National Geographic Bee

Well, the state winners are all in and from May 20-22 the 25th National Geographic Bee will be taking place in Washington, DC. Once again, the Finals will be hosted by Alex Trebek from Jeopardy! and the venue this year will be the National Theatre, just a few blocks south and east of the White House. Tickets to watch it live are just $10 so if you live in the greater Washington, DC area, why not go cheer these kids on in person ?

Last year’s winner was Rahul Nagvekar, a 14 year old from Sugarland, TX. The grand champion won a $25,ooo scholarship and all all-expenses paid trip to the Galapagos Island. Here he is accepting the scholarship from host Alex Trebek. Check out the list of this year’s 54 state winners. Maybe one of them is from your hometown.

Here are some sample questions from the National Geographic Bee, along with ideas about how to look for clues within the questions that can help you figure out the right answers.

Which state has a climate suitable for growing citrus fruits—California or Maine?

You know that oranges and grapefruit are citrus fruits and that they grow in warm places. Since California’s climate is definitely warmer and sunnier than Maine’s, you correctly answer California.

Which country has the world’s largest Muslim population—Indonesia or Mexico?

If you have studied maps showing world religions, you will know the answer immediately. If you haven’t, you might reason that Mexico was settled by the Spanish, followers of Christianity not Islam. Either way, you correctly answerIndonesia.

The North Atlantic current brings warm waters from the tropics to the west coast of which continent?

From studying physical maps you know that the North Atlantic is the area of the Atlantic that lies north of the Equator and that the entire west coast of Europe borders the North Atlantic, so you correctly answer Europe.

What is the term for a part of an ocean or sea that cuts far into the bordering landmass and may contain one or more bays?

From studying physical features on maps and using your geographical reference book to learn about physical features, you narrow your choices to two terms: bay and gulf. Since the word “bay” is used in the question, you eliminate it as a possibility and correctly answer gulf.

How did you do? were the questions hard or easy? Maybe next year, you will compete for a spot in the finals !