THE Australian Brain Bee Challenge (ABBC) is a competition that was developed and implemented by the Australasian Neuroscience Society in 2006. Since 2008 Mareeba State High School has entered every year and succeeded in progressing into the State finals every year never advancing with less than three students.
This year was no exception with Year 10 students Dailin Joshua, Lea Micieli and Elmidin Mahmud selected to participate in the second round of the ABBC. To qualify for the State/Regional finals students must score in the top 6% in Queensland for the first round quizzes, the finals will be held in Brisbane on July 17.
The competition not only provides a chance to educate people about neuroscience but dispel misconceptions surrounding neurological and mental illnesses. MSHS Gifted and Talented Co-ordinator Stefanie Prizmic was proud of the students.
“They’ve been reading a 100 plus page neuroscience and neuroanatomy book in preparation for the finals,” she said.
“That is a first year university book; they’ve had to do all this whilst also maintaining their studies.
“They practice for the Brain Bee in their own time.”
The ABBC is only open to students in year 10 and contains four rounds of competition. The first being an online quiz, the second is the state finals held in the state capitals. The third round is the national finals where one students from each state and two from New Zealand are chosen to compete against each other to become the Brain Bee Champion.
For the fourth and final round the chosen student will compete on the international level and will be flown to South Korea for the international Brain Bee (IBB).
