Daily Journal #21 – October 12, 2010
1. Why do marine plants only live within 100 meters
of the surface?
Light levels – plants must use photosynthesis to
manufacture their food – beyond 100 meters in depth there is
inadequate (or no) light
2. Which of the following is used most to produce
electricity in the US: hydroelectric dams, nuclear
power, natural gas, coal, or oil?
Coal – 53%, nuclear energy 21%, natural gas 16%,
hydroelectric dams 7%, oil 2%
3. For what reason other than hearing do desert
jack rabbits have long ears? Hint: what other
function might the ears serve?
Cooling
picture = jack rabit ears
Daily Journal #22 – October 13, 2010
1. What computer company is named after its
founder’s fond memories of a summer spent in
Oregon orchards? Apple – founded by Steven Jobs
2. Unlike most other fish, sharks have no: bones,
teeth, or gills?
flexible but firm cartilage, not bones,
gives shark bodies rigidity
3. Find the misfit: Gobi, Sahara, Mediterranean,
Mohave.
Gobi Desert (China), Sahara Desert (N. Africa),
Mohave Desert (SE California)
Picture = onion cell dividing
Daily Journal #23 – October 14, 2010
1. At what point on Earth does movement in any
direction result in traveling south?
North Pole
2. Which of the following cannot be symmetrical:
heart, star, mitten, or butterfly?
3. Find the misfit: Dragon, Unicorn, Sea Horse, &
Mermaid.
Sea Horse is real marine organism (a fish) –
Dragons, Unicorns, & Mermaids are mythical
(fictitious/not real) creatures
Picture = sea horse
Daily Journal #24 – October 15, 2010
1. The mathematical symbol for infinity is which of
the following: €, ∞,♀, or ♂?
€ = Euro, ♀ = female, ♂ = male
2. What does a seismograph measure?
Earthquake intensity
3. How many cells are there in the human body:
75 thousand, 75 million, 75 billion, or 75 trillion?
Picture = butterfly wing scales
Daily Journal #25 – October 18, 2010
1. Unless it’s a long non-stop flight, an airplane
usually does not take off with a full tank of jet
fuel. Why?
Extra fuel = more weight = more fuel needed to fly
plane - 50 fewer lbs. = $1 million saved/year/plane – American
Airlines does not paint its planes, result is 400 lb. lighter plane
2. True or False? 10 = 75,000,000,000,0000
Any and all numbers with an exponent of zero (any
numbers raised to the zeroth power) = 1
3. What do the prefixes mort- & poly- mean?
Mort = death [mortuary, mortician, mortal]
Poly = many [polygon, polymer (a chemical chain made up
of many of the same repeating units)]
Picture = fungus on human eyelash
Daily Journal #26 – October 19, 2010
1. Which of the following is a nerve cell: neutron,
neuron, or newton?
neutron is particle in nucleus of an atom, newton is a
unit measuring amount of force
2. How many nerve cells are present in an adult
human brain: 100 thousand, 100 million, or
100 billion? number in a nematode (simple worm) ≈
300
3. What do the prefixes geo- & dorm- mean? [hint
from Spanish (& French) dormir]
Geo – earth – geology (Earth science), geography
(mapping/studying of Earth’s features)
Dorm – sleep – dormitory, dormant life form such as a
plant seed
Picture = dental plaque
Daily Journal #27 – October 20, 2010
1. True or False? A triangle can have only one 90°
angle. 3 angles in a triangle must equal 180° - 2 angles
totaling 180° would not permit a third angle –
also, two 90° angles would produce parallel lines
(which never meet)
2. Bees perform a flying “waggle dance” to
communicate what information to other bees?
Direction of a food source
3. True or False? There are land animals that can
get by with drinking no water.
kangaroo rat has super efficient kidneys that can
recycle water back into its body – this plus the water
contained in its solid food is adequate to keep it alive
Picture = kidney
Daily Journal #28 – October 21, 2010
1. Which was invented first: the wheel or the
chariot?
a chariot requires wheels so wheels had
to come first
2. Humans are what percent water by weight: 20%,
27%, 52%, or 60%?
percentage for women is slightly higher than men
1st
3. What are the common names for a dried grape
& a dried plum?
2nd
raisin & prune respectively
1st
2nd
Picture = house fly foot
Daily Journal #29 – October 22, 2010
1. True or False? The first electronic digital
computer weighed over 30 tons (60,000 lbs.).
named ENIAC switched on by scientists in
Philadelphia at U. of Pennsylvania in 1946 (ENIAC =
Electrical Numerical Integrator and Calculator)
2. True or False? 90% of Earth’s volcanic activity
occurs on the ocean floor.
Many continental plate boundaries (where volcanic
activity is high) are under world’s oceans
3. What is a circadian rhythm?
Repeating cycle of biological activity tied to 24
hour day/night period picture = ENIAC
Daily Journal #30 – October 25, 2010
1. What is 1,000 ÷ .001?
1,000,000
2. What blue food product has recently been proved
to be more nutritious that its white food product
“cousin”?
Blue corn tortillas – 25% more protein & 9%
more starch than white corn tortillas
3. Milk cartons say that the product inside has been
pasteurized. What does that mean?
Milk has been boiled to kill off potentially harmful
bacteria – named after Louis Pasteur, French scientist
who invented the process picture = Mr. Chapel
Daily Journal #31 – October 26, 2010
1. True or False? True geographic north and
magnetic north is the same at all locations.
the Earth is a giant magnet whose magnetic north pole is
located hundreds of miles away from its geographic north
pole
2. What fundamental force of nature is responsible
for the operation of a compass?
Magnetism – magnetic fields are created by molten
(liquid) metals such as iron in Earth’s core
3. What international sports championship is
held annually in Williamsport, Pennsylvania?
Little League World Series
Picture = movement of Earth’s N & S magnetic pole
Daily Journal #32 – October 27, 2010
1. When did the World Wide Web become available
for public use: 1963, 1970, 1993, or 2003?
prior to 1993 the World Wide Web was limited to the
academic researchers developing it
2. How much less energy do compact fluorescent
light bulbs use as compared to standard
incandescent bulbs: 10%, 24%, 57%, or 75%?
much of the electrical energy used in traditional
incandescent bulbs is “wasted” as heat
3. Find the sum of 1.0, 1, .101, .001, .11, & .1101.
2.3221
Picture = computer chip with dust particle
Daily Journal #33 – October 28, 2010
1. What do the prefixes arth- & chlor- mean?
Arth = joint (Arthritis - inflammation & deterioration of the joints
between bones that can make movements extremely painful –
affects 1/5 of adults – arthroscopic surgery)
Chlor = green (chlorophyll, chloroplasts, chemical element
chlorine (Cl) (a green gas in its pure state))
2. According to the Centers for Disease Control,
what is the leading cause of disability in the US?
Arthritis
3. What is the leading type of cancer death among
both men and women? Lung cancer
caused primarily by use of tobacco products
Picture = normal & arthritic foot
Daily Journal #34 – October 29, 2010
1. What do the prefixes mono- & trans- mean?
Mono = one (Monopoly, monotonous, monorail, monologue,
monocle)
Trans = across (Transport, trans-Atlantic, transparent)
2. True or False? Living organisms have been found on
Earth in water as hot as 235 degrees F.
3. Mercury (Hg) is no longer used in many
thermometers. Why and what has replaced it?
Mercury highly toxic (nerve poison) – replaced by
alcohol term “Mad Hatter” or “mad as a hatter” comes
from hat makers being exposed to mercury formerly used
in manufacturing of hats
Picture = Mr. Peanut wearing monocle
Daily Journal #35 – November 1, 2010
1. What do the prefix auto- & suffix –duct mean?
Auto = self (automobile, automatic, autobiography)
Duct = channel, passage way (aqueduct, Tilghman St.
viaduct, heating or electrical duct, duct tape)
2. How many chambers are in your heart?
4 – left & right ventricle and left & right atrium – 100k
beats & 2,000 gallons pumped per day
3. The fastest manned aircraft is the X-15 which
travels at nearly Mach 7 speed? What is Mach
speed?
Mach = speed of sound in air = 330
m/sec = 760 mph ---- X-15 speed =
5,100 mph
Picture = Roman-built aqueduct
Daily Journal #36 – November 2, 2010
1. What do the prefixes mal- & semi- mean?
Mal = bad, sick (Malady, malformation, malignant,
malpractice, malnutrition)
Semi = half (Semicolon, semicircle)
2. Why do we have a leap day (leap year) every 4
years? 1 revolution of the Earth around Sun
takes 365.25 days
3. True or False? Color pictures in newspapers &
magazines are made of tiny dots of just 4 colors.
4 colors are cyan (greenish blue), yellow,
magenta (reddish purple), & black.
Picture = 10/31/38 New York Times
Daily Journal #37 – November 3, 2010
1. Which do not directly pollute the air: motorcycles,
airplanes, electric cars, gasoline-powered lawn
mowers? But, electric cars may indirectly pollute the air if coal is
used to generate the electricity to charge/recharge their
batteries
2. What’s another term for a machine which
performs “light amplification by stimulated
emission of radiation”?
LASER – Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of
Radiation
3. Which term refers to cows & oxen: canine, feline,
bovine, or porcine?
canine = dog family (dogs, wolves)
feline = cat family (cats, lions, tigers, panthers)
porcine = pigs
picture = laser cutting steel
Daily Journal #38 – November 4, 2010
1. Why do microbes (microscopic bacteria, fungi,
viruses) mutate (undergo changes in their genetic
material/DNA) much faster in space?
No atmosphere to block harmful radiation (which can
lead to DNA mutations)
2. If a spacecraft could theoretically be cleaned of all
microbes (they cannot), the introduction of what
would “re-contaminate” them anyway.
Astronauts
3. T or F? Astronauts gain 2 to 3 inches of height in
space (and lose it upon return to Earth).
On Earth, “spongy” discs in backbone compress under force of
gravity when standing upright – lengthening also occurs to a
smaller degree on Earth when you lay down in bed at night (if
you measure carefully you may detect a ½ to 1 inch increase in
your height) picture = spinal vertebrae & disc
Daily Journal #39 – November 5, 2010
1. What do the prefixes ov- & hypo- mean?
Ov = egg – ovary, oval
Hypo = under, beneath – hypodermic (needle), hypothermia
2. True or False? Organisms have survived in space
for years without any protective devices or coatings.
bacteria were present on unmanned spacecraft Surveyor 3 which landed
on Moon (1967) – a few years later Apollo 12 crew recovered the bacteria
& brought them back to Earth – bacteria survived radiation, vacuum,
extreme cold and no immediate water or energy source – think back to
seed dormancy
3. How much pollen can a bee carry compared to its
weight: 1/6, 1/3, ½, 2x, or 3x?
Picture = Pollen on
sunflower petal
Daily Journal #40 – November 9, 2010
1. What is another term for the atmospheric condition
known as the “Greenhouse Effect”?
Global warming - trapping of heat in the atmosphere causing a
general overall rise in temperature worldwide
2. True or false? Only one gas is responsible for the
Greenhouse Effect.
Carbon dioxide (primarily from burning fossil fuels [coal,
oil, natural gas]), water vapor, & methane (from animal
wastes) – methane = a big deal – 1.3 billion cattle & 2
billion pigs worldwide
3. If all polar ice caps and mountain glaciers melted due
to the Greenhouse Effect, what is the resulting
estimated rise in ocean levels: 80 mm, 80 cm, or 80 m?
80 m (= 262 feet, elevation of Allentown = 338 feet)
Picture = map of flooded PA, NJ, DE, & MD