⛵Seafaring🌊
🐒Rainforests🦜
🛹๋Skateboarding🛹๋
👷♀️Women Engineers🛠️
😎Sunglasses👓
100
What are some examples of small water vessels? What are some large ones?
What is your favorite sailing vessel to travel with?
Some small ones are jetskis, canoes, rowboats and sailboats. Some large ones are yachts, ferries, barges and cruise ships.
Historical evidence suggests that the boat has been used for transportation since pre-historic times. However, from the oldest known boat named dugouts, the evolution of the watercraft has now reached luxurious motor yachts. Apart from recreational purposes, boats have also served an integral purpose in the modern commercial world by allowing active transportation of both passengers and cargo, wherever short distances are concerned.
100
What is the largest rainforest in the world?
The Amazon
The Amazon represents over half of Earth's remaining rainforests, and comprises the largest and most biodiverse tract of tropical rainforest in the world, with an estimated 390 billion individual trees in about 16,000 species. The name Amazon is said to arise from a war Francisco de Orellana fought with the Tapuyas and other tribes. The women of the tribe fought alongside the men, as was their custom. Orellana derived the name Amazonas from the Amazons of Greek mythology, described by Herodotus and Diodorus.
100
What state do more than half of all skateboarders in the United States live in?
Hint: It's the same state that skateboarding was invented in.
California
Skateboarding is really a U.S. sport, but skateboard culture is exploding worldwide. More than half of all U.S. skaters live in California, and more than 75% are under 18. With these numbers, it is the 6th most popular sport globally. When a massive drought hit Southern California in the early 1970s, homeowners drained their pools to conserve water. Skateboarders soon figured out that skating in the bowl-shaped part of a pool was a lot like surfing big waves, and more fun than skating on any hill or embankment. They went in search of bigger and better pools to practice “carving waves,” and the first skate parks were designed to mimic those empty swimming pools.
100
Kate Gleason became the first woman engineering student to enroll in the Mechanical Arts program at which university?
Hint: It's other name is Sibley College.
Cornell University
Prior to gaining renown as an industrialist, banker, inventor, and land developer — before anyone referred to her as the “First Lady of Gearing” or the “Marie Curie of Machine Tooling” — Kate Gleason was a Cornellian known as “Sibley Kate.” Among her fellow first-year engineering students in Sibley Hall, then home to Cornell’s Sibley College of Mechanical Engineering and Mechanic Arts, Gleason certainly stood out. Upon enrolling in 1884, she had become the first woman to ever study engineering at Cornell.
100
What are some different styles of sunglasses?
Some different types are aviators, wayfarers, cat eye, sport, square, butterfly, heart and round.
Sunglasses are indispensable for shielding our eyes from harmful UV rays and minimizing glare. But with a plethora of styles to choose from, finding the ideal pair can be daunting. What is your favorite type of sunglasses to wear?
200
True or False: The left and right sides of the boat are referred to as driver's side and passenger's.
False, they are port and starboard!
Since port and starboard never change, they are unambiguous references that are independent of a mariner’s orientation, and, thus, mariners use these nautical terms instead of left and right to avoid confusion. When looking forward, toward the bow of a ship, port and starboard refer to the left and right sides, respectively.
200
True or False: Many common houseplants originated in the rainforest.
True!
Some common houseplants which originally came from rainforests are orchids, bird of paradise flowers, ferns, fiddle-leaf and weeping figs, bromeliads, palms, monstera and pothos. Most of these plants have adapted to less tropical climates with less watering to survive in our living rooms.
200
True or False: Skateboarding was created by bored surfers in Southern California who were seeking other fun when the waves were lame.
True!
Because of skateboarding's link to surfing, it was initially practiced barefoot, like surfing. One of the first ways to make the skateboard jump (now called an "ollie") was to wrap your toes around the board's edge for grip. The original skateboards used clay wheels, which were very heavy and not durable. They were not suited for the types of high-performance tricks we’re accustomed to seeing today. Eventually, they evolved to steel, but it wasn't until the invention of polyurethane in the 1970s that the wheels we know today were developed. Polyurethane wheels are lighter, more durable, and give more traction at high speeds.
200
True or False: Catherine Greene actually helped invent the cotton gin but Eli Whitney got all the credit.
True!
Research by both Amram and Macdonald reveals that plenty of women inventors never received credit for their work, including two who had a hand in Colonial America’s most famous inventions. It was Catherine Greene, according to some 19th-Century accounts, who helped her farm mechanic, Eli Whitney, build the first cotton gin. And it was an early design by Ann Harned Manning that led to the creation of Cyrus McCormick’s famous reaper.
200
True or False: Every 14 minutes, someone breaks or sits on a pair of sunglasses.
True!
The majority of American consumers purchase one or more pairs of sunglasses every year. Roughly 55% of adults in the United States misplace or break their sunglasses annually. Most of these sunglasses are lost in the car. The more you wear your sunglasses in the sun, the faster they lose their UV protection. So, how often you should replace them will depend on how frequently you use them. Sunglasses do not have a definitive expiration date, so it’s difficult to know when you need to replace them.
300
What is the main body of a boat called?
a. Crows nest
b. Deck
c. Hull
d. Galley
c. Hull
A hull is the watertight body of a ship, boat, submarine, or flying boat. The hull may open at the top (such as a dinghy), or it may be fully or partially covered with a deck. Atop the deck may be a deckhouse and other superstructures, such as a funnel, derrick, or mast. The line where the hull meets the water surface is called the waterline.
300
How many of the living animal and plant species on earth live in rainforests?
a. 25%
b. 50%
c. 75%
d. 90%
a. 50%
Because tropical rain forests are some of the oldest ecosystems on earth, they are home to a diverse population of plants and animals. In fact, around 50% of the world’s land-dwelling plants and animals can be found here — with new species still being discovered. Over 200,000 species of plants thrive in rain forests. This abundance is due to the warm, humid environment and includes some of the most beautiful and interesting flora.
300
What year was the first skateboard built?
a. 1920
b. 1967
c. 1999
d. 2010
b. 1967
While the exact origins of the skateboard are unknown, the earliest versions of the board were roller skate wheels glued to wooden crates to ride downhills. At first, they used the whole box so that you could hold onto the top as a handlebar. Eventually, it evolved to just the rudimentary beginnings of the wooden plank and wheels combination we know today.
300
When her husband, Washington Roebling became sick, Emily Roebling became the Chief Engineer and oversaw the construction of the ________________.
a. Golden Gate Bridge
b. Statue of Liberty
c. Empire State Building
d. Brooklyn Bridge
d. Brooklyn Bridge
After Washington and his father both suffered injuries and sickness, Emily stepped up in her husband’s stead and became the driving force moving the project forward. Initially serving as her husband’s secretary— taking notes from him about what needed to be done next— she soon assumed command of the project in all but name, negotiating supply materials, overseeing contracts, addressing labor strife, and acting as a liaison between her bedridden husband and the bridge’s board of trustees. According to one biography, Emily became a kind of “surrogate chief engineer” who used her “superb diplomatic skills” to manage competing parties.
300
Which of these is not a popular sunglasses brand?
a. Persol
b. Oakley
c. Scucci
d. Ray-Ban
c. Scucci
It’s no surprise that Ray-Ban is the top pick for the best sunglasses brand in the world. After all, this heritage eyewear powerhouse has been making very high-quality, stylish shades for more than 80 years — its Aviator sunglasses were originally designed for military use but went “public” in 1937. Today, Ray-Ban’s iconic Wayfarer sunglasses are one of the world’s most recognizable fashion accessories. They’ve been worn by equally iconic figures — from Muhammad Ali and President John F. Kennedy to Bob Dylan and Michael Jackson — which has helped Ray-Ban define “cool” for generations.
400
What are some of the important parts of a ship which are used for sailing?
The sails, rudder, mast, halyards, sheets, boom, hull and keel are some of the important parts used for sailing.
Use of the wind is one of the oldest forms of powering a vessel. Sailboats range in size and complexity, but all have basically the same four components. The hull carries the passengers and supports the rigging. The rigging includes many parts of the sailboat, such as the lines (sheets and halyards), mainsail, headsail (jib), boom, and mast. The keel or centerboard is attached to the bottom of the hull and keeps the boat from sliding sideways through the water. The rudder is used to steer the sailboat, turned by a tiller or steering wheel.
400
What are some of the types of wildlife which live in rainforests?
Monkeys, sloths, tapirs, jaguars, ocelots, kinkajous, lemurs, tropical birds, frogs, salamanders, bugs, snakes and lizards.
There are also indigenous cultures of people that live in and depend on the rainforest. Some of the tribes that can be found here include the Yanomami and Kayapo tribes of the Amazon, the Huli of Papau New Guinea, and the Pygmies of Central Africa. Some tribes have had little, if any, contact with outside civilizations, while others seek to legally protect the lands on which they live.
400
What was skateboarding originally called?
Hint: The initials are S S.
Sidewalk Surfing
Surfers realized that they could use their makeshift boards to practice their moves when there weren't any waves. They would find concrete banks that mimicked the shape of a wave. This is why skateboarding was originally called sidewalk surfing and carving. In fact, doing big surf-style turns was the primary type of trick performed in the '60s.
400
In 1859, Martha Coston created and patented a device for signaling at sea during the Civil War. What was this device?
The Flare
Martha’s flares served as the basis of a system of communication that helped save lives and win battles during the Civil War. She spent ten years testing and refining her process of night flares before patenting it in 1859. The Coston signal flare used bright and long-lasting flares in red, white, and green for ship-to-ship or ship-to-land signaling over great distances.
400
Where were the first sunglasses believed to be invented, made with rigid frames and lenses composed of smoked quartz?
China
People in ancient China have been credited with creating the first sunglasses during the 12th century. Back then, frames were rigid, and lenses were composed of smoked quartz, a material meant to block the light from the sun. Unlike modern sunglasses, these ancient ancestors weren’t effective in reducing the harmful effects of ultraviolet (UV) rays. Court judges used smoked quartz lenses to hide their facial expressions in court. While the lenses helped block the light from the sun, they also helped judges interrogate witnesses impartially, making it easier to conduct trials without emotional involvement.
500
What do the following sailor phrases mean?
1. "As the crow flies"
2. "Footloose and fancy-free"
3. "Above board"
4. "Three sheets to the wind"
1. The most direct route from one place to another without detours. Before modern navigational systems existed, British vessels customarily carried a cage of crows. These birds fly straight to the nearest land when released at sea, thus indicating where the nearest land was.
2. The word comes from the name of the bottom of a sail – the foot – which must be attached to the boom. If it is not properly attached it may become “footloose” causing the vessel not to sail properly. Footloose and fancy-free have come to mean someone acting without commitment.
3. Ships that displayed crew openly on the deck were thought to be honest merchant ships known as “above board.” Pirates would often hide much of their crew below the deck.
4. This expression meant that one did not have control of the vessel because one had lost control of the sheets or lines. Today the expression is used to refer to someone who is drunk or does not have control of himself or herself.
500
What do rainforests do to help fight climate change?
Rainforests absorb more carbon than they release. The absorption of carbon helps regulate temperatures and fight climate change.
The Amazon rain forest absorbs one-fourth of the CO2 absorbed by all the land on Earth. The amount absorbed today, however, is 30% less than it was in the 1990s because of deforestation. A major motive for deforestation is cattle ranching. China, the United States, and other countries have created a consumer demand for beef, so clearing land for cattle ranching can be profitable—even if it’s illegal. The demand for pastureland, as well as cropland for food such as soybeans, makes it difficult to protect forest resources.
500
What do the following skateboarding terms mean?
1. Shred
2. Grind
3. Bail
4. Ollie
1. To skate aggressively.
2. Sliding on a rail or edge with your trucks.
3. Falling off your board.
4. The basic trick where you jump with the board.
500
What are some of the types of engineering that women work in?
Chemical, Industrial, Aerospace, Civil, Computer Hardware, Mechanical and Electrical.
In 2023, men outnumbered women in the global engineering workforce 86.3% to 13.7%. While this percentage of women in engineering is a decrease from 14.88% in 2020, figures over the years indicate a general increase in the percentage of women employed in engineering worldwide. 35% of women engineers in America are in the field of environmental engineering, while only 9% chose mechanical engineering and 8% are in petroleum engineering.
500
What type of sunglasses were developed in 1936 to reduce glare and provide greater visual clarity?
Polarized
Polarized sunglasses made their mark in 1936 when Edwin H. Land, a Russian-American inventor, developed a polarizing light-weight filter to use for sunglasses and reduce glare. He established Polaroid Corporation—an American-based company that manufactures optical equipment. Nowadays, polarized sunglasses have been designed to block 100% of UVA and UVB rays—as well as provide protection against glare and substantially greater visual clarity.