Geneva fourth-graders hold their own against parents

Do you know what the expanded form of 15,693 is?

If not, ask a fourth-grader.

That was one of the questions that perplexed parents Monday in Elizabeth Heinz' fourth-grade classroom at Harrison Street Elementary School in Geneva.

Parents took on their kids in "Are You Smarter Than a Fourth-Grader," a contest modeled after a TV show pitting adults and fifth-graders.

"If (the questions) get any harder we're going down," muttered parent Gina Moreno, whose daughter, Kristen, is in the class. That was after she had to answer, "What is the hard outer covering on some invertebrates called?"

Categories included language arts, social studies, mathematics and science. The question would flash on a screen and the contestants would write their answers on their dry-erase boards, then pound a buzzer.

Each team was allowed one "cheat" -- consultation with their teammates -- in each of three rounds.

Heinz came up with the game as a fourth-grade version of a semester final exam -- "so they don't forget what they learned since the beginning of the year," she said. There was a lot of nervous laughter on the parents' part, and jokes about "new math."

How many state capitals are there? ("If I get this wrong, I am going to look like a moron," mom Susan Fintzen said.)

Don't worry, parents; your kids still think you are smart.

"My dad works on telephone lines and I think he'd be good at math," Samantha Reattoir said.

If 30 airplanes fly to Hawaii each day, and each carries 200 people, how many people visit Hawaii each day?

"No, it's not hard. It's the trick of the zeroes," Heinz exhorted her students.

That means you should multiply your non-zero numbers (the 3 and the 2, = 6) and write in the number of zeroes left. For 6,000.

The parents won on points, 6 million to 2.5 million.

The kids get a second chance today when they take on more parents. ("When someone gives you a study guide, use it. That's our lesson today," Heinz told the kids.)

Since the adults did not get all the answers right, well …

"YOU ARE NOT SMARTER THAN A FOURTH-GRADER" flashed on the screen, and the kids cheered.

"We may be losers today, but we'll be winners tomorrow," Ashley Shogren said.

And the expanded version of 15,693 is 15,000+600+90+3.