National Geographic Bee
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The National Geographic Bee (previously called the National Geography Bee) is an annual geography contest sponsored by the National Geographic Society. The Bee, held every year since 1989, is open to students in the fourth through eighth grade in participating American schools.
The fifty states and other entities represented at the national level are all fifty states, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, U.S. territories in the Pacific (Northern Mariana Islands, Guam, and American Samoa), the District of Columbia, and the Department of Defense Dependents Schools.
[edit] Procedure
The competition begins at the school-level, which takes place in either December or January. Any number of competitors may enter the competition and usually 5 or 6 million enter each year. There are two major parts to the competition: the Preliminary Competition and the Final Competition. The Preliminary Competition is split into two parts: the Preliminary Rounds and a Semi-Final Round (also known as the Prelinary Competition Tiebreaker Round), which is used only in the event of a tie at the end of the Preliminary Rounds. For the Preliminary Rounds, the competitors are split into groups of up to 20 each and each contestant is asked 1 question from each of 7 rounds of varying categories. Categories in the past have included Cultural Geography, Economic Geography, Across the Country, Around the World, Plants and Animals, and Geographic Comparisons. For each question answered correctly, the contestant is awarded 1 point. At the end of the 7 rounds, each player's point total is added and the players with the top 10 scores advance to the finals. A player may ask for a repeat or a spelling during these rounds, but only once per question. A player cannot ask for a spelling or repeat in the Semi-Final Round. Quite often there is a tie, in which case a semi-final tiebreaker round is need. For example, if 6 players finished the Preliminary Rounds with 7 points and 15 finished with 6 points, the 6 who finished with 7 points automatically advance to the Final Competiton while the 15 with 6 points move into the Semi-Final Round where the top four are determined to fill the remainder of the seats in the finals. This is done by asking every player the same question at the same time and giving each player 12 seconds to write down the answer on a paper. Each question is automatically repeated twice. Everyone reveals their answer at the end of the 12 seconds and players are eliminated on a single elimination basis. If, using the above example of 4 open seats in the finals, there is a question where 8 players are left in the Semi-Final Round and 3 players get the question right, those three who got the question right advance to the finals and the other 5 who got the question wrong will continue with the single elimination procedure to determine which competitor will take the last open seat in the finals.
After the 10 finalists are determined, the Final Competition can begin. The Final Competition comprises of two parts: the Final Round and the Championship Round. Each of the 10 finalists starts with a clean slate. In the Final Round, a player is eliminated after two misses and this continues until the number of contestants drops from 10 to 2 and a third place finisher is determined. A player is not officially eliminated until the end of a series of questions, since if all but one competitor makes their second miss in that round, that player remains in play. Again, a player may ask for a spelling or repeat on any question, but only once per question. Early in the round, questions may either require oral answers only or written answers from all the competitors at one time. Quite often, many of the earlier questions in this round contain visuals as part of the question, such as maps or pictures. At the national level, they may also include items such as flags, musical instruments and hats. After a certain point, all the questions require individual oral answers only. If there is a tie for the Championship Round or third place as mentioned above, a single elmination, written tiebreaker procedure is used. For example, if there are four players left and three make their second miss in one round, the fourth advances to the championship round and the other three enter the tiebreaker. The moderator will ask each of the three players to answer the same question at the same time on a piece of paper, asking the question twice (players may not ask for a spelling or repeat here). If one fo those three answers correctly, he or she will take the other seat in the Championship Round and the other two will continue in the tiebreaker until a third place winner is determined. In the Championship Round, both players start with a clean slate again. The moderator asks both contestants the same question at the same time, repeated twice, and both players have 12 seconds to write their answer down on a paper. At the end of time, both players show their answers and each player who wrote a correct answer receives 1 point. There are 3 questions in the Championship Round. The player with the most points at the end is the champion. If both players are tied at the end, the competition enters the Championship Tiebreaker round. The rules are the same as for the Championship Round, except that the first player to get a question right that his opponent misses is the champion.
The winner of each school-level competition takes a written test, and the top one-hundred in each state or territory qualify for the state Bee.
The rules at the state level are same as that at the school level, except the Preliminary Rounds consist of 8 rounds instead of 7 and in the Preliminary Rounds each player is limited to two repeats or spelling for all 8 rounds. Players are also limited to two repeats or spellings in the Final Round, if they qualify. All the state bees are held on the same date, at the same time (in early April) at all locations. State bees occur for the 50 states, 5 US Territories (Guam, Puerto Rico, US Virgin Island, American Samoa, Northern Mariana Islands), Washington DC, and the Department of Defense Dependant Schools (DoDDS). The third place finisher from each state receives $50, the second place finisher $75 and the winner $100 and some newly published geography books, such as new atlases. The 57 state champions receive an all-expense paid trip to Washington DC for the national competition
The rules at the national level are the same as those at the state, except the Preliminary Rounds consist of 9 rounds instead of 8. The Championship Round may also consist of 5 questions instead of 3. Also, the competition is held in two days, with the Preliminary Competition on Day 1 and the Final Competition on Day 2. The national competition is held in late May at the National Geography building in Washington DC. The finals at the national level are moderated by Jeopardy!'s gameshow host Alex Trebek. The 10 finalists are guaranteed $500 for making it that far. The third-place finisher at the national level receives $10000 in college schlorships, the second-place finisher $15000 in college scholarships and an all-expense paid trip to an exotic location usually in this hemisphere, and the national champion $25000 in college scholarships, an all-expense paid trip to an exotic location that is possibly on the other side of the world, and a lifetime subscription to National Geographic.
There is an International Competition, which is also moderated by Alex Trebek, but it is run differently. The top finishers from each conuntries' national competition form a team representing their country and participate in an olympic style event which includes a team written competition and a team oral competition.
[edit] Champions
Of the eighteen National Geographic Bee champions, seventeen are male and one is female. Four are from the state of Michigan, four from the state of Washington, two from Kansas, and one each from various other states.
The winner of the 2006 finals received a $25,000 scholarship, second place $15,000, and third place $10,000.
Champions and other top finishers are invited to apply to the four-member U.S. team sent to the biannual National Geographic World Championship.
| Year | Winner's Name | State | Grade | Winning Question | Answer | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1989 | Jack Staddon | Kansas | Eighth | Name the flat intermontane area located at an elevation of about 10,000 feet (3,050 meters) in the central Andes. | Altiplano | |
| 1990 | Susannah Batko-Yovino | Pennsylvania | Sixth | Mount Erebus is a volcano on which continent? | Antarctica | |
| 1991 | David Stillman | Idaho | Eighth | What type of landform is commonly associated with orographic precipitation? | Mountain | One of only two champions with a perfect score in the finals |
| 1992 | Lawson Fite | Washington | Eighth | Many coastal countries have established so-called EEZs—areas extending 200 nautical miles (370 km) from shore over which countries have sovereign rights for resource exploration. What do the initials EEZ stand for? | Exclusive Economic Zone | |
| 1993 | Noel Erinjeri | Michigan | Eighth | Tagalog is one of the three main native languages of which island country in Asia? | The Philippines | |
| 1994 | Anders Knospe | Montana | Eighth | The Tagus River roughly divides which European country into two agricultural regions? | Portugal | |
| 1995 | Chris Galeczka | Michigan | Eighth | Pashtu and Dari are the official languages of which mountainous, landlocked country in southwestern Asia? | Afghanistan | |
| 1996 | Seyi Fayanju | New Jersey | Seventh | Name the European co-principality whose heads of state are the President of France and the Bishop of Urgel. | Andorra | One of only two champions with a perfect score in the finals |
| 1997 | Alex Kerchner | Washington | Seventh | Asia's most densely populated country has about three million people and an area of less than 250 square miles (402 km²). Name this country. | Singapore | |
| 1998 | Petko Peev | Michigan | Eighth | More than 80 million people live in the European Union's most populous member country. Name this country. | Germany | |
| 1999 | David Beihl | South Carolina | Eighth (homeschooled) | The condition characterized by unusually cold ocean temperature in the equatorial region of the eastern Pacific Ocean is known by what Spanish name? | La Niña | |
| 2000 | Felix Peng | Connecticut | Eighth | Name two of the three largest sections of Denmark, which include its mainland peninsula and two largest islands | Jutland, Sjaelland and Fyn | |
| 2001 | Kyle Haddad-Fonda | Washington | Eighth | Below the equilibrium line of glaciers there is a region of melting, evaporation, and sublimation. Name this zone. | Zone of ablation | Harvard Student, Honors Candidate |
| 2002 | Calvin McCarter | Michigan | Fifth (homeschooled) | Lop Nur, a marshy depression at the east end of the Tarim Basin, is a nuclear test site for which country? | China (People's Republic) | Youngest champion |
| 2003 | James Williams | Washington | Eighth (homeschooled) | Goa, a state in southwestern India, was a possession of which country until 1961? | Portugal | |
| 2004 | Andrew Wojtanik | Kansas | Eighth | Peshawar, a city in the North-West Frontier Province of Pakistan, has had strategic importance for centuries because of its location near what historic pass? | Khyber Pass | |
| 2005 | Nathan Cornelius | Minnesota | Seventh (homeschooled) | Lake Gatún, an artificial lake that constitutes part of the Panama Canal system, was created by damming which river? | Chagres River | |
| 2006 | Bonny Jain | Illinois | Eighth | Name the mountains that extend across much of Wales, from the Irish Sea to the Bristol Channel. | Cambrian Mountains | Placed 14th in 2006 Scripps National Spelling Bee |
