4th Annual McMaster Brain Bee

Department of Psychology, Neuroscience & Behaviour

Faculty of Science, McMaster University

February 20, 2007

1:00 PM – 4:30 PM

12:00-1:00  Lobby: Arrival of contestants 

  • A registration table will be set up in the lobby. 
  • Sandwiches and refreshments will be available in the lobby.
  • Psychology graduate and undergraduate students will welcome the contestants and enter their names exactly as they want them spelled on the participation certificates. 
  • The lobby will be decorated with posters and other displays, and students and faculty will be available to chat with the contestants and other visitors.

1:00   Room 155: Introduction and Welcome

  • Visitors will be directed to take their seats in the auditorium. 
  • Dr. Judith Shedden will start things off with a short welcome presentation.
  • Dr. John Capone, the Dean of Science, will also be there to welcome the Brain Bee participants. 
  • The afternoon schedule, and the Brain Bee question, answer, and elimination rules will be summarized.  The Brain Bee volunteers will be introduced. 

1:10   Part 1: Question Rounds with written answers

  • Contestants take their places in chairs facing the audience and the clock. 
  • Each student will have a pen and notepad with their contestant numbers and question numbers written on each page. 
  • A series of questions will be presented, one at a time, and each read aloud twice.  Upon the last word of the sentence, the clock will start and students will have 30 seconds to write down the answer.  Correct spelling is not crucial.  At the end of the 30 seconds, the written answers will be collected, and the correct answer will be read out loud. 
  • Each correct answer is worth 10 points.

1:40   Part 2: Question Rounds with written answers

  • A series of questions will be presented, one at a time, and each read aloud twice.  Upon the last word of the sentence, the clock will start and students will have 30 seconds to write down the answer.  Correct spelling is not crucial.  At the end of the 30 seconds, the written answers will be collected, and the correct answer will be read out loud.  
  • Each correct answer is worth 15 points.

2:10   Lobby: Refreshment Break

  • Refreshments are provided in the lobby.
  • Group photo of all the contestants. 

2:30   Room 155: Why do I study the brain?

  • Brief talks will be given by Dr. Dick Day (Associate Dean of Science), Dr. Betty Ann Levy (Chair of Psychology, Neuroscience & Behaviour), Dr. Scott Watter (faculty of PNB), Mayu Nishimura (graduate student of PNB), Aaron Hackett (McMaster undergraduate in the BioPsych Program, and previous Brain Bee winner), and Sanket Ullal (high school student and previous Brain Bee winner).

2:45   Part 3: Question Rounds with written answers

  • A series of questions will be presented, one at a time, and each read aloud twice.  Upon the last word of the sentence, the clock will start and students will have 30 seconds to write down the answer.  Correct spelling is not crucial.  At the end of the 30 seconds, the written answers will be collected, and the correct answer will be read out loud.  
  • Each correct answer is worth 20 points.

3:15   Short Break: Points tallied

  • During this short break, contestants and audience can stretch their legs while the final points are tallied.

3:30   Part 4: Brain Bee Elimination Rounds

  • After the break, the contestants will take their seats in the audience.  Five chairs will be placed at the front of the room.  The names of the 5 students who have won the most points will be announced.  Those students will each take a chair at the front of the room as their name is called.  If there is a tie for 5th place, another chair will be added and a 6th person will advance. 
  • The remaining students will remain seated, and applause will be invited to acknowledge their excellent performance. 
  • The elimination rounds will proceed until there is only one person standing.  On each round, each student will stand and go to the podium to receive their question.  The question will be read twice.  The clock will then start and the student will have 15 seconds to answer.  When an incorrect answer is given, the correct answer will be read out.  If the correctness of an answer is ambiguous, the judges will be called on to make the decision. 
  • At the end of each round, the number of incorrect answers for each student will be read out.  When a student has made three incorrect answers, that student will be seated in the audience and applause will be given for the excellent performance of the student stepping down.  The chair will be removed.  The next round will begin. 
  • If the 3rd and 4th place students are eliminated in the same round, they will participate in a round-off to determine 3rd place. 
    • During a round-off, two students field questions.  If both students answer correctly or incorrectly, another set of questions is asked.  The rounds continue until one correct and one incorrect answer is provided. 
    • The student with the correct answer wins the round off and is awarded 3rd place. 
  • Both students then take their seats in the audience and applause is invited to thank them for their excellent performance.  Their chairs are removed.
  • When there are 2 students left, a round-off will determine 2nd and 1st place winners.
    • The final round-off follows the same format as above.

4:00   Award Ceremony

  • Awards and prizes will be presented to the winners and to all the contestants. 
  • Group photos will be taken in Room 155 and in the Lobby. 

 

 

 

Thanks to all our Brain Bee contestants,

Brain Bee volunteers

And all the other people involved in this year’s successful event!

 

The very best of luck and best wishes for enjoyable studying

as our 4th Annual McMaster Brain Bee winner

prepares for the International Brain Bee

in Baltimore, Maryland, in March 2007

 

 

We invite you to join us next year

At the 5th Annual McMaster Brain Bee

http://brain.mcmaster.ca/BrainBee