National Geography Challenge

APRIL 22, 2023

The venue will be Google Meet which is free and easy-to-use. Start time will likely be 9:00 or 10:00 Eastern, but any Mountain & Pacific Time Zone teams may start later. Entry Fee: $75 per team

Each team will compete in at least three official tournament matches. Advancement to the Single Elimination playoffs will be determined by performance in the three preliminary games. All 2-1, and 3-0 teams will make the playoffs.

Your team contingent should include three or four starters and one or more coaches. Alternate(s) are allowed but must remain on mute until they are in play.

Levels

There will be two levels: High School and Middle School.

Training

A tutorial on using the videoconferencing program relative to the tournament will be sent to all coaches in time for them to practice with their teams. Our tech coordinator will be available to answer all questions ahead of time and will be available by phone for all matches.

Cap

For this one-day tournament we will be limiting the field to no more than 36 teams.

Rules & Format

Other than the number of preliminary matches, all rules will be the same as those used at the National Academic Championship: https://qunlimited.com/nationals-rules/

NATIONAL GEOGRAPHY CHALLENGE

Idaho, New Jersey, and Michigan Shine in the Jr. Div. Georgia wins Sr. Div.

Grady Noble won this year’s National History Challenge all by himself as the “team” representing Boise North Junior High (ID).  In the National Geography Challenge, he was joined by Ike, who seemed to know everything about Geography.  There was a moment during their Semifinal match with St. Hugo of the Hills (MI), however, that impressed us more than any individual performance.  St. Hugo, attempting to sweep a bonus series — Given the country, name the country you’d get to by traveling due west — answered “India” on their 15-pointer, with clue “Burma.”  We said no, and referred it to North Boise, which correctly answered Bangladesh.  But Ike from Boise North was more concerned with truth and accuracy than with winning the game.  He announced that India should be accepted.  We looked it up and he was right – parts of Burma are indeed due east of India, so we had to give the points to St. Hugo.  It was a 30-point swing.  St. Hugo ended up winning 250-215.  We salute Boise North for their good sportsmanship as well as their academic excellence.

 

In the finals, St. Hugo led Warren (NJ) 60-40 after the first period, 115-95 after the Bonus Round. 

 

In the final period, Warren answered these questions correctly …

 

The name of this city means “I see the mountain,” and it was founded by colonists from Buenos Aires in 1726.  More than one-fourth of the population of Uruguay lives in this capital city.  Name it.

         Ans.  Montevideo

 

Most of the rainwater in the United States eventually drains into an ocean.  The rainwater that falls on Salt Lake City goes where?

         Ans.  It runs into the Great Salt Lake and is trapped.

 

If your ship drifted southwestward through the Coral Sea, which country would you reach?

         Ans.  Australia

 

Which method of mapmaking represents Earth’s surface as a rectangle?

         Ans.  Mercator Projection

 

But St. Hugo of the Hills got these right …

 

Chapultapec Park is the largest park in what capital?

         Ans.  Mexico City

 

Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and Alberta are Canada’s Prairie Provinces.  Which three make up the Canadian Maritime Provinces?

         Ans.  New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island

 

This British dependency consists of 360 small islands, 20 of which are inhabited.  Located 580 miles east of North Carolina, its capital is Hamilton.  What is this popular resort area?

         Ans.  Bermuda

 

It has been called our nation’s longest beach.  At 113 miles long, it is in fact the longest barrier island in the United States.  Name this Texas geographical feature.

         Ans.  Padre Island

 

What scenic wonder is north of Flagstaff and east of Las Vegas?

         Ans.  The Grand Canyon

 

The final score: St. Hugo of the Hills 215, Warren 175.

 

In the High School division, Cartersville (GA) led Camp Hill (PA) after the first period of the championship match, 60-40, and after the second period, 100-80. 

 

Camp Hill tied it up on this one: This nation’s General Ne Win’s King Dragon operation in 1978 caused some 200,000 refugees to flee this nation for Bangladesh.  Bangladesh is bordered by India on three sides and shares a small border with what other nation on the Bay of Bengal?

         Ans.  Burma (Myanmar)

 

But it was all Cartersville the rest of the way, with correct answers on these:

 

A cape is a headland or prominent point of land projecting into a body of water.  Name these four: (a) a hook-shaped peninsula on the coast of Massachusetts, (b) the southern tip of South America, (c) a cape that lies about 100 miles northwest of the southern tip of Africa, (d) the promontory off North Carolina known as the Graveyard of the Atlantic.

         Ans.  (a) Cape Cod, (b) Cape Horn, (c) Cape of Good Hope, (d) Cape Hatteras

What nation has the largest population of any country completely south of the equator?

         Ans.  South Africa

 

A plane flying directly from Sudan to Niger would have to cross the air space of what other nation?

         Ans.  Chad

 

What two U.S. states share a border with Rhode Island?

         Ans.  Massachusetts and Connecticut

 

Name the two national capitals located on the Rio de la Plata estuary.

         Ans.  Montevideo and Buenos Aires

 

Cartersville won the title by a score of 200-100.

The venue will be Google Meet which is free and easy-to-use. Start time will likely be 9:00 or 10:00 Eastern, but any Mountain & Pacific Time Zone teams may start later. Entry Fee: $75 per team

Each team will compete in at least three official tournament matches. Advancement to the Single Elimination playoffs will be determined by performance in the three preliminary games. All 2-1, and 3-0 teams will make the playoffs.

Your team contingent should include three or four starters and one or more coaches. Alternate(s) are allowed but must remain on mute until they are in play.

Levels

There will be two levels: High School and Middle School.

Training

A tutorial on using the videoconferencing program relative to the tournament will be sent to all coaches in time for them to practice with their teams. Our tech coordinator will be available to answer all questions ahead of time and will be available by phone for all matches.

Cap

For this one-day tournament we will be limiting the field to no more than 36 teams.

Rules & Format

Other than the number of preliminary matches, all rules will be the same as those used at the National Academic Championship: Rules for Saturday Virtual Competitions  *and Language Arts!

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