Which city beginning with the letter "K" has more than 7 million inhabitants living within its metropolitan limits? Kiev, Kinshasa, or Kuala Lumpur?
If you said Kuala Lumpur, which would have been my guess, you'd be wrong, as was the contestant who attempted to answer the question in the first round of the National Geographic Bee Final yesterday in Washington, D.C. The correct answer, Kinshasa, a city located in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, is one of the largest in Africa, comparable in size to Johannesburg (South Africa) and smaller only than Lagos (Nigeria) and Cairo (Egypt).
The Bee Final was characteristically exciting--and challenging for us onlookers (even those with degrees in Geography)! Ten contestants--all male--advanced past the semi-final round held Wednesday (a head-to-head match-up among winners from all 50 U.S. states, territories, and Department of Defense Dependents Schools), to compete for a chance at a $25,000 scholarship, a trip to the Galapagos Islands, and a lifetime membership to the National Geographic Society.
A few highlights from the Final:
Musical Stylings
Just as he does on his hallmark show Jeopardy!, Mr. Trebek spent a portion of the program interviewing contestants about their interests and hobbies.
In one round, students viewed Google Earth flyovers to identify rivers, following the flow paths of the rivers from source to mouth. Very cool--my favorite round for its application of Google Earth and connections to Geography Awareness Week 2010: Freshwater!
Most Challenging Round: Map Errors
In another round, contestants were asked to look at maps of relatively small geographic extents (usually a region of a country) and describe a "major error." The deviations varied in nature: the nation of Swaziland absent from the interior of South Africa, a lake or river too far east or west. I thought the exercise in spatial analysis was pretty tough!
Study Tips (three from contestants and two from my own observations)
If you missed the Bee last night on the National Geographic Channel, make sure to check local listings to see when it will be airing on a public broadcasting station near you.
Sarah Jane for My Wonderful world
- Aadith Moorthy, the eventual champion, who now lives in Florida but was born in India, serenaded the audience with a rendition of South Asian classical singing before the contest even got underway.
- During the competition, contestants were asked to identify the geographic origin of a fulyara, a long, clarinet-like wooden instrument used by shepherds in Eastern Europe to calm sheep, and played by a musician in traditional dress onstage. I couldn't help feeling caught in the middle of a "Ricola" commercial myself. Alex Trebek, who moderated the Bee, apparently also found the performance entertaining. Ever the comedian, he quipped ""I think it's working: I have an insatiable desire to climb a mountain and eat grass."
Just as he does on his hallmark show Jeopardy!, Mr. Trebek spent a portion of the program interviewing contestants about their interests and hobbies.
- This year, a few of the students described hobbies that struck me as particularly geographic. One collected luggage tags; another collected license plates from around the world. His favorite: A bear-shaped plate from Canada's Northwest Territory.
- A couple of the students cited aspirations to pursue geographic careers. One wants to work in international relations, potentially for the United Nations; another wants to be a meteorologist.
- When asked which country they most wanted to visit, one of the contestants chose South Africa, the site of this summer's World Cup soccer tournament. He also said he hoped an African team would win the tourney--even over the United States. A very global perspective!
In one round, students viewed Google Earth flyovers to identify rivers, following the flow paths of the rivers from source to mouth. Very cool--my favorite round for its application of Google Earth and connections to Geography Awareness Week 2010: Freshwater!
Most Challenging Round: Map Errors
In another round, contestants were asked to look at maps of relatively small geographic extents (usually a region of a country) and describe a "major error." The deviations varied in nature: the nation of Swaziland absent from the interior of South Africa, a lake or river too far east or west. I thought the exercise in spatial analysis was pretty tough!
Study Tips (three from contestants and two from my own observations)
- Learn one new fact every day!
- Anthony Cheng of Utah created 418 of his own computer games to study
- One boy slept on his atlas every night--ouch!
- If you don't know the answer from memory, use your noggin' to do some deduction! For one of the last questions, the final two contestants were asked to identify the origin of Tswana, a Bantu language from a landlocked country. Aadith got it right, presumably making the connection between "Tswana" and "Botswana."
- Experience leads to excellence! For those of us without the encyclopedic memories of these whiz-kids, personal geographic experience can be critical to knowledge-building. Most of the answers I got correct (fewer than I'd like to admit) I knew from my own travels, or the journeys of others close to me. For example, I knew that Kakadu National Park and Arnhem Land are in the Northern Territory of Australia because I visited both when I studied abroad "Down Under." I guessed that Yerba Maté tea comes from Argentina because my twin sister used to describe the students who drank it when she studied abroad in neighboring Chile. And I only located the Trevi Fountain in Rome because intern Sarah Evans wrote about it a few months ago here on the blog!
If you missed the Bee last night on the National Geographic Channel, make sure to check local listings to see when it will be airing on a public broadcasting station near you.
Sarah Jane for My Wonderful world
The fulyara was awesome!!! Yea it was a tough competition!
Hi,
My daughter is Isabella, the only girl who qualified for the D.C. finals this year. We had a great time at the event. She missed the tie-breaker on Tuesday by one question, but will try to be back next year... We need some girls up there with the boys.