Biology Trivia Question: 1 What type of organism makes up the oldest known fossil? View the answerHide answer Blue-green algae from South Africa at 3.2 billion years old. Question: 2 What does the Scoville Heat Unit Scale measure? View the answerHide answer The pungency (spicy heat) of chilli peppers. Question: 3 Is a tomato a fruit or vegetable? View the answerHide answer A fruit. Here's an article about learning about plant structures using your fridge! Question: 4 What is the collective name of animals and plants that live on a lake bottom? View the answerHide answer Benthos Question: 5 What is the hardest substance in the human body? View the answerHide answer Tooth enamel. Question: 6 What is the largest living structure on Earth? View the answerHide answer The Great Barrier Reef, off the coast of Queensland in Australia Question: 7 In terms of attributed human deaths which are more dangerous; snakes, bees, sharks or house flies? View the answerHide answer House flies. They are vectors for disease causing bacteria. Question: 8 What is oldest living thing known on Earth? View the answerHide answer A bristlecone pine in California... it's about 4600 years old! Question: 9 Where are the three smallest bones in the human body? What are they called? View the answerHide answer The middle ear. Collectively called ossicles, the 3 bones are the malleus (hammer), incus (anvil) & stapes (stirrup). Question: 10 What is the world's tallest grass? View the answerHide answer Bamboo. Some species reach up to 39 metres in height. Question: 11 Which Australian timber made the London docks? View the answerHide answer Turpentine (Syncarpia glomulifera) Question: 12 What is the longest type of cell in the body? View the answerHide answer The nerve cell (neuron). Question: 13 What is xylem? View the answerHide answer The hollow woody tissue in plants that carries water and minerals from the roots to throughout the entire plant. Question: 14 What is a pyrogen? View the answerHide answer A substance, typically produced by bacteria, that causes fever. Question: 15 What is the scientific name of a Sydney Blue Gum? View the answerHide answer Eucalyptus saligna Question: 16 Which is the only Australian mammal restricted to alpine environments? View the answerHide answer The Mountain Pygmy Possum Question: 17 What is the name given for the black & white disc used in determining water turbidity? View the answerHide answer A Secchi disc Question: 18 Why does eyesight change as you get older? View the answerHide answer The eye's lens continues to grow throughout life, becoming thicker and less transparent. Question: 19 Why is Merino wool so good at keeping you warm in winter? View the answerHide answer Merino wool fibres are wavy, not straight. Wavy wool traps air which is an excellent insulator. This trapped air can be heated by the body. 'Fine' wool fibres have 12 repeating waves for every cm, whereas 'coarse' wool fibres have less than 2 waves per cm. Merino wool can also be 'Super Fine', making an awesome material for warm sweaters. Question: 20 Do you have the same number of neck vertebrae as a giraffe? View the answerHide answer Yes. Question: 21 What shape is wombat poop? View the answerHide answer Cube! Question: 22 What is the largest organ in the human body? View the answerHide answer Skin! Question: 23 What is the largest living mammal? View the answerHide answer The Blue Whale, weighing in at 140,000 kg. Question: 24 What is the smallest living mammal? View the answerHide answer The Etruscan Shrew at about 2.5cm. Question: 25 Which two mammals lay eggs? View the answerHide answer The echidna and the platypus. Question: 26 How many known species of fish live in the ocean? View the answerHide answer 228,450 at least until the next scientific survey! Question: 27 What is the largest known insect? View the answerHide answer The Phryganistra chinensis Zhao, at about 62.4 cm in length. Question: 28 Which mammal can fly? View the answerHide answer The bat. Question: 29 What is the top speed of a cheetah? View the answerHide answer 120 km/h Question: 30 What do you call a cross between a tiger and a lion? View the answerHide answer A liger. Question: 31 When was the structure of DNA discovered? View the answerHide answer 1953 Question: 32 What is studied in forensic palynology? View the answerHide answer Pollen and spores Question: 33 What is studied in forensic entomology? View the answerHide answer Insects Question: 34 The name rhinoceros comes from two ancient Greek words meaning what? View the answerHide answer Nose-horn. Rhino means nose, and keras means horn. We don’t know who first named this animal, but we do know the name has existed for over 500 years Question: 35 Sometimes two different living things live together, and have very close relationships. What do scientists call this? View the answerHide answer Symbiosis. When both living things benefit, we call it a mutualism. E.g bees and flowers. When only one benefits, but the other doesn't care one way or the other, it's called commensalism e.g. cattle egrets. When one party suffers, it’s called parasitism e.g. mosquitos. Question: 36 True or False: The “fresh” smell after it’s been raining comes from trees breathing View the answerHide answer False. It’s actually caused by bacteria called actinomycetes. The grows in the soil and produces spores, and when the raindrops hit the ground the spores get kicked up and mixes with the raindrops, acting like aerosol. Question: 37 Most of the Earth’s oxygen is made by one kind of living thing. Which kind of living thing is it? View the answerHide answer Plankton. Plankton are tiny living things that live in the water, but can’t swim. They just kinda hang out and move around with the water currents. Phytoplankton take carbon dioxide and sunlight, and make their food. One of the products of this photosynthesis is oxygen. 70% of Earth’s oxygen is made this way. Question: 38 Some dinosaurs survived the extinction event 65 million years ago, and persist on Earth to this day. We call them: View the answerHide answer Birds. Many dinosaurs had feathers and over time they evolved into the many species of birds we find all over planet Earth. Question: 39 Which is the world’s largest living thing? An animal, fungus, plant or bacteria? View the answerHide answer Fungus. Nicknamed the ‘humongous fungus,’ this organism lives mostly underground, and covers around 10 sqkm in Oregon, USA Question: 40 The scientific study of animals is called: View the answerHide answer Zoology. It comes from the same root word as a “zoo,” which is a park where animals are kept in captivity for breeding and viewing. Question: 41 True or false: We find more shark-tooth fossils than shark-bone fossils. View the answerHide answer True. This is for two reasons. Firstly shark teeth never run out: when they lose a tooth they ALWAYS get a new one to replace it. Secondly, you cannot find shark-bone fossils because sharks have no bones. Instead their skeleton is made of cartilage, like your ears or the end of your nose. Question: 42 True or false: Cabbage, brussel sprouts, broccoli, kale and cauliflower were all bred from the same wild plant. View the answerHide answer True. It’s called the wild cabbage, and it’s native to Western Europe. Each variety was bred to emphasise a particular feature. Cabbage focused on the plant's buds for example, while broccoli was selected for bigger stems and flowers. Question: 43 From how far away can a blue whale hear sounds? View the answerHide answer 160 km. This number has actually decreased from the 1940s at 1600km, possibly due to noise pollution in the ocean. 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The middle ear. Collectively called ossicles, the 3 bones are the malleus (hammer), incus (anvil) & stapes (stirrup).
The hollow woody tissue in plants that carries water and minerals from the roots to throughout the entire plant.
Merino wool fibres are wavy, not straight. Wavy wool traps air which is an excellent insulator. This trapped air can be heated by the body. 'Fine' wool fibres have 12 repeating waves for every cm, whereas 'coarse' wool fibres have less than 2 waves per cm. Merino wool can also be 'Super Fine', making an awesome material for warm sweaters.
Nose-horn. Rhino means nose, and keras means horn. We don’t know who first named this animal, but we do know the name has existed for over 500 years
Symbiosis. When both living things benefit, we call it a mutualism. E.g bees and flowers. When only one benefits, but the other doesn't care one way or the other, it's called commensalism e.g. cattle egrets. When one party suffers, it’s called parasitism e.g. mosquitos.
False. It’s actually caused by bacteria called actinomycetes. The grows in the soil and produces spores, and when the raindrops hit the ground the spores get kicked up and mixes with the raindrops, acting like aerosol.
Plankton. Plankton are tiny living things that live in the water, but can’t swim. They just kinda hang out and move around with the water currents. Phytoplankton take carbon dioxide and sunlight, and make their food. One of the products of this photosynthesis is oxygen. 70% of Earth’s oxygen is made this way.
Birds. Many dinosaurs had feathers and over time they evolved into the many species of birds we find all over planet Earth.
Fungus. Nicknamed the ‘humongous fungus,’ this organism lives mostly underground, and covers around 10 sqkm in Oregon, USA
Zoology. It comes from the same root word as a “zoo,” which is a park where animals are kept in captivity for breeding and viewing.
True. This is for two reasons. Firstly shark teeth never run out: when they lose a tooth they ALWAYS get a new one to replace it. Secondly, you cannot find shark-bone fossils because sharks have no bones. Instead their skeleton is made of cartilage, like your ears or the end of your nose.
True. It’s called the wild cabbage, and it’s native to Western Europe. Each variety was bred to emphasise a particular feature. Cabbage focused on the plant's buds for example, while broccoli was selected for bigger stems and flowers.
160 km. This number has actually decreased from the 1940s at 1600km, possibly due to noise pollution in the ocean. Other whale species have also gone to communicate in higher frequencies since 100 years ago, possibly for the same reasons.
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