Geography bee puts students to the test

The last season of 'ER' is set in Chicago, the official language of Brazil is Portuguese and the largest Canadian province in terms of land area is Nanavut.


After 100 questions, two men walked away champions of the 13th annual Geography Bee, hosted by the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Geography Student Organization at Hardin Hall on East Campus Wednesday night.

The questions were a mix of pop culture, Nebraska knowledge and physical geography.


"Geography awareness week has been held the third week of November since 1987, and its purpose is to promote geographic education among the public," said Lesli Rawlings, a geography graduate student and member of the student group. "The intent of the bee is to give UNL students an opportunity to see the diversity and breadth of the discipline."


Nineteen pairs of competitors participated in the bee, with round winners advancing to semifinals and finals. Teams had 15 seconds after each question was read to write their responses on a notepad before flashing them to a panel of student judges.


About 40 students attended; Rawlings said in the past, up to 100 students have shown up.


Students competed for prizes such as Nebraska relief maps, gift certificates to Chipotle, thermoses, geographic education material donated by the U.S. Geological Survey, cloud charts and inflatable globes.


"You don't have to be a geography major to participate in the bee," Rawlings said.


And for the second year in a row, neither of the bee champions are geography majors.

Andrew Shroll and Todd Parkening are both fifth-year seniors who knew host James Thayer through UNL marching band. They aptly named their team James Thayer.


"It was all Todd," said Shroll, a mechanical engineering major. Parkening, a social studies education major, disagreed.


The two used sporcle.com and practiced in the geology section of the Web site.


"We didn't really know how to prepare (for the bee)," Parkening said.


He said the hardest question was the "one about climate, with letters." (What is the name of climate classification system that uses the letters A, B, C, D, E and H? Answer: Köppen.) He also said he wished there had been questions involving contestants matching the names of countries with their flags.


Shroll and Parkening selected four prizes.


"I might put up one of the posters I got," Shroll said. "And the globe could be a gift for my sister."


Parkening selected some geographic teaching material and the DVD "Beef State."


"I might put the maps up in my classroom," he said, pointing to his prizes. "And this is a mug for coffee or hot soup."


Parkening said the bee was a fun, low-stress activity. His friend and teammate agreed.


"It's relaxing," Shroll said. "And if you're from out-of-state, like me, you can learn things about Nebraska."