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National Science Challenge
Presented by	Tim Chokkamolkij (2004-2005) Cheryl Liew(2006–2007) Stephanie Carrington (2008-Present)
Country of origin	Singapore
No. of episodes	82
Production
Running time	30 minutes (2004–2009, Season Premieres) 60 minutes (2010-Present)
Original release
Network	MediaCorp Channel 5
Release	2004 (2004) – present

The National Science Challenge is a annual science competition for secondary schools, sponsored by A*STAR and the Singapore Science Centre. It is broadcasted on Channel 5. The latest champion is Raffles Institution, winning their 6th title, making them the most successful team in the competition.

Background

Launched in 2004, the National Science Challenge aims to promote science among students and the local public. The national schools science competition provides a fun and informal learning experience for the participants and promotes science education. It is co-organised by the Singapore Science Centre, and A*STAR, with support from the Ministry of Education, Singapore Each season lasted 7 episodes (8 from 2010, with the inclusion of the audition episode). There have been a total of 82 episodes aired.

History

2004 - 2005: Early Years

Although officially named "National Science Challenge 2004", Auditions had in fact started in the end of 2003. 16 schools were selected to go to the televised quarter finals. The eventual champions was Raffles Girls' School (Secondary). In 2005, back for a second season, another 16 Secondary 3 teams were selected for this round of competition. Swiss Cottage Secondary School emerged as champions, while previous champions Raffles Girls School finishing runners-up.

2006 - 2007: New Host, New Format

The National Science Challenge returned for a third season in 2006, with new host Cheryl Liew. This round, schools took part in the quarter finals was reduced to 12. Noticeably missing was 2004 champions, and 2005 runners-up Raffles Girls School. In the end, Raffles Institution emerged as champions for the first time. This also started the dominance of Raffles Institution, which made it to the grand finals in every year after this. Raffles Institution also won in 2007.

2008 - 2009: Another New Host

Stephanie Carrington took over as host. The quarter finals format used 4 teams in 2008. (2 teams who scored the highest qualified whereas the other 2 will be eliminated.) The rest of the contest format resumes with 3-team format. Raffles Institution emerged champions for the 3rd time in a row. These years were also notable for the removal of the outdoor challenge segment, and the introduction of the Judge's Bonus Round. In 2009, Bukit Panjang Government High School broke Raffles Institution's winning streak at the grand finals, winning the champion for the 1st time.

2010 - 2011: Expansion to 1 Hour

Expanded to a 1 hour format, the new show included a new competition format. There was also the addition of the Audition Episode which was aired as the first episode. Raffles Institution won the champion for the 4th time in 2010, beating the former winner, Bukit Panjang Government High School. This year was also notable for the controversial buzzing strategy of Raffles Institution, which during the semi finals kept buzzing in ahead of contestants and saying 'we don't know' as the 1 point deducted would have been better than 3 points gained to the team that answered the question correctly. In the final, RI instead buzzed in once the question appeared, sped-read the questions and answered within the 3 second time limit given. This resulted in them scoring a record 31 points in the buzzer round in the grand finals which gave them the win. To work around this, in 2011, contestants claimed that the screen with the questions in the studio went black once a team buzzed in, presumably to counter the strategy RI had employed. In the end, Raffles Institution still won the competition for the 5th time.

2012: New segment

The game format was given a shake up, with a new 'facts of life' segment giving the two reserve members a chance to play a part in the competition. The buzzer round was also made significantly harder, ostensibly to help counter Raffles Institution's strength in the buzzer round. However, this resulted in farcical buzzer rounds in the semi finals and finals. In Semi Final 1, only one question was (incorrectly) answered throughout the whole round, with no takers for the remaining questions. In Semi Final 2, RI kept answering questions, but ended up scoring nothing having answered the same amount of questions correctly and incorrectly. The other 2 teams also scored nothing. In the Final, RI scored -4, with the other finalists Bukit Panjang Government High and CHIJ St. Nicholas scoring zero. RI finished third in this year, making it their lowest ever finish in the challenge since 2005. The eventual Champion was Bukit Panjang Government High, winning it for a second time.

2013: Anniversary X

The show returned, branded as National Science Challenge Anniversary X, being the 10th season. The game format stayed the same in 2013, with the buzzer rounds made slightly easier. The final was also held at the larger auditorium in MediaCorp, rather than the smaller studio that taped the rest of the game rounds. Raffles Girls School (Secondary) won the title this year, making it the second time they won.

2014: New judges

The show returned for an 11th season. The format was once again altered and the number of teams in the quarter finals were increased to 16 from the usual 12. Noticeably missing in the quarter finals were both Hwa Chong Institution and Nanyang Girls' High School, and also River Valley High School. The Quarter Finals also claimed many high-profile casualties, with defending champions RGS and 2012 champions Bukit Panjang Government High School all going out. This was also the first time that the rapid fire round was absent, and also for the studio demonstration round being replaced with a new round (What's Your Hunch?) in the semi finals onwards. The judges were also frequently rotated, although the anchor judges were officially Dr. Tara Huber and Dr. Shawn Hoon from A*STAR The School of Science and Technology, finished third on their debut appearance, with NUS High taking second, and RI reclaiming the championship title after 3 years. It also meant that RI had won the title a total of 6 times, out of 12 competition cycles.

Game Format

Rounds used by the show

Round Robin

Years Used: 2004 and 2005
Prior to the round, teams played a "Fastest Fingers First" to determine the order of play. There were 5 subjects, and the first team would choose first and so on. There were 5 Multiple Choice Questions, each worth 2 points, although one was designated as an "Eureka!" Question, which was worth 4 points. Teams had 25 seconds to answer all 5 questions, and passing was not allowed. An additional bonus point was awarded to the fastest team to answer all 5 questions correctly. As such, the theoretical maximum points from this round was 13 points.

True or False?

Years Used: 2006
Each team started with a bank of 10 points. Teams would see a total of 10 statements, and they had to buzz in to say if it was true or false. A correct answer scored 1 point, an incorrect answer resulted in a point deducted.

MCQ Round

Years Used: 2007
In this round, teams were given 3 MCQs and had 5 seconds to answer each one. A correct answer scored 2 points, an incorrect answer did not result in any penalty.

Crossword Round

Years Used: 2008 - 2011
Teams had to solve a crossword puzzle, with the clues provided. In 2008, teams each had a crossword puzzle. Prior to the round, teams had to unscramble an anagram to see who went first. There were 5 categories to choose from: Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Mathematics and Applied Science. Teams had 45 seconds to solve the crossword which had 3 questions. Each correct answer scored 3 points. In 2009, teams faced the same crossword puzzle, and had 10 seconds to key in the answer each question. There were 3 (4 from 2010) questions. Teams who answer correctly scored 5 (4 from 2010) points for answering within the first 5 seconds, and 2 for answering in the last 5 seconds. There was no penalty for incorrect answers.

Studio Demonstration

Years Used: 2004 - present (QF only in 2014)
A staple of the National Science Challenge, teams would present on a set topic for 90 seconds. In some years the time limit was 75 seconds. In 2004 and 2005, it was combined with the outdoor challenge (see below). From 2006, it had its own individual segment. It was worth a maximum of 12 points. From 2010 onwards, the maximum was 20 points. The judges would also give their feedback to the teams.

What's Your Hunch?

Years Used: 2014 (Semi-finals onwards) - present
The Studio Demonstration Round was replaced by What's Your Hunch in the Semi Finals and Grand Finals. In this round, the two members not presenting in the Facts of Life segment would be shown a certain scientific phenomenon. They had 10 minutes to discuss the phenomenon, before being given 60 seconds (and a flipchart) to show their findings. Similarly, after the all teams presented, the judges would give their feedback, and also show the right answer (even if the teams might have gotten it right). Teams could also score a maximum of 20 points.

Outdoor Challenge

Years Used: 2004 - 2007, 2010 - present

2004 and 2005

The outdoor challenge was combined with the studio demonstration round. After seeing a brief clip on their outdoor challenge, the team then gives a 90 second presentation on the challenge topic. The judges then give a score out of 30.

2006 and 2007

The studio demonstration round was separated from the outdoor challenge this time. Teams had to complete various challenges. The winning team earned 20 points, the runner up 18 points, and the third place 16.

2010 to 2013

After a two year absence, the outdoor challenge returned with a new name, the on-site challenge. The winner of the challenge scored 20 points, runner up scoring 16 points (15 in 2012 and 2013) and the third place scoring 12 points (10 in 2012 and 2013). What made it different from previous years was that teams did not know the outcome of the challenge until they were at the studio, during the recording. At the same time, in 2010 and 2011, reactions of the team members watching the clip were also shown. In the first semi final of 2013, an exception was made to the scoring as both RGS and NUS High School were declared joint winners of the round, both scoring 20 points, and the third team, ACS (I), scoring 10.

2014 to present

The scoring format for the onsite challenge was revamped. In the past, due to the large difference in scores between 1st and 3rd, and also the points scoring format of the game, the team that finished third often could not possibly win the game. In this season, teams were scored in pretty much the same way the studio demonstration round was scored, in which the first placed team in the challenge did not score a fixed amount of points based on their placement in the challenge. For example, the scores for the round could be 12, 11, 10 and 8 for the four teams. This also helped to show the disparity of the actual performances in the challenge. It is currently unclear what the maximum possible score teams can earn in this round, although it is thought to be 20.

Facts of Life

Years Used: 2012 - present
In this round, two team members that did not present in the studio demonstration round were sequestered from the rest and were given one hour to solve a task which involved the use of everyday items. They had 1 minute to present their solution. The team members would also field questions from the judges. Judges then input a score of between 1 and 5 for the team. In 2012, the individual judges scores were shown to the viewer. From 2013 onwards, only the total score was shown. The maximum score was 15, and the minimum score was 3.

Judge's Bonus Question

Years Used: 2008 - 2013
The judges would set a practical question, with three possible answers. Teams had 5 seconds to input their answer. A correct answer was worth an additional 2 points, 5 from 2010.

Rapid Fire Round

Years Used: 2004 - 2013
Teams would buzz in to answer as many questions as possible. The time limits and points awarded have varied over the years (see table below). Teams could also use the Eureka card here. Eureka Cards were earned by being the top scoring team(s) in all the rounds (except Round 1, 2007) before the Rapid Fire Round which was always played as the last round of the game. Teams indicated use of the card by shouting 'Eureka!' before giving their answer. In addition, prior to 2010, they also had to raise the 'Eureka!' Lollipop as well. Scoring:

Year	Time Limit	Correct Answer	Incorrect Answer	Correct Answer (Eureka)	Incorrect Answer (Eureka)
2004-2005	2 minutes	3 (1 if partial)	-1
2006	2 minutes	2	-1
2007	1 minute 45 seconds	2	-1	4	-2
2008	1 minute 45 seconds	2	-1	5	-2
2009	1 minute 45 seconds	3	-1	5	-2
2010	2 minutes 30 seconds	3	-1	5	-2
2011	2 minutes	3	-1	5	-2
2012 - 2013	1 minute 30 seconds	2	-2	4	-4

Rapid Response Round

Years Used: 2014 - present
There were 8 questions in this round. A question with a one word answer will be given, along with the number of characters the answer has. A correct answer scored 3 points, and an incorrect answer (or non-answer) scored -3 points. Teams had to indicate use of the Eureka card by raising their hand when asked by the host after reading the question. When the Eureka card was used, a correct answer scored 5 points, an incorrect answer scored -5 points. This made for a very interesting scenario as since teams were forced to answer the questions, a team would score 6 points more in the round just by answering one more question correctly compared to their opponents, making this round very crucial. It also resulted in vastly imbalanced scores, best exemplified by the last Quarter Final Match, which saw scores of 14, -4, -4 and -12 for each of the schools. The 1st semi final game also turned in very farcical scores of 4, -10 and -18 respectively. This resulted in RI winning by supposed 'landslide' margins in the Finals, as they had answered all questions correctly, scoring 28 points (with 2 Eureka Cards), whilst the second place team had only answered 3 less questions correctly scored 22 points lesser, making it an arguably unfair reflection of the closeness of the game, even though RI might have dominated and won almost all the game rounds.

Rounds played

Year	Round 1	Round 2	Round 3	Round 4
2004 - 2005	Round Robin	Studio Demonstration*	Rapid Fire
2006	True or False?	Outdoor Challenge	Studio Demonstration	Rapid Fire
2007	MCQ	Outdoor Challenge	Studio Demonstration	Rapid Fire
2008 - 2009	Crossword	Studio Demonstration	Rapid Fire
2010 - 2011	Crossword	Studio Demonstration	Outdoor Challenge	Rapid Fire
2012 - 2013	Studio Demonstration	Outdoor Challenge	Facts of Life	Rapid Fire
2014 QFs	Studio Demonstration	Outdoor Challenge	Facts of Life	Rapid Response
2014 SFs/Finals	What's Your Hunch?	Outdoor Challenge	Facts of Life	Rapid Response

Note:

• In conjunction with outdoor challenge. At this point, the lowest scoring team was eliminated and scores were reset to 0 (5 in the finals)

Judges Bonus Round was played before Rapid Fire Round.

Team Progression

2004 - 2005

Teams competed in groups of 4, with the top 2 moving on to the next round.

2006 - 2013

Teams competed in groups of 3, with the winner moving on to the next round. In the quarter final, there were 2 wildcards for the best losing scores to move on into the semi finals. In the semi finals, there was only 1 wildcard. In 2008, an exception was made where teams competed in groups of 4 in the quarter final, with the top 2 progressing.

2014

Teams competed in groups of 4 in the quarter finals, with the winner moving on to the semi finals. There were also 2 wildcards for the best losing scores to move on into the semi finals.

Judges

2004-2005

There was a panel of 5 judges judging the game. They were also consulted for the rapid fire round as well.

2006-2013

The panel of judges were reduced to 3 in 2007, and Associate Professor David Lee Butler from Nanyang Technological University was a regular throughout these years. He was also joined by a second anchor judge which changed through the years. Dr. Valerie Ng was the second judge from 2010 to 2011, and Dr. Clara Cheong was the second judge from 2012 to 2013.

2014

The two new anchor judges were Dr. Tara Huber and Dr. Shawn Hoon, both from A*STAR. However, the judges frequently rotated, for example, Dr. Hoon was not present for the semi finals, whilst Dr. Huber was not present in the Finals. Dr. Butler was, however, present in the Semi-Finals.

Did You Know? Segment

Premiering in 2008, this segment was shown in between one of the commercial breaks (two in 2010 and 2011). It presented how a real life phenomenon is linked to science. It was presented by Nat Ho from 2008 to 2010, and Alaric Tay from 2011 onwards. They co-present it with an A*STAR Professor which rotates over the years.

Episode Availability

All episodes, except the 2004 season are available for free (if accessed from Singapore) on MediaCorp's VOD Service Toggle (www.toggle.sg). Users can sign in via their Facebook Accounts. The 2014 season is available internationally, due to the SGLink tag placed on the show by MediaCorp, which was designed to allow overseas Singaporeans view Singaporean TV Shows.

External Links

http://www.science.edu.sg/events/Pages/nationalsciencechallenge.aspx (Science Centre Website)