Student Repeats As Winner Of
State Geography Bee At WKU
April 08, 2004
Bowling Green, Ky. - One hundred of Kentucky's most geographically aware fourth- through eighth-graders competed for the state championship of the annual National Geographic Bee April 2 at WKU's South Campus.
Sponsored locally this year by WKU's Graduate Geoscience Society and the Department of Geography and Geology, the annual competition culminates with the national championship in Washington, D.C., each May, after state-level championship rounds on the first Friday of April.
William Tamplin, an eighth-grader at Meyzeek Middle School in Louisville, became the Kentucky State Champion for the second year in a row, after stiff competition in the final rounds from runners-up Matt Hensley, a sixth-grader from Beaumont Middle School in Lexington, and Mark Reeves, an eighth-grader from Westport Middle School in Louisville.
Tamplin received a monetary award and a globe, along with an expenses-paid trip to the national competition.
Students were tested on a range of geographic subjects, from capitals to culture, landforms to the environment. The National Geographic Bee website (http://nationalgeographic.com/geographybee/index.html) provides details of the annual competition, along with a daily quiz with questions similar to the ones asked in the competition.
Sample questions included: Chile has extensive copper reserves in what desert? (Atacama), and: The Huang Ho is commonly known by what English name? (Yellow River).
Scott Dobler from the Department of Geography and Geology served as the Master of Ceremonies for the event.
Every year thousands of schools in the United States participate in the
National Geographic Bee using materials prepared by the National Geographic Society.
"The contest is designed to promote geographic awareness of the world around us," said David Keeling, Geography and Geology department head. "Moreover, the contest serves as an important recruitment tool for WKU and lets students and parents know that Western has nationally recognized programs in the geosciences."
Geography Bee Coordinator Kate Greer Fischer said the contests occur in three stages. The winners at each school take a written test. The top 100 scorers in each state and territory compete at the state level. The 55 state and territory winners will meet at National Geographic Society headquarters in Washington, D.C., for the national competition, where 10 finalists compete for a $25,000 college scholarship.
For more information, contact the Department of Geography and Geology at (270) 745-4555. More WKU news is available on the World Wide Web at www.wku.edu. If you'd like to receive WKU news via E-mail, send a message to WKUNews@wku.edu.
