In Knowledge Bowl, 3 teams of 4 players each compete in a room . The reader asks a question as teams listen. Any player can can "buzz in" at any time by pressing the "strip" on the table which is connected to the score box. The reader then stops and the team has 15 seconds to discuss before the they gives their final answer. If correct, they get a point, and if wrong, the other teams get a chance before moving on to the next question.
Knowledge bowl questions come mainly from academic areas, including social studies, science, language arts, math, humanities, and more. Samples are available here.
Tournaments consist of a written round of multiple choice questions that the team completes on paper followed by 3-5 oral rounds as described above. The team with the most total points in all rounds wins the tournament.
Schools can register multiple teams, which compete alongside one another as equals. Some tournaments have different divisions based on grade levels. Chaska, being one of the larger programs in the state, brings 4-6 teams of 4 players each to most tournaments, which are usually Tuesday afternoons/evenings and Saturday mornings/afternoons. The season starts in October and ends in February, except for teams that qualify for the State Meet in April.