The National Ocean Sciences Bowl (NOSB) is a national, high-school science competition administered by the Consortium for Oceanographic Research and Education (CORE). It uses a quiz-bowl format, with lockout buzzers and extended team challenge questions to test students on their knowledge of oceanography. This includes the subjects of geology, biology, chemistry, history, technology, and physics. The competition was started in 1998. The current director of NOSB is Dr. Susan Haynes.

Top-Placing Teams at the 2006 National Ocean Sciences Bowl:
1. Lincoln-Sudbury Regional High School (Sudbury, MA)
2. Poudre High School (Fort Collins, CO)
3. Santa Monica High School (Santa Monica, CA)
4. Albany High School (Albany, CA)
5. MAST Academy (Miami, FL)
6. Oconee County High School (Oconee County, Georgia)
7. Langham Creek High School (Langham Creek, TX)
8. Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology (Arlington, VA)

Top-Placing Teams at the 2005 National Ocean Sciences Bowl:
1. Cranston High School West (Cranston, Rhode Island)
2. Lincoln-Sudbury Regional High School (Sudbury, Massachusetts)
3. Mission San Jose High School (Fremont, California)
4. Oconee County High School (Oconee County, Georgia)
5. La Jolla High (La Jolla, California)
6. Maui High School (Maui County, Hawaii)
7. Santa Monica High School (Santa Monica, California)
8. Incarnate Word Academy (Corpus Christi, Texas)

Past National Ocean Sciences Bowl Winners:
* 2004 - Mission San Jose High School (Fremont, California)
* 2003 - Cranston High School West (Cranston, Rhode Island)
* 1998 to 2002 - Lexington High School, (Lexington, MA)

Although the prizes for placing at the national competition have varied slightly from year to year, the following were the prizes awarded at the 2005 National Ocean Sciences Bowl:

* 1st Place Prize - Trip to Hawaii (Sponsored by the Hilton Waikoloa Village)
* 2nd Place Prize - Trip to Bermuda (Sponsored by the Bermuda Biological Station for Research)
* 3rd Place Prize - Trip to Catalina Island (Sponsored by UC-Davis)
* 4th Place Prize - Trip to the Great Lakes (Sponsored by the Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory)
* 5th-8th Place Prizes - Gift certificates for scientific equipment and marine science textbooks

Types of Questions
Toss-up: Teams compete to buzz in first and answer the question. A correct answer wins the team four points and the right to attempt a bonus question. No conferring is allowed on toss-ups. If a player buzzes in before a moderator finishes the question, but gets it wrong, the team is assessed a four point penalty and the question is awarded to the other team.

Bonus: Teams have 20 seconds to confer and answer this question. The team captain must begin the team's answer before time is called.

Team Challenge Question: Each Team Challenge Question is an essay type question worth up to 20 points, and partial credit is awarded. Time ranges from 90 seconds to 5 minutes for a challenge question, and the topics can be almost anything related to oceanography.

A single NOSB match consists of two 6-minute buzzer rounds with two Team Challenge Questions in between. Each buzzer round is made up of 7 question pairs (for 14 question pairs per match), each containing a toss-up question and a bonus question.

Officials
* Moderator
* Science Judge
* Rules Judge
* Scorekeeper
* Runner