National Geographic Bee

A 1999 National Geography Bee contestant with his chaperones.

A shot before the national preliminary rounds of the 1999 National Geography 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 2011 bee was held May 24–25, 2011, with the finals being held at Grosvenor Auditorium at the National Geographic Society in Washington D.C.

The reigning titleholder is Tine Valencic of Texas.

Procedure

School competitions

The competition begins at the school level, usually in November, December, or January. This competition requires at least 6 people entered into the competition, whether it be a homeschooled, private, or public school bee. 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 twice during the whole bee. 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, hats, and even live animals. 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 fifteen 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.

Qualifying Test

The Qualifying Test is the only part of the bee that is completely written. Every winner from each school takes this test to see if he or she can qualify for the state bee.

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. The 54 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 54 state competitions, instead of 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 finals are held in late May at National Geographic Society headquarters in Washington, D.C. and hosted by Alex Trebek. The ten finalists are guaranteed $500. The third-place finisher at the national level receives a $10,000 college scholarship, the second-place finisher receives a $15,000 college scholarship, and the national champion receives a $25,000 college scholarship, as well as a lifetime membership in the National Geographic Society. For the 2009 national bee, the national champion also won a trip for two to the Galapagos Islands with Alex Trebek and the Jeopardy! Clue Crew.

International competition

Main article: National Geographic World Championship

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. The 2011 competition was held at the headquarters of Google in the San Francisco area.

Champions

Of the twenty-three National Geographic Bee champions, twenty-one are male and two are female. Five are from the state of Washington, four are from the state of Michigan, two are from Kansas, two are from Texas, 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 three-member U.S. team sent to the biannual National Geographic World Championship.

Year	Winner's Name	State	Grade	Final 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	First Champion
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	Had 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	Was in the finals in 1992
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	Was in the finals in 1994
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	Had a perfect score in the finals; presented an object in the 1994 finals, when he was the New Jersey state champion
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	Was in the finals in 1996
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	Rhodes Scholar, Harvard graduate; Was in the finals in 1999
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	Also a competitor in the National Middle School Science Bowl and National Science Olympiad.
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; was in the finals in 2005
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	Had a perfect score in the finals; second female champion
2008	Akshay Rajagopal	Nebraska	Sixth	The urban area of Cochabamba has been in the news recently due to protests over the privatization of the municipal water supply and regional autonomy issues. Cochabamba is the third-largest conurbation in what country?	Bolivia	Had a perfect score in the finals. Won the Bee on his first attempt at the school, state and national level.
2009	Eric Yang	Texas	Seventh	Timis County shares its name with a tributary of the Danube and is located in the western part of which European country?	Romania	Had a perfect score in the finals
2010	Aadith Moorthy	Florida	Eighth	The largest city in northern Haiti was renamed following Haiti’s independence from France. What is the present-day name of this city?	Cap-Haïtien	Won the bee the first year he came to the National Level.
2011	Tine Valencic	Texas	Seventh	Thousands of mountain climbers and trekkers rely on Sherpas to aid their ascent of Mount Everest. The southern part of Mount Everest is located in which Nepalese national park?	Sagarmatha National Park	Had a perfect score in the finals

2011 state champions

State	Winner's Name	School	City/Town	Grade	Notes
Alabama	Daniel Picard	Berry Middle School	Hoover	6th[1]
Alaska	Andrew Hull	Rogers Park Elementary	Anchorage	5th[2]	Top 10 finalist (10th)
Arizona	Luke Hellum	Sunrise Middle School	Scottsdale	8th	Top 10 finalist (7th)
Arkansas	Christian Boekhout	Hot Spring Intermediate School	Hot Springs	5th
Atlantic Territories	Jamon Fisk	St. Croix Country Day School	Kingshill, U.S. Virgin Islands	8th
California	Tuvya Bergson-Michelson	The Nueva School	Hillsborough	4th	Top 10 finalist (9th)
Colorado	Isabella Contolini	Dunstan Middle School	Lakewood	7th
Connecticut	Michael Borecki	Middlesex Middle School	Darien	6th
Delaware	Sophia Marianiello	Newark Charter School	Newark	7th
Department of Defense	Gavin Moulton	Naples American Middle School	Naples, Italy	7th
District of Columbia	Nathaniel Burrows	Maret School	Washington, D.C.	6th
Florida	Martin Konstantinov	Lake Mary Preparatory School	Lake Mary	6th
Georgia	Nilai Sarda	The Westminster School	Atlanta	7th	2nd Place
Hawaii	Andrew Anderton	Hawaii Technology Academy	Waipahu	6th
Idaho	Dylan Smith	Taylorview Junior High School	Idaho Falls	8th
Illinois	Anne Ulrich	Lake County Homeschoolers	Grayslake	8th
Indiana	Kevin Mi	Creekside Middle School	Carmel	8th	Top 10 finalist (8th)
Iowa	Ian Klopfenstein	Franklin Middle School	Cedar Rapids	7th
Kansas	Stefan Petrovic	South Junior High School	Lawrence	7th	Was a finalist in 2010 3rd Place
Kentucky	Nivedita Khandkar	Meyzeek Middle School	Louisville	8th
Louisiana	James Anthony Stoner	Christian Brothers School	New Orleans	7th
Maine	Benjamin MacLean	York Middle School	York	7th
Maryland	Neel Lakhanpal	Severn School	Severna Park	7th
Massachusetts	Karthik Karnik	King Philip Middle School	Norfolk	7th	Top 10 finalist (5th)
Michigan	Jacob Tanner	Saline Middle School	Saline	8th
Minnesota	William Bogenschultz	Ramsey Junior High School	St. Paul	7th
Mississippi	Luke Eckstein	St. Aloysius High School	Vicksburg	8th
Missouri	Joshua Vogel	Trinity Lutheran School	Cape Girardeau	8th
Montana	Claire Hinther	Target Range School	Missoula	8th
Nebraska	Sean Lynch	St. Wenceslaus School	Omaha	7th
Nevada	Asimwe Oben-Nyarko	Schofield Middle School	Las Vegas	8th
New Hampshire	Isaac Ozer	Windham Middle School	Windham	8th
New Jersey	Kevin Pang	Stewartsville Middle School	Stewartsville	7th
New Mexico	Zachary Ward	Albuquerque Area Home Educators	Albuquerque	8th
New York	Matthew Wigler	Great Neck North Middle School	Great Neck	8th
North Carolina	Alex Pinder	St. Leo the Great Parish School	Winston-Salem	6th
North Dakota	Tanner Carlson	Grimsrud Elementary	Bismarck	6th
Ohio	Narayan Sundarajan	Shaker Heights Middle School	Shaker Heights	8th
Oklahoma	Soorajnath Boominathan	Deer Creek Middle School	Edmond	8th
Oregon	Harish Palani	Findley Elementary	Portland	5th
Pacific Territories	Caleb Skvaril	Bishop Baumgartner Memorial Catholic School	Guam	8th
Pennsylvania	Alexander Kozitzky	Indian Crest Middle School	Souderton	8th
Rhode Island	Chase Boni	North Cumberland Middle School	Cumberland	8th
South Carolina	Krish Patel	Pinewood Preparatory School	Summerville	5th
South Dakota	Alex Kimn	George S. Mickelson Middle School	Brookings	8th	Top 10 finalist (4th)
Tennessee	Arunabh Singh	Schilling Farms Middle School	Collierville	8th
Texas	Tine Valencic	Colleyville Middle School	Colleyville	7th	2011 Champion
Utah	Anthony Cheng	Midvale Middle School	Midvale	7th	Was a finalist in 2010 Top 10 finalist (6th)
Virginia	Patrick Hammes	Herndon Middle School	Herndon	7th
Vermont	Sparsh Bhardwaj	Fredrick H. Tuttle Middle School	South Burlington	7th
Washington	Arjun Kumar	Beavar Lake Middle School	Issaquah	7th
West Virginia	Abel Abraham	St. Francis de Sales Central Catholic School	Morgantown	8th
Wisconsin	Robert Rosner	Phelps School	Phelps	8th
Wyoming	Dwaine Kenney	Big Piney Middle School	Big Piney	8th

References

1. ^ http://press.nationalgeographic.com/pressroom/index.jsp?pageID=pressReleases_detail&siteID=1&cid=1301926899034l April 4th, 2011
2. ^ http://www.nationalgeographic.com/geographybee/2010-geobee-winners.html May 2nd, 2010^{[dead link]}

External links

• National Geographic Bee official website