PA NAT’L GEOGRAPHIC STATE BEE

Two students were named Pennsylvania National Geographic State Bee Semifinalists by the National Geographic Society: Thomas Flexer who attends Lower Macungie Middle School, in Macungie and James Manley who attends St. Ann School, in Emmaus.

Both semifinalists were eligible to compete in the 2018 Pennsylvania National Geographic State Bee held April 6 at the State Museum of Pennsylvania.

Unfortunately, Thomas and James did not make it through to the next level following the April 6 competition.

The National Geographic Bee competition is now in its 30th year. School bees were held in schools with fourth through eighth grade students throughout the state to determine each school champion. School champions then took a qualifying test, which they submitted to the National Geographic Society. The National Geographic Society invited up to 100 of the top-scoring students in each of the 50 states, the District of Columbia, Department of Defense Dependents Schools and U.S. territories to compete in the state bees.

To celebrate the 30th annual National Geographic Bee, the cash prize for the top three students in each state doubled. Each state champion received $200, the National Geographic Visual Atlas of the World, 2nd Edition and a trip to Washington, D.C., to represent their state in the National Geographic Bee Championship to be held at National Geographic Society headquarters, May 20 to 23. Students in second place received $150 and those in third place received $100.

The first-place national champion will receive a $50,000 college scholarship, a lifetime membership in the society, including a subscription to National Geographic magazine and an all-expenses-paid Lindblad expedition to the Galápagos Islands aboard the new National Geographic Endeavour ll. Second and third place finishers will receive $25,000 and $10,000 college scholarships, respectively. Visit www.natgeobee.org for more information on the National Geographic Bee.

National Geographic will stream the final round of the National Geographic Bee Championship starting May 24 at www.natgeobee.org.

How would you fare as a National Geographic Bee contestant? At the school bees this year, students had to answer questions like these:

1. The Appalachian Mountains run through which state – Georgia or Mississippi?

2. The North Platte and South Platte Rivers meet in which state – New Mexico or Nebraska?

3. Which state straddles the Tropic of Cancer – Hawaii or Alaska?

4. Which form of mass production was used by Henry Ford to produce automobiles in large quantities in Detroit, Michigan – threshing machine or assembly line?

5. What is the term for the physical location where a plant or animal lives – habitat or pattern?

6. Which country does not contain large areas of desert – Chad, Venezuela or Iraq?

7. Public steam baths called hammams are part of the culture in cities such as Casablanca and Marrakech in which African country?

8. The Delmarva Peninsula includes parts of Delaware, Virginia and which other state?

9. The easternmost part on the Horn of Africa is located in which country?

10. Angkor Wat, built as a tribute to Hinduism, is located in which Southeast Asian country where Buddhism now predominates?

Editor’s Note: Answers can be found on Page A18.