Heat Wave Quiz
When I think of June, I think hot. And when I think hot, I think desert. So this month's trivia is about -- you guessed it -- Deserts!! Let's see how hot your knowledge is.....
By Kim Master
1. Deserts are characterized by...
Less than 254 mm annual rainfall
Less than 254 mm, but more than 154 mm annual rainfall
Less than 154 mm annual rainfall
No rain
Stay scorching hot
Cool down to a warm and balmy temperature
Often cool down to freezing temperatures
Vary significantly from desert to desert
3. Which of the following is NOT a desert?
Mojave
The Great Basin
Sahari
Gobi
Kalahari
4. What is one way plants have adapted to the scarcity of water and heat?
Growing small leaves
Keeping their leaves during the dry period
Crovasculating water from the stems of nearby plants
Opening their stomata, or pores, during the day
5. Many desert animals...
Have diluted urine
Sleep during the day
Have inefficient metabolic systems
Die from dehydration
A serious world problem when deserts disappear due to increasing rainfall
A rapid increase in the number of desert species over a period of 5-10 years
A rapid decrease in the number of desert species over a period of 5-10 years
A serious world problem when deserts encroach on arable land
8. Camels survive the heat and dryness of the desert by:
Storing water in their humps
Having little or no hair on their bodies
Increasing their body temperature by running and jumping frantically
Overdrinking when the opportunity to drink arises
9. Animals that are crepuscular...
Are active only at dusk and again at dawn
Are shaped like a half-moon
Hunt only at night
Hunt only on full-moon nights
10. How have desert lizards adapted to the desert heat?
Moving extremely rapidly over hot surfaces
They have longer legs that absorb less surface heat
They have shorter legs that reduce the specific heat of their body temperature
A and C
A and B
They excrete urine on their legs
Grooming themselves during the day
Shedding their feathers during the day
None of the above
12. Why are desert animals are paler than their relatives elsewhere in more moderate environments?
To ensure that the animal takes in less heat from the environment
To help to make it less conspicuous to predators in the bright, pallid surroundings
To scare off predators with their ghost-like, unhealthy appearance
A and C
A and B
13. Which of the following is NOT a way desert animals retain water?
Burrowing in the moist soil during daylight hours
Obtaining moisture from the food they eat
Digesting urea, a soluble compound that accounts for considerable water retention
Excrete metabolic wastes in the form of uric acid
14. Which of the following is a kangaroo rat characteristic?
They will not drink water even when it is given to them in captivity
They have the ability to urinate for over 45 minutes
They can live for 45 days without eating or drinking
They can hibernate for over 45 months
15. What is a Hoodoo?
A very flat, dry lakebed of hard, mud-cracked clay
A column or pillar of bizarre shape caused by differential erosion on rocks of different hardness
A deposit of windblown sand and clay weakly cemented by calcite
An acronym for Heat originating on dunes' osmic oriole
