Tuesday, June 10, 2008

News; Mexico Wins 2007 National Geographic World Championship

Every two years, teams from around the globe come together to compete in the National Geographic World Championship geography competition. This year, the winner was Mexico! The United States came in second, and Canada came in third.

Students were eligible to take part in the World Championship, held in San Diego, California, by winning or being a top finisher in the national competitions of their home regions. Also competing this year were Argentina, Australia, Bulgaria, Chinese Taipei, France, Germany, Ghana, Hungary, India, Poland, Romania, Russia, Singapore, and the United Kingdom.

Mexico, the United States, and Canada made it to the final round after getting the highest scores in a written contest and an activity that included an outdoor map-reading course at SeaWorld.

In an Olympics-style ceremony, medals were awarded to the first-, second- and third-placed teams. Alex Trebek, host of the TV game show Jeopardy!, moderated the finals.

The winning question was: "What historic site was carved from sandstone in about 1200 B.C.? This site includes two huge temples and statues of an ancient ruler." Know the answer? It’s Abu Simbel, near Aswan, Egypt.

No comments: