Mary Catherine Marsden and Hannah Prescott
Eighth grader Hannah Prescott has advanced in the National Geographic Geo-Bee. Out of 32 GPS applicants this year, seven qualified for the school's semifinals, and Geo-Bee Prescott was joined by classmate Mary Catherine Marsden in the finals, which took place at Middle School assembly in mid-January.
The final round consisted of three questions, with answers written by the finalists on their iPads, similar to the method used in Final Jeopardy. Both Prescott and Marsden were correct on two of the three questions:
The city of Portland is at the eastern end of an oil pipeline that connects with Montreal, Canada. Portland is located on Casco Bay in which New England state? (Maine)
The Taklimakan Desert, home to the Uyghur people, is located north of the Kunlun Mountains in which Asian country? (China)
In the sudden death tiebreaker, Prescott was the only one to correctly answer, “What is the term for melted rock beneath Earth's surface that could erupt as lava?” (Magma)
The Geo-Bee doesn’t stop with being crowned the GPS champion and receiving a medal from National Geographic. Prescott now has to take a written test to qualify for the state bee, and the winner at that level participates at the national Geo-Bee in May, according to faculty member Glen Vey, who oversees the school competition.
Others who qualified for the semifinals were sixth graders Olivia Hoodenpyle and Komal Patri; seventh grader Claire Calhoun, and eighth graders Margaret Lim and Tatiana Poggi.
This is the 26th year that the National Geographic Society is sponsoring the National Geography Bee for students in fourth through eighth grades. First prize for the national championship is a $25,000 college scholarship.