United States Geography Olympiad
The United States Geography Olympiad (USGO) is a nationwide academic geography competition for primary and secondary school students in the United States. It was introduced during the 2012-2013 school year. It currently consist of approximately 105 National Qualifying Exam sites held around the United States and its territories, along with a certain number of international schools, and a National Championships held in Arlington, VA at the end of April. The National Qualifying Exam sites are held in conjunction with the high school-level regional and state tournaments of The National History Bee and The National History Bowl.
The United States Geography Olympiad is also the official qualifying competition for American students looking to qualify for the International Geography Olympiad, an international geography competition, which is held every summer in a different country. The international competition consists of three parts: a written test, a multimedia test and some fieldwork-related activity. James Mullen of Cupertino, CA, won the 2014 International Geography Olympiad while the USA finished 10th out of 36 countries overall.
The United States Geography Olympiad currently includes two categories: a Junior Varsity category and a Varsity category. For each academic school year, students who are younger than 16 years of age, as of July 1 of the summer following the school year, can participate in the Junior Varsity category - there is no younger age limit. Students who are 16 or older (up to 19), as July 1 of the summer following the school year, must participate in the Varsity category. Only students in the Varsity category are eligible to qualify for the US National Team which will participate during that summer in the International Geography Olympiad.
The US Geography Olympiad is not associated with National Geographic or the National Geographic Bee.
History of the competition
The US Geography Olympiad was founded in the summer of 2012 under the name "United States Geography Challenge" by David Madden and Enrico Contolini. David Madden is a former 19-day champion on Jeopardy!, who also serves as Executive Director for both The National History Bee and The National History Bowl. Enrico Contolini is an engineer and self-taught geography enthusiast and researcher who coached his daughter Isabella to be the top female student nationally in the National Geographic Bee in both 2010 and 2011. The name of the competition was changed to the United States Geography Olympiad in October 2013.
Along with acting as the qualifying competition for American students looking to attend the International Geography Olympiad, the US Geography Olympiad was founded to test the geography skills of American students and to help promote geography education. The competition aims to reward students who have devoted themselves to studying the world, and its countries and peoples, as a thorough knowledge of geography is essential to being an educated citizen today. The US Geography Olympiad aims at being more than a competition, and for this reason it also runs a USGeoChallenge Facebook page where geography-related articles and news, quizzes, links to relevant websites and blogs are posted on a regular bases to foster educational discussions and opportunities for those interested in geography as a subject.
The Elementary and Middle School divisions were introduced in 2015. The Middle School division was divided into 7th and 8th grade divisions in 2016.
Format of the competition
The Regional and/or State Qualifying event is currently organized as a 50 multiple-choice question written test to be completed in 20 minutes. Students may take the Qualifying Exam up to three times, as three different versions of the Exam are offered at different regional tournaments. To qualify for Nationals, students must finish in either the top half of the students in their division (Varsity or JV) at their site, or in the top 50% of students taking that particular version of the Qualifying Exam nationally. The national competition currently consists of two parts: • A Multi-Media multiple choice Exam, similar but shorter to the one used at the International Geography Olympiad • A buzzer-based Geography Quiz Tournament. These questions will be written by High School Academic Pyramid Questions, an outside company specializing in providing comprehensive, paragraph-length quiz questions.
Past locations
The JV and Varsity Championships have always been held at the Crystal Gateway Marriott in the Crystal City neighborhood of Arlington, Virginia.
In 2015, the Elementary and Middle School Championships were held at the Marriott Downtown Louisville in Louisville, Kentucky. In 2016, the Elementary, 7th Grade, and 8th Grade Championships were held at the Hyatt Regency O'Hare in Rosemont, Illinois. The location has not been decided for 2017.
US Geography Olympiad National Champions
Varsity Division Champions
Year | Varsity Winner | School | State |
---|---|---|---|
2013 | Anton Karpovich | Illinois Math and Science Academy | ![]() |
2014 | Anton Karpovich | Illinois Math and Science Academy | ![]() |
2015 | Kevin Li | Westview High School | ![]() |
2016 | Eugene Wang | BASIS Tucson North | ![]() |
Junior Varsity Division Champions
Year | JV Winner | School | State |
---|---|---|---|
2013 | Abhinav Kurada | Advanced Math and Science Academy | ![]() |
2014 | Abhinav Kurada | Advanced Math and Science Academy | ![]() |
2015 | Karan Menon | John Adams Middle School | ![]() |
2016 | Kyle Yu | Westlake High School | ![]() |
Middle School Division Champions
Year | Middle School Winner | School | State |
---|---|---|---|
2015 | John Phipps | Middlesex Middle School | ![]() |
8th Grade Division Champions
Year | 8th Grade Winner | School | State |
---|---|---|---|
2016 | Andy Tutuc | Canyon Vista Middle School | ![]() |
7th Grade Division Champions
Year | 7th Grade Winner | School | State |
---|---|---|---|
2016 | Rohil Bhinge | Nysmith School | ![]() |
Elementary Division Champions
Year | Elementary Winner | School | State | Grade |
---|---|---|---|---|
2015 | Rohil Bhinge | Nysmith School | ![]() |
6 |
2016 | Samik Bhinge | Mosby Woods Elementary | ![]() |
5 |
World Champions at the International Geography Olympiad from the USA
Year | Champion | School | State |
---|---|---|---|
2014 | James Mullen | Monta Vista High School | ![]() |
References
- http://idahogeographicalliance.wordpress.com/2012/11/29/announcing-the-launch-of-the-united-states-geography-challenge/ (Online article by the Idaho Geographic Alliance)
- http://www.nhga.net/student-contest-for-geography-classrooms/ (Online article by the New Hampshire Geographic Alliance)
External links
- http://www.geographyolympiad.com/ (US geography Olympiad website)
- http://www.geoolympiad.org/ (International Geography Olympiad)
- http://www.historybowl.com/ (National History Bowl website)
- http://historybee.com/ (National History Bee website)
- http://www.geokid.org/ (Enrico’s personal geography website)
- http://www.usahiker.blogspot.com/ (David’s 2007/2008 charity walk across the US)