Culture Bowl

Location

TBD

Time

TBD

Eligible Teams

Only one team can represent each school. Within the competition there are two levels: High school and Junior High/Middle School. Each team will have four team members: a captain and three other players. Culture Bowl team members should not be registered to participate in other competitions because of scheduling difficulties.

Competition Format and Procedures

1. The Culture Bowl is a single-elimination, tournament organized in a bracket.
2. Each team must be pre-registered and no team will be eligible for the competition that has not pre-registered.
3. The competition will consist of a series of matches.
   
   1. Two teams will participate in each match.
   2. The winning team will go on to the next round.
   3. The losing team will drop out and receive its ranking: round 1 will receive “Bien”; round 2, “Très Bien”; round 3, “Excellent”; round 4, “Mention Spéciale”; and the runner-up, “Exceptionnel.”
4. Each match will last 5 minutes or until a certain number of questions have been asked.
5. Before each match begins, a team chart must be filled out and submitted to the officials before the match begins out:
   
   1. Team charts may be picked up outside the contest area.
6. Each team should be ready to enter the contest room two minutes before their match is scheduled to begin.
   
   1. If a team is not at the contest room at the time the match is scheduled to begin, they will forfeit the match.
7. After each match, the winner will be slated for the next round according to the posted schedule.
   
   1. The schedule will be posted outside the competition rooms.
8. No spectators, teachers, coaches, friends, enemies, etc. are allowed in the contest rooms during the matches.

Match Rules

1. The first student to buzz in will have the first chance to answer the question.
   
   1. A correct answer will earn 10 points.
   2. An incorrect answer will lose 10 points and give the opposing team an opportunity to answer the same question for 5 points.
2. No match will end in a tie.
   
   1. In case of a tie during the last 30 seconds of the match, a tie-breaker round will be held with questions NOT taken from the cards.
   2. Each team will be asked a question.
      
      1. If one team answers correctly, and the other team incorrectly, then the match is over.
      2. If both teams answer correctly or incorrectly, then both teams will be asked additional questions until a team has won by one point.

Questions Used:

General topics for the Culture Bowl are 1) culture (food & drink, sports/arts, life, and famous people), 2) history, 3) geography.

Questions for this year’s tournament will be drawn from the following sources:

1. Teacher’s Discovery French Cultural Trivia Game (now available in digital format)
2. Wikipedia: New Caledonia
3. Basic information about officially Francophone countries, such as: capital, general location, relative size / population. Find a list of Francophone countries here.

Judging

Judges rulings are final. If a team loses, they should take their score sheet to the certificate table where they will be given the recognition by the Certificate Writers.

Note important addition: Any complaints must be lodged immediately following the match by the team captain. An arbitrator will give an immediate and final judgment on any questions.