2001 National Geographic Bee

Funding provided by First USA a bank one company the official sponsor of the 2001 National Geographic Bee in partnership with the National Geographic Society. First USA is the exclusive issuer of the National Geographic MasterCard. Today. 10 students compete for the title of 2001 National Geographic Bee champion. This is the culmination of state competitions involving thousands of contestants. Which narrowed the field. Fifty five students representing each of the 50 states. The District of Columbia and the U.S. territories. These champions won an all expense paid trip to Washington D.C.. And an opportunity to become one of the 10 finalists to compete today. These 55 students converged on Washington D.C. ready to test their mettle once again. Only 10 students emerged victorious. These students are not only competing for the title. But a $25000 scholarship.

From the National Geographic Society's Grosvenor Auditorium. Ladies and gentlemen. Please welcome Mr. Alex Brubeck. Thank you very much for that warm round of applause. Welcome ladies and gentlemen to our 13th Annual National Geographic Bee. It's always a great pleasure for me to come back to Washington to officiate at this event and this year is special for a number of reasons. First of all three of these students have competed here in the finals before three of them are home schooled and I believe that says a great deal in a

positive way about the importance of parental involvement in the education of our children. For the first time ever two physically challenged students won their state championships and traveled to Washington to compete in the nationals. One of them made it into the top 10 and this year there is even more excitement because of the fact that these 10 students have an opportunity to become part of the American team that will travel to Vancouver British Columbia later this summer to represent the United States in the fifth international geography Olympics. They will be competing against students from 12 other countries. Now at the moment the United States is the defending champion. So that would place a great deal of pressure on them. However I can assure you having watched them in competition in the preliminaries in Washington yesterday that whoever winds up representing the United States will do quite well. And now let me take a few moments to introduce our potential ambassadors to you. First of all from Samuel in OCHA Kalama intermediate school on Maui

we have Nick Joske representing Hawaii next. From Jail Stanford Middle School representing California Theodore Mennen. A home schooler from Siloam Springs Arkansas. Kyle McFarland. A student at Helen Cannan Middle School in Las Vegas Nevada. Jim Hoffman. A home schooler from Barnesville Georgia. Robert McRae. Now before I introduce the bottom row of students I want to digress for just a few moments. I will make the assumption that many of you are fans of the other show I host jeopardy. Now I mentioned the title of the show in order to avoid an embarrassing moment such as occurred in Ottawa just a few days

ago I was hosting the Canadian geography bee and I referred to my other hosting job on a television show and one of the students at what show is that Mr. Trebeck. It was one of those marvelous exercises in humility that all of us need from time to time. But for those of you who are fans of Jeopardy You'll recall that in the past year and a half one of the highlights on our program was the appearance of a contestant from this part of the country from the Washington D.C. area a sports writer who won five games and who happened to be totally blind. Now he went on to win even more money. He picked up $70000 plus in his five games then went into the tournament of champions earned more money won two cars which he does not use of course himself but he was a great favorite. Throughout the country and he is with us in the auditorium today. So would you please join me in welcoming Mr. Eadie to Mannus.

Now Eddie is not just here today as an auditor he is here as an assistant in our national geographic base because we called upon Eddie to help us in translating some of our questions into braille because one of the participants is totally blind and that young man is Paul Ruffner who is here representing the state of Arizona. I might add for those of you who might feel sorry for someone who has this kind of physical challenge that Paul had a perfect score in the preliminary round yesterday. Next to him representing the state of Texas a home schooler 13 year old Jason Ferguson

from HBO's your city Louisiana Hank liegen. Representing New York Transit middle school eighth grader from East Amhurst Michael O. And an eighth grader at Evergreen school in Bellevue Washington. Kyle had fun. All right ladies and gentlemen. Let me take a few moments now to review the rules the final competition has always will be two parts and the first part a contestant will be eliminated after two incorrect responses each time a player responds incorrectly. One of the lights in front of that player will be turned off when both lights have been turned off. In other words when the player has missed two questions he will be eliminated from further competition. We will continue on in this manner until we get down to two players who will then move

into the championship round contest and as you know you'll have 12 seconds to come up with a correct response for each question each of you may interrupt the final round. Only twice to have either a question repeated or a word spelled so listen carefully as I read the question and if you want me to repeat it or spell a word ask me to do so immediately and once again the judge's decision will be final We're going to begin with a series of individual questions that will require oral answers only each of you will be given a different question. After hearing one comparison you will be given a second related comparison but with one element missing you are to provide the missing element. For example if I said the lira is to Italy as the yen is to what country you would respond. Japan all right here is the first question and we direct it to you Nick. The Canary Islands are to Spain as the Andaman Islands are to what.

India. Yes Fedora the Apennines are to Italy as the elders. Mountains. E l b u r z r to what around erect Kyle Mount Pinatubo is to the Philippines as hoping to peddle is to what Mexico. Yes Jim Bechuanaland is to Botswana as Northern Rhodesia is to what. Zambia. Right Robert Lake Volta is to Ghana as Lake or nega o n e GA is to what. Yes Lake Volta is to Ghana as Lake on Nigga o n e GA is to what Byrne. No it's Russia.

So that's one miss for you only. Now we go down to Paul or do is to Pakistan as Sinhalese is to what all we can know. Sri Lanka Sri Lanka. Now we go to Jasen the Aborigines are to Australia as the. I knew a I and you are to what. Japan. Correct Hank dollar is R.G. New Zealand as pesetas are to what. Spain. Correct Michael. The Nile Delta is to Egypt as the Irrawaddy Delta is to what Myanmar. Yes and finally. Kyle how did Fonda Cappadocia is to Turkey as Gascony is to coopt France. France is right. All right gentlemen you can all relax for a few moments.

In addition to competing for a place on the American team these players are competing as individuals today for an impressive amount of scholarships $50000 in total a $10000 scholarship awarded to the third place finisher a $15000 scholarship awarded for second place and of course a $25000 scholarship awarded to our grand champion. It always amazes me how these young people manage to triumph over fantastic odds to start out as one of five million. And to wind up as one of 10 is really quite an accomplishment. They're all champions and I'm sure you'd like to meet them up close and personal. So we'll start with Nick Joske a 14 year old student from Hawaii. Now I understand you're quite a runner. You compete in cross-country events. Yes. And you won a couple. Yeah. What distance are we talking about.

Mainly five case. There was a film many many years ago before your time actually was called the loneliness of the long distance runner in which the runner enjoyed a kind of exhilaration as he ran. Do you get that same kind of feeling when you're out there running. Yes I do. Now who would you like to go for longer runs. I think I like the five. The fighting seems to be a good distance for me. All right. Good. Nice having you here. Nick Fida or Mannan. We have a number of musicians among our competitors today and you are one you play one instrument clarinet in a Youth Symphony Orchestra. We're talking about classical music. Who's your favorite composer Stravinsky Stravinsky now. I thought you might have said that you're your favorite composer because I understand that you are a prolific composer. You are working on 10 different compositions right now. How do you keep track of all of them.

Good question. You write them down when you get an idea for a theme or a melody. Do you write it down immediately or because you might forget it since you decided to but usually forget it you do and does it come back to you in the middle of the night. No. No. You're lucky. So many things come back to me in the middle of the night. Next we have our youngest participant 12 year old Kyle McFarlane now. I understand that even though you are 12 years old you are interested in the law and in particular in becoming a Supreme Court justice. Yes. So William Rehnquist is one of your heroes. Now for somebody who is interested in the law in that area. Do your friends come to you to help resolve conflicts. Do they view you as an astute judge of different situations. No not yet not yet. Do they know you want to become a Supreme Court justice. I think some of them do. Some of them do.

All right. Just wait a few years and they'll come to you. Jim Hoffman is from Nevada and he has a wild ambition. You want to be a geneticist. Yeah. And you want to work in a specific area tell the folks about this. Well I want to work on. I like cloning animals like the passenger pigeon. It's the stain. But there's got to be like some like a stuffed one out there. I knew I could conceivably clone another one. You know and like get the population back up. Now were you inspired by the film Jurassic Park because that's sort of what they did isn't it. They took DNA from extinct species and they cloned them. Yeah. You want to do that. Yeah. You want to bring back dinosaurs too. Well we can't do dinosaurs built like woolly mammoths. You could actually do it there.

OK Jim. Robert McRae is home schooled. He's from Barnesville Georgia. He is another of the musicians you play what instrument. Well I play the piano in the piano and the recorder. Would you prefer the recorder don't you. Well no actually I don't but I think they I think they made a mistake or oh you think they made them. All right. Now I understand that among your many interests are history. What is it about history in any area any period in particular that fascinates you about not any particular period. I like reading about war. What specifically about wars interests you. Are you solving the problems defeating another individual competition. Well I don't really know I just like OK. Hey that's good. Paul Ruffner plays the saxophone in his school

jazz ensemble. Who's your. Who are your musical heroes if you have any Paul. I have to say people like Charlie Parker Miles Davis Duke Ellington like that. I like jazz. You're like jazz. My my favorite bands. The Beatles. Oh. How nice. You know there are a lot of older people in the audience. Who grew up with the Beatles and so they can appreciate that selection. I understand you're a ham radio enthusiast correct. Yeah I don't. You have to get a license to do that to communicate with people and I don't have that yet but I'm you know I mean plan on getting in. Is there an age limit. Do you have to be a certain age before you can apply for a ham radio license. You can be three months old or 300 years old. And you're somewhere in between. So that's good. Jason Ferguson boy you've got to be very relieved being here today and to be in such good shape because I saw the preliminaries yesterday you were involved in a serious tiebreaker.

Was there more tension more pressure on you then than there is now sitting here in front of this audience and being one of the 10. There's more pressure on me yesterday than right now. Yeah. Now you are soon to become an Eagle Scout. Correct. And you're going to be taking a trip this summer to Canada. Yes. Tell us about what you're going to be doing. I'm going to go up to Canada. It's the Canadian wilderness. You know the city of Baset that's near Lake went up peg in Manitoba and there is absolutely no civilization or people there whatsoever. You're not referring to the entire province of Manitoba I guess. There is a civilization that we are called Canadians. Now this isn't an ordinary camping trip because I understand you guys are going to be roughing it right. Yes. Catch your own food. You're not going to be bringing any food with you. We'll bringing some food back. About the only fresh food there is. What you

catch. All right. Well good luck. I hope you have fun. Hank league is 13 years old. He's from Boser City Louisiana and his golf handicap matches his age 13 golf handicap. That's that's an S and I don't really know for sure. And you asked me that thing. Well you've got to be pretty good. Right. Yeah. And one of your heroes is a left handed golfer also. Yes. Who is that Phil Mickelson. Phil Nicholson. He's got better than a third team handicap you know. Now if I understand that you would like to pursue a golfing career but if that doesn't work out what's in second place you've got to have a backup Hank. Well law crime criminal law is corporate law I don't know yet. Just. Yeah it's kind of tough for somebody your age was only 13 to be asked these kinds of questions about your future right. You don't look that far into the future do you.

Not really. I look to next Tuesday. That's about it. Michael O is a veteran. He has competed here before as a matter of fact if I remember correctly weren't you seated in the same spot the last time. The big difference I've noticed though Michael and I noticed that backstage is the fact that in the two years since your last appearance I think you've grown about 15 inches. My gosh you are now a giant among men. You were just a little guy then. How do you feel coming back here. Do you feel comfortable and relaxed more so than last time. Now you had an experience when you were even younger when you were going into some caves and you were told about stalagmites and stalactites and what was the story there. So we went to cave with lots of little rich water dripping down and the third guy explained that and that's what we're the rocks around us. And then there's one part where like all showered

down and dripped on your head. Yeah. And then I got really sad I wanted to leave the cave because I thought my head would grill raw. Well it didn't. Kyle had a funda is at the Evergreen school in Bellevue Washington. Third time St. Joe champion had a kind of a strange experience and a very impressive experience at the Tower of London when he was confronted by one of the beefeater guy. So I want you to tell the folks about that because this dazzle them. I was on a tour and every so often I and then a couple of hours before. And usually one of the Beefeaters would ask to the tourists who thought they knew something about the Tower of London. All right well now I want you to name all the kings of kings and queens of England in chronological order starting playing the Conqueror. So I told them.

Pay. I can do it backwards. Elizabeth the Second George six. We don't have time for me to do all of them. I want to tell you about Kyle Hadad Vonda also. He was the youngest lifeline ever called upon on who wants to be a millionaire and he helped the player win. How much 1000 other player when five thousand I was called them. But that's no way to go. There they are. Ladies and gentlemen your 10 finalists. One of our hopes is that these little interviews help the students and me relax a little more before we get down to the nitty gritty of the questions and that's what we have to come to. Now gentlemen our next question will be accompanied by a short piece of music. All of you will respond to the question at the same time. Most of you will be using markers and

the cards in front of you. And Paul we will ask you to respond orally. May we have the music please. Listening to flamenco music and it's closely associated with the gypsy tradition in the southern most region of Spain. Name this region flamenco music gypsy tradition southern most region of Spain. Name the region. Time's up. Get your cards up gentlemen and Paul would you respond orally to that blaze. Catalonia Catalonia is incorrect. The right response is andalucía and I see that we have correct responses on the bottom row with the four other students and on the top. Nick is right. Feeder is right. Kyl is wrong Jim is wrong and Robert

is wrong and that means that Robert and Paul have two incorrect responses and so we have to say goodbye to you too. But you will be receiving five hundred dollars just for making it to the finals so congratulations on getting this. Guy. Right down. All right our next series of individual questions focuses on the scientists and explorers funded by the National Geographic Society committee for research and exploration. We'll start with Nick again. Keith Wilmont has discovered over 50 new species of butterflies near Cotopaxi

National Park in which South American country. Ecuador. Ecuador is right fielder Lee Berger discovered hominid fossils dating from the Quaternary period in the Western Cape and free-State provinces of which African country South Africa right. Kyle you and Fordyce uses an engraving pen to uncover fossils of whales and dolphins that are on South Island in what country. DNA Yes. Jim Brende Sinclair studies in vertebrates in the soil in Antarctica at a research station on Ross Island near what active volcano. Albert. No we can't accept that. I believe the judge has heard you say Elbrus and it's Erebus

Elbrus is in another part of the world as you know Jim. Now we go down to Jason Valadez tracks aerial or wild sheep populations from a cliff in the but Chris nature reserve southeast of Ashgabat in what country. Turkmenistan. Yes Hank for 10 years Rafael Ben-Shahar has studied elephants habits to determine the carrying capacity of Botswana and the Capri the strip region of what country Namibia. Yes Michael Oh-Oh. So my guess Verini uncovered a one hundred forty five million year old marine reptile in the provinces of Mendoza and Newk cane in which South American country Argentina correct. Kyle wearing thick clothing and a

veil. Pooja Bhatra studies a colony of rock beads in the state of Karnataka in what Asian country. Could you please spell Karnataka. K R N A T A K A. India. Yes and that does it for this round. And we have to say goodbye to one student Jim Hoffman of Nevada. Our next question is about music once again and once again you will all respond at the same time. May we hear the music please. This is a mouthful and it's used by the Shanmugam a group of Bantu speaking people who live near the mouth of the Limpopo River in what

coastal country Shangaan a group of Bantu speaking people who live near the mouth of the Limpopo River in what coastal country. Gentlemen may may we see your responses. The correct response is Mozambique and all of you came up with that. Except for Kyle our youngest competitor Kyle That's your second. So we have to say goodbye to you too. Now $500 for you to get. Cards down gentlemen. Our next series of questions focuses on the geographic similarities of major world cities. You will be asked to give two elements in your response to cities that share a geographic characteristic. When it's your turn I want you to look at the map on the monitor while I ask the question will have map number

one for Nick Koski open your envelope please Nick. And look at the map number one the. Don't open your eyes yet. Have you got map number one NIC. It's also on the monitor for our viewers. I want you to give the number and the name of the two major cities on this map where Roman Catholicism is the predominant religion. You have to get them both right in order to be judged correct. One and Three. And I need the name of the place. Lisbon Portugal. And Warsaw Poland. You are right now. Look at map number two. Please have it give me the number and name of the two major cities on

this map that are located in monarchy's. Number three. Robot. Yes. And number two must you. Yes. Well done. When I read that clue before today's program I said that's a toughie. Not for these guys. Jason. Open your booklet and look at map number three. And give me the number and name of the two major cities on this map that are among the largest ports in the world in terms of tonnage. Number four is Singapore. And number two is Hong Kong and you are right Hank.

Look at map number four please. Hank I want you to give me the number and name of the two major cities on this map that are located near vast areas of iron ore deposits. Three Brazilia and four can no Kayhan is not right. It's near there it's Caracas the number two. Caracas and. That's one miss for you. Michael Oh look at map number five. Please. Give me the number and name of the two major cities on this map that are located in dry arid climates. For card to and to keep from Khartoum in the

Sudan is right. But the other correct response is number three. Mogadishu in Somalia. And so that is a miss for you. Now Kyle take a look at map number six. Give the number and name of the two major cities on this map where Arabic is the principal language. Number three Damascus and number two Baghdad. You are right. All right that does it for this round and no one has to miss it. So we continue. We have a group question for you now so you'll need your cards and your markers. Once again all of you will write your answer to the same question at the same time. We'll see a question with a series of answer choices you have to write the letter of the answer

you choose on your card. Here is the clue in political geography a buffer zone is an area that separates two strong countries to protect territory or reduce the chance of conflict between them. Which one of the following areas could not have been classified as a buffer zone. Is it a the Wakhan strip in Afghanistan. B. Order gwai. See the Ozu strip in Chad or D. Jordan which one of the following areas could not have been classified as a buffer zone a b c or d. Cards up please. Well this is interesting the correct response is see the zoo strip in Chad. And so you all came up with one mistake and it is

going to hurt. Hank and Michael the most because it is their second miss. And so gentlemen we have to say goodbye to you too. Far down. All right. Each of you with one miss. And we're getting down to the very serious part of this competition determining our three scholarship winners for the next question. All of you get to write your answer at the same time once again. If a plane flies northwest over Victoria Falls what country will it fly over once it crosses the zombies river. A plane is flying northwest over Victoria Falls. What country does it fly over once it crosses the zombies the river. Cards up.

Zambia is the correct response. Zimbabwe is wrong and that means that every door you have two strikes against you and we say goodbye to you. Thank you. Today. We see some of the young people again. Now we have an individual series to narrow it down to our two players who will move on into the championship around in this series. Each contestant will receive a list of five items four of which are related and one which does not belong. Your task young gentlemen is to name the item that does not belong and you also have to give the reason why it does not belong. For example if I say Santiago Managua Java Cairo and Bucharest you would say Java is the right response because it is the one in the group that is not a city to receive credit.

Then you have to be correct on both parts. Nick here are the items for you. Core crust mantle mezzo paws Moho there's no pause because it's not in the earth like it's on a ring that's enough. That's enough. It's not associated with the earth structure. It's the only one you are correct. Jason Negritos Hi non Latey Mindanao Pahlawan negro because it's the only one in the list that is not an island. No sorry. Correct response is Heinsohn because it's the only one in

that group that is not part of the Philippine Islands. But hang on. Don't go away just yet. We come to Kyle now for his. Here's your group. Grumman Sirk Graben Esker Tarn Raven because it is not associated with the glacier. You are right and that means that Jason Ferguson will receive a $10000 scholarship. He is out third place. Finisher. Ladies and gentlemen we are now down to our two finalists Nick ski of Hawaii and Kyle Hadad Fonda representing the state of Washington. While we

take a few moments to reset the stage for the championship around and our two finalists take a moment to catch their breath. We'd like all of you to enjoy a brief video introducing you to the geography of the home towns of some of the participants in this year's National Geographic Bee. It was done from their point of view and with their own budding tour guide styles. Take a look. Welcome to my. Town. Show you around. Hi my name is great. I am the 2001 Alabama Geography Bee champion Welcome to my place in space all in County Alabama. All this county in the state. I live here. I'm. Standing in front of Elliott Bay and then let it that. You bet. Seattle Seattle and the most notable landmarks.

Many people made it sound. Like one hundred twenty five miles. Northwest. Of London. Hi welcome to Maddock Maddox's in central North Dakota population 500. It is 40 miles southeast of the geographical center of North American Rugby North Dakota 60 miles south of the Canadian border and a hundred miles from the International Peace gardens which symbolize the longest and fortified border in the world between the U.S. and Canada. I'm here in my hometown. Santa Fe Santa Fe is the city's rich history and culture is the oldest in the nation it's known as 50 different. The Pilgrims bumped into a rock about 20 miles east of us. And settled here. This rock is now surrounded by tourists. But back in the 60s thirties. And trumpeted centuries. Left the box Plymouth. For the bogs of somewhere that would soon be the town of Middleborough. In 1853 was

Murray broke off and became late. That's about it. That small island is smaller than that larger island. His Kohol a lot of it is uninhabited. That is Redhill right there and over there you can see a nutty very faint. There's my. Car. Great Falls on the Potomac River separates Maryland and Virginia and is a testament to the natural beauty of the Potomac. The golden Jowler the national monument to both the hall and the coal right.

Behind me is virtually no. Armor. And behind that the craft. Was. Built by the Bourbons. When they occupied. The. Building. Which is still an active part. You know. Last night for about 50 years. So clear up to the time the most famous eruption was. Gonna. Be. Very. There. Will be vast tracts of land they're owned by ranchers and a lot of it's cattle ranching but in particular in my family we're raising news.

Crikey. There's a post office historic or a church in a house and that's just about it part a town of Isles borough. Most of Guilford's shops restaurants. I'm going to walk into. The. Library. How. Many. Other. Summer Concerts. There's other events like the high school graduation. I had a fun time putting this video together for you especially since you had the pleasure of flying in a small plane for the first time. I hope you'll visit East Tennessee and visit the Great Smoky Mountains National Park and visit the other attractions. That.

Helps. You enjoy the work of our budding filmmakers. It's time now ladies and gentlemen for our championship round which consists of five and possibly more questions depending on the score. Each time I ask a question the students will respond on cards at the same time. Whoever winds up with the most correct responses in the five will be the champion will receive the $25000 scholarship and a lifetime membership to the National Geographic Society. If there is a tie at the end of five questions we will go to single tie breaker questions. Gentlemen if you are ready. Question number one. Which mountain range extends along most of Switzerland's border with France.

Cards up please. Both of you wrote down the same thing. And you are both correct. Take the cards down. You each have scored a point. Next India's most populous state has an estimated 150 million people named that state for me. Put your cards up. Kyle has written down our product. Nick has written down Punjab. The state is our product. Kyle leads 2 to 1. Question number 3 in March.

Meave Leakey discovered a human skull more than three and a half million years old along the shore of Lake Turkana in which African country Lake Turkana in which African country. Both players wrote down Kenya. Both players are right. Score is three to two in favor of Kayal. Question number four. Below the equilibrium line of glaciers there is a region of melting evaporation and sublimation. Name this zone. With your cards up. Nick has written

down the zone of sublimation. Kyle had it. Fonda has written down the zone of ablation. The correct response is the zone of ablation. And so by a score of Florida to our new National Geographic champion is Kyle had fun. Well congratulations. Well done. Get supporters out there guys. Ladies and gentlemen I would now like to call to the stage. The president of the National Geographic Society Mr. John Fahy along with MS Rosemary Kushel executive vice president of First USA and our third place finisher Jason Fergusson from

Texas who will receive a $10000 scholarship. And now is Goetschel would you present the cheque for $15000 to our second place finisher Nick Joske from Hawaii. The third time was definitely a charm for Kyle had Vonda. He has represented the state of Washington three times in the National Geographic Bee and today it paid off most handsomely. A

$25000 scholarship check. Go over there to Mr.. Thing. Now I would like to ask Paul Volpi of West Virginia to come down and lead all of our other finalists on to the stage to enjoy a great round of applause. Ladies and gentlemen we thank you so much for joining us. And I'm Alex to back. I hope you enjoyed the show. It was exciting. And we're going to do it again next year so long everybody. In

it for. In. For hours. On. End. It is. To order a videocassette of the National Geographic Bee. Call 1 800

8 5 8 8 mpg. The cost is 26 ninety five including shipping and handling. Credit cards are exempted. Funding provided by First USA a bank one company the official sponsor of the 2001 National Geographic Bee in partnership with the National Geographic Society First USA is the exclusive issuer of a National Geographic MasterCard that. On. The. Me. I Mary Lee. I'm director of the National Geography Bee. We've been working on the bee for 11 years now.

We started the geography bee in 1989 to raise awareness about geography. We pick one day across the country for the state be a 55 state and territorial winters. We're quite excited about the kids coming in me. There are. Hundreds of people making sure that every detail is taken care. Of. First of all. So. Great. So. Why. Go. Ahead traps. Carry like this. One. We have time keepers and scorekeepers that are needed. So my staff and I meet with them regularly make sure everybody understands the rules of the contest. Two days before the last year we were ironing in my office the shirts so they wouldn't be wrinkled because we're all detailed people he said with two arrows coming in here. They start out probably with 2000 or more questions. We use about twelve hundred questions a year. So everyone's reading them. We have a saying around here and we laugh about it that if we know the answer it's easy if you don't know what it's hard because

parents will call up and say my child got all the hard questions and then we know that the child didn't get them right. It's a contest not a standardized tests. So we want to test students knowledge of geography but we also want to do it in a fun way that's somewhat competitive. We try to do some fun things with the students to lessen the competitive intenseness of it. So we take them on a picnic and we take them on trolley rides around the city. We have an auditorium in this building National Geographic auditorium where we also have lectures throughout the years and we turn it basically into a TV studio where own public television brings in lightning. We built the set. Alex Trebek comes in and becomes a geography game show. The. Brain.

Well it looks a little strange but I've got news for you. You're right. You're. The winner of the first geography bee. I had to know all the answers to today's competition. However I'm very thankful that I not up on that stage. I'll be happy to be in the audience. I was a six foot six inch. Farm boy basically Kansas. Five students school people in my church would talk to me. Little adult to adult. You know I was only an eighth grader. Were you interested. Our medical research infectious diseases Mount Erebus E R E B U S is a volcano

on which continent. Africa. Africa as well. Suzanne. And you were the new champion. I remember being a tiny little sixth grader. Scared and nervous but at the same time really excited to be here a few weeks after I won two scientists who were studying that particular volcano in Antarctica sent me a chunk of rock from the volcano which I still have and I actually had it made into a necklace and I keep it a treasure. I actually know the scholarship is obviously great but apart from that I think the bee was just a great learning experience and. I. Was glad. To have participated. And that means. That. I. Felt kind of as though every guy in America was watching me now like when I was just down to the final two I even got to the United States yet but I hope to one day

visit. You know your place. I've read about. It.