Hoping to win a trip to Miami, Lizzie, Miranda and Gordo team up to enter the school's ""Fact-athlon."" Their rival team consists of Kate Sanders, Larry Tudgeman and Claire Miller. But things start to look a little bleak when the faculty advisor Lizzie and company chose is replaced by substitute teacher Mr. Dig. But to their surprise, Mr. Dig manages to turn studying into something fun and interesting with his unusual approaches. By the time the competition starts, Lizzie's team is confident while Kate, Larry and Claire are feeling the pressure. But Kate's team beats Lizzie's team badly when there are too many questions about dates and names rather than ""how and why"" problems. Kate and her teammates gloat over their win and Mr. Dig is ready to leave his job at the school because he thinks he let the team down, But Lizzie, Gordo and Miranda convince him they they actually did learn a lot and that they had a good time doing it.