When he was home from school sick recently, Bradley Friedman, a seventh-grader at Nansemond-Suffolk Academy, took it upon himself to do a little extra homework.

He read a stack of National Geographic magazines, he said.

Friedman had good reason to do so. At the state level of the National Geographic Bee next week, the thoughtful middle-schooler, for the second time, will shoot for a berth at the national competition, to be held at the National Geographic Society’s headquarters in Washington in May.

The annual competition, which pits thousands of young geography and history buffs across America against one another, is for students in grades four through eight.

Friedman made the state round two years ago, competing as a fifth-grader. He didn’t make it past the first round then, but he aims to turn that around this time.

“I’ve had two more years of education,” Friedman said. “I’ve learned more in school, learned more through reading, and I’m ready this time.”

Friedman said he earned the chance to compete again in the state contest, to be held at Longwood University on March 27, after submitting a written test, which he was eligible to do after winning the bee at NSA.

“I’m fairly sure they only take the top 100,” he said of the size of the field he’ll face in Farmville.

The competition format is different from the typical spelling bee, he said. Competitors line up in rooms, which “merge together” as students are knocked out of contention, Friedman said.

One doesn’t “buzz in” answers at the National Geographic Bee. “They ask questions going down the line,” Friedman said. “It’s one question — you can’t dodge it, you have to get it right.”

Most questions are traditional geography questions, he said, but others deal with world cultures and some even with sports.

Asked when he became interested in geography, Friedman replied, “Since the fourth grade — about when I started participating in it, ironically.”

“I find it interesting,” he said. “It helps to know stuff about other places in the world. At the same time, this was also helped by my growing interest in history.”

For his career goals, Friedman says he’s considering becoming an astrophysicist or a history professor.