not be allowed to communicate on toss-ups, either verbally or nonverbally.

For bonus questions, any member of the team may answer, but should begin or end their answer with the word “final.” If no one says the word “final,” but an answer has clearly been given, a moderator may choose to accept the answer but is not required to. Teams may communicate verbally or nonverbally during bonus questions.

For all questions, the first response given, as determined by the moderator, will be the only acceptable response. Prefacing remarks such as “my answer is” may be allowed; the moderator may judge whether an answer is factually equivalent to the correct answer.

At any time during a toss-up question, if someone is clearly and audibly heard who has not been recognized, their team will lose the opportunity to answer the toss-up question. If a team interrupts a toss-up and a person on their team communicates or blurts, penalty points will be awarded to the other team. In all other cases, the infraction will be treated as an incorrect answer; no points will be given and the team will lose the chance to answer. If a team repeatedly, intentionally, and/or egregiously distracts the other team, they may be disqualified from the tournament.

Rounds will last until all questions are elapsed with no time limit. However, if a round is taking much longer than expected, tournament staff may use their discretion to end a round early to maintain the flow of the tournament.

Toss-up and bonus questions will be individually timed. Teams will receive 5 seconds to answer a toss-up after the moderator has finished reading the question in its entirety. After a team member has answered a toss-up question correctly, the team will have 20 seconds to answer the corresponding bonus question. After 15 seconds have elapsed, the moderator will give a “five seconds” warning as a courtesy, but they are not required to in a virtual format where the team can see the bonus timer. If no adequate answer (i.e. one with “final”) has been given after 20 seconds, the moderator will call “time” and the question will be judged incorrect. If the captain has begun saying the answer by time the moderator calls “time,” they may complete their answer.

Successfully answering a toss-up question will net a team 4 points, while a bonus will give 10 points. The only other way for teams to receive points will be from interrupt penalties. If a team buzzes in for a question before the moderator finishes reading it and answers it incorrectly, the other team will receive 4 points, even if that team has already interrupted. (That is, both teams can receive penalty points on a single question). No points will be given for blurts or distractions—see the last paragraph in Answers & Recognition.

If scores are tied at the end of a match, a series of 6 tossup questions (with no bonuses, but with all other rules, including interrupts) will be used to break the tie. If ties still exist after this series of questions, then sets of 6 questions will be played again until the tie is broken.

All scientific challenges will be sent directly to tournament officials, who will adjudicate the challenge and then provide a ruling and a resolution. If tournament officials take more than 2 minutes to respond to a challenge, a moderator may choose to continue the match and announce the challenge verdict once it is resolved.

Scientific challenges must be made before the moderator begins the next question (toss-up and bonus questions will be considered different questions for this purpose), or, for the last question of a round, within 10 seconds of the end of that round. All scientific challenges must come from team members who are actively competing. Teams may not use the internet at all during the round, including during challenges. Scientific challenges may only be made to question content; information on challenges to the rules is available in the Moderator Errors section below. Teams may only scientifically challenge twice unsuccessfully per round before being blocked from challenging again during that round.

Players must audibly indicate their challenges in a timely manner after the relevant question is completed. After indicating their challenges, players will have a brief opportunity to explain their challenge as well as indicate the answer they believe should be correct, if they wish to do so. Scientific challenges to toss-up questions can be resolved in one of three ways. If the challenge is unsuccessful, play will continue as normal. If the challenge is successful but the challenging player’s answer is also incorrect (or the challenging team is ineligible to answer the question), the question will be removed and a replacement will be provided. If the challenge is successful and the challenging player’s answer is correct (and the challenging team is eligible to answer the toss-up question), the challenging team will receive points for the toss-up question as well as interrupt penalties, if any, and will continue to the bonus question. If a challenge occurs to a bonus question and is successful, then the game will continue with the updated answer being considered correct.

In general, if a moderator does not follow the rules properly, players should make a rules challenge. The moderator should adjudicate the challenge as necessary; if a team is still concerned, they may appeal to a tournament director. Most situations involving moderator judgment (e.g. whether an answer is equivalent, whether a distraction has occurred, whether a player has interrupted, etc.) may not be challenged. A scientific challenge may be made if applicable (e.g. whether an answer is correct or equivalent).

If complicated scenarios occur, the moderator should remove the question and obtain a replacement from a director.

Instead of making a rules challenge, players should simply mention any scoring error to the moderator, who will adjust the scoreboard to ensure accuracy. If a player cannot pinpoint the exact error, the moderator may choose to move on to continue the flow of the game.

If a moderator prematurely reveals an answer, they should remove the question and obtain a replacement. Eligibility carries over in replacements - if a team has already answered the original question, they cannot answer the new question.

If a moderator severely misreads a question, they should reread it properly. If one or both teams have already answered, the moderator should remove the question and obtain a replacement from a moderator. Eligibility does not carry over in replacements - the original question should be ignored entirely.

If the moderator recognizes the wrong player, only the player who buzzed may answer, not the person who was recognized. If the wrong player gives an answer, it should be considered a blurt and their team should lose the chance to answer. If the moderator does not realize their mistake, a player may make a rules challenge and a moderator should obtain a replacement as necessary. Eligibility does not carry over - the original question should be ignored entirely.

If a moderator forgets to set the clock, they should use their best judgment to determine when the time for the question expires. This cannot be challenged, but if a moderator makes a major mistake (such as only allowing 5 seconds on a bonus), they can use their best judgment to time properly or may obtain a replacement.