Warm up trivia questions – Discuss with your neighbors
1. Where are the three smallest bones located in the human body?
2. What is the simplest definition of pi?
3. Does your body’s temperature rise, fall, or stay the same during digestion?
4. In a vacuum, a bowling ball and a tennis ball are dropped at the same time. Which
one hits the ground first?
5. What is the lifespan of a human red blood cell?
6. What is dust (in your home) mostly made up of?
7. If a person has a mass of 60 kg on Earth, what would his mass be on the moon?
8. How many fully grown men can be killed by the poison inside a single golden dart
frog?
9. About how many fewer bones does an adult human have compared to an infant?
10. What is the strongest 2D shape?
11. What is the strongest 3D shape?
12. I am holding a long slinky vertically on one end, with the slinky fully extended and
the other end nearly touching the ground. When I let go of the slinky, when does the
free end touch the ground?
Round 1
1. In general, who has longer vocal chords: Men or women?
2. Which is more: 4 liters of water or 1 US gallon of water?
3. How long of a line can be drawn with the graphite in a typical #2 pencil? (Within 5
miles)
4. Name 4 of 6 simple machines.
5. I have a yardstick that is unmodified between 0-18 inches and has sandpaper
covering inches 18-36. If I put my index fingers at 0 and 36 and bring them together, at
which inch marker on the yardstick do my fingers meet?
Round 2
1. Through which fluid does sound travel faster: Water or air?
2. Would a stalactite be found on a cave ceiling or floor?
3. Name the ancient Greek scientist who determined the volume of irregular objects,
and upon doing so, ran through the streets naked, shouting “Eureka!”
4. What is the only metal that is liquid at room temperature (25°C)?
5. How long does it take for blood to make a complete tour of the human body
assuming:
- You have 5L of blood
- Average heart pumps 70 mL per pump
- Average resting heart rate is ~70 beats per minute
Round 3
1. How many Megabits are in 10 Megabytes?
2. What material are modern day tin cans largely made from?
3. Which 20th century US president was also a metallurgist?
4. Name 4 of the first 10 elements on the periodic table.
5. In the circuit below, if I turn on switches A and B, which light bulbs will be on?
Round 4
1. If the power goes out, can a common household gravity-fed toilet be flushed?
2. What is the name of the organic molecule that carries oxygen in the blood and gives
blood its red color?
3. What material is the exterior of the Statue of Liberty made from?
4. If astronauts took a grandfather clock to the moon, would it be able to tell them the
time?
5. In the picture below, where should the weight be placed such that the lever becomes
balanced?
Round 1 – Tower time
Make a structure that supports a golf ball for 10 seconds. Points are awarded for
height, H, measured after 10 seconds from the table surface to the top of the golf ball:
5 pts – H ≥ 11”
3 pts – 8.5” ≤ H < 11”
1 pt – 5.5” ≤ H < 8.5”
Round 2 – Bowling
Use a golf ball to knock down the 3 tubes located on the X's on your table. The golf
ball must begin behind the foul line on the table and you can't touch the golf ball once it
has passed the foul line. Points are awarded for accuracy:
5 pts – 3 pins
3 pts – 2 pins
1 pt – 1 pin
Round 3 – Hail as large as a golf ball
Place one of the clear tubes on end on the table. Make a shelter that prevents this
tube from falling over when a golf ball is dropped by a volunteer directly above it, 36”
from the surface of the table. Points are awarded for speed:
Total number of teams ≤ 8
Total number of teams ≥ 9
st
nd
5 pts – 1 , 2 places
5 pts – 1st, 2nd, 3rd places
3 pts – 3rd, 4th, 5th places
3 pts – 4th, 5th, 6th places
1 pt – 6th, 7th, 8th places
1 pt – 7th place and beyond
You only get two chances, choose wisely.
Round 4 – Basketball
Choose one person (point guard), to sit behind the bowling foul line. Place your paper
cup (basket) on the X for the middle bowling pin. Without any body part crossing the
foul line, your point guard must get the ping pong ball into the basket and have it stay
in the basket. The basket may not be moved. Points are awarded for speed:
Total number of teams ≤ 8
Total number of teams ≥ 9
st
nd
5 pts – 1 , 2 places
5 pts – 1st, 2nd, 3rd places
3 pts – 3rd, 4th, 5th places
3 pts – 4th, 5th, 6th places
1 pt – 6th, 7th, 8th places
1 pt – 7th place and beyond
Round 1
1. Men (.75-1.00” long), women (.50-.75” long)
2. 4 L (1 US gal = 3.78 L)
3. 35 miles
4. Lever, wheel & axle, pulley, inclined plane, wedge, screw
5. 18 inches
Round 1
1. Men (.75-1.00” long), women (.50-.75” long)
2. 4 L (1 US gal = 3.78 L)
3. 35 miles
4. Lever, wheel & axle, pulley, inclined plane, wedge, screw
5. 18 inches
Round 2
1. Water at 1482 m/s (3315 mph) vs air at 343 m/s (767 mph)
2. Ceiling (stalaCtite for Ceiling, stalaGmite for Ground)
3. Archimedes
4. Mercury
5. ~1 minute (70mL/beat × 70 beat/min = 4900 mL/min = 4.9
L/min)
Round 2
1. Water at 1482 m/s (3315 mph) vs air at 343 m/s (767 mph)
2. Ceiling (stalaCtite for Ceiling, stalaGmite for Ground)
3. Archimedes
4. Mercury
5. ~1 minute (70mL/beat × 70 beat/min = 4900 mL/min = 4.9
L/min)
Round 3
1. 80 Megabits
2. Steel
3. Herbert Hoover, who translated a classic metallurgical
textbook De re metallica from Latin to English in 1912
4. Hydrogen, Helium, Lithium, Beryllium, Boron, Carbon,
Nitrogen, Oxygen, Fluorine, Neon
5.
Round 3
1. 80 Megabits
2. Steel
3. Herbert Hoover, who translated a classic metallurgical
textbook De re metallica from Latin to English in 1912
4. Hydrogen, Helium, Lithium, Beryllium, Boron, Carbon,
Nitrogen, Oxygen, Fluorine, Neon
5.
Round 4
1. Yes, as long as you can dump in about 2 gallons of water at
once
2. Hemoglobin
3. Copper, oxidation took 20 years to cover the statue
4. No, acceleration due to gravity on the moon is about 1/6 of
that on earth, so the pendulum in the clock would swing at a
slower frequency than on earth (about 2.5 times slower)
5.
Round 4
1. Yes, as long as you can dump in about 2 gallons of water at
once
2. Hemoglobin
3. Copper, oxidation took 20 years to cover the statue
4. No, acceleration due to gravity on the moon is about 1/6 of
that on earth, so the pendulum in the clock would swing at a
slower frequency than on earth (about 2.5 times slower)
5.
Round 1
1. Men (.75-1.00” long), women (.50-.75” long)
2. 4 L (1 US gal = 3.78 L)
3. 35 miles
4. Lever, wheel & axle, pulley, inclined plane, wedge, screw
5. 18 inches
Round 1
1. Men (.75-1.00” long), women (.50-.75” long)
2. 4 L (1 US gal = 3.78 L)
3. 35 miles
4. Lever, wheel & axle, pulley, inclined plane, wedge, screw
5. 18 inches
Round 2
1. Water at 1482 m/s (3315 mph) vs air at 343 m/s (767 mph)
2. Ceiling (stalaCtite for Ceiling, stalaGmite for Ground)
3. Archimedes
4. Mercury
5. ~1 minute (70mL/beat × 70 beat/min = 4900 mL/min = 4.9
L/min)
Round 2
1. Water at 1482 m/s (3315 mph) vs air at 343 m/s (767 mph)
2. Ceiling (stalaCtite for Ceiling, stalaGmite for Ground)
3. Archimedes
4. Mercury
5. ~1 minute (70mL/beat × 70 beat/min = 4900 mL/min = 4.9
L/min)
Round 3
1. 80 Megabits
2. Steel
3. Herbert Hoover, who translated a classic metallurgical
textbook De re metallica from Latin to English in 1912
4. Hydrogen, Helium, Lithium, Beryllium, Boron, Carbon,
Nitrogen, Oxygen, Fluorine, Neon
5.
Round 3
1. 80 Megabits
2. Steel
3. Herbert Hoover, who translated a classic metallurgical
textbook De re metallica from Latin to English in 1912
4. Hydrogen, Helium, Lithium, Beryllium, Boron, Carbon,
Nitrogen, Oxygen, Fluorine, Neon
5.
Round 4
1. Yes, as long as you can dump in about 2 gallons of water at
once
2. Hemoglobin
3. Copper, oxidation took 20 years to cover the statue
4. No, acceleration due to gravity on the moon is about 1/6 of
that on earth, so the pendulum in the clock would swing at a
slower frequency than on earth (about 2.5 times slower)
5.
Round 4
1. Yes, as long as you can dump in about 2 gallons of water at
once
2. Hemoglobin
3. Copper, oxidation took 20 years to cover the statue
4. No, acceleration due to gravity on the moon is about 1/6 of
that on earth, so the pendulum in the clock would swing at a
slower frequency than on earth (about 2.5 times slower)
5.