Districtwide, middle students participate in Geography Clubs that meet and practice throughout the school year to prepare and compete in the annual Middle School Geography Bee. This year’s culminating event was hosted by Flagstaff Academy on Thursday, May 3.
Fifteen teams from across the district competed in six dynamic rounds of questions. The six rounds of questions incorporated the following areas of geography:
Round 1: Physical Geography
Round 2: Cultural Geography
Round 3: Media
Round 4: Political Geography
Round 5: Current Events
Round 6: Economic Geography
The competition heated up when Sunset, Flagstaff, and Westview teams were vying to take the lead. And the winners are:
1st Place: Westview Middle School 1
2nd Place: Sunset Middle School 1
3rd Place: A tie between Altona Middle School 1 and Flagstaff Academy 1
Congratulations to all of the participating teams for their hard work and dedication. Exposure to geography concepts throughout daily curriculum is important because geography questions make up a quarter of the Social Studies standards. Geography clubs help support and reinforce academic standards from the classroom.
2017 Geography Bee Questions
Physical Geography: 23o 26’ 12.9” N (Twenty three degrees, twenty-six minutes, twelve point nine seconds, North) represents what?
Answer: Tropic of Cancer
Cultural Geography: The official animal of this country is a flightless bird but the name also refers to a seed-filled fruit. Name the country and the official animal.
Answer: New Zealand and Kiwi
Media: Name these falls that on the border between Zambia and Zimbabwe.
Answer: Victoria Falls
Political Geography: Name the two countries that make up the Iberian Peninsula.
Answer: Spain and Portugal
Economic Geography: Name the main greenhouse gas produced by paddy rice fields in India and livestock in the United States.
Answer: Methane
Current Events: SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy Rocket launched on February 6, 2018. What was its primary payload (cargo)?
Answer: cherry red Tesla Roadster