World at his fingertips

LEHI — They're just 13 but they talk like world explorers.

Ask Jeffrey Bennett and Derek Wells about Alaska — the Pribilof Islands, in particular.

Like walking encyclopedias, the two teens recall tidbits of information like this: The islands, located in the Bering Sea, are named after a Russian explorer and navigator .

And that's an easy one.

Bennett and Wells came in first and second place, respectively, at the state level National Geographic Bee held Friday at Thanksgiving Point.

Bennett, a seventh-grader in the accelerated learning program at Midvale Middle School and grandson of Utah's Sen. Bob Bennett, R-Utah, will head to Washington, D.C., in May for the national competition.

One hundred students in classes from fourth to eighth grades took a written test to qualify for the state competition. Students from public and private schools, as well as those educated at home, completed the exam.

In Utah, as in other U.S. states and territories on Friday, the students answered questions about the world's physical and cultural geography until the group was winnowed down to 10 students.

The 10 students in the final round — all boys, by the way — were eliminated down to Bennett and Wells, who competed against each other in a championship round.

Then, they tied. The two boys entered a tiebreaker round, with Bennett eventually coming out on top.

"And from the very onset of this, it's been boys. They did a study and looked at the questions (asked in the bee)," said Sheila Powell, a sixth-grade teacher in the Jordan School District, who coordinated the Utah event. "I've never had a girl here (in first place)."

The study found that girls don't want to compete in geography. Boys are nurtured by most families and communities in a way that encourages studying geography.

The thing about geography bees is that there's no way to study for them. Question-writers literally can ask about anything, well, in the world.

Bennett said he enjoys studying and drawing maps. He also reads books about history. .

"You watch the news and read the newspaper a lot," he said.