Two Barrington students headed to state geography bee

Eli Terrell and Nachiket Patel qualify for geography bee

Posted 3/22/19

Two students from Barrington will compete in this year's National Geographic GeoBee Rhode Island State Competition on Friday, March 29. 

Barrington Middle School eighth-grader Eli Terrell …

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Two Barrington students headed to state geography bee

Eli Terrell and Nachiket Patel qualify for geography bee

Posted

Two students from Barrington will compete in this year's National Geographic GeoBee Rhode Island State Competition on Friday, March 29. 

Barrington Middle School eighth-grader Eli Terrell and Hampden Meadows School fifth-grader Nachiket Patel will square off against students from across the Ocean State during the upcoming GeoBee. 

Eli and Nachiket won competitions in their respective schools and then scored well on a qualifying exam. This will be Nachiket's first experience at the state geography bee — the competition is open to students in grades 4 to 8. Eli has become a regular fixture at the state bee, but this is his final year of eligibility. Eli has finished in the top 10 in the state in prior years.

Hampden Meadows School Principal Tracey McGee said both Eli and Nachiket are great students and very good kids. She can still remember the day Eli took the online qualifying exam — it was a snow day, so school was out, but Eli trudged through knee-deep snowdrifts to take the exam. Ms. McGee said that shortly after Eli finished the test, the power was knocked out.

Ms. McGee said she was also happy to see Nachiket qualify for the state competition.

"He's just a nice, nice boy," she said. "I think it's going to be a great experience for him."

The National Geographic Society has invited up to 100 of the top-scoring students in each of the 50 states, the District of Columbia, Department of Defense Dependents Schools and U.S. territories to compete in the State GeoBees.

In Rhode Island, more than 50 students earned invitations to the state geography bee, including nine from across the East Bay:

• Samuel Black, Tiverton (Tiverton Middle School), grade 6

• James Canedo, Rumford (St. Margaret School), grade 8

• Nicholas Humphreys, Portsmouth (Portsmouth Middle School), grade 8

• Jack Loper, Little Compton (Wilbur-McMahon School), grade 6

• Andre Michael, Rumford (Meeting Street School), grade 5

• Christopher Paradis, Portsmouth (The Pennfield School), grade 7

• Nachiket Patel, Barrington (Hampden Meadows School), grade 5

• Eli Terrell, Barrington (Barrington Middle School), grade 8

• Eliot Wiersma, East Providence (Gordon School), grade 8

More prize money

This year, National Geographic increased the prize money for all State GeoBees. State champions will receive a medal, $1,000 in cash, and other prizes, as well as a trip to Washington, D.C., to represent their state in the National Championship to be held at National Geographic Society headquarters, May 19 to 22. Students that come in second and third place will receive cash awards of $300 and $100, respectively.

In 2019, the national champion will receive a $25,000 college scholarship, $1,000 in cash, a lifetime membership in the National Geographic Society, and an all-expenses-paid Lindblad expedition to the Galápagos Islands aboard the National Geographic Endeavour ll; second place will receive at $10,000 college scholarship and $1,000 in cash; third place will receive a $5,000 college scholarship and $1,000 in cash; and seven runners-up will receive $1,000 in cash each. 

Could you be a geography bee champion?

How would you fare as a National Geographic GeoBee contestant? At the school GeoBees this year, students had to answer questions like these (see below for answers):

1. At more than 100 miles in length, Long Island is the longest barrier island in which state—Kentucky or New York?

2. Which state is closer to the Gulf of Mexico—Virginia or Arkansas?

3. It takes about 90 days for a drop of water to travel the length of the Mississippi River. The Mississippi River starts in Minnesota and flows 2,340 miles south to its outlet in which state—Louisiana or South Carolina?

4. The Magdalena River, the principal river of Colombia, flows through the city of Barranquilla near the Caribbean Sea on which continent?

5. Which animal famous for its tusk spends most of the winter months under the sea ice in Baffin Bay between Canada and Greenland—emperor penguin or narwhal?

6. Which country does not include part of the Kalahari Desert—Namibia, Botswana, or Eritrea?

7. Commercial flower bulb production is an important economic activity in what country just north of Belgium?

8. Located near the Green Mountains, Montpelier is the capital of which state?

9. Constructed during the reign of Ivan the Terrible, St. Basil’s Cathedral is located in Moscow in which country?

10. The Alboran Sea and the Ionian Sea are both part of which larger sea?

Answers: 

(1. New York; 2. Arkansas; 3. Louisiana; 4. South America; 5. narwhal; 6. Eritrea; 7. Netherlands; 8. Vermont; 9. Russia; 10. Mediterranean Sea)

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