SILVERHILL, Ala. — There are a lot of things we take for granted that are not so.

For instance, did you know the Dead Sea isn’t actually a “sea” at all?

“It’s a lake,” said Brandon Hunt, a member of the Silverhill Elementary School’s “Coastal Kids” quiz team. The competition, which happened Tuesday, April 28, was sponsored by the Alabama Coastal Foundation.

Hunt is right. According to an online encyclopedia, the Dead Sea is 1,385 feet below sea level and its shores are the lowest point on the surface of Earth on dry land. But it’s not a sea. It is a lake.

And that’s just one of the fun facts members of the Silverhill team have learned from a variety of sources. The entire team consisted of Alexander Calder, Hunt, Jade Smith, Megan Nordberg, and Jordan Johnson. They are all fifth-grade students. Their teacher is Susan Caver, a gifted education specialist at the school.

The competition was held Tuesday at Daphne Middle School, and while the Silverhill team did not win, the youngsters clearly had a good time getting ready for the competition.

“We did win a round with a team who ended up being the second runner up team. We won two of the four rounds, however. It was a good learning experience,” Caver said after the competition.

“This is our eighth year doing this said Anna Keene, Programs Director for the ACF in a phone interview before the competition. “It gives fifth graders an opportunity to go above and beyond all their school learning.” The ACF Web site is at joinacf.org.

“The competition consisted of fifth grade teams from Mobile and Baldwin County,” said Caver. This is the first year that a team from Silverhill competed, and Caver and her students made the most of it.

“We had a stack of papers to study,” said Jordan Johnson.

The students, who are in the school’s gifted and talented program meet with Caver about once a week normally. They met more frequently to get ready for the event, which consisted of several rounds of questions and answers.

“There was a waiting list (to enter the competition). We signed up quite a while ago,” said Caver .

That does not bother the youngsters. They were ready to play and meet other students from other schools who have been studying just as hard as they have.

The top three teams earned savings bonds, to be used when the youngsters start college. First place team members each get a $300 bond, second place a $200 bond, and third place a $100 bond, according to Keene.

“The students will also get a t-shirt and lunch from Chick-Fil-A,” Caver said to excited “oohs” from the students who had not heard that tidbit of news before.

Teacher and students put a lot of effort into the competition.

“We studied a good bit,” said Caver.

But, no mater what, the information about the oceans and waterways around the world will stick with these future doctors, veterinarians, marine biologist and researchers.

For example, Calder said, “The most interesting (thing he’s learned) is that the sunfish is the longest bony fist. It can be 60 feet long.”

For Smith, learning that “one of the deepest dives was over 1,000 feet,” will stick with her.

“We learned that horseshoe crabs can be valuable,” said Nordberg, explaining with Johnson that scientists value the arthropod for medical testing.

“I am blessed to have these students and teach Gifted Education at Silverhill. I am blessed that I still want to teach after 29 years at this profession,” said Caver.