World Geography
Though he was a mere embryo, Cole likes to say he's traveled (via Mom’s belly) to Thailand. Name four countries that border Thailand. (100pt per country)
Myanmar to the northwest, Laos to the north and east, Cambodia to the east, and Malaysia to the south.
(It also shares maritime borders with Vietnam, Indonesia, and India in the surrounding seas.)
When he was 18 years old, Mike ran the 200 meter dash in 21.9 seconds. How much faster did Usain Bolt run the same race at the same age?
1.97 seconds (Usain Bolt ran 19.93 seconds at age 18. Go faster Mike!)
How many prime-numbered birthdays has Cole celebrated so far?
Ages 2, 3, 5, 7, 11 → 5 primes so far
Cole's favorite childhood stuffed animal was named ____. What happened to him?
RIP Monk, who left us behind in a hotel cot.
Mike was born in Buffalo, New York, the birthplace of the Buffalo wing. In your teams, draw a map of New York that indicates where Buffalo is located.
During chess camp, Cole beat about a dozen other kids simultaneously at chess. On the other hand, world chess champ Magnus Carlsen is known for beating more than 300 other opponents simultaneously at chess.
Even more impressively, Carlsen actually beat 7 million people in what non-chess competition in 2019?
Carlsen became the #1 ranked player in the Fantasy Premier League, which is basically Europe's fantasy football, for soccer. (Cole, you've got some work to do!)
In what year did or will Cole’s age and Mike’s age both equal perfect square numbers?
In 2018, Cole turned four and Mike turned 36.
(Mike may not answer)
In college, Mike was known for carrying around a cup filled with what food item he took from the cafeteria to snack on at all hours?
Salmon (Incidentally, the same food item that Mike kept in the trunk of 1995 Honda Civic until the smell caused him to roll down all the windows and start looking for a new car).
Cole was born in Chicago, the largest city in Illinois and the third largest city in the United States. According to the UN’s definitions (based on "urban agglomerations"), where does Chicago rank in terms of most populous cities in the world?
39
Last week, Emery scored a critical game-tying goal again a much bigger fourth grade team! How many MORE goals does she need to score this year to beat Lionel Messi’s 2012 record?
91 (Keep practicing Emery!)
How many total days old was Mike when Cole was born?
11,678
Cole's love of geography first introduced our family to Vanuatu, a tiny island nation near Australia with a population of ~328,000. Estimate the country’s total GDP as a percentage of Taylor Swift’s net worth.
61% ($1.002 billion Vanuatu GDP/$1.65b TSwift net worth)
In 2014, a group of 233 skiers in Austria broke the record for the largest number of skiers doing this on the slope.
Wearing tutus (something Mike is very familiar with!)
How many people need to be in a room for the chance of 2 people having the same birthday to be greater than 50%?
Only 23 people! (Cole or Mike, please explain why to the rest of us.)
If they could swap lives for a day, what would Mike (as Cole) and Cole (as Mike) do first?
(Mike may guess for Cole but not for Mike. Cole may guess for Mike but not for Cole.)
In 2012, unemployed and newly married, Mike traveled to rural China and ate such delicacies as fried grasshoppers. Approximately how many times would a common grasshopper need to jump to travel across the widest part of China?
A common grasshopper would need about 5 to 9 million jumps to cross China east–west.
China extends approximately 3,100 miles (5,000 kilometers) from west to east.
A common grasshopper jumps 2-3 feet.
In 2000, Mike famously caught a 66-ish yard touchdown pass, landing him a newspaper clipping that still floats around in our house somewhere. Similarly, Vikings defensive end Jim Marshall also gained fame for a 66-yard run...but, unlike Mike, he didn't score a touchdown. Why not?
Marshall recovered a fumble and ran 66 yards the wrong way, giving the other team a safety instead of scoring, oops!
Aunt Katie's submission (therefore Aunt Katie may not play)
Here is a combination lock with 3 secret digits. Using the following clues, find the correct digits and enter your answer below.
682 One digit is right and in its place
614 One digit is right, but in the wrong place
206 Two digits are right but both are in the wrong place
738 All digits are wrong
380 One digit is right, but in the wrong place
042
If they were going to be stranded on a desert island with only 3 items besides the basic survival needs like food and water, what would Mike take and what what would Cole take?
(Mike may guess for Cole but not for Mike. Cole may guess for Mike but not for Cole.)