National Geography Bee

**Ray1936** · May-21-09, 10:59 AM

The annual Geography Bee, sponsored by the National Geographic Society and hosted by Alex Trebec, aired yesterday. Michigan's entry, 8th grader Kenji Golimlim of Southgate was a runner-up. http://tinyurl.com/rx4op8

Y'know, I always thought I was pretty sharp on geography. But the questions these kids had to answer were so far over my head I'm starting to question my IQ.

Gives me a good feeling about America's future, watching those youngsters. Yep, it sure did.

**Ray1936** · May-21-09, 04:04 PM

I can only recall some US geography in school, Slim, with outlines of the US and states passed out....but nothing foreign. Not even Canada.

Fortunately, my dad got me fascinated in collecting postage stamps at a very young age, and it taught me a helluva lot.....both geography and history.

**oladub** · May-21-09, 07:42 PM

I found a list of all the state winners. This includes some other places like Guam and Puerto Rico so it doesn't add up to 50. I tried to catagorize the winners as best as I could but it is sometimes difficult to know if, for instance, the Hopkins School, in New Haven is a public or private school
This is roughly the background of the students in the Geography Bee.

28 public schools
11 religious named or acadamy schools
9 private, non religious schools
5 homeschoolers

About 8 of these students had [[East) Indian sounding names.

Hats off to homeschoolers and Indians; the demographic groups most over represented.

http://press.nationalgeographic.com/...=1241807159502

**MoparDan** · May-21-09, 09:09 PM

Originally Posted by Ray1936

I can only recall some US geography in school, Slim, with outlines of the US and states passed out....but nothing foreign. Not even Canada.

Fortunately, my dad got me fascinated in collecting postage stamps at a very young age, and it taught me a helluva lot.....both geography and history.

We had geography lessons in elementary school & usually watched films or the PBS station. It used to irritate me to hear "Austria" because I thought they were mispronouncing "Australia"; same with "Finland" in regards to "England".

My dad was a WWII/Vietnam vet & I recall him showing me on a map where he'd been: Australia, New Zealand, New Guinea, Vietnam, & Thailand amongst several others. History has always been my favorite subject.

ccbatson · May-22-09, 05:45 PM

These are brilliant kids...they would jam on just about any subject they found interesting. I doubt that schooling has much to do with it.

**d.mcc** · May-22-09, 05:53 PM

My friends and I still try to name as many foreign capitals as we can when we go to the bar. Its usually in good fun, and we can go for a pretty long time before someone messes up. Rivers and lakes are tough, and try explaining to a someone who has had a few beers why Lake Baikal ISN'T the largest lake in the world.

ccbatson · May-23-09, 03:30 PM

My point being that schools can only lay claim to a small portion of credit for the accomplishments of these students.

**Ray1936** · May-23-09, 07:31 PM

Originally Posted by ccbatson

My point being that schools can only lay claim to a small portion of credit for the accomplishments of these students.

Couldn't agree more, Bats. School is but a small part of a person's education.

**Gistok** · May-23-09, 09:16 PM

Originally Posted by d.mcc

My friends and I still try to name as many foreign capitals as we can when we go to the bar. Its usually in good fun, and we can go for a pretty long time before someone messes up. Rivers and lakes are tough, and try explaining to a someone who has had a few beers why Lake Baikal ISN'T the largest lake in the world.

Ah that one... by volume Lake Baikal [[at its deepest point, over a mile deep) has the most fresh water of any lake in the world. Although by surface area Lake Superior is the largest... but it's only 1,333 ft. deep [[at its deepest), so it doesn't have as much water as Lake Baikal [[in Russia).

That's almost like arguing what is the longest bridge in the world... depends on if you're talking single span [[like most almanacs) or total length.

For your next bar visit d.mcc... here's a question to stump your bar mates....

During the 150 years from 1643 until 1793... France only had 3 kings. They were Louis XIV, Louis XV and Louis XVI. How many generations of French royalty did they represent?

Answer: 6

Louis XIV reigned for 72 years and outlived his oldest son and oldest grandson... his oldest great-grandson Louis XV [[still a child) followed him onto the throne.

Louis XV reigned for 59 years and outlived his oldest son... his oldest grandson Louis XVI [[a young man) followed him onto the throne.

Louis XVI reigned until 1789, and was imprisoned [[as king) during the French Revolution until 1793 when he went to the guillotine...

**Ray1936** · May-24-09, 12:47 PM

My fav trivia question [[for non-Detroiters, of course), is going south from Detroit, what is the first foreign country you come to. Folks start naming all kinds of south American countries. One answered "Ohio". I gave him half a point on that one.

**d.mcc** · May-24-09, 01:36 PM

Originally Posted by Gistok

Ah that one... by volume Lake Baikal [[at its deepest point, over a mile deep) has the most fresh water of any lake in the world. Although by surface area Lake Superior is the largest... but it's only 1,333 ft. deep [[at its deepest), so it doesn't have as much water as Lake Baikal [[in Russia).

You would be right...but the Caspian Sea is the largest enclosed body of water on Earth by area, variously classed as the world's largest lake or a full-fledged sea

**d.mcc** · May-24-09, 01:41 PM

Originally Posted by Ray1936

My fav trivia question [[for non-Detroiters, of course), is going south from Detroit, what is the first foreign country you come to. Folks start naming all kinds of south American countries. One answered "Ohio". I gave him half a point on that one.

C-eh-N-eh-D-eh

ccbatson · May-24-09, 04:15 PM

Ray 1936...Thank G-d for that...as badly as some schools [[mostly the publics) seem to be.

**d.mcc** · May-26-09, 01:18 PM

Originally Posted by slimshady

Funny, as hard as Bats tries, he cannot hijack the thread. Congrats to all for ignoring him.

I also like to ask: What is farther, the distance from Detroit, MI to Ironwood, MI or the distance from Detroit, MI to Washington D.C.

I think you can guess the answer - a big state!

In physical miles...or highway miles?

**oladub** · May-26-09, 01:45 PM

My calculations had DC closer in both driving miles and as a bird flies.

Pivoting my ruler around in a circle, Richmond, VA, Winston-Salem, NC, the Smokey Mountain National Park, and St. Louis are about the same distance from Detroit as Ironwood, MI as a bird flies.

ccbatson · May-26-09, 11:13 PM

Did it ever occur to you that I am not interested in hijacking anything Slim?

**oladub** · May-27-09, 10:37 AM

SS, Here is an idea. Threads regularly get off topic. I have also responded to off topic issues. I am off topic now. Perhaps anyone who wanted to go off topic should do so but only if they could reconnect to the thread topic or include a seperate comment on the thread topic like this - using a line for separation.
______________________________________

I was a geography major at Wayne State. Geography Professors Bunge and Goodman were among the best instructors I ever had. I dearly loved the subject and its ways of analyzing things. Unlike modern sociology, in social geography, fuzzy ideas did not substitute for numbers. Professor Bunge took me aside one day for a walk along Warren Ave. He encouraged me to make a career of geography. I was honored because of my respect for him. I would have considered that except that my aptitude for learning foreign languages was much lower than my geographic aptitude and two foreign languages were required of geography majors in those days to get a masters in geography. A delightful road not taken. Sigh.

**Ray1936** · May-27-09, 11:29 AM

Oladub, what does one do with a master's in geography? I'm not being snide, I'm sincerely curious.

**oladub** · May-27-09, 01:39 PM

Ray, Aside from teaching? Companies like McDonald's hire geographers to help locate outlets for maximum profitability. The military uses geographers to both teach and prictice military intelligence. Natural resource companies hire geographers to help find deposits. The State Department and the CIA should be using geographers to develop policies and strategies. I don't know if they do.

Back to teaching. Geography has been shunted aside in US schools. A few maps remain in history books. In Norway, by comparison, geograpahy is taught all the way through grade school and high school. Geography is helpful in understanding the world because it covers demographics, history, physical geography, transportation, etc.. Anything that can be mapped. A course like "The Geography of Central America" for instance, covers everything from the desired elevation of coffee trees to the location and land uses of indiginous populations to where the oil companies are setting up their rigs. All of which might be useful for anyone trying to comprehend the news.

**Ray1936** · May-27-09, 06:07 PM

Ah. In other words, it's much more complex than just knowing what the capital of Liberia is, eh? Interesting. Thanks for the come-back, oladub.

ccbatson · May-27-09, 10:54 PM

Slim, Slim, Slim...by your definition, anyone stating their own thoughts...on, or off topic, is a hijacker....That would include eveyone on a discussion forum [[shhh...you too).

**oladub** · May-27-09, 11:30 PM

The geography of jobs Q1 2009
Proportional job losses in red. Note how relatively few jobs were lost in places like Texas and Denver. There are not even tiny red dots in four contiguous north central states.
http://seekingalpha.com/article/1397...s?source=email

**Ray1936** · May-28-09, 11:53 AM

Yeah, but there ain't all that many jobs to start with in Montoona, Wyoming, or the Dakotas. Just finding a person in Wyoming is a challenge outside of Yellowstone Park in the summer.

**firstandten** · May-29-09, 12:27 AM

Originally Posted by oladub

Back to teaching. Geography has been shunted aside in US schools. A few maps remain in history books. In Norway, by comparison, geograpahy is taught all the way through grade school and high school. Geography is helpful in understanding the world because it covers demographics, history, physical geography, transportation, etc.. Anything that can be mapped. A course like "The Geography of Central America" for instance, covers everything from the desired elevation of coffee trees to the location and land uses of indiginous populations to where the oil companies are setting up their rigs. All of which might be useful for anyone trying to comprehend the news.

I am stunned at the number of kids that can't read a simple road map

**Ray1936** · May-29-09, 12:07 PM

Originally Posted by firstandten

I am stunned at the number of kids that can't read a simple road map

My wife was a travel counseler at AAA years back. She was trained to look at road maps upside-down so the customer could look at them right-side up. Today she still turns the map upside down on our trips.

Old habits die hard.