Lehigh Valley 6th-grader competes in national competitions: Can you answer this sample

A sixth-grader from the Lehigh Valley likely knows more about world history and geography than most of us.

He just got back from Florida after competing in the National Geography Bee, the National History Bee and the National Academic Bee.

He made it to the to the semi finals in each of those bees, competing against hundreds of middle-schoolers from all across the country.

Amir Bourhim is just 12 years old, and when you hear some of the sample questions for these competitions, you’re going to realize just how smart he is.

His journey to the national competitions began last fall after he took an online test that qualified him for the regional competitions. He did well at regionals and got to go to nationals in Orlando.

He is from Upper Nazareth Township and just finished sixth grade at Moravian Academy.

His love of world history and geography goes back to when he was just a toddler. His mom says he was reading books by the time he was 2.

And at 3, they pulled out a globe to show him where Morocco is since they have family roots there and he started memorizing the demographics of different countries. It wasn’t just a fact or two, he was learning about these countries in great detail.

Now he’ll get to visit some of them.

Amir qualified for the international competition in geography. That’s in July in Vienna, Austria. And next summer, he’s off to London to compete in the international competition on history.

So if you’re wondering what kinds of questions Amir had to answer, we have a sample for you. It may be a little more difficult than you would think.

It’s not “what’s the state capital of Oregon?” or “Where is Guam?”.. These are tough.

Here’s the question:

“Debates during this meeting got so heated that Nicholas of Myra was reported to have struck one person in the face. This meeting was likely presided over by Hosius of Cordoba. A debate occurred during this meeting in which the heresy of Arianism was denounced, resulting in the formation of this meeting’s namesake ‘Creed.’ Convened by Constantine the Great in what is today Turkey, for the points, what was this first ecumenical council?”

And the answer?

“First Council of Nicaea”