Yesterday afternoon, participants tested their vast knowledge in DCD’s third annual Geography Bee! The Rand Gym was buzzing with excitement as parents, students, faculty and staff were welcomed by Mrs. Harrison, and the Geography Bee kicked off, fashioned after Jeopardy, with digital geography questions! Four teams faced off, each with five students representing grades four through eight, selected after scoring high on a preliminary quiz that took place prior to the event. Mr. Pinola emceed the competition, while Mrs. Harrison ran the Jeopardy board, and Ms. Barre, Dr. Haith and Mr. Buffum moderated and kept score.
The Theme of the 2024 Geography Bee was Central and South America, and the categories were: Rivers, Capital Cities, Language and Culture, Landmarks, Physical Features, What’s in a Name, and Famous People.
Over the course of the competition, students from each team took turns choosing a category and answering the question within the thirty-second countdown. As the rounds progressed, tension mounted, with Team 3 and Team 4 in a close competition! In Round six, team 3 pulled ahead with the question, “This Pacific island, known in the Polynesian language as Rapa Nui, is part of the nation of Chili and is famous for the large carved stone human figures called moai”, in which team 3 answered correctly, “What is Easter Island?” In round seven, Team 4 once again pulled ahead with the question, “This country’s name comes from its close proximity to the equator.” In which they correctly answered, “What is Ecuador!” And in Round 8, Team 4 was declared the winning team of the Geography Bee with the final question, “With over 211,000,000 people speaking it, this is the second most spoken language in South America” To which they answered correctly, “What is Portuguese!”
Thank you to Mrs. Harrison, Ms. Barre and Mr. Pinola for organizing the Geography Bee, and to Dr. Haith and Mr. Buffum for moderating, and to the entire DCD community who came to cheer on and support our impressive participants! Below is a complete list of this year’s participants.
Geography Bee Participants:
Team 4 (Winner): Leif Pedersen (G 4), Alex Zhao (G 5), James Wands (G 6), Aly Lief (G 7), Dylan Crawford (G 8)
Team 3: Andy Wands (G 4), Bryson Gouvalaris (G 5), Grace McDonnell (G 6), Sam Singer (G 7), Gabe Galva Diez (G 8)
Team 2: Mac Stratford (G 4), Ryan Connors (G 5), Ella Holden (G 6), Owen Murphy (G 7), Jack McDonnell (G 8)
Team 1: Sonya Susi (G 4), Ben Irving (G 5), Teddy Knight (G 6), David Shih (G 7), Declan Burke (G 8)
