The US NatGeo Geography Bee just concluded today and it was won by an Asian kid from Texas. What does it say about education in America and intelligence that most of the kids in the finals were either Asian or Indian decent despite them making up only a small percentage of the population?
Im not sure what it means but I know it means something. America is falling way behind to the rest of the world and has something like a 33% high school dropout rate and over 50% in major cities. Unless it is genetics and Asians and Indians are in general just plain smarter, white, black and hispanic Americans are doing something wrong.
Congratulations Eric Yang, winner of the 2008-2009 National Geographic Bee
5/20/2009 12:09:00 PM
1. Timis County shares its name with a tributary of the Danube and is located in the western part of which European country?
2. Name this eastern European capital city, where a flight from the southeast would approach the city by flying over the Rhodope Mountains.
3. Name this city in Oceania, the largest on South Island, where a flight from the west would approach the city by flying over the Southern Alps.
If you're stumped, you're not alone! For 55 fourth- to eighth-graders, though, these sorts of questions represented the culmination of months of hard work studying maps and absorbing geographic knowledge.
Earlier today I had the honor of speaking at the championship round of the 2008-2009 National Geographic Bee — moderated by Jeopardy!’s Alex Trebek for the 21st year. This year, Google Earth is sponsoring the Bee in support of its mission to raise awareness and support of geography education. Held at National Geographic’s Washington, D.C. headquarters and broadcast on public television stations across the country, the competition inspires and challenges students to better understand the world around them.
Eric Yang, who didn't miss a single question in the finals, won on the third question of a tiebreaker round by answering the first question above. Eric, a 7th grader from Texas, has already scored 2200 on his SATs!
http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2009/05/congratulations-eric-yang-winner-of.html
