National Geographic Bee Competition

Our School Winner!
From November 12, 2012 to January 15, 2013 schools all across the nation are participating in the National Geographic Bee.  The Bee which has been in existence since 1989 challenges students in grades 4 - 8 on the geography of the world.  Participating schools hold Preliminary Rounds with all students and then conduct a Final Round with up to 10 finalists.  The 10 finalists compete until a School Champion is determined.

The School Champion then goes on to take a 60 question multiple choice test for entry into the State Level Competition.  The top 100 scorers compete for entry to the National Level Bee.

Questions for the Bee are rather tough.   Some are multiple choice and some are not. (Final round questions are NOT multiple choice and students must provide answers.) Some examples:
  • Which state is a part of the Delmarva Peninsula? Virginia/Maryland/Georgia
  • Which agent of erosion is primarily responsible for creating limestone caves?
  • Angkor Wat and Cappadocia are World Heritage sites found on which continent?
  • Which of the following countries has the longest coastline? Iraq/Iran/Kuwait
Our school has registered to compete in the Bee for over 15 years and yesterday the students in the 3rd, 4th and 5th grade classes watched as four 5th grader Class Champions and four 4th grade Class Champions competed for the title: School Champion.  After several rounds the group of eight was whittled down to three who competed in the Championship Round until we finally have a School Winner!

Registration for participation occurs in October.  Make sure you check out the National Geographic site for information.  

Other Resources:
Does your school participate?

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Digital Breakouts

Image
MedfieldDLD Promo A few weeks back I attended a conference in a neighboring district, #MedfieldDLD (Medfield Digital Learning Day!) It was a day filled with lots of great conversations & lots of learning.  Sessions I attended included: Hyperdocs; NEW Google Sites for Digital Portfolios; Homework: Shifting the Perspective and BreakoutEDU .  While I plan to incorporate ideas from all of these in my classroom somehow I was able to start immediately with the help of this  BreakoutEDU  slidedeck that Kerry Cowell presented. Kerry's Box BreakOuts are a game where "players use teamwork and critical thinking to solve a series of challenging puzzles in order to open a locked box." Literally, the box is locked with several different types of locks! (Number locks, key locks, word lock & direction locks)  Kerry's Breakout was related to the "Back to the Future" theme of the day and very challenging. As we worked through the clues, my team and I felt what it wo...
Read more

The Power of "I CAN"

Image
Over 30 years ago I was a student teacher in 1st grade.  It was frightening to me as I only pictured myself working with 4th grade students not being with 'little kids." I remember my cooperating teacher had me sit with a sign that said, "I CAN DO IT!"  As I recall, those first grade kids COULD do it and I did too!  Afterward I left that class and went on to become a grade 4 teacher.  I became good at figuring out what my fourth graders were and weren't capable of doing.  I often wonder if I held my students back believing they couldn't do something and not giving them the opportunity to try! Lately, as a Digital Learning Coach I have had the opportunity to spend time with kindergartners and 1st graders.  I forgot what it was like to be with 5 & 6 year olds. So, I am always pleasantly surprised and impressed by what they ARE able to 'do' when it comes learning.  Admittedly, I'm not familiar with the 'littles' and their abilities as I ...
Read more

Use of Thinking Blocks to Help Solve Math Problems

Image
More and more we are asking students to solve complex math problems.   Along the way we do a lot to help them become successful.  We incorporate the use of many tools during the math classroom. One of the tools we are using this year in the classroom is called, Thinking Blocks ".   This website (there is even a 'free' app for the thinking blocks) poses problems around different types of models.  As a warm up before the regular math lesson this week we practiced solving addition and subtraction word problems using the "part whole model with two parts" and the "part whole model with 3 parts". As a group we watch a quick 3 minute tutorial , practice several problems and then break off with a partner.  Using chrome books, students access the Thinking Blocks website and begin solving each new problem by first checking for understanding and then manipulating the blocks.  Working with a partner also gets the students used to 'talking' about mat...
Read more