Spring
According to the myth: When the groundhog does not see his shadow, spring comes ___.
What is early?
The two days each year when the sun crosses the equator and both day and night are equally long.
What is Equinox?
Northern spectacle more likely to be seen in Fall/Winter.
What is the Aurora Borealis?
Color of individual snow crystal
What is translucent? Snow appears white because snow is a bunch of individual ice crystals arranged together. When light hits snow, it bounces all around the ice crystals and the colors of all the frequencies in the visible spectrum combined in equal measure is white. While white is the color we see in snow, individual ice crystals are actually translucent.
Nickname of Montana
What is Big Sky Country? Or: What is The Treasure State?
Springtime in the Southern Hemisphere
What is August to November?
The sun's most northernmost point (Tropic of Cancer) or at its southernmost point (Tropic of Capricorn).
What is Solstice?
The only insect that migrates up to 2,500 miles for nicer weather.
What is the Monarch Butterfly? It flies South from America to the relative warmth of Mexico and parts of California, traveling at speeds of between 12 and 25 miles per hour.
15 inches wide and 8 inches thick
What is the largest snowflake? It fell on January 28, 1887, in Montana. It's in the Guinness Book of World Records as the largest snowflake ever observed. A rancher nearby, the book says, called them “larger than milk pans”.
State animal of Montana
What is the Grizzly Bear? An estimated 1800 grizzly bears are thought to be alive today.
Root of the word spring
What is sationem (Latin) meaning "sowing" or "seed time"?
Origins of the of the word "summer"
What is sam? Sam means summer and is a variant from the Proto-Indo-European root sem-, which means “together/one.”
Slang term for looking at fall foliage in New England.
What is "Leaf peeping"? (It's a $3 billion dollar business in New England, where millions of out-of-state visitors flock to take in the changing colors)
One hemisphere being tilted away from the sun
What is cause of winter?
Open-pit copper mine located in Butte, Montana.
What is the Berkeley Pit? The acidic water in the pit carries a heavy load of dissolved heavy metals. The pit's water contains so much metal that at one point one of its owners, Montana Resources, mined copper directly from the water.
According to Greek myth, the return of spring coincides with the return of _______.
Who is Persephone, the daughter of Demeter- goddess of plants and fertility.
This monument grows each summer due to iron expanding.
What is the Eiffel Tower? (6 inches each summer)
This breaks down in leaves, letting the plant’s hidden red, yellow, and orange hues shine.
What is Chlorophyll? The gorgeous red, orange, and yellow pigments in fall foliage are actually there all year, just under the surface. Sunlight helps fuel plant cells containing a chemical called chlorophyll, which gives leaves its vivid green color while working to turn light into energy. When sunlight diminishes in fall, chlorophyll breaks down.
The extreme dislike or fear of snow.
What is Chionophobia? The word originates from Greek chion meaning snow and phobos meaning fear, aversion or dread.
Population density of Montana
What are 7 people per square mile? Montana has a very low population density. Of the state’s 56 counties, 46 counties have average populations of just 6 people or less per square mile. This is why these counties are considered “frontier counties”.
Number of outpatient medical visits each year due to allergies
What are 17 million (mostly during spring and fall).
The days between July 3 and August 11
What are the dog days of summer? Named after the Dog Star (Sirius) in the Canis Major constellation. The ancient Greeks blamed Sirius for the hot temperatures, drought, discomfort, and sickness that occurred during the summer
Greek word pepon
What is pumpkin? Pepon roughly means “large melon.” The word traded hands from French (pompon) to British (pumpion) before colonial Americans dubbed it pumpkin.
Animal whose vision adapts to dark winter months.
What is a reindeer? To adapt to the darkness, a small area of tissue behind the retina called the tapetum lucidum changes color from a gold color in summer months to blue in winter. This allows the reindeer's eyes to detect ultraviolet light and to see in the dark.
Where is John's cabin? (Hint: The north star)
Polaris, MT
Polaris is an unincorporated community in Beaverhead County, Montana, United States. Although it is unincorporated, Polaris has a post office with a ZIP code of 59746 with an official population of 105. Polaris lies in the heart of beautiful Grasshopper Valley, along the Pioneer Mountain Scenic Byway, southeast of Wisdom, Montana.