The National History Bee is a tournament with two distinct stages, the State-level History Bees, and the National Finals. These are described in detail below.
State History Bees
State History Bees will be held on Saturdays throughout the USA this academic year. They are held at the same site and on the same date as the State History Bowls. Some states will not have a competition, other states will have more than one Bee.
The State History Bees consist of two parts, the preliminary rounds and the playoffs. Both are held on the same day and at the same place as all of the State History Bowls to make it more convenient for everyone. The preliminary rounds of the Bee are held after Round 3 of the Bowl (around 11am). The Finals are held in the afternoon after the final preliminary round of the Bowl but before the Bowl playoffs (around 3pm).
There will be a separate Junior Varsity division for 9th and 10th graders. If turnout is sufficient (i.e. at least 16 such students), these students will play solely amongst themselves. If turnout is insufficient, they will play in with the other students, but the top two ranking 9th and 10th grade students will still face each other in a head to head final match unless one (or both) of them reaches the final. If this happens, the highest ranking student will be the automatic JV winner (and still eligible to compete in the Varsity final).
In the preliminary rounds of the State Bees, students will be grouped into groups of 6-8 students. Each student will play three rounds of 35 questions each (see the practice questions for examples). Each of the three rounds has a particular theme that all questions in that round will follow, namely World History to 1900, US History to 1900 and General History since 1900. Students are then ranked in order to the number of questions they were the first to answer correctly. Once a student answers 8 questions correctly per round, they are finished for that round. Students who reach their goal of 8 questions earn bonus points based on how early in the round they reached 8 questions correct. All other students obtain the same number of points as to how many questions they answered correctly. See the Rules tab on the left for a complete description of competition rules.
The top 10 cumulative scorers at the Varsity level from the three preliminary rounds advance to the State Bee Final which will be held at the end of the preliminary rounds of the State History Bowl. Everyone who advances to the State Finals will also qualify for participation at the National Championships of the National History Bee, assuming at least 20 students participate. Ties will be broken by sudden death. In such a case, however, both students would qualify for the Nationals.
In the State Finals, the students will use long-form pyramidal questions (akin to the 4th quarter tossups in the National History Bowl). The first break will occur when 5 of the 10 players have answered three questions correctly. The scores for the five remaining students will all then reset to zero, and the second break will occur when 2 of the 5 players have answered four more questions correctly. Finally, the scores will reset to zero again and the last two players will duke it out. The first to five correct will be the State Bee Champion.
National Championships of the National History Bee
Students can qualify for the National Championships of the National History Bee in one of four ways:
1. They finish in the top ten students of the preliminary rounds (i.e. they are a State Bee finalist) assuming their division had at least 20 students participate.
2. They finish in the top 1/3 of their division.
3. They finish in places 11-20 among all students in their division in the preliminary rounds, and some of the top ten students have not registered by March 1 (for tournaments before February 15) or March 25 (for tournaments after February 15), assuming their division had at least 20 students participate.
4. 9th and 10th graders who choose to compete at the Varsity level at sites where most 9th and 10th graders do NOT play mixed in with 11th and 12th graders can apply for a wild card bid to compete in the JV National Championships if they perform well but do not qualify for Nationals at the Varsity level. If a 9th or 10th grader qualifies for Nationals at the Varsity level but would prefer to play in Washington at the JV level, that is allowed too.
The National Finals of the National History Bee will be held in Washington, D.C. on Sunday, April 17, 2011. The exact format of the National Finals of the National History Bee has yet to be determined, but it will be entirely buzzer-based and will be posted here by February 1. Click on the Nationals tab on the left for a proposed schedule for Nationals that is subject to change.
A number of factors will determine the eventual format including number of participating students, available space, and what sort of format students would like best, as evidenced by their thoughts and comments at the State Bees through the end of January 2011. The cost of competing in the National Championships will be $40 for State Bee Champions, $45 for State Bee Finalists, and $50 for other qualifiers.