Fort Simpson (Apr 14/06) - There was a time when Ramona Bain found geography boring.

Everything changed when the Thomas Simpson school student entered the Great Canadian Geography Challenge.

"It's really fun," said Bain.

Ramona Bain points to one of the tools that helped her win the territorial level of the Great Canadian Geography Challenge. The Fort Simpson youth will compete in the national challenge on May 13. She will study for more than an hour a day in preparation for the competition. - Roxanna Thompson/NNSL photo

After finishing an online competition on April 8, Bain, 15, won the right to compete at the national level.

The student competition, organized by the Royal Canadian Geographic Society, is opened to students in Grades 7-10 across the country.

Bain became hooked on geography in February when she entered the competition at the school. Against 10 other students, Bain was named the school champion. A second test allowed her to compete in the territorials.

In the territorials, for close to an hour on Saturday, she answered questions in a range of categories including bodies of water, mountains and capitals. She had 30 seconds for each multiple choice question.

The end result was a score of 35 out of 58. For Bain, keeping geographical facts straight isn't difficult.

"It's kind of easy," she said. "Remembering little facts and details is one of my specialties."

But some categories are easier than others.

Mountains are simple, said Bain, because they have distinctive names, like Mount Kilimanjaro, which makes them easy to pick out.

The history section was harder, she said. It contained questions such as "Where was the battle on the Plains of Abraham fought?"

Questions about borders on international countries are also tricky.

Bain is learning lots of new facts. Before studying for the extinct and endangered species category, Bain said she didn't know there were so many flightless birds.

"She scored well," said Jeff Cressman, the junior high social studies teacher at Thomas Simpson.

Bain won a higher score than any of the previous Fort Simpson students who've competed at the territorial level, said Cressman.

"They were pretty tough questions, actually," Cressman said.

To prepare for the national final on May 13, Bain plans to study more than an hour a day. Playing geography games on the internet is her favourite way to learn. Cressman will also quiz her once a week.

"If I win at the nationals I'll feel really successful," said Bain.