Science and nature quiz questions.

Thirty science and nature questions from the free bank, easiest first, answers folded away so you can read them out. The bank has 186 in this category.

Run a science and nature round Build a whole night

Which gas do plants take in from the air to make food by photosynthesis?
Answer
Carbon dioxide
Photosynthesis releases oxygen as a by-product. Source
The platypus lays eggs.
Answer
True
Male platypuses also have venomous spurs on their hind legs. Source
Koalas are a type of bear.
Answer
False
Koalas are marsupials; their closest living relatives are wombats. Source
What is a baby kangaroo called?
Answer
Joey
A newborn kangaroo is about the size of a jellybean. Source
What is the name of Australia's wild dog?
Answer
Dingo
Dingoes rarely bark; they communicate mainly by howling. Source
Which broadcaster presented the BBC series Life on Earth in 1979?
Answer
David Attenborough
More than 40 species have been named after Attenborough. Source
Which physicist wrote the bestseller A Brief History of Time?
Answer
Stephen Hawking
The book was first published in 1988 and sold more than 10 million copies. Source
Legend says the kingdom will fall if which birds leave the Tower of London?Ravens / Crows / Pigeons / Magpies
Answer
Ravens
At least six ravens are kept at the Tower, looked after by a Ravenmaster. Source
Maple syrup is made from the sap of which tree?
Answer
Maple
Quebec produces the majority of the world's maple syrup. Source
Which dam-building rodent is Canada's national animal?
Answer
Beaver
A beaver appears on the Canadian five-cent coin. Source
Which bird appears on the Canadian one-dollar coin?
Answer
Loon
The coin's nickname, the loonie, comes from the bird. Source
How many pairs of chromosomes do humans normally have?
Answer
23
That makes 46 chromosomes in most human cells. Source
What is the largest surviving carnivorous marsupial?
Answer
Tasmanian devil
Tasmanian devils have one of the strongest bites for their size of any mammal. Source
Which extinct striped marsupial was also called the Tasmanian tiger?
Answer
Thylacine
The last known thylacine died at Hobart's Beaumaris Zoo in 1936. Source
Which large, flightless rainforest bird of Queensland has a helmet-like casque on its head?
Answer
Cassowary
A cassowary's inner toe has a dagger-like claw up to 12 cm long. Source
Which Canadian doctor shared the 1923 Nobel Prize for the discovery of insulin?
Answer
Frederick Banting
Banting shared his prize money with his assistant, Charles Best. Source
A caribou appears on the Canadian 25-cent coin.
Answer
True
The caribou design by Emanuel Hahn has been used on the quarter since 1937. Source
Apart from the platypus, which spiny Australian animal is an egg-laying mammal?
Answer
Echidna
Echidnas and the platypus are the only living monotremes. Source
Which Cambridge physicist discovered the electron in 1897?
Answer
J. J. Thomson
Thomson won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1906, and his son George later won one too. Source
What is the largest native land mammal in the UK?
Answer
Red deer
Red deer stags roar loudly during the autumn rut. Source
Which RAF engineer patented a design for the turbojet engine in 1930?
Answer
Frank Whittle
Whittle filed his jet engine patent at the age of 22. Source
Which English mathematician designed the Difference Engine and the Analytical Engine, an early mechanical computer?
Answer
Charles Babbage
Ada Lovelace wrote what is often called the first computer program for his Analytical Engine. Source
Which Manitoba town calls itself the polar bear capital of the world?Iqaluit / Yellowknife / Churchill / Whitehorse
Answer
Churchill
Polar bears gather near Churchill each autumn waiting for Hudson Bay to freeze. Source
Which astronaut became the first Canadian to walk in space, in 2001?
Answer
Chris Hadfield
Hadfield later commanded the International Space Station in 2013. Source
Which Irish-born scientist gave his name to the law linking gas pressure and volume?
Answer
Robert Boyle
Boyle was born at Lismore Castle in County Waterford in 1627. Source
Which plant produces the largest single flower in the world?
Answer
Rafflesia arnoldii
The bloom can be about a metre across and smells of rotting meat. Source
Which English scientist gave his name to the law describing how springs stretch?
Answer
Robert Hooke
Hooke also coined the word "cell" after looking at cork under a microscope. Source
Which Cornish engineer built the first working railway steam locomotive, in 1804?
Answer
Richard Trevithick
His locomotive hauled iron along a tramway at Penydarren ironworks in Wales. Source
Which English scientist identified hydrogen as a distinct substance in 1766?
Answer
Henry Cavendish
Cambridge's famous Cavendish Laboratory is named after his family. Source
Which Irish mathematician carved his quaternion formula into Dublin's Broom Bridge in 1843?
Answer
William Rowan Hamilton
A walk to Broom Bridge is held every year on 16 October to mark the discovery. Source

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