Q 01/05

Which is the largest ocean on Earth by surface area and volume?

A) Atlantic

B) Indian

C) Arctic

D) Pacific

Answer · why

D) Pacific

The Pacific is bigger than all of Earth's land combined; Magellan named it the 'peaceful sea' in 1520 because its waters seemed so calm.

Q 02/05

What is the biological process by which plants convert light energy into chemical energy?

A) Respiration

B) Transpiration

C) Germination

D) Photosynthesis

Answer · why

D) Photosynthesis

Photosynthesis in ancient cyanobacteria is what filled Earth's air with the oxygen we breathe, in what geologists call the Great Oxidation Event.

Q 03/05

Which lizard family has eyes that swivel independently and a tongue up to twice its body length?

A) Gecko

B) Iguana

C) Chameleon

D) Monitor lizard

Answer · why

C) Chameleon

A chameleon changes colour mostly to signal mood, rivals and mates, or to handle temperature, not mainly to hide.

Q 04/05

What is the most abundant gas in Earth's atmosphere?

A) Hydrogen

B) Argon

C) Nitrogen

D) Water vapour

Answer · why

C) Nitrogen

Nitrogen makes up about 78% of air, yet the gas does almost nothing for living things until the nitrogen cycle fixes it into compounds they can use.

Q 05/05

Which desert is considered the largest hot desert in the world?

A) Arabian Desert

B) Gobi Desert

C) Kalahari Desert

D) Sahara Desert

Answer · why

D) Sahara Desert

The Sahara Desert is far more than sand dunes: much of it is rocky plateau and gravel plain, because the wind carries loose sand away.