What’s Your Biodiversity IQ?
Your chance to find out what you
know about the world’s diverse
plants, animals and natural places.
1. Which of the following could the fastest
human outrun in a 100 yard race?
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
Answer:
Cheetah
Wart hog
Three-toed sloth
Domestic cat
Wild turkey
Wart Hog
Wild Turkey
http://www.foxandstephens.com/africa/2001AfricaEclipse05_fil
es%5CWart_Hog.jpg
http://www.gotpetsonline.com/pictures-gallery/birdpictures-breeders-chicks/wild-turkey-pictures-breederschicks/pictures/wild-turkey-0001.jpg
• Lots of animals are quick on their feet (or wings,
or scales, or fins), but speed doesn’t necessarily
count much these days in the race for survival.
• Cheetahs, for example, are the fastest land
animals in the world – but they’re also among the
Domestic Cat
Cheetah
most endangered.
http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/staticfiles/NGS/Shared/Stat
Three-Toed Sloth
http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/42438000/jpg/_42438108_
icFiles/animals/images/800/domestic-cat.jpg
09cheetah300.jpg
http://www.utmb.edu/ctd/archives/1998/three-toed-sloth.jpg
• Some slime molds
have 2 phases in life
cycle:
• Ants eat the sugary
• In excreted
reproductive
substances
by stage,
they flowers
arethat
stationary
with a
• aphids
The bee-like
of the orchid
(insects
stalk
thatattract
produces
Ophrys
speculum
male bees
suck plant
juices).
that are sospores.
deceived by the
• Ants herd colonies of
resemblance
to exist
female
bees
that
•
Also
as
amoebaaphids by moving them
they attempt
to
mate with
thefeed
like
organism
that
from place to place &
flowers. by engulfing material
protecting them from
and moving
up to bring
•
In
the
process,
the
males
enemies.
http://pubs.caes.uga.edu/caespubs/pubcd/image
several
per day.
s/B999images/B999-1.jpg
pollen from
other feet
“females”
a. Ants that “herd”
aphids for food
b. Slime molds that
creep across the
ground
c. Flowers that “trick”
insects into
mating with them
d. None of the above
(flowers).
3/Ants_aphids1.jpg
http://www.kentfieldclub.org.uk/htdocs/images/A
gogorytes%20mystaceus2_lg.jpg
http://www.plantsciences.ucdavis.edu/gepts/PB143/lec1
2. Which of the following actually
exist?
Answer:
3. What does a large adult bluefin tuna
have in common with a Porsche 911?
a.Answer:
Ability to go
from 0 to 60
MPH in 4.7
seconds
b. Big fins
c. A sticker
price of
about
$60,000
http://images.automobilemag.com/multimedia/photo_g
allery/0606_2007_porsche_911_gt3_07_445.jpg
http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/staticfiles/NGS
/Shared/StaticFiles/animals/images/primary/bluefintuna.jpg
• Both can cost at least $60,000.
• Overfishing has made this tuna extremely rare.
•And, you could say that both the car and the fish have big fins …
4. Which of the following best
describes the word biodiversity?
Answer:
a. Endangered
species
b. Different kinds of
planets in the solar
system
c. The variety of life on
Earth
d. A bunch of
biographies about
famous biologists
• The variety of life on
Earth includes plants,
animals,
microorganisms,
ecosystems, genes,
cultural diversity and
more.
story of illegal trade, annual
trade in wildlife is estimated at
$10 billion & up to 25% is illegal.
Elephant Ivory
California King
Snake
http://www.reptilesncritters.com/imag
es/regular/choc-cal-king-snake.jpg
Vampire Bat
news.nationalgeographic.com/news
photos/images/070820-vampirebats_big.jpg
http://www.nova.edu/ocean/seaturtles/eggs2.jpg
a. 18 California king
snakes
• The
plannedof
to sell the
b.
45man
pounds
snakes in Taiwan; instead, he
waselephant
prosecuted ivory
& sentenced to
6 months
in jail.
c.
16 sea
turtle eggs
• Although
this is anbats
unusual
d.
16 vampire
exist, the future of African
elephants, rhinos, Asiatic
bears, and many more
species would be much
brighter.
Sea
Turtle Eggs
http://www.safariweb.com/safarimate/trial2/ivory.jpg
5. U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service agents and
U.S. Custom officials in Los Angeles, CA,
once found which of the following strapped
to a man’s arms
& illegal
legs?
• If this
trade did not
Answer:
6. Scientists studying bug zappers have
learned some interesting facts. Which of
the following are among them?
Answer:
• Many species of mosquitoes are not attracted to bug
zappers
at all.
are
attracted
to bug zappers
a. Insects
• Instead
the zappers’ blue
light attracts
harmless insects,
because of
the zappers’
smoky
smell.
many of which are food for birds, bats & fish.
b. Bug zappers are great for ridding summer
• Some of these insects are important to plants, which
nights of mosquitoes.
need them for pollination.
c. Bug zappers could be bad news
for certain birds, fish, bats, and
flowers.
d. There are more than 4 million
bug zappers being used in the U.S.
http://www.jaygaulard.com/blo
g/wpcontent/uploads/2007/05/bug-
7. Blackpoll warblers are tiny birds that migrate between
North America & South America each year. Which of the
following statements about them are true?
Answer:
a.
They use the stars
for navigation.
b.
They animals
make frequent
• Migrating
often use sun, stars, &
pit stopstoatreach
fast-food
land patterns
their destinations.
restaurants.
• Many migrators are able to get where
c.
They
don’t
to
they’re
going
withneed
little fuel.
migrate.
d. If they burned
gasoline instead of
body fat for fuel,
• Migrating animals are threatened
they’d get 720,000
http://sdakotabirds.com/species/photos/blackpoll_warbler_male.jpg
by
habitat
destruction.
miles to the gallon.
• International efforts to conserve
habitat are very important.
8. Which of the following can be
considered an enemy of coral reefs?
Answer:
a.
b.
c.
d.
Starfish
Jewelry
Sunken treasure
Divers
http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/staticfiles/NGS
http://www.naturephoto/Shared/StaticFiles/animals/images/800/starfish.jpg
cz.com/photos/sevcik/crown-of-thorns-starfish-trnova-koruna.jpg
• Coral reefs are very diverse – supporting more
than 3000 species of fish and other life.
• Outbreaks of predatory crown-of-thorns
starfish are natural, but
• Human activity reduces corals
ability to
http://www.coralcoe.org.au/news_stories/earthq
uakedeath/images/04%20Reef%20killed%20by
recover
from damage.
%20crown%20of%20thorns%20starfish%20in%
http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/44617000/jpg
http://www.exoticindiaart.com/jewelry_bar/cora
20the%20Pulau%20Banyaks%20%20IMG_165
9. What’s the most serious threat
to
biodiversity?
Answer:
a.
b.
c.
d.
Sharks
Habitat loss
Tourists
Pollution
• Worldwide, habitats are
lost to agricultural land,
harvested for wood & fuel,
destroyed or changed for
roads, schools, malls,
housing, etc.
http://static.howstuffworks.com/gif/great-white-shark1.jpg
• Human population is
growing so quickly &
consuming so many natural
resources that habitat loss
http://www.danheller.com/images/LatinAmerica/Cu
ba/Photogs/photo-tourist-big.jpg
is occurring at a rapid rate.
http://www.tarleton.edu/~range/Ram%20Pictures/0466
http://kassandraproject.files.wordpress.com/
2007/12/air-pollution-systems.jpg
10. The items on the left have been (or are being)
developed into important medicines for humans.
Match each item with the medicine it inspired.
Answers:
___
b bread mold
c white willow tree
___
d vampire bat saliva
___
a
___
wild yams
e Caribbean coral
___
a. Anti-inflammatory
• More than ¼ of the drugs
commonly
used today were
b. Antibiotic
originally derived from plants.
•c.Animals
are a potential
Pain reliever
source too.
• Medical research looks to
d. Medicine to unclog
areas with high biodiversity to
arteries
find treatments & cures for
e.
First-aid
ointment
human
diseases.
11. Which of the following are true
statements about camels?
Answer:
a. They store water in
their humps.
b. During cooler weather,
they can go up to two
months without
drinking.
c. They played a key role
in opening up trade
across the deserts of
Asia and Africa.
d. They provide people
with milk, meat,
cooking fuel (in the
form of dried dung),
wool and leather.
• Camels store fat – not water –
in their humps.
• In cooler months, they can
actually go for up to three
months without drinking.
• Camels have been important
to desert peoples for thousands
of years.
• Camels are a good example of
the many creatures around the
http://fohn.net/camel-pictures-facts/the-pictures/Arabian-Camelworld
that have helped shape
800x600.jpg
human culture.
• While some forms of fungi may seem less than noble
(like Athlete’s foot fungus), the world could not function
long without fungi.
http://akinbudi.info/v2/imag
es/lorne2004/fallen_tree.jpg
• Fungi play a key role in breaking down organic matter
& recycling
it back into useable nutrients.
http://fatjackswings.com/gallery/slides/fj%20g
rilled%20chicken%20salad%20with%20home
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3044/2959706361_054a112c0e.jpg
a. Eat pizza topped with pepperoni
and mushrooms
b. Bake bread
c. Live in a world free of dead things
lying all over the place
d. Put blue cheese dressing on your
salad.
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Ldah__frBM/R1JzxFFCgQI/AAAAAAAAAEI/4DCx1Z6RDuc/s1600R/Anadama%2BBread%2B1.jpg
12. Without fungi, which of the
following
would
you
not
be
able
to
do?
Answer:
a. Potatoes originated in Ireland.
b. The U.S. grows most of its baking potatoes in
Washington.
c. More than 5,000 different kinds of potatoes
have been identified in South America’s Andes
Mountains.
d. The French fry, invented by Madame
• The potato
originated
in South
America.
Bonaparte
during
the
French revolution
• In Peru,
some families
grow
dozens of varieties
of potatoes.
became
one of
Napoleon’s
favorite
snacks.
• Most U.S. potatoes are grown in Idaho. Washington is the 2nd
largest producer of potatoes in the U.S.
http://www.potatoperspective.org/about_files/DSCN7746.jpg
13. Which of the following
statements
are
true?
Answer:
14. Which of the following are real
species of animals?
• As far as we know, werewolves
are just fiction!
Answer:
a.
b.
c.
d.
Vampire moths
Tasmanian devils
Komodo dragons
Werewolves
• Vampire moths pierce the skin of
mammals to drink their blood.
• Tasmanian devils are the largest
carnivorous marsupials.
• Komodo dragons grow up to 10
feet long and weigh up to 300
pounds.
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news
/images/thumbs/081027-vampire-mothevolution-halloween-missions_170.jpg
http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/staticfiles/NG
http://www.komododragonlearningzone.com
S/Shared/StaticFiles/animals/images/primary/tasma
15. If you decided to throw a party to celebrate the
diversity of life on Earth and wanted to send an invitation to
each species, how many invitations would you need?
Answer:
a.
b.
c.
d.
150
About 3,000
652,983
More than 1.5 million
• Scientists have estimated more
than 100 million species may
actually exist on Earth.
http://mauimoeparty.com/catalog/images/invitation.jpg
16. Which of the following statements
about ostriches are true?
Answer:
a. They hide their heads
in the sand.
b. Their meat is so tasty
that some people are
choosing it over beef
for burgers.
c. They fly when no one
is looking.
d. They can outrun a lion
or hyena.
• It’s a myth that ostriches
hide their heads in the
sand.
• Actually, they’re lying with
their necks flat against the
groundhttp://animals.nationalgeographic.com/staticfiles/NGS
to hide from
/Shared/StaticFiles/animals/images/primary/ostrich.jp
predators.
17. If the number of species on Earth was represented by
physical size, which of the following would most accurately
illustrate the proportion of insects to mammals?
Answer:
a.
• Bugs rule!
• There are 250 insect species
to every one mammal species
– and that’s only the insects
we know about.
b.
• Scientists think there are
millions more insects yet to
be discovered.
c.
http://www.lucylearns.com/images/bunny-coloring-picture-rabbitcoloring-sheet-3.gif
http://www.blm.gov/or/resources/recreation/tablerock/images/a
nthro/grasshopper_lg.jpg
18.
Biodiversity
includes
Answer:
• Genetic diversity could
include inherited traits.
http://www.english-countrygarden.com/a/i/animals/squirrel-5.jpg
• Species diversity could
includehttp://discovermagazine.com/2007/mar/eyethecolor-explained/eyes-400.jpg
variety of
organisms surrounding
us.
• Ecosystem diversity
could include the range
of habitats found
worldwide.
http://www.bumblebeeblog.com/wpcontent/uploads/2008/02/carolinachickadee.jpg
a. The color of
your eyes
b. The creatures in
your
neighborhood
soil
c. Antarctica
d. Your classmates
• Biodiversity describes
the incredible variety of
life on Earth.
http://lh3.ggpht.com/Raford2/RZLXuCiM1mI/AAAAAAAAAI4/T
z-8mU8NvkU/antarctica+639.jpg
19. If there were a prize for “the strongest creature
for its size,” which of the following would win?
a.
b.
c.
d.
http://congo.visit-new-york-city.com/Gorilla.jpg
Answer:
Gorillas
Chickens
Ants
Turtles
http://blog.makezine.com/800pxMeat_eater_ant_feeding_on_honey02.jpg
• An ant can carry a load up
to 50 times its body weight.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v51/MarieAlice/chickens02.jpg
http://z.about.com/d/gonyc/1/0/8/R/turtles.jpg
20. Which of the following would people have to
do without if there were no bees?
Answer:
Almonds
Honey
Cucumbers
Apples
Celery
• Bees are worth billions of
dollars to the
agriculture
http://www.justorganic.co.nz/images/honey.jpg
http://www.bbeaucherstudios.com/gallery/albums/us
industry.
erpics/10001/normal_cucumbers.jpg
http://img.alibaba.com/photo/11137272/Organic_Celery.jpg
http://en.wikivisual.com/images/e/ee/Apples.jpg
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
• Bees pollinate millions of
acres of many of our fruits
& vegetables.
http://www.goldenwoodsoap.com/fpdb/images/almond.jpg
• Ecosystem services are the “free”
21. Which
of the following is an
services provided by ecosystems.
example
of an ecosystem
service?
Answer:
• Ladybugs eat aphids, which
a. A ladybug that are common garden pests.
protects your garden
by eating aphid pests
b. A company
that
• Wetlands
control floods,
filter rakes
pollutants
& provide
habitat foryards
many organisms.
people’s
c. A wetland that filters
dirty water
d. An ocean that
controls the Earth’s
climate
• Oceans & atmosphere
http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee206/MDatTh
eG/ladybugAphid.jpg
http://www.seenobjects.org/images/mediumlarge/20
04-12-10-wetland-3.jpg
interact to control climate.
http://www.nwfsc.noaa.gov/research/divisions/fed/image
s/ocean_river.jpg
22. Some of the world’s most fascinating creatures live
in really unusual places. Which of the following is
sometimes a home for another living thing?
Answer:
a.
b.
c.
d.
A lobster’s mouth
A termite’s gut
A rhino’s gut
A human’s forehead
Many (if not most) organisms have
symbiotic relationships with other
organisms. Often the microscopic
protozoans, bacteria & mites help the
host creature.
Lobster’s mouth:
http://content.answers.com/main/content/img/
Termite’s McGrawHill/Encyclopedia/images/CE757536
gut:
FG0010.gif
http://www.microscopyuk.org.uk/mag/imagsmall/hypermastigo.jpg
http://www.marietta.edu/~biol/biomes/images/grassl
and/white_rhino_4482.jpg
23. If you had a job that put you in charge of saving all
the species on the edge of extinction in the U.S., about
how many endangered species would you need to save
(based on what we know today)?
Answer:
• This is the number
of plants & animals
listed as threatened
and endangered in
the U.S. by the U.S.
Fish & Wildlife
Service.
a.
b.
c.
d.
12
250
517
1,082
• Some scientists
estimate that up to
27,000 species go
extinct each year.
• And, we never even
knew that most of
them existed.
24. A small population of beluga whales lives in
Canada’s St. Lawrence River. Which of the following
Answer:
explains why they are threatened?
a.
b.
c.
d.
In winter
the river
freezes,
• Belugas
have died
from eating too
making
it contaminated
nearly impossible
many
fish.
for the whales to surface for
air. • Belugas that die and wash up on
the river
banks
Beluga
steaks
areare actually
classifieda as
“toxic waste”.
considered
delicacy
in
many parts of the world.
The areas of the river where
the whales feed are heavily
polluted, and as a result the
whales are contaminated
with toxins.
The river’s water is really too
shallow for such large
mammals.
http://aura0.gaia.com/photos/20/197066/large/Beluga.jpg
25. Which of the following environments on
our planet are too harsh to support life?
Answer:
a. Boiling sulfur springs
b. Deep-sea hydrothermal
vents called
Life“smokers”,
has been discovered in
of these harsh locations.
where the all
temperature
can reach 662 degrees.
c. The frigid ice of the Arctic
& Antarctic
d. All of the above
e. None of the above