Q 01/05

The word 'prairie' comes from which language's word for meadow?

A) French

B) Spanish

C) Dutch

D) German

Answer · why

A) French

American backwoodsmen borrowed it because they had no word for the great grasslands they found beyond the forests.

Q 02/05

To which biome do ecologists assign prairies?

A) Temperate grasslands and shrublands

B) Tropical savanna and woodland

C) Boreal coniferous forest

D) Mediterranean scrub and chaparral

Answer · why

A) Temperate grasslands and shrublands

The steppes of Ukraine and Kazakhstan and the grasslands of Argentina belong to the same biome.

Q 03/05

Which of these South American grasslands is in the same biome as the prairie?

A) The Cerrado

B) The Pampas

C) The Pantanal

D) The Llanos

Answer · why

B) The Pampas

They stretch across Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay.

Q 04/05

Moving from west to east across the prairie, which type gives way to the others?

A) Mixed grass to shortgrass to tallgrass

B) Shortgrass to mixed to tallgrass

C) Wet prairie to dry prairie

D) Tallgrass to mixed to shortgrass

Answer · why

B) Shortgrass to mixed to tallgrass

The drier expanse under the Rockies gradually becomes the richer, wetter soils of the east.

Q 05/05

Roughly how much rain does a tallgrass prairie receive per year?

A) Over 30 inches

B) Under 10 inches

C) About 12 inches

D) Over 60 inches

Answer · why

A) Over 30 inches

Shortgrass prairies get only about 12 inches, and mixed-grass prairies fall between the two.