My son won the local homeschool Geography Bee for the second year in a row!
Will he qualify for the National Geography Bee?
He took 70 question test to seek qualification for the state competition in April.
Each state winner earns a free trip to Washington DC to compete in the National Geography Bee with Alex Trebec.
Although my daughter is our family’s geography expert, she didn’t compete this year because she aged out.
However she was the first in the family to start the Geography Bee journey.
Dating back to our early homeschool years, her favorite activities and board games revolved around geography.
She knew factoids that amazed me!
Initially, though, I entered her in competition to help her develop stage presence.
Struggling with learning delays, she had difficulty bringing her assets into competition, so that became the learning experience.
After a few years of not placing, she won third place her final two years of local competition!.
Mr. B who hosted the questioning, happily commented to me that he could see her growth over the years!
Mr. B was a great asset to our learning the ropes of competition, because his oldest son nearly won the National Geography Bee.
Now his second son won all the local bees easily. My kids learned a lot from him, my daughter while in the competition, and my son while watching from the audience.
Although my son never knew as many factoids as his sister, his asset was adept stage presence and his quick logical acuity.
When hit with a puzzling question, he logically deduced the correct answer from what he knew.
Why the National Geography Bee Developed
This began several years ago because many Americans in the age 18-24 age category could not locate the map of the USA on a world map.
Therefore, the National Geographic Society decided to establish a contest for students grades 4-8 to encourage study of national geography.
National Geography Bee Process and Awards
The National Geographic Society sponsors this yearly event that begins at local school level.
One option for San Antonio homeschoolers is to meet at FEAST, a homeschool resource of co-ops, etc.
Each local winner takes a one hour written test of 70 questions to seek qualification for the state level.
The top 100 in each state go on to the state level competition, usually in March or April.
The state winner earns $100 and an all-expenses paid trip to Washington DC with a teacher escort for the national bee held at the end of May.
Alex Trebek Hosts National Geography Bee
Famed Jeopardy person, Alex Trebek hosts the National Geography Bee.
Television icon Alex Trebek, longtime host of the trivia game show Jeopardy! and the founding host of the National Geographic Bee, died early Sunday, a year and a half after being diagnosed with stage 4 pancreatic cancer in early 2019.
Beyond his legendary role at Jeopardy!, Trebek—a longtime advocate for geography education—had deep ties to the National Geographic Society, where he hosted the National Geographic Bee from 1989 to 2013. Trebek didn’t just ask the bee’s questions: He transformed it into a nationally broadcast contest among 10 contestants drawn from thousands of school-age competitors across the United States. In 2013, Trebek pledged $1 million to fund an endowment in support of the National Geographic Bee.
“He was a huge believer in geography education and was someone who deeply believed in the need to educate the population about geography—it was one of his great passions,” says Gary Knell, the chairman of National Geographic Partners and former CEO of the National Geographic Society. -2020 update from the National Geographic Society
National Geography Bee Awards
At the national level, the top 10 finalists win $500.
The winner receives $25,000 along with a free lifetime subscription to National Geographic magazine, second place gets $15,000 and third receives $10,000.
National Geography Bee Competition Structure
There are 3 levels of competition: the preliminary level, the final level and then the championship level.
In the preliminary level, each contestant answers 7 questions.
The top 4 advance to the final level.
The top 2 go to the championship level.
Meanwhile the questions at each level get increasingly more difficult.
Local Level Sample Questions
Here are some preliminary round questions my kids recall from current and past competitions:
1-Name the state that has a port named Brownsville on the Rio Grande River. New Mexico or Texas?
2-Name the state that has the Adirondack Mountains. New York or Pennsylvania?
3-Name the state that has the glacial lake, Lake George, which is north of Troy and bordered by Vermont? (no choices)
Answers:
1. Texas (Easy for my kids because we live in Texas.)
2. and 3. New York (Easy for my kids who have visited these places!)
Study Book: Six types of questions
1-Where are things located on a blank map place US states, countries, and other major physical features of the world.
2-At least one round in the preliminary round is exclusively USA: do you know specific information about each state as in major cities, mountain chains, specific plants and animals to the area, deserts, rivers, interesting facts, capitals, major cities, etc?
3-Countries: capital, religions, languages, physical features, history, culture, etc.
4-Lists of the most populous states/counties, least populous states/countries, largest/smallest country/state in area, highest mountains, lowest points, longest rivers, largest oceans/lakes/islands, tallest buildings, major religions/languages, busiest airports, old names of present day countries, etc.
5-Physical geography: key terms and definitions…archipelago, peninsula, atoll, barrier reef, aa, isobar, Santa Ana Winds, tsunami, etc
6-Current events on a national level from the year before (yesterday they were asked 2006 questions).
Samples from previous bees at each type of questioning:
1-USA-By area, which is the largest city in the United States-Juneau or New York City?
2-World-The International Court of Justice and the headquarters of Europol are located in which European city-Zurich or The Hague?
(Okay, only the first two rounds do you get choice A or B. Now you are on your own…just like the kids!)
3-Physical Geography-When a small glacier flows into a large glacier with a deeper trough, what type of U-shaped valley remains when the glaciers recede? (my kids could easily answer this because of our Colorado vacations)
4-Human Geography (Historical)-Which Italian civilization preceded and was absorbed by the Romans? (easy for my kids who studied this in homeschool)
5-Human Geography (Cultural)-Which nomadic culture lives in tents and travels with their herds throughout the Middle East? (easy for my kids who studied this in homeschool)
6-Human Geography (Economic)-What term is used to describe factories in northern Mexico that assemble products for American and Japanese companies?
7-Human Geography (Political)-Which country was formerly known as Zaire?
8-Environment-Gunung Mulu National Park, containing the world’s most extensive cave system and tropical rain forests, is located in which Asian country?
9-Current Events-In April 2006, the King of this country, whose capital is Katmandu, promised to return political power to the people.
Answers:
1. Juneau
2. The Hague
3. hanging glacier
4. the Etruscans
5. the Beduoins
6. Maquiladoras
7. Democratic Republic of Congo
8. Malaysia
9. Nepal
Study Tips
Focus on geography during history lessons, study and create maps, pay attention to current events, read books, and travel!
All of that continues to serve my kids well, meeting the goals of the National Geographic Society who established this worthy competition.
