Discovery student Daniel Koifman qualifies for state geography bee

Daniel Koifman of Discovery Middle School competed in the state geography bee. (CONTRIBUTED)

MADISON – The National Geographic Society selected Daniel Koifman to compete at the 25th annual Alabama Geographic Bee.

The state bee was held at Samford University on April 5. Seventh-grader Christopher Lough of Prattville Christian Academy won the state meet. Google and Plum Creek sponsored the event.

Koifman qualified as an Alabama semifinalist after winning the geography bee at Discovery Middle School. For the Discovery bee, students had to answer varied questions:

* “A subspecies of brown bear known as the Kodiak bear takes its common name from an island that lies off the southern coast of what state?”

* “The Danakil Depression, located in part of the Great Rift Valley, is one of the lowest points on which continent?”

(The answers are Alaska and Africa, respectively.)

“School-level winners then took a qualifying test, which they submitted to the National Geographic Society. The society then invited the students with the top 100 scores to compete at the state level,” Christine Jones said. She teaches seventh-grade social science at Discovery.

Jones described Koifman as a “brilliant” student.

The state winner will compete in the national bee at National Geographic Society headquarters in Washington, D.C. on May 20-22. Alex Trebek, longtime emcee of “Jeopardy!,” will moderate the bee’s final round on the National Geographic Channel and Nat Geo Wild. Public television stations will later air the finals.

Founded in 1888, the National Geographic Society is one of the world’s largest nonprofit scientific and educational organizations. The society’s mission is to inspire people to care about the planet. Its official journal, “National Geographic” magazine, reaches more than 450 million people worldwide each month.

For more information, visit nationalgeographic.com/geobee.