The History Bee is the precursor to the National History Bee, a buzzer-based history quiz competition. The National History Bee is a division of International Academic Competitions, which organizes events in over 30 countries around the world,

The McClure’s History Bee is comprised of 3-4 stages:

Stage ONE: History Screening

 History Screening Assessment given in students’ social studies classrooms immediately after winter break. The top finishers in each grade level receive an email invitation to the  from Mrs. Sluis to participate in the next stage, which is the Qualifying Exam.

Stage TWO: Online Qualifying Exam

Students meet with the History Bee Advisor (Mrs. Sluis) during 10th period and take the Online Qualifying Exam created by the International Academic Competition.  Some students also choose to take the Online Qualifying Exam in the subject areas of Geography and science at the same time.  Students receive notification of qualification to participate in the following stage: the Regional History Bee, through an email.

Stage THREE: The Buzzer Competition 

Students, upon successful completion of the online qualifying exam, select a date for the Regional History Bee.  Typical locations are the northern Chicago suburbs or northwest Indiana.  Students may also choose to compete in Regional Competitions in geography or science.  

Stage FOUR : The National Championship

Students, upon successful completion of the Regional Finals (usually in the top 10 finishers in the region), are invited to compete in the National Championship History Bee (or geography or science competitions) Registration, accompanying fees, and travel expenses are the responsibility of the student and his/her family.

How the Buzzer Competition Works:  The Regional and National History Bee Format

Format: Competition consists of a series of questions related to history (or geography or science) and may cover a wide range of topics such as world history, state capitals, ancient history, rulers and monarchs etc. 

BUZZER

Each participant is given a small button buzzer to indicate his/her wish to answer the question read aloud by the moderator.

RULES:

• Participants arent allowed to buzz until the moderator has finished reading the question.

• If a participant buzzes with correct answer they earn points. If they buzz in with an incorrect answer, they do not lose points (unless they interrupt the moderator reading the question)

• There is a time limit for answering each question once it has been read and once someone has buzzed in.

• Those with most points are considered the winner of that round.

• Students compete in 3 rounds and their points from each round accumulate to give a total score.  The organization uses those scores to determine invitations to the Regional History Bee Finals and invitations to the National History Bee.