National Geographic Bee



         


The National Geographic Bee (previously called the National Geography Bee) is an annual geography contest sponsored by the National Geographic Society.

The Bee, held every year since 1989, is open to the students in American schools. The winner of each school-level competition takes a written test, and the top one-hundred in each state or territory qualify for the state Bee. Then, the winners of the fifty-five state and territory Bees advance to the national competition. At the national level, after another competition, the top ten contestants qualify for the finals, which are hosted by the gameshow host Alex Trebek. The winner of the finals receives a $25,000 scholarship, second place $15,000 and third place $10,000.

The 2004 National Geographic Bee was held at the school level prior to January 16, at the state level on April 2, and at the national level on May 25.

To determine who gets to be on the national telecast, a preliminary round of nine questions are posed to each national finalist (the finalists are split up into five rooms of eleven contestants). Typically, to go on, one needs to answer eight out of nine geography-related questions correctly. If needed, the Society will defer to special tie-breaker questions to decide the Top Ten contestants.

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Champions

Of the sixteen National Geographic Bee Champions, fifteen are male and one is female. Four are from the State of Michigan, four from the State of Washington, two from Kansas, and one each from various other states.

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