Practice Your Geography Skills

National Geographic Geography Bee

Each year in January, the sixth graders at B. T. Wilson participate in the National Geographic Geography Bee. This oral geography quiz is sent to schools by National Geographic to promote interest in geography. Students wishing to practice may log onto the National Geographic GeoBee Challenge to study questions from previous years.

Even with this practice, few are prepared for the questions asked by the contest judge. After a grueling Qualifying Round, contestants are selected to advance to the Preliminary Round. The questions continue until only two students remain. The Final Round determines the winner of the Bee.

The winner at the local level then takes a written exam to qualify for competition at the state level and a trip to Washington, D.C. There the students compete at the national level for a $25,000 college scholarship and a lifetime membership to the National Geographic Society.

Students in the fourth through eighth grades in thousands of schools across the United States and in the five United States territories compete for this outstanding award. Alex Trebek moderates the national finals which are aired on the National Geographic Channel and later on PBS stations.

B. T. Wilson 2007 National Geographic Geography Bee

On January 9, 2007, sixth graders at B. T. Wilson competed in the National Geography Geography Bee on our campus. More than twenty contestants tried to answer questions that stumped even their Social Studies teachers.

After seven grueling rounds of geography questions, six students advanced to the Final Round. On stage, these contestants were asked to answer both orally and in writing until all but two students were eliminated from the contest. Our finalists, Kirk Hodel and Carl Barth, continued answering questions until one was victorious.

The 2007 winner of the B. T. Wilson National Geographic Geography Bee was Carl Barth. Carl later took a written test hoping to qualify for the State Bee. B. T. Wilson is proud of all of the contestants, especially Carl, for their participation in this contest.

Please contact our faculty sponsor Nita Kunz for more information about competing in our school's competition next year.