NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC BEE

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 entities represented at the national level are all fifty U.S. 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.
The National Geographic Bee Finals is hosted by ''Jeopardy!'' host Alex Trebek. The 2007 Bee was held May 22-23, 2007 with the preliminary rounds being held at the Doubletree Hilton Hotel in Arlington, Virginia, and Finals being held at Grosvenor Auditorium at the National Geographic Society in Washington D.C.

Contents

Procedure

School competitions

State and national competitions

International competition

Champions

2007 state champions

External links

Procedure

School competitions

The competition begins at the school level, usually in November, December, or January. Any number of competitors may enter these competitions; normally an overall total of five to six million enter each year. There are two major stages in these competitions: preliminary and final. The preliminary competition is further split into two parts: preliminary rounds and a semi-final or tiebreaker round, which is used only in the event of a tie at the end of the preliminary rounds.
In the preliminary rounds, the competitors are split into groups of up to twenty, and each contestant is asked one question from each of seven 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 one point. At the end of the seven rounds, the players with the top ten 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 six players finished the preliminary rounds with seven points and fifteen finished with six points, the six who finished with seven points automatically advance to the final competition. The fifteen with six 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 twelve seconds to write down the answer. Each question is automatically repeated twice. Everyone reveals their answer at the end of the twelve seconds and players are eliminated on a single-elimination basis. If, using the above example of four open seats in the finals, there is a question where eight players are left in the semi-final round and three players get the question right, those three advance to the finals. The other five 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.
The final competition consists of two parts: the final round and the championship round. Each of the ten finalists starts with a clean slate. A player is eliminated after two misses and this continues until the number of contestants drops from ten to two 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 stays in the competition. 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-elimination, 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 of 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 twelve seconds to write their answer. Both players then show their answers and each player who wrote a correct answer receives one point. There are three 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 a 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.

State and national competitions

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 are eight in number instead of seven, and in the preliminary rounds each player is limited to two repeats or spelling for all eight 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 originally occurred for the fifty states, five U.S. territories (Guam, Puerto Rico, US Virgin Islands, American Samoa, Northern Mariana Islands), Washington D.C., and the Department of Defense Dependent 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 55 state champions receive an all-expense paid trip to Washington D.C. for the national competition. In 1999 the state competitions for Guam, American Samoa, and Northern Mariana Islands were merged into one state competition known as the Pacific Territories, and since then there have only been 55 state competitions. [There used to be 57]
The rules at the national level are the same as those at the state, except the preliminary rounds are nine in number instead of eight. The championship round may also consist of five questions instead of three. The competition is held over two days, with the preliminary rounds on the first day and the final rounds on the second. The national competition is held in late May at the National Geographic Society building in Washington D.C. and hosted by Alex Trebek. The ten finalists are guaranteed $500. The third-place finisher at the national level receives $10,000 in college schlorships, the second-place finisher $15,000 in college scholarships and an all-expense paid trip to an exotic location usually in the western hemisphere, and the national champion $25,000 in college scholarships, an all-expense paid trip to an exotic location that may be anywhere in the world, and a lifetime subscription to ''National Geographic Magazine''.

International competition

There is an international competition, which is also moderated by Alex Trebek, but it is run differently. The top finishers from each country's national competition form a team representing their country and participate in an Olympics-style event which includes a team written competition and a team oral competition.

Champions

Of the nineteen National Geographic Bee champions, seventeen are male and two are female. Five are from the state of Washington, four are from the state of Michigan, two are from Kansas, and various other states have been home to one champion each. The winner of the 2007 finals received a $25,000 scholarship, the second-place finisher received $15,000, and the third-place finisher received $10,000. Other "top ten" finishers received $500. 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 m) in the central Andes.	Altiplano
1990	Susannah Batko-Yovino	Pennsylvania	Sixth	Mount Erebus is a volcano on which continent?	Antarctica	First female champion
1991	David Stillman	Idaho	Eighth	What type of landform is commonly associated with orographic precipitation?	Mountain	One of only three 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 three champions with a perfect score in the finals; was also in the finals in 1994
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	First Home-schooled Champion
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 13th in 2006 Scripps National Spelling Bee
2007	Caitlin Snaring	Washington	Eighth (homeschooled)	A city that is divided by a river of the same name was the imperial capital of Vietnam for more than a century. Name this city, which is still an important cultural center.	Huế	One of only three champions with a perfect score in the finals; second female champion

2007 state champions

The 2007 National Geographic Bee state winners:

'State'	'Winner's Name'	'Grade'	'School'	'City/Town'
Alabama	Matthew Riggle	7th	St. John the Baptist Catholic School	Madison
Alaska	Andrew Lee	8th	Interior Distance Education of Alaska	Anchorage
Arizona	Nathan Tappendorf	6th	Eastside Explorers Homeschool	Phoenix
Arkansas	Jason Saunders	8th	Home Educators of Greater Little Rock	Little Rock
California	Mitchell Mankin	8th	Brandeis Hillel Day School	San Francisco
Colorado	José Antonio de la Peña	8th	CHEC	Colorado Springs
Connecticut	Gregory Naigles	8th	Tolland Middle School	Tolland
Delaware	Daniel Barnes	8th	Springer Middle School	Wilmington
Department of Defense	Andrew Hartford	8th	Lakenheath Middle School	Mildenhall, Suffolk, U.K. Andrew Hartford will be moving to San Antonio, Texas in July of 2007.
District of Columbia	Benjamin Geyer	7th	British School of Washington	Washington, D.C.
Florida	Michael Aquilia	8th	Farnell Middle School	Tampa
Georgia	Kaj Hansen	8th	Carrollton Junior High	Carrollton
Hawaii	Isolde Callihan	8th	Hawaii Island Christian Home Educators	Hilo
Idaho	Brandon Smith	6th	Ellis Elementary	Chubbuck
Illinois	Zachary Blumenfeld	8th	Daniel Wright Junior High	Lincolnshire
Indiana	Erik Troske	7th	Barker Middle	Michigan City
Iowa	Derek Hofland	8th	Sanborn Christian School	Sanborn
Kansas	Suneil Iyer	7th	Indian Trail Junior High	Olathe
Kentucky	Solomon Mayer	8th	Sayre School	Lexington
Louisiana	Amal de Alwis	5th	SLU Laboratory School	Hammond
Maine	John Walsh	8th	Harrison Middle	Yarmouth
Maryland	Raynell Cooper	8th	Julius West Middle School	Rockville
Massachusetts	Christopher Hart	8th	Westfield South Middle	Westfield
Michigan	Daniel Elkus	8th	Cranbrook Kingswood Boys Middle	Bloomfield Heights
Minnesota	Andrew Ford	8th	St. Louis Park Junior High	St. Louis Park
Mississippi	Devi Swamy	8th	Madison Middle	Madison
Missouri	Hannah Goodman	8th	S.H.A.R.E. Homeschool	St. Louis
Montana	Shawn Belobraidic	8th	Bonner School	Bonner
Nebraska	Andrew Vinton	7th	St. Patrick School	North Platte
Nevada	Bart Niday	8th	Carson Valley Middle	Gardnerville
New Hampshire	Milan Sandhu	7th	McKelvie Middle	Bedford
New Jersey	Rachel McEnroe	8th	Oak Hill Academy	Lincroft
New Mexico	Sam Waitt	6th	Rio Grande School	Santa Fe
New York	Josh Shih	8th	C.J. Hooker Middle School	Goshen
North Carolina	Tahsin Zaman	8th	Daniels Middle	Raleigh
North Dakota	James Penrod	8th	Memorial Middle	Minot
Ohio	Jon Moller	8th	Walnut Hills High School	Cincinnati
Oklahoma	Tyler Bowen	8th	Lakeview Middle	Yukon
Oregon	Michael Ling	7th	Meadow Park Middle	Beaverton
Pacific Territories (Northern Mariana Islands, Guam, and American Samoa)	Samuel Wolborsky	8th	Andersen Middle	Guam
Pennsylvania	Andrew Nadig	8th	Manheim Township Middle	Lancaster
Puerto Rico	Francisco Vargas	8th	St. John's School	San Juan
Rhode Island	Samuel Curry	7th	Broad Rock Middle	Wakefield
South Carolina	Trey Dendrinos	8th	Forest Acres Christian Educators	West Columbia
South Dakota	Alex Larson	8th	Vermillion Middle	Vermillion
Tennessee	Mark Arildsen	7th	University School of Nashville	Nashville
Texas	Jiawei Li	8th	Beck Junior High	Katy
Utah	Kennen Sparks	6th	Windridge Elementary	Kaysville
Vermont	Taylor Horn	8th	Leland and Gray Union Middle School	Townshend
Virginia	Partha Narasimhan	6th	Mercer Middle	Aldie
Virgin Islands	Muta Abiff	7th	Addelita Cancryn Junior High	St. Thomas
Washington	Caitlin Snaring	8th	Family Learning Center	Redmond
West Virginia	Benjamin Taylor	5th	Monongalia Homeschoolers Association	Morgantown
Wisconsin	Bjorn Ager-Hart	8th	FISH Home Education Network	Madison
Wyoming	Kirsi Anselmi Stith	5th	Holy Spirit School	Rock Springs

External links

★ National Geographic Bee official website

★ Geobeecentral Infinitia Geography Quiz

★ Geobeecentral Message Boards

★ Geo Bee Hotspot