Abuzz about a Bee

TU partnering with national, state sponsors to host this year's Maryland Geographic Bee 

By Jan Lucas

On Friday 100 junior geography whizzes, plus dedicated volunteers from TU and other colleges and universities, will convene on the CCBC Catonsville campus for the annual Maryland Geographic Bee.

Serving in a variety of roles, from coordinator, timekeeper and judge to clean-up detail, are 15 representatives of the Department of Geography and Environmental Planning, including faculty, graduate students and an alumnus and his wife. The TU team is working with the Rockville campus of Montgomery College, CCBC Catonsville and the National Geographic Society to host this year's Bee for 4th through 8th graders.

Ralph Scott, who has coordinated the event for the past four years, says the preliminary round isn’t open to the public because the contestants are divided into five groups of 20 students, and the small classrooms can't accommodate an audience.

He adds that the afternoon and final rounds are held in the theater and are open to anyone. Tom Tasselmyer, chief meteorologist at WBAL-TV, will guest-moderate the final round.

Scott says all Maryland Geographic Bee contestants will receive special Bee T-shirts and certificates from the National Geographic Society. The winner goes home with a $100 check, a certificate, a globe from the National Geographic Society, and an all-expenses-paid trip to the May 20–21 national finals in Washington, D.C.

This year’s national champion will collect a $25,000 college scholarship, with second and third-place finishers receiving $15,000 and $10,000 scholarships.

While he admits the scholarships are enticing, Scott says he hopes the Bee also will spark interest in a subject he considers essential to becoming a good global citizen.  

It is, after all, the point of the competition. 

The Geographic Bee was established in 1989 to promote geography education and encourage learning. The original organizers were alarmed by mounting evidence of geographic illiteracy.

They had—and still have—ample reason for concern.   

A recent National Geographic Society survey of Americans age 18 to 24 found that only 40 percent could find Iraq on a map of the Middle East. Even after Hurricane Katrina, a third of the respondents were unable to locate Louisiana on a U.S. map. 

The Geographic Bees, statewide and national, have been actively chipping away at that sort of ignorance for the past 20 years.  

Schools in the United States, the District of Columbia, U.S. territories and the U.S. Department of Defense Dependents Schools may participate in the program by holding their own Geographic Bees. School champions advance to the state competitions, always held on the same day with identical lists of questions to ensure fairness.

Scott described the typical Maryland Geographic Bee contestant as being “nervous but excited. The students are under some pressure, but I think they enjoy it.”

"Parents and teachers who come to the event with the kids tend to be just as involved," he adds “It’s really nice to see so many people excited about geography.”

Find out how you stack up against America's junior geography whizzes. For a list of sample questions from the 2003 competition, go to National Geographic Bee.

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