The Great Sci-Why Holiday Quiz

By Claire Eamer

Help us celebrate Sci-Why’s first Christmas (or mid-winter celebration of your choice) by playing along in – TA DA! – The Great Sci-Why Holiday Quiz. With prizes!!!

The questions are multiple-choice, and all of them are based on previous blog entries. There are nine questions, one for each month in the Sci-Why blog archive. (And if that’s not a giant hint, I’m a monkey’s uncle. Er …auntie.) Of course, if you choose to ignore the giant hint, you can use the index terms on the right side of the screen to search for answers.

Put your answer in the Comments section below, or send your answers straight to me, Quizmistress Claire, at claire@claireeamer.com. Just list the question number and the answer letter: for example, 10F.

And what about the important bit – the prizes? On New Year’s Day, I’ll get my minion (gotta have a minion!) to draw three names from the massive stacks of correct answers, and each winner will get a signed copy of one of my science books.

So – here we go.

1. What do scientists in Sudbury use to capture neutrinos?
A: The giant nickel. B: A huge underground dome of heavy water. C: A tiny, little catcher’s mitt.

2. How many lenses does a dragonfly’s compound eye have?
A: 30,000 B: 300 C: 1 -- you can’t fool me that easily!

3. What stops earthquakes from getting big enough to wipe out everyone on Earth?
A: A law passed by the United Nations. B: Rocks break before underground pressure reaches that point. C: The Royal Canadian Earthquake Police, also called Earthies.

4. Who is Scotty, star of the T. rex Discovery Centre in Eastend, Saskatchewan?
A: A science communicator who performs daily shows there. B: A small black terrier that was rescued by the staff and became the Centre’s mascot. C: A fossilized Tyrannosaurus rex.

5. How do fish biologists count salmon in Haida Gwaii?
A: They clamber up streams on foot. B: Aerial surveys. C: The salmon sign in on underwater slates at the mouth of each stream.

6. What’s the one-word name of the winner of the 2011 Lane Anderson Award for children’s science books?
A: Science B: Whoopee! C: Evolution.

7. Australian researchers found a link between watching six hours of television a day and what?
A: High scores in trivia contests. B: A shortened life span. C: A powerful urge to buy shiny new trucks.

8. What’s a sun spot?
A: A dark spot on the sun (of course!). B: Another word for a freckle. C: A solar-powered light used in outdoor theatre productions.

9. Where did the rocks that make up the Yukon’s St. Elias Range, Canada’s highest mountains, come from?
A: The moon. B: A giant meteorite. C: The ocean bed between Scandinavia and Russia.

From all the crew at Sci-Why, good wishes and have a happy holiday!