Many schools no longer have geography as a separate course in their curriculum.

Panther Valley Elementary School is no exception.Despite this, 10 fifth- and sixth-grade finalists answered questions that had adult audience members raising their eyebrows: Questions about Africa, the Rio Grande, Cape Canaveral and New York City landmarks.It was part of a nationally recognized geography bee held Wednesday in the Panther Valley Elementary School.Eventually, in a tie-breaker round, fifth-grade student Gabe Heaney emerged victorious, answering a question correctly about the Jos Plateau in Africa.Fourth-grader Brad Hood finished in second place.Heaney, 11, is the son of Dan and Jenn Heaney of Nesquehoning.Hood, 10, is the son of Ron and Jenny Hood of Lansford. Ron Hood said the family brushed up on their geography using the Internet.Elementary school Principal Mary Figura was the moderator.She said this was part of a national competition and used questions approved by the National Geographic Society.The finalists were chosen from an earlier round involving about 60 students.Participants and the alternates were Mackenzie Cloutier, Richard Zabrowski, River Knoblach, Xaviera Minnich, Jacob Brown, Austin Smyth, Erika Zimmerman, Rachel Parker, Nick Surotchak and Ethan Risteter.Mary Krajnak assisted Figura.As an example of how some students interpreted the question, one was about Jack London's classic novel "Call of the Wild," which takes place in the Yukon.When asked in what country the Yukon is located, one of the participants admitted he was thinking basketball: UConn as in the University of Connecticut. His answer was Connecticut.The round opened with cities with universities: Bethlehem, Scranton and State College. The question was: In what state are these cities located?The answer was Pennsylvania.The second question stumped many of the competitors. It was: Which Rocky Mountain State with a northern panhandle is a leading producer of potatoes.The answer is Idaho.Nobody knew where Carlsbad Caverns was located (New Mexico).Figura presented Heaney with a medal and said both finalists will be recognized at the end of the school year.