MSU Extension 4-H Dairy Cattle Production & Management

Information & Rules Regarding the 2024 MI 4-H Dairy Quiz Bowl Contest

The 4-H Youth Dairy Quiz Bowl competition tests the dairy knowledge of teams of youth. Teams are awarded points when questions are answered correctly. While the majority of questions will focus on dairy cattle health, a wide range of questions can be asked. A list of general resources and questions has been provided below. Ribbons and awards will be presented to the members of the top 5 teams in each division.

Continuing for 2024: The team representing Michigan 4-H at the North American Dairy Quiz Bowl during NAILE (November 2024) in Louisville, Kentucky will be composed of four of the top eligible participants in the senior Quiz Bowl contest. Team members will be determined by age, eligibility to compete at the national contest, number of questions answered correctly during quiz bowl rounds, and score on the multiple-choice test used to seed the Senior teams. The top ten eligible individuals will be invited to additional practices, which will be held in August to determine the final team members and alternates for the North American Quiz Bowl Contest. The final team decision will be made in early September. Coaches listed on the registration paperwork for the top ten seniors will have the potential to continue coaching the national team and traveling to Louisville for the contest. Funds will be available to support team travel to NAILE.

On Saturday, June 29, all senior team members will complete a multiple-choice test starting at approximately 10:00 AM when the novice contest starts. Youth will not be allowed to use any sources or reference materials during the test. No talking with teammates or coaches is permitted. There will be a staff person or volunteer not associated with any team available should a youth have questions or problems. The top three scores of the team will be used to determine the seeding for the senior contest that afternoon and will be posted as soon as results are tabulated. There will be no changes in how the rounds are carried out.

Top Ten Seniors: The ten seniors with the highest scores on the multiple-choice test, most correctly answered questions during rounds, and who are eligible to compete at the national contest will be invited to additional quiz bowl practices/games during August 2024. The four youth who attend the most additional practices and have the highest scores during additional practices/games will be invited to the national team. Two additional youth will be selected as alternates. Coaches listed on the registration paperwork for the top ten seniors will have the potential to continue coaching the national team and traveling to Louisville for the contest. Coaches will be contacted as the team is finalized. 

Although it is possible that all national team members may be from the same county, the goal is to provide an opportunity for high performing youth to compete at the national level. 

If a composite team cannot be assembled, the winning county team will earn the invitation to the national contest. Two of the original winning team members must be able to compete at the national contest to be eligible to move on to Louisville. Other youth who competed at the state contest but were not on the winning team may be substituted on the national team. If the winning team cannot send two of the original, eligible team members, then the second-place team will be invited to represent Michigan, but they must also have two of the original team members compete on the national team. If the second-place team is unable to do this, it will move to the third-place team. If there are not enough individuals from the top three teams who are eligible, Michigan will forfeit competing at the national contest that year.

Each county may enter one or more novice teams, one or more junior teams, and one or more senior teams. Novice contestants are 8 to 11 years old, junior contestants are ages 9 to 14 and seniors are ages 15 to 19. Note: Contestants must reach these ages by January 1 of the current year. Counties must submit the County Team Entry Form to the 4-H Dairy Youth Extension Educator with entries. Coaches are encouraged to confirm their team registration. 

A mandatory coaches’ meeting will be held virtually on Friday, June 28^th, 2024, at 7:00 p.m. All coaches must attend. All coaches must turn in the final listing of team members by 5:00 p.m. on Wednesday, June 26^th. If no changes are submitted, teams will be those listed on the original entry forms. A zoom link will be emailed to coaches who have registered a team prior to the meeting.

• On June 26^th, a list of final teams will need to be submitted to the 4-H Dairy Youth Extension Educator, Kendra Van Order (vanorde4@msu.edu), by 5 p.m. on Wednesday evening at the latest. If team lists are ready before this time, they may be emailed to Kendra at vanorde4@msu.edu. If no updated forms are submitted by 5 p.m., the team listed on the original registration will be entered in the contest. No changes to teams will be made after this. Incomplete teams (less than 4 youth) will be randomly drawn and assembled by the 4-H Dairy Youth Extension Educator. If a youth scratches, teams of 3 will compete as such. Teams of 1 or 2 will be adjusted to create at least a team of 3 youths to compete. 
• The list of Novice and Junior teams and seats for the first round of the contest will be emailed to coaches on Friday night. Novice will start the contest at 10:00 AM followed by the Junior and Senior Divisions. Based on numbers, this could be adjusted. Approximate start times for Junior and Senior divisions will be posted in the hallway to room 1281 in Anthony Hall and via Facebook on the Michigan Dairy Youth page: (https://www.facebook.com/MichiganDairyYouthProgram/).  
• No materials (written, electronic, etc.) with information, questions, or other study aids may be brought into the contest room by anyone. If these materials are brought in, they will be taken away and returned after the contest is complete.
• Score keepers will be provided for each room by contest organizers.
• Questions cannot be recorded within the contest room by audio, handwritten, electronic, or other means.  Anyone found copying or taking notes of any kind (paper, electronic, sharing questions and answers between rounds, etc.) will be removed from the room, not allowed to re-enter the rest of the day, and materials will be confiscated.

• Volunteers not associated with any teams will be assisting with the brackets and calling teams to rooms. The 4-H Dairy Youth Extension Educator will move between rooms to watch contest rounds and make sure rules are followed and enforced. Other content and contest experts may also be present to assist in monitoring rooms to ensure rules are followed and moderators, judges, timekeepers, and score keepers are treated with respect.

• No one except youth competing in the current round (NO coaches, spectators, volunteers, etc.) may challenge a question or answer based on content during any round. Dairy and animal science faculty and industry supporters are volunteering their time as judges and moderators – respect their knowledge and expertise during all contests. If there is a procedural error (e.g., time is not restarted, a bonus is missed by the score keeper, etc.) only the coach may respectfully signal the moderator or judge of the mistake.  
• The number of toss-up questions per round will differ for each age group: 10 for Novice; 12 for Junior; and 14 for Senior. Individual True or False questions remain the same (1/team member for Novice and Juniors; 2/team member for Seniors).

Team representing Michigan at the national contest: The ten seniors with the highest scores on the multiple-choice test, most correctly answered questions during rounds, and who are eligible to compete at the national contest will be invited to additional quiz bowl practices/games during August 2024. The four youth who attend the most additional practices and have the highest scores during additional practices/games will be invited to the national team. Two additional youth will be selected as alternates. Coaches listed on the registration paperwork for the top ten seniors will have the potential to continue coaching the national team and traveling to Louisville for the contest. Coaches will be contacted as the team is finalized. 

Although it is possible that all national team members may be from the same county, the goal is to provide an opportunity for high performing youth to compete at the national level.

If a composite team cannot be assembled, the winning county team will earn the invitation to the national contest. Two of the original winning team members must be able to compete at the national contest to be eligible to move on to Louisville. Other youth who competed at the state contest but were not on the winning team may be substituted on the national team. If the winning team cannot send two of the original, eligible team members, then the second-place team will be invited to represent Michigan, but they must also have two of the original team members compete on the national team. If the second-place team is unable to do this, it will move to the third-place team. If there are not enough individuals from the top three teams who are eligible, Michigan will forfeit competing at the national contest that year.

Requirements – Quiz Bowl

1. Any youth who has completed an Animal or Dairy science course at the collegiate level, an Animal or Dairy Science short course, online course Animal or Dairy Science, or AP Animal or Dairy Science course eligible for credits towards a college degree is ineligible to compete as team member. No individual entries are allowed, i.e. if a youth is the only eligible youth from a county to compete or a county has an incomplete team, a composite team will be created so every participant is on a team.
2. Each county may enter one or more novice teams, one or more junior teams, and one or more senior teams in each division. A team may have four or three members and a coach. No more than two alternates may be entered as substitutes. Counties unable to get enough members for a team may pair up with other counties to form a multi-county team. Pre-entered teams will be allowed to compete (made up of youth from 1 or more counties). Late registrations will be assigned to teams by the 4-H Dairy Youth Extension Educator. Final approval of multi-county teams will be made by the 4-H Dairy Youth Extension Educator.
3. All teams should name a team captain.
4. Members who have participated in the North American Invitational Dairy Quiz Bowl contest in Louisville, Kentucky, may participate in the State Dairy Bowl contest; however, they will not be eligible for competition in the North American Dairy Quiz Bowl Contest.
5. Individuals not enrolled in 4-H may participate but are not eligible for national competition.

Procedures – Quiz Bowl

1. Teams will compete in a series of one-on-one quiz-off double elimination contests until the top team is chosen. Some teams may be awarded a bye during the elimination as part of the assignment process.
2. Competition between teams will be in two parts:

Part A - Eight true/false questions covering a specific topic relating to the dairy industry will be asked of each senior team. Four questions will be asked of each novice and junior team.  Each team member, in rotation, will be asked a question. Correct answers are worth two points with no deduction for incorrect answers. No teammate assistance may be offered or received. Questions may be reread only once. Answers must be started within 15 seconds of when the reading is completed. Points will be deducted if the team member does not offer some response. Silence will lead to a deduction, but incorrect answers will not.

Part B - A total of 14 toss-up questions will be asked of senior teams, 12 for juniors and 10 for novice. Contestants must buzz in for the right to answer the question.

1. The first team to signal must answer the question within 5 seconds after being acknowledged by the moderator.
2. Correct answers are worth 5 points. Points will be deducted if the team member does not offer some response. Silence will lead to a deduction, but incorrect answers do not. No points are deducted for incorrect answers.
3. Any team answering a question without being acknowledged will lose 10 points and the question will be dropped.
4. Team members may not discuss toss-up questions.
5. If an answer is incorrect, the other team has the opportunity to answer the question immediately without having it reread. If the moderator, by mistake, gives the correct answer after the first team member buzzes in and answers incorrectly but before the opposing team has the opportunity to answer the question, a new question will be asked only to the second team to correct the mistake. If a member of the second team answers correctly, those points are to be added to the individual’s scores as per normal for the contest.
6. If neither team can offer an answer to the question within 10 seconds, the moderator will give the answer and the question will be dropped. Neither team will forfeit points.
7. When a signal is pushed before the question is completely read, the moderator will stop reading the question when the light goes on, and the person signaling may answer the question after being acknowledged. If correct, the team will receive credit. If the answer is incorrect or incomplete, the judge may not ask the contestant to explain the answer. The question will then be completely reread, and the other team will have the opportunity to answer it.
8. A bonus question will be asked after three different team members have correctly answered a toss-up question. The answers to the bonus question must come from the team captain. The team may work together in answering the bonus question.
9. Bonus questions are not passed to the other team if an incomplete or incorrect answer is given.
10. All bonus questions will be worth five points for each correct response. If three responses are required, maximum value is 15 points.

3. If a round ends with a tie, there will be two sets of three additional toss-up questions for teams to buzz in for. If at the end of these two rounds the teams remain tied, there will be single, “sudden death” buzz in questions asked until one team wins. No bonus questions will be awarded during the tie breaking questions.

4. The majority of questions will relate to dairy cattle health. Remaining question topics can come from any area within the dairy industry.

5. Answers and interpretations of questions will be the sole responsibility and final recall of the judges. 

1. A team member will have the privilege of asking the judges’ panel to verify an answer that they feel is correct.
2. No one except youth competing in the current round (NO coaches, spectators, volunteers, etc.) may challenge a question or answer based on content during any round. Dairy and animal science faculty and industry supporters are volunteering their time as judges and moderators – respect their knowledge and expertise during all contests. If there is a procedural error (e.g., time is not restarted, a bonus is missed by the score keeper, etc.) only the coach may respectfully signal the moderator or judge of the mistake.

6. Spectators in the room may not challenge or comment on a question or the decisions of the moderator or judge during the contest. If a challenge or comment is made, the spectator’s team will have the point value of that question deducted; up to 15 points may be deducted.  

7. Any coach or spectator who is disruptive or disrespectful to the moderators and judges will be given one warning. After receiving one warning in any room, the spectator or coach will not be allowed to reenter any contest room for the remainder of the event. Moderators and judges volunteer their time and expertise to make this an educational, valuable, and enjoyable event for Michigan youth, thus need to be treated respectfully.

8. Any question or area not covered by these rules will be decided by the 4-H Dairy Youth Extension Educator. All decisions are final. 

9. Once a team has been called to a room to compete, the team has 5 minutes to be seated and ready for competition. Any team not ready to compete will forfeit the round.

10. Final team placing will be determined by a double elimination process. Each team will have an opportunity to compete in two rounds. The first round will be against another team that has not previously played. The second round will be against either a winning or a losing team, depending on the result of the first contest. A second loss eliminates a team from the competition. In case of a team receiving a bye in the first round, the team will play a winning team from the first round and advance either to the next winners or losers round.

11. Youth aged 19 as of 1/1/2024 are eligible for this contest; however, they may not be eligible to compete in National 4-H contests.

Quiz Bowl resources to consider including:

Virginia Tech: 2024 Virginia 4-H Dairy Quiz Bowl Materials (vt.edu)

Wisconsin: 4-H State Dairy Bowl Source Material.website (wisc.edu)

Mississippi State: How to Get Started in 4-H Dairy Quiz Bowl | Mississippi State University Extension Service (msstate.edu)

N.C. State: 4-H Dairy Youth Quizbowl Study Questions | NC State Extension (ncsu.edu)