In the Spotlight -- and a Geo Quiz!

(I seem to be falling behind on my blog posts lately...)

Back in January, I reported that McKay had won his school's National Geographic Bee competition. The next step in the competition is at the state level, however, they only take 100 kids from the entire state. So McKay (along with all the other school winners) had to take a written test. We got word a week or so ago that he qualified for the state competition!

(Sorry for the blurry picture -- I only had my phone camera with me)

Needless to say, we're all very excited for him (especially his teacher that sponsors the school Geography Club and is tutoring him for the competition). It's hard to tell, however, how excited McKay is. As to be expected, he is quite nervous about it and is putting a lot of pressure on himself. He's worried that he'll fail on the first round (although the competition doesn't work that way). And most of all, he's really uncomfortable with all the attention he's getting! Poor kid.

The day his teacher got the news at school, she pulled him out of class to tell him and let him call us at home (she had been waiting anxiously for the letter to come). Then she had the principal make a big announcement to the middle school and several other teachers also said something to him. He gets mad when he hears me telling people about it -- "Why is everyone making such a big deal?" he asks. I tell him it IS a big deal and we're proud of him but at the same time just want him to enjoy the experience and not feel pressured to win. I hope he is able to enjoy it!

The competition is going to be on Friday, April 1 in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area. We decided to make a fun family weekend to celebrate -- we're going to take the family to Six Flags Over Texas on Saturday and then come back home on Sunday. The biggest disappointment we just learned about the format of the competition is that parents or teachers are not allowed to watch the preliminary rounds. They divide the kids into groups of 20 and put them in a room with 3 judges -- no one else allowed. After the 8 preliminary rounds, they total the scores and take the top 10 (using a tiebreaker round if needed) to the final round, which everyone can watch. So there's a good chance we won't get to see him in action since we're not holding our breath that he'll make it to the final round. But you never know!

So for now we keep studying (he and I have been going over sample questions as well as going through maps of each continent and labeling countries, rivers, etc.) and trying to make it fun. I know I am definitely learning a lot as I study with him!

Here are a few sample questions from a prep book his teacher had. The early rounds give you a choice of two answers while the later rounds you just have to know on your own! How much geography do you know?

United States
Which of the following states was included as part of the Louisiana Purchase -- Iowa or Illinois?

World
Zero degrees longitude passes through which African country -- Mali or Burundi?

Physical Geography
Sand ridges that connect an offshore island to the mainland are called what?

Historical Geography
Which Mesoamerican civilization followed the Olmec?

Cultural Geography
The combination of trade, colonial conquest, and indigenous people developed what East African language?

Economic Geography
Half the world's emeralds come from a mine in Muzo in what South American country?

Political Geography
Which type of government can be found in Saudi Arabia?

The Environment
Around which sea has a region of more than 150,000 square miles been offically recognized as an Ecological Disaster Zone due to an 80 percent decrease in water volume caused by diversion of water?

Current Events (these sample questions are from several years ago)
In June 2001, dozens were killed and hundreds were injured when a passenger train plunged into the Kadalundi River, which flows from the Kerala state to the Arabian Sea, in which country?

As you can see, there are lots of aspects to geography! There is also a map reading category where the students are given a map and then asked questions about it, although I don't know if they have this category at the state level. How many answers do you know? Post your guesses in a comment for fun -- I'll post the answers in a day or two!