Students learn about Internet research

Fourth-, fifth- and sixth-grade gifted and talented students at Jacks Valley and Zephyr Cove elementary schools participated in the Internet research competitions recently put on by the Carson Valley United Methodist Church.

Gifted and talented teacher Krista Benjamin said the questions demanded advanced research skills, persistence, patience and teamwork.

"Students learned facts ranging from the birthplace of Napoleon Bonaparte to the depth of the Marianas Trench," she said. "They compared the prices of airline tickets, pinpointed stock prices, used maps and driving directions, interpreted Morse Code, and converted dollars into yen and Euros - just to name a few of the challenges."

For the individual competition, students who got all the right answers were entered into a drawing for a $100 prize. The lucky winners were fifth-grader Diego Silva from Jacks Valley Elementary and Kelsey Kjer from Zephyr Cove Elementary.

For the group competition, the Zephyr Cove Elementary sixth-graders were the only contestants district-wide to find all the correct answers. They were only the second team in the four-year history of the contest to qualify for the $200 prize.

The winners have several ideas about how to use the money, including a shopping spree and a trip to Las Vegas to see the Cirque de Soleil, Benjamin said.