Quiz bowl

Quiz Bowl
A quiz bowl team at the Harvard Certamen, with buzzers
Other namesQuizbowl, scholastic bowl, academic bowl, etc.
Years activec.1953present
GenresQuiz
Players210
Playing time~30 minutes (can vary)
Age rangeSchool-aged and up
Skillsrecall, knowledge, memory, reflex
Materials requiredLockout buzzer system, questions

Quiz bowl (quizbowl, scholars' bowl, scholastic bowl, academic bowl, academic team, academic challenge, etc.) is a family of quiz-based competitions that test players on a wide variety of academic subjects. Standardized quiz bowl formats are played by primary school, middle school, high school, and university students throughout North America, Asia, Europe, Australia, and Africa.

Quiz bowl competitions are typically played with a lockout buzzer system between at least two teams, usually consisting of four players each. A moderator reads questions to the players, who try to score points for their team by buzzing first and responding with the correct answer.

Quiz bowl is most commonly played in a tossup/bonus format, which consists of a series of two different types of questions. Other formats, particularly in local competitions, may deviate from the above rules, with additions like lightning rounds or category choice.