The Geography Bee, more properly known as the National Geographic Bee, begins at the local level and winners work their way to the final competition in Washington D.C.

The Geography Bee begins in schools with students from fourth through eighth grade across the United States in December and January. Each school Geography Bee champion takes a written test upon winning the Bee in their school. One hundred school winners from each state proceed to the State Level Finals in April, based on their scores on a written test scored by the National Geographic Society. The Geography Bee winner in each state and territory proceeds to the National Geographic Bee in Washington D.C. for a two-day competition in May.

Activity: A good way to emphasize the fun and importance of geography in your school, whether you participate in the Geography Bee or not, is to create activities that require the use of maps to learn and present the results of learning. Discoverer provides more than 200 map-related activities.

Pathfinder: Click Activities under Database Features on the right side of the main search page > Select Maps

Assign students to select one of these activities, but no two students should select the same activity. Encourage a variety of geographic regions such as the U.S., a specific state, or another country or region of the world.

Students should present the results of their activities in a two-minute oral report so that other students can learn from these presentations. If possible, visual media that include the appropriate map(s) should be included.

The theme of this popular book (written by Thomas Friedman) reveals how technology and the Internet has made our world flatter and smaller, creating a virtual global economic and social community. It's never been easier to travel, send products, share information, collaborate with people, or do business in other countries. That's why students need to be more aware of geography than ever before.

January is the final month for local participation in the National Geographic Bee. Winners of the local contests go on to a national competition in Washington D.C. in May. Whether your students are involved in the Geography Bee or not, January is still a great time to focus on the fun of working with maps and geography.

Activity: Asia and the Middle East have been in the news recently and are major parts of the world that are becoming more important to the U.S., economically and strategically, as witnessed by the emergence of China and India and Iran.

Assign students to research a particular country in this region. Their research will include a map and should include information on the following items of interest (you may want to add or substitute others): the capital city; population; is next to what other two countries; near to what major bodies of water; any other significant geographic features; animals that are native; major products that the country produces; majority religion; and major ethnic groups.

Oral reports of about two minutes (include a map visual) will give students the opportunity to learn from each other. Presentation skills are becoming increasingly more important to success and are part of all Language Arts state standards.

Pathfinder to Maps:
Topic Search > Social Studies > Geography > Map Collections >
Maps by Region & Country > Asia > Select Country

Pathfinder to Country Information:
Topic Search > Regional Studies > Countries of the World >
Asia > Click a Country