In Millstone, there’s a kind of bee that doesn’t buzz or require spelling. It’s been around for 23 years, and it’s not in someone’s bonnet.
ERIC SUCAR staff The finalists in the geography bee at the Millstone Township Middle School prepare themselves prior to the onset of the competition Jan. 11. After numerous rounds of questioning, eighth-grader Matthew Novellino won the contest. The National Geographic Bee may not sound familiar to most people, but it isn’t a new kind of bee at all. Each year thousands of schools in the United States participate in the competition using materials prepared by the National Geographic Society.
The contest, which has been taking place in Millstone for the past 23 years, is designed to encourage teachers to include geography in their classrooms, spark student interest in the subject, and increase public awareness about geography.
Social Studies teacher Robert Hoagland, who has conducted the bee in Millstone for the past 23 years, said geography is important because it gives people a good sense of where they are in the world.
ERIC SUCAR staff Geography bee finalists Charlie May (l) and Matthew Novellino hold up their answers to one of the questions during the contest held in the Millstone Township Middle School auditorium Jan. 11. “It gives students a better sense of where products come from and ideas for where they can go,” he said. “When they watch the news, geography helps them know where things are happening.”
Hoagland said society puts less of an emphasis on geography today than it did when he was a student. He said geography is now taught as a unit in social studies, whereas an entire class had once been dedicated to the topic.
The initial round of the geography bee for all sixth-, seventh and eighth-grade students took place in their social studies classrooms. Teachers narrowed the contestants down to 10 students, who competed Jan. 18 to earn first place at their school level and a chance to advance to the state level of the competition.
“It’s so nice to see the kids get energized for the competition,” Louise San Nicola, public information officer for the school district, said. “Some of the kids study to be prepared for it. The questions are challenging.When you hear them, they make you realize how much as an adult you forget.”
Don’t think that amiddle school geography bee is nothingmore than knowing capital cities and geographic boundaries. Students also have to answer questions about geography based on sociology, history, language and current events.
When the 10 finalists took the stage in the middle school’s newauditorium,Hoagland,whowanted to be called “Alex Trebek” for the day, said, “This is the largest audience we’ve ever performed for,” adding that when the school first held the contest, it only had 450 students in grades kindergarten through eight.
San Nicola explained that when the school population started growing, the facility didn’t have a roomlarge enough to host the student body during the bee.
“It’s so nice to have such a beautiful auditorium to do this in,” she said. “In the past, we couldn’t fit everyone into one space. Now the whole school comes to watch the challenge and to cheer on their friends.”
During the bee, the contestants were asked to respond to questions orally or with a written answer. When a contestant missed two questions, he or she was eliminated. When two contestants remained, they played a championship round.
After round two, when Hoagland asked, “The Mississippi delta dominates the eastern portion of which state?” and only some of the contestants answered correctly with “Louisiana,” eighth-graders Charlie May, Mary Babin and JustinWalter were eliminated.
Round-three questions such as “The clouds produced by trade winds blow across the Haleakala crater in which state?” and “The ChugachMountains run along the coast of the north Pacific Ocean in which state?” stumped more of the contestants. Sixth-grader David Palmieri and seventhgraders Katy Citrin and Olivia Nitti were eliminated when others answered the questions correctly with “Hawaii” and “Alaska.”
Around-four question that asked, “Professional farmers called bonanza farmers established themselves in the late 1800s in the Red River Valley area near the capital of Fargo in which state?” stumped all of the contestants who did not know the answer was North Dakota.
In a short round to determine the third-place winner, sixth-grader Trevor Ferrara faced ChrisAnselmo, who won by knowing that Louisiana was named for a French king. After he won the round, Anselmo proudly pulled open his button-down shirt to display a Batman logo.
In the championship round, eighth-grader Matthew Novellino went up against seventh-grader Taylor Medina. The two had to answer questions such as “Name the country located entirely within the city of Rome” and “Name the U.S. island where the American day begins.” The two remained tied for quite some time until Hoagland asked, “What is the termfor themelted rock under the earth’s surface?” Matt answered the question correctly with “magma” and won.
When asked what it felt like to win, Matt said, “It feels great!”
He said his love for sciencemay have given himthe edge over his competition, but he also credited his teachersKerri Kapulsky andMaryO’Rourkewith helping himprepare for the geography bee. He also said that he had studied online and with his dad in preparation for the contest.
Matt said he will study for the next phase of the competition by looking at atlases and going toWeb sites that offer information and games about geography.
Hoagland said that students who do well in the contest study the world atlas and maps and blank maps, the capitals of every country, the Canadian provinces, and the top geographic events of the previous year.
Each school-level winner like Matt will take a written test, and the top 100 scorers in each state and territory will compete at the state level. State-level bees are held in March,withNewJersey’s taking place at Rutgers, the State University ofNewJersey, inNewBrunswick. Thewinner of each state bee proceeds to the national competition.
The 55 state and territorywinnerswillmeet atNational Geographic Society headquarters in Washington, D.C., for the national competition, where 10 finalists compete for a $25,000 college scholarship. The second- and third-place winners receive $15,000 and $10,000 scholarships, respectively.
The real “Jeopardy!” hostAlex Trebekwillmoderate the final competition.