Testing Dates 2013

Thursday January 10; Thursday Feb 14; Thursday March 14; and Thursday April 11, 2013

What Is It? The New Jersey Science League was begun in 1962, by a professor from FDU, originally as a Chemistry competition.   Open to all public and private schools in the state, NJSL today provides a friendly forum in which science students can meet and compete for statewide recognition in a variety of science topics.  The Point Pleasant Beach Science League Team has been participating for 15 years, and is coordinated and advised by Ms. Leslie Bridge.

This year, students will be competing in a variety of topics: Bio 1, Chem 1, Physics 1 as well as in second-year (AP) sciences Bio 2, Chem 2 and Physics 2.

League History and Description

How it works: 140+ high schools from all over the state are registered to compete.  The schools are grouped into areas.  We are in Region 25 and we meet at Jackson Liberty HS to compete directly with Manasquan, Jackson Liberty, Jackson Memorial, Hillel (Ocean Twp), and Pt. Pleasant Boro high schools.  From there, team scores are reported to a central office where teams as well as individual student scores can be ranked. 
Certificates and plaques are awarded after the last of four competitions every year.

Based on the scoring of the four 2013 competitions, our final Team Rankings were as follows:

What The Test Is About: Each discipline has a slightly different test. For instance, calculators are encouraged for the Chemistry and Physics tests because they emphasize mathematical problems and formulas. All tests are in multiple choice format and are scored on-site.
Test topics vary from month-to-month. Students have 50 minutes to complete the test.

How We Get The Teams: Each school can compete with a team of four students per subject area.  For their participation, and for putting in the extra time after school, these students are rewarded with extra credit points in their classes. For the most part, students can be nominated by their teachers.  This is a mandatory part of the Gifted and Talented Program. 

In Biology, students are required to take a pre-test to qualify.  This opportunity is open to all General Biology students, although taking the pre-test is mandatory for all Biology G & T participants. 
The top five scores (4-person team with one alternate) then comprise the Team for a particular competition.   Before every competition, a new qualifying round takes place and a new team is selected.