Courtesy photo Bicentennial Elementary School student Alok Kulkarni is one of ten Nashua students who will head to New Hampshire’s National Geographic GeoBee State Competition — a competition the encourages young students to excel in geography. The competition will take place March 29 in the Lloyd P. Young Student Center at Keene State College.

NASHUA – Not too many young students can easily answer random geography questions, such as what continent the Magdalena River flows on, or what countries are part of the Kalahari Desert.

But for fifth-grader Aadi Kulkarni, this is a breeze.

Kulkarni recently became the champion of Bicentennial Elementary School’s National Geographic GeoBee competition. He is one of 10 students from Nashua who will be moving on to the National Geographic GeoBee State Competition.

The organization began in 1988 to promote geographic knowledge among young students in the U.S. Fourth-grade and fifth-grade students from public and private schools, home schools and schools related to the Department of Defense are eligible to participate.

Students who go far enough can win scholarships and cash. One wins the designation of being the National Geographic GeoBee Champion, among other prizes.

School GeoBees took place throughout the state to determine the champion for each school. Those students then took an online qualifying test for the National Geographic Society.

Up to 100 students from all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Department of Defense dependent schools and U.S. territories will compete in the state GeoBees.

State champions will receive prizes that include a medal, $1,000 in cash, and even a trip to Washington, D.C. In the nation’s capitol, they will represent their states in the national championship, which will take place at National Geographic Society’s headquarters from May 19-22.

Students who finish in second-place in state competitions will receive a cash award of $300, while third-place students will receive $100 cash awards.

State champions who move on to the national championship will have a chance to compete for cash awards and college scholarships.

The competition will take place March 29 in the Lloyd P. Young Student Center at Keene State College.

The national champion will receive a $25,000 college scholarship, $1,000 in cash, a lifetime membership in the National Geographic Society, and a cruise to the Galapagos Islands aboard the National Geographic Endeavour II.

The runner-up will receive at $10,000 college scholarship and $1,000 in cash. The third-place finisher will receive a $5,000 college scholarship and $1,000 in cash.

The next seven ranking students will receive $1,000 in cash each.

These Nashua students will also head to the state competition:

• Antonio Mora, fifth grade, Charlotte Avenue Elementary School;

• Tej Patel, sixth grade, Elm Street Middle School;

• Benjamin Kokas, eighth grade, Fairgrounds Middle School;

• Yash Patel, fifth grade, Main Dunstable Elementary School;

• Paul Feldpausch, fifth grade, Sunset Heights Elementary School;

• Mary Connolly, eighth grade, Academy For Science & Design;

• Divyash Gaddam, fourth grade, Microsociety Academy Charter School;

• Jamie Vanderburgh, eighth grade, Nashua Catholic Regional Junior High School; and

• Kiran Klein, fourth grade, World Academy.