Knights of Columbus Geography Bee -- Answering Sample Questions

Sample speaking questions (3 world, 3 North American, 1 regional)

  1. Name the only country that borders South Korea.

    2. Even if you don't know the answer, "North" and "South" territories often come in pairs, and often border each other (such as the Dakotas and the Carolinas in the U.S.) so you might reasonably guess the correct answer, North Korea. Some countries are known by more than one name, and so we would accept any of them, e.g."Democratic People's Republic of Korea" and "DPRK" are also acceptable for this answer.

  2. Name the country which is shaped like a boot sticking into the Mediterranean Sea; its capital surrounds Vatican City.

    3. Here, two clues for Italy help make the question easier.

  3. Which country borders Chad and Mali?

    4. Though we do not read maps during our geography bee, memory of maps you've seen is helpful for identifying Niger as the country between Chad and Mali.

  4. Which state has shorelines on the most Great Lakes?

    5. This questions knowledge of many shores, but because Michigan has shores on four Great Lakes, and no other state has more than two, you might forget a shore and still get the right answer.

  5. Name the first state to ratify the U.S. Constitution; the only state smaller than it by land area is Rhode Island.

    6. Even if you don't know about the ratification, hopefully you know that Delaware and Rhode Island are each far smaller in land area of any of the other 48 states. A speaking question wouldn't ask for a specific large number, like a square mileage or a population, nor ask you to split hairs, like knowing which of Vermont and New Hampshire has a larger area.

  6. Name the state known for the first seminary admitting African-Americans; it shares its name with North America's largest river system, which drains water from 31 states.

    7. Sometimes one clue helps more than another. Don't panic about the seminary -- you only have to recognize that draining 31 states can only be the huge Mississippi River system. But the question was "name the state ...", so the answer is just "Mississippi". Then the seminary fact is something we learn from the question.

  7. Name Connecticut's sixth-most-populous city; it is known for its Maritime Aquarium, its oyster farming, its harbor on Long Island Sound, and the original Stew Leonard's store.

    8. Knowing some facts about various parts of our local region gives the best chance that one or two of them will be enough to answer questions like this one about Norwalk.

Sample writing questions

  1. One minute. How many U.S. states are larger than New York, by land area? Another chance will be awarded to whoever comes closest to the correct number.

    2. Knowing the exact answer to a writing question can be very hard, but remember, they don't bring you closer to elimination, and being the closest is good enough to win another chance! The participant who knows that eastern states tend to be smaller than western states, and that New York is one of the bigger eastern states, will figure out that New York is a bit smaller than the average of the 50 states, and so get close to the correct answer, 29.

  2. One and a half minutes. Name as many as you can of the continents which are mostly or completely in the Southern Hemisphere. Another chance will be awarded to whoever names the most correct continents without including an incorrect continent.

    3. You probably know that Antarctica and Australia are in the Southern Hemisphere, but to get this question fully correct, you have to know that most of South America is south of the equator while most of Africa is north of it. "When in doubt, leave it out" on questions scored like this, because if you mistakenly skip South America, you can still get two out of three continents and possibly win another chance, but if you mistakenly include Africa, you cannot win another chance.

  3. Three minutes. If you begin from the Connecticut shoreline, and travel directly west, you will go into New York and then New Jersey. As you continue west at the same latitude, name as many as you can of the states you reach, in order. The winner will be whoever names the most correct states before including a state which is incorrect or out of order.

    4. This difficult question was used a few years ago as a tie-breaker to determine the bee's winner, who scored six -- Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, and Nebraska -- by excellent map memory before he listed an incorrect state, missing only Wyoming or Colorado (either of which was acceptable because their border latitude line is straddled by Connecticut's coastal latitudes), then Utah, Nevada, and California.