Maui High team makes its mark in Science Bowl

What is the most common term used in genetics to describe the observable physical characteristics of an organism caused by the expression of a gene or set of genes?

If you answered “phenotype,” you are correct.

If the area of a regular pentagon is 280 square centimeters, what is the length, in centimeters, of each side if the apothem is 16 centimeters? You said 7? Correct!

One more question: Without leap days every four years, the winter solstice would start on what month and day after 70 years? You have five seconds. Go!

These were the questions facing more than 100 high school students at this year’s Hawaii State Science Bowl. Science Bowl is like “Jeopardy,” but instead of pop culture and history, they are answering questions about complex derivatives and types of spectacular electric discharge. Teams are made up of no more than five high school students, four “on the court” at one time. A correct answer is four points plus a chance to answer a bonus question worth 10 points. Since its inception in 1994, the State Science Bowl has seen more than 1,900 students who will become our future entrepreneurs, engineers, doctors and inventors.

Meet Laney Flanagan, One Jae Lee, Kaitlyn Takeno and Josh Lee. They are members of one of the two Maui High School Science Bowl teams for 2018.

Flanagan is the captain. She’s a senior on her way to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She said she always has been interested in science, but credits her freshman science teacher for bringing her interest to another level.

One Jae Lee is a senior inspired to study science because of his love of the ocean. Not just fishing and diving, but studying the organisms that call the ocean home.

“He has these shrimps called triops, and he’s been talking about then nonstop since he got them,” Flanagan said.

Takeno is a junior who has aspirations to work in the medical field. It was not until middle school that an amazing teacher sparked her interest in science.

Josh Lee is a junior who looks up to science’s unsung heroes. He is also fascinated by space. He used to borrow books about the solar system from the public library and read about life beyond Earth.

“Once you set a standard, nothing is good enough except a win,” said Ed Ginoza, a former Maui High science teacher who started the team in 1995 and still coaches it today.

Maui High has a tradition of winning when it comes to Science Bowl. In 2002 Maui High became the first public school to win it all.

Flanagan, One Jae Lee, Takeno, Josh Lee and Ginoza were sitting in a classroom at Honolulu Community College on a Saturday. On the other side of the room was a team from Punahou School. A moderator began asking a physics question. Before he was finished, Flanagan buzzed in with the correct answer. The team got the bonus question right, too, giving the team 14 points on the board. The moderator asked a geometry question. Within two seconds Takeno buzzed in with the correct answer. This instant offense went on for the next 15 minutes. When the final buzzer sounded, it was Maui High over Punahou by more than 70 points. Flanagan ran to her coach jumping up and down.

At the end of the day, it was not Maui High, but Punahou that won the chance to represent the state in the National Science Bowl in Washington, D.C.

“Regardless of the end result, we were really happy with how we did,” Flanagan said.

The next weekend, Flanagan, One Jae Lee and a Maui High team led by Ginoza competed in the Aloha Bowl and won. In April the team will be on its way to the National Ocean Sciences Bowl to compete for a national championship.

When asked how the team members apply science to their everyday life, Flanagan said, “My grandpa makes really fluffy pancakes. When I asked him how, he told me he uses baking soda and lime juice. I was like, ‘That’s carbon dioxide!’”

Lauren Tonokawa is a graduate of the University of Hawaii and leads the communications team at Elemental Excelerator. The organization is actively seeking startups and entrepreneurs to award funding up to $1 million. Go to elementalexcelerator.com/apply.