The 2017 Indiana Geographic Bee will take place Friday, March 31, in Lecture Hall on the campus of Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis.
The event, free and open to the public, features the top 102 students, in fourth through eighth grade, from preliminary bees across the state. The competition begins at 12:45 p.m.
The winner earns a spot in the National Geographic Bee finals, which will take place in May in Washington, D.C. The national winner receives a $50,000 college scholarship and an all-expenses-paid trip with his/her parent or guardian to the Galapagos Islands (because, geography).
Do you think you're smarter about geography than these students? Take this quiz, provided by the Geography Educators' Network of Indiana, which organizes the state-level bee in conjunction with the IUPUI Department of Geography.
- 1. In which county is the highest point in Indiana located?
Wayne
- 2. The Ports of Indiana handled 8.3 million tons of cargo at its three ports in 2013 -- an increase of 20 percent over the previous year. This was the highest total in the organization's 52-year history and the highest since 2006, driven by strong shipments of coal, steel and agricultural-related products. Where are the three Indiana ports?
Burns Harbor, Mount Vernon, Jeffersonville
- 3. This 1936 track-and-field Olympian was born in Parke County, grew up in DeKalb County, attended Indiana University, served as a law enforcement officer with the Indiana State Police, became an agent with the FBI, started a business in Rockville, appeared as a motivational speaker and served in the Indiana House of Representatives. Two key records he established were the world record for the 2-mile run and the national record for the 10,000-meter run. Who is this amazing, well-traveled Hoosier?
Don Lash
- 4. Indiana ranks first in the United States in production of which edible bird that is especially popular as a meal in China?
Duck -- Indiana accounts for 73 percent of U.S. production, or 20 million ducks, mostly from northern Indiana's Kosciusko and Marshall counties
- 5. Which city in Indiana was the first electrically lighted city in the world?
Wabash, in Wabash County
- 6. Despite its location near the equator, Cotopaxi, one of the largest active volcanoes in the world, has glaciers covering its rim. This volcano is part of the Andes in what country?
Ecuador
- 7. Name the strait that separates the Seward Peninsula in North America from the Chukchi Peninsula in Asia.
Bering Strait
- 8. The Brahmin caste has traditionally held the highest social rank among followers of what religion that originated in South Asia?
Hinduism
- 9. By volume, what gas makes up more than 75 percent of the Earth's atmosphere?
Nitrogen
- 10. Cloves and coffee are important cash crops grown on the largest island in the Indian Ocean. Name this island.
Madagascar
