THE SOUTHWORTH PLANETARIUM
207-780-4249 www.usm.maine.edu/planet
70 Falmouth Street Portland, Maine 04103
43.6667° N 70.2667° W
Founded January 1970
Julian date: 2457845.16
"ARRGGHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!"
THE DAILY ASTRONOMER
Saturday, April 1, 2017
Quiz XXVII: Rain Forests!
That's right! We're sick of it!
We are referring, of course, to the cement-heavy snow and bullet-hard ice pellets that have laid siege to the world like a congregation of food-defiling harpies. It is April, after all, thank you very much. We're also tired of the stoic souls who try to illume our gloom with folksy statements such as "this is poor man's fertilizer." That's like describing an Earthquake as a "poor man's house renovator."
So, since denial is nature's funnest coping mechanism, we've decided to take a quantum leap out of our climate and dive waist deep into the flora and fauna of the world's lush rainforests. As long as you are deeply immersed in this warm, verdant quiz, the biting winds, snow-burdened pine branches, and slush-covered thoroughfares shall all fade like the vague, phantasmagoric terrors of a soon forgotten nightmare.
[Listen to 11 hours of rainforest sounds!
1. What is the world's largest rain forest?
a. The Amazon
b. The Montecristo Cloud Forest
c. The Monteverade Forest
d. The Sinharaja Forest
2. The Amazon Rain Forest extends into many countires. Which ONE of the following is not one of those countries?
a. Brazil
b. Ecuador
c. Bolivia
d. Chile
3. There are two types of rain forests. One type is "tropical." The other type is____________
a. tundric
b. temperate
c. Malaysian
d. Borealian
4. Where would you find an example of this other type of Rain forest?
a. in temperate regions
b. on mountain tops
c. Malaysia
d. on the sea floor
5. Some rain forests show evidence of "crown shyness." What is this?
a. the tendency that some tree species have not to touch each other.
b. the tendency of tree tops to curl up onto themselves
c. the tendency of lions and other big cats to conceal themselves within the forest floor
d. the tendency of animals to exhibit discoloration along their backs as a consequence of reduced sunlight exposure.
Questions 6 - 7 refer to the photo below
6. What is this type of highly photogenic creature called?
a. Red-eyed tree frog
b. Insurance peddling pest
c. Red-eye leaf frog
d. Blue-eared rabbit
7. This creature is indigenous to which part of the world?
a. Central and South America
b. Central Africa
c. Indonesia
d. Central Park
8. According to the most recent estimates, rain forests cover approximately how much of Earth's land surface?
a. 3%
b. 6%
c. 10%
d. 14%
9. Howler monkeys, which reside in rain forests, are some of the world's loudest animals. How far away can one hear a Howler Monkey howl through dense jungle canopy?
a. half a mile
b. one mile
c. three miles
d. ten miles
10. Which ONE of the following statements about rain forests is not true?
a. raindrops can take as long as ten minutes to fall from the tree canopy to the forest floor
b. In the Australian Daintree Rain forest one could find a tree known as the "Idiot Fruit."
c. about half of all the world's plant and animal species live in rainforests
d. the area of the Amazon Rainforest is greater than the surface area of Pluto
ANSWERS
1 . a. The Amazon
2. d. Chile
3. b. temperate
4. a. in temperate regions
5. a. the tendency that some tree species have not to touch each other.
Crown shyness. Bornea camphor trees showing "crown shyness,"the tendency of trees of the same species to not touch each other.
Image: wikipedia
6. a. Red-eyed tree frog
7. a. Central and South America
8. b. 6%
9. c. three miles
10. d. the area of the Amazon Rainforest is greater than the surface area of Pluto