What sea in the Arctic Ocean separates the Taymyr Peninsula from the Novaya Zemlya archipelago?

The Kara Sea, Kaimuki Middle School sixth-grader Mika Ishii correctly answered, winning the state level of the National Geographic Bee at the Neal Blaisdell Center on Friday.

Ishii beat 48 other public and private school fourth- through eighth-graders for the chance to represent Hawaii in the National Geographic Bee, scheduled for May 19-21 in Washington, D.C.

Ishii is no stranger to the geography competition. She won two years ago as a fourth-grader at Wilson Elementary School and lasted about halfway through the national competition. She also placed in the top 10 in last year’s state bee.

"I’m really excited," Ishii said about heading to nationals. "I’m going to try to study really hard, but I can’t wait for the nationals because it was really fun the last time I went."

Ishii took home a check for $100 and an atlas. If she wins at the national level, she’ll be awarded with a $50,000 college scholarship, a trip to the Galapagos Islands and lifetime membership in the National Geographic Society.

Students in Hawaii’s bee were tested on their knowledge of physical, economical, cultural and political geography, said coordinator Mary Frances Higuchi. The contestants were split into three groups of 15 or 16 in the preliminary round, which consisted of eight questions per student. The 10 kids who scored the highest overall advanced to the finals in Blaisdell’s Pikake Room.

Parents and teachers watched in the audience, often guessing and whispering the answers to each other.

Johanna Bishop, an ancient civilization teacher at Robert Louis Stevenson Middle School, watched as her former student, Matthew Sohn, advanced to the finals with a perfect score in the preliminaries. "It’s unreal," she said of Sohn, a first-timer at the competition.

Second-place finisher Kevin Zhao, a Punahou seventh-grader, was stumped by the final question. Zhao, who placed fourth last year, admitted he didn’t study as hard as he did last year.

"Last year I was really, really pumped up for studying," Zhao said. "But this year, I got a little lazy, so I didn’t study as much, especially during spring break. … This week, I went on a full-on review."

Zhao plans on returning next year if he can win at his school. He said his goal was just to make the top three.

"My whole school was probably hoping I’d win first place, but I’ve been saying it was more likely that it wasn’t going to happen," he said.

Higuchi said students are typically not given any guidance on what to study for, as the questions change every year.

"It’s hard to say what to study for," she said, adding that kids might study cities, counties, riverways, mountain ranges, population and current events. Most of the questions often have a clue, such as a city or geographical feature in the answer.

"It really depends on the question," Higuchi said. "Sometimes a student might say it was hard, but another might say it was easy because they studied that."

Ishii said she’s been studying since her first year at the competition. She likes to read books, maps and atlases, and often asked her friends and family to quiz her. She said she enjoys the history parts of geography.

For some students, the bee offers a chance to explore the world without having to physically travel.

"I used Google Maps," said 10-year-old Emma Hirota. "I went to Paris, the White House, my friend’s house. Oh, and I also went to Disneyland."

The Hawaii National Geographic Bee has seen a 50 percent decline of participants since it started, Higuchi said, primarily because of a growing emphasis on standardized testing.

"People are concentrating on reading and math — and rightfully so — but we continue to (have the bee) because there’s still kids interested in geography," she said. "For our kids, just to be at the bee is an accomplishment. It’s amazing what they know."

Diane Ishii, Mika’s mother, said it’s likely that a teacher will accompany Mika to the nationals, but she will go anyway to support her daughter.

"It was really fun and exciting to watch the last time we went," Ishii said. "We’re just so proud of her. She works really hard."