Pamlico Sound borders Cape Hatteras National Seashore in which state?
Angel Falls, the world’s tallest at 3,212 feet, is located in which South American country?
These are just two of the questions correctly answered by this year’s champion of the National Geography Bee, which took recently place at STMA Middle School East.
Eighth-grader Ian McEachran, son of Thomas and Katherine McEachran, won the school competition of the National Geographic Bee and now has a chance at a $50,000 college scholarship. Approximately 850 students participated in this year’s Bee at STMA Middle School East, and over 1,000 students, staff, and parents attended the event.
The Geography Bee is a national competition where students from around the country compete by answering a series of tough geographical questions. STMA has a long tradition of successful Geography Bee school winners; STMA has had nine finalists in the state competition and two placed in the Top 10 of Minnesota.
Throughout the month of December all students at STMA Middle School East were given the opportunity to participate in the school wide preliminary Geography Bee competition in their social studies classes. From this competition, 45 classroom champions emerged. These 45 classroom champions then competed against each other in the school semi-finals the week in December. The field narrowed from 45 down to ten school finalists and two alternates. These 10 finalists competed in front of the student body in the STMA Middle School East gymnasium.
Each finalist was eliminated when they answered two questions incorrectly. McEachran and fifth grader Jake Green survived ten gruelling rounds of competition to make it to the school championship round.
The championship round consisted of three questions. At the end of the championship round, McEachran and Green were tied, each having answered all three questions correctly. There was then a tie breaking round using a single-elimination procedure. McEachran correctly answered the question and became the STMA Middle School East Geography Bee Champion. The winning question Ian McEachran answered correctly was:
Colombia, with low coastal plains along both the Caribbean Sea and Pacific Ocean, borders which Central American country? Answer: Panama.
Other finalists in this year’s competition included eighth graders Ezra Dickerson and Zach Helman; seventh graders Tye Kuechle and Joel Wilmot; sixth graders Andrew Butkowski and Isaac Marschel; and fifth graders Jake Green, William Negaard, and Lily Roehl. The two alternates were sixth graders Daniel Eberhart and eighth grader Austin Homstad.
The national finals will air on television May 19 at 8 p.m. EST on the National Geographic Channel and Nat Geo WILD, and later on public television stations. Check local listings for dates and times.
