National Brain Bee Finals
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There are 2 levels of competition for Brain Bee:
- Intermediate Brain Bee (IBB) for Grades 6,7, and 8
- Senior Brain Bee (SBB) for Grades 9, 10, and 11
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Brain Bee is open to any child who meets the eligibility guidelines below:
- A contestant who participated in a higher-level bee, cannot participate at a lower level in subsequent years.
- A 1st rank winner at the National Finals is not eligible for competing at the same level in future brain bee contests conducted by the Foundation. National winners of IBB can participate ONLY in SBB. National winners of SBB are not eligible for future Brain Bee competitions.
- The contest is conducted in two phases for both levels; however, they are organized differently.
- The judges are in complete control of the competition and their decisions are final.
- Contestants are responsible to bring their own pencils and erasers.
- Contestants are seated by the badge number order from left to right.
- All sheets (including question and answer sheets) should be returned at the end of the contest. It is the responsibility of the contestant to write the badge number on the answer sheet.
- Unclear and illegible writing might be open for misinterpretation. Contestants are expected to write clearly and legibly.
- There will NOT be any partial credits for answers. There are NO negative points for any incorrect answers. If the final answer is incorrect, zero points are awarded, and if the answer is correct, one point is given.
- No recording of any kind is allowed - violations will lead to automatic disqualification from any brain bee for three years.
- Each contestant is given a booklet containing 25 questions and has 30 minutes to answer them.
- The questions may be multiple choice type or need one/a few words as answer.
- For multiple choice type question, the contestant has to choose the best answer from the choices and transfer the letter of choice to the answer sheet. There can be only one answer that is clearly written.
- When necessary for few questions, one/more words must be legibly written as answers.
- There will be 15 questions in Phase II. A student booklet will be given to record answers.
- The Phase II questions will be projected onto a screen. After each question, contestants will have 30 seconds to record the answer to the question.
- Questions will not be shown again.
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To break the ties in selecting the ranks, the scheme outlined below is followed in the order given:
- Phase I + II scores
- Phase II scores alone
- Phase I scores alone
- Phase I score among questions 21-25
- Phase I score among questions 16-20
- Phase I score among questions 11-15
- Phase I score among questions 1-10
- If the above steps fail to break the tie in question, the foundation may use additional measures including date of birth to resolve the tie.
- Each contestant is given a booklet containing 25 questions and has 30 minutes to answer them.
- The questions may be multiple choice type or need one/a few words.
- For multiple choice type question, the contestant has to choose the best answer from the choices and transfer the letter to the answer sheet. There can be only one answer that is clearly written.
- When necessary, one/more words must be legibly written as answers.
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To break the ties in selecting top candidates to move on to Phase II, the scheme outlined below is followed in the order given:
- Phase I score alone
- Phase I score among questions 21-25
- Phase I score among questions 16-20
- Phase I score among questions 11-15
- Phase I score among questions 1-10
- If the above steps fail to break the tie in question, the foundation may use additional measures including date of birth to resolve the tie.
- The top 12 to 15 candidates will be selected to enter Phase II contest.
- In each round, a question will be posted.
- The contestant will be required to register the answer in writing.
- All contestants have exactly 15 seconds to answer a question once it has been asked. Time starts as soon as the pronouncer has finished reading the question. If there is any confusion, contestants should ask for clarification immediately (put up their hands within three seconds). The clock stops until clarification is provided.
- After the answering time of 15 seconds is done, correct answers will be provided.
- Challenges may be raised by the participant as soon as an answer is declared. The judges will also decide if they will entertain any challenge. Frivolous challenges may lead to negative scores and/or loss of participation. The judging panel will decide on the validity of each challenge and any alternative answer.
- Once a contestant accumulates 2 or 3 incorrect answers, he/she will be eliminated from the competition. The exact number will be announced before the competition.
- All contestants will continue to answer questions until one winner is decided.
- The Foundation recognizes and awards only the top 3 ranks. No monetary awards are given.
Intermediate Brain Bee (IBB)
Phase I (Written):
Phase II (Lightning/Written):
Tiebreaker Rules:
Senior Brain Bee (SBB)
Phase I (Written):
Tiebreaker Rules for Phase I (Written):
Phase II (Oral/Written):
The contest is on the knowledge of Neuroscience. The contest is based around Brain Facts, which is the major source for questions in the competition. But please be advised not to expect ad verbatim question/answers!
Winners and Ranks:
What is the Brain Bee?
It is a live Q&A competition about the neuroscience for middle and high school students. The best young brains in our country are quizzed about the brain and how it relates to intelligence, memory, emotions, sensations, movement, stress, aging, sleep, and brain disorders such as drug addiction, Alzheimer's and stroke. The brain bee is an attempt to motivate our youth to learn about the brain, capture their imagination, and inspire them to pursue careers in biomedical research on brain
This brain bee contest is scheduled to take place during the NorthSouth National Finals. Please see the Program Schedule.
Due to rule changes in the format of the International Brain Bee, the first place NorthSouth Brain Bee winner will not immediately go to the International Brain Bee. Rather, he/ she will go to University of Maryland to compete in a national competition. The winner of that national competition will go to the International Brain Bee, which will be held in Canada. In other words, the NorthSouth winner is not guaranteed a spot in the International Brain Bee.
The International Brain Bee is founded and directed by Prof. Norbert Myslinski, University of Maryland, and is part of the International Brain Awareness Week. The BAW is an effort by brain scientists in 29 countries to educate the public about the importance of brain research, spearheaded by the DANA Alliance and the Society for Neuroscience. Please click here for information on the International Brain Bee.
How to Prepare for the Brain Bee?
Questions in the contest are mostly from the Brain Facts book
The following are the sample questions with Answers:
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Name the device that measures brain waves?Answer: Electroencephalograph
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The Greek word for the branches of a tree gives us the name of what part of a neuron?Answer: Dendrites
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Name a brain disorder named after a famous baseball player?Answer: Lou Gehrig's disease
How do I register?
You must register online from the NorthSouth website. Please click here to go to the home page of the National Finals.
The following links contain the preparatory material for the NorthSouth Brain Bee contests.