Content area
Full Text
INTRODUCTION AND EARLY HISTORY
In 1993, two California Geographic Alliance Teacher Consultants staged the first Olympic-style geography contest in San Diego. The San Diego County Geography Olympiad quickly morphed into an annual academic contest involving hundreds of students, teachers, and parents. On January 15, 2003, the 10th annual Olympiad at Grossmont College (El Cajon) included students from nearly 30 public and private schools. While the faces change each year, the primary goal remains the same: promoting geography among elementary and middle school students in an interesting and fun way!
Angela Froehlich, a teacher at Bay View Elementary (San Diego Unified School District) first proposed the idea of an inter-scholastic geography competition in 1993. Two years prior she had completed an Alliance Summer Geography Institute (ASGI). It was during this specialized intensive training-funded by the National Geographic Society and the California Department of Education-that her passion for sharing geography reached new heights. That spring she worked with ASGI-Teacher Consultants Larry Osen, Margarita Huddleston, Chris Vasquez, the author, and other local geography teachers to create the Olympiad. Mike Matherly (Grossmont College geography professor) and Pete Pitard, (then San Diego County Office of Education History-Social Science Coordinator), were also important early contributors. From this nucleus emerged the following geography competition for elementary and middle schools.
THE RULES
Each fall, invitations are sent to teachers who are responsible for registering their teams. The first year saw a surprising 25 teams involved in a subject that was woefully underemphasized in schools.
The Geography Olympiad brings together teams of 16 players and three alternates in both an Elementary School Division (grades 3-5) and a Middle School Division (grades 6-8). There are 15 teams in each division. There are a dozen events. Students compete in small teams of two-four players in events like "Flip-A-Fact," "C is for Cartographer," and "Geography Bowl." The events, some modeled after popular board games or television shows, require standards-based geographic knowledge and skills. They are also designed to ignite student interest in this "why of where" subject. Students are called on to read and interpret maps, identify landmarks, plan a city, and engage in international trade of natural resources and manufactured goods. Successful geo-athletes possess well-developed mental maps of the world, and demonstrate a firm grasp of...