ATHENS, W.Va. — Concord University will hold the 2015 West Virginia Geographic Bee on the Athens campus Friday. The competition is for students in the fourth through eighth grades.
Seventy students from across the state will compete for the chance to represent West Virginia in the 27th annual National Geographic Bee held in Washington, D.C. May 11-13.
Each state winner will receive $100, a paid trip to Washington, D.C. for the national finals, and the chance to be crowned the National Geographic Bee champion.
First prize in the national competition is a $50,000 college scholarship and lifetime membership in the National Geographic Society. The champion will also get to travel to the Galapagos Islands to experience an up-close look at geography abroad. Runner ups will receive $25,000 and $10,000 college scholarships.
This is the fifth year Concord University will host the event. Linda Poff, West Virginia Geographic Bee Coordinator, said it is a big deal for fourth to eighth grade students. This year, they have five fourth graders that qualify to compete in Friday’s Bee and 20 eighth graders.
“Those fourth graders, I know, will be just as excited, maybe a little more nervous because it’s their first time, but they will be just as ready as our eighth grade students,” said Poff on Thursday’s MetroNews “Talkline.”
Poff said the questions students will be asked are not that simple. Students will receive a National Geographic Bee T-shirt upon arrival this year. Poff said each state in the country will have the same question on the T-shirts.
“The question will be: Several species of whales live in the Weddell Sea near the Ronne Ice Shelf on what continent?”
The answer is Antarctica. Poff said geography has held her interest for a long time in her life. As she grew older, she realized the impacts geography had, and still continues to, on the world.
“It’s not just their problem that happens somewhere else in the world, it’s really our problem too because it effects us,” said Poff, “We teach the kids those connections, like, why do gas prices rise? Why does coffee cost more this week than it did last week?”
Currently, the students are working on a map project at the university. Poff said they have a huge traveling map of Europe provided by the National Geographic Society. They have been doing small group activities with the students. Different stations are set up that deal with subjects connected to geography, such as math and reading.
National Geographic developed the National Geographic Bee in 1989 in response to concern about the lack of geographic knowledge among young people in the United States. The Bee is designed to encourage teachers to include geography in their classrooms, to spark student interest in the subject and to increase public awareness about geography.