KNOWLEDGEABLE KIDS
Gifted students participate in Knowledge Bowl competition
How many bones are in the thumb?
What is the nickname given to the USS Constitution?
What U.S. city houses Wrigley Field and O’Hare Airport?
What is the name of the new DeSoto County Schools’ superintendent?
How many tablespoons equal 1 fluid ounce?
What is the formula for the exact area of a circle?
These were a few of the questions that gifted students competing in DeSoto County School District’s “Knowledge Bowl” had to answer correctly and hit their buzzer first to win points for their school’s Knowledge Bowl Team.
Approximately 480 students in grades four through eight participated in the week-long event held at Longview Heights Baptist Church in Olive Branch. Students paid a $2 fee to cover the costs of the trophies. A team of 48 volunteers in the community moderated each round during the 5-day event, supplying manpower to help ask the questions and run the program. The event tests students’ knowledge of geography, world history, science, mathematics, English and other subjects, as well as their ability to recall facts quickly.
“A good Knowledge Bowl participant is usually not a valedictorian, because he or she generally thinks a question through before they respond,” said Emily Nelson, director of gifted studies for the District and coordinator of the competition. “The best participants hit the buzzer and move on.”
DeSoto County Schools has the largest gifted education population in Mississippi. Besides the Knowledge Bowl, gifted students have districtwide chess competitions, Scrabble competitions, and speech and debate tournaments.
To prepare for this quick recall competition, students study encyclopedias and current events, said Nelson. She explained each school held competitions on their own campuses — some written and some oral — to select team members for the district competition.
Answers to questions: Two, Old Ironsides, Chicago, Cory Uselton, Two, and A= (pi) r².