How long does it take energy generated at the core of the sun to be radiated to its surface?

Three minutes, 100 hours, 100 years or one million years?

Members of the 40 teams of high school students participating in the ninth annual Ames Lab/ISU Science Bowl will be answering similar questions on Saturday.

The Science Bowl was created by the Department of Energy to encourage high school students to excel in math and science, according to the Department of Energy Web site.

Steve Karsjen, coordinator for this year’s event, said several months of planning and coordinating has been put into the event.

“The Science Bowl was started in order to provide an opportunity in which students can get involved in an event that showcases talents in math and science,” said Karsjen, public affairs manager for Ames Laboratory.

Five students from each of the 40 Iowa high schools involved will compete in the daylong event answering questions from seven different categories.

“Students enjoy it, teachers enjoy it — it’s just a good event for all involved,” Karsjen said.

More than 70 volunteers will serve as moderators, judges, scorekeepers and timekeepers.

Drew Volker, freshman at Iowa State, has volunteered to be a timekeeper for the event.

Volker was part of last year’s championship team from Valley High School of West Des Moines. The team went on to compete in the national competition where they won a trip to Germany to attend a conference of Nobel Prize winners.

Kirk Daddow, teacher at Ames High and coach of the school’s Science Bowl team, said the experience is important for any team.

“It’s a great learning experience,” Daddow said. “It’s nice and convenient, but we would go anywhere to participate in this event.”

All of the students on Daddow’s team have expressed an interest in pursuing math- or science-related careers, including team captain Kevin Marasinghe, a high school senior planning to major in physics.

“It started because I had a lot of knowledge within the subject of science, and I found out I was really well-suited for this type of competition,” Marasinghe said.

The free event is open to the public and will begin at 8:30 a.m. in the Memorial Union.