Q 01/05

What prevents trees from growing in a tundra?

A) Constant flooding by meltwater

B) Cold and a very short summer

C) Salty, waterlogged soil

D) Too much ultraviolet sunlight

Answer · why

B) Cold and a very short summer

Cold and a very short summer: tree seedlings barely survive near the tree line, so even a run of warmer summers can shift where the trees stop.

Q 02/05

From which language does the word 'tundra' come?

A) Norwegian

B) Mongolian

C) Russian

D) Inuktitut

Answer · why

C) Russian

Russian: English took the word from Russian, which may have borrowed it from a Sámi word said to mean an elevated wasteland or a marshy plain.

Q 03/05

What are inuksuit, which Inuit build across the treeless Arctic tundra?

A) Snow shelters

B) Stone landmarks

C) Sealskin boats

D) Dog sleds

Answer · why

B) Stone landmarks

Stone landmarks: they mark routes, hunting grounds and food caches, and the human-shaped stone figure often called an inuksuk is really an inunnguaq.

Q 04/05

Which tundra animal can let its body temperature fall below freezing while it hibernates?

A) Collared lemming

B) Barren-ground grizzly bear

C) Arctic ground squirrel

D) Arctic fox

Answer · why

C) Arctic ground squirrel

Arctic ground squirrel: males also stash food in their burrows in late summer, so they have something to eat when they wake in spring.

Q 05/05

'Reindeer moss', a staple winter food of tundra herds, is actually what kind of organism?

A) A lichen

B) A liverwort

C) A fern

D) A sedge

Answer · why

A) A lichen

A lichen: it is really a fungus living in partnership with algae, so despite its name it isn't a moss or even a plant.