Bowling
Violins
Greece
Watermelons
Sunflowers
100

How many pins are used in bowling?

10 

Nearly all bowling games use 10 pins, and before you could even use from 3 to 17. Bowling was once considered a fast and dangerous game by the government, which is why 9-pins or “nine-pin” bowling was banned, and the law remains the same till today. To get around this law, a lot of centers now use 10-pins instead of nine.

100

True or False: Fiddles and Violins are the same thing.

True! 

Most often, the fiddle is associated with folk music and American bluegrass, but it wasn’t always the case. Back in the day also classical musicians used it. For example, Mozart’s father (Leopold) in his book about violin playing referred to the violin as a fiddle!


100

Greece is the third largest producer of what fruit that doesn't taste like a fruit?

Bonus: What two countries are ahead of Greece in production?

Olives! 

Unquestionably, Greece produces the best olives in the world. In fact, Greece is the top producer of edible olives. Greek Olives are an important part of Greek cuisine and Greek culture. Olives are found in Greek salad and in countless other Greek dishes.

The Greek town of Kalamata is home to the best olive type in the world, the 'Kalamata Olives' or 'Calamon Olives'. Other important types and known worldwide Greek olives are the 'Black Olives' and the 'Green Olives'. Similar to the Greek olive oil, the Greek olives comprise one of the most basic materials of the famous Mediterranean Diet. Greek olives are exported throughout the world and are considered to be as one of the most sought after nutritional products globally.

Bonus: Spain and Italy

100

How much water is in watermelon?

a. 50%

b. 92%

c. 20%

92% 

This is almost as much as our brains, which are 95% water!

100

Which famous artist painted sunflowers in Arles, France?


Vincent Van Gogh


200

What were bowling balls first made of? 

Wood!

During the early 1900s, bowling balls were actually made of wood and later, a heavy rubber. Around 1960, bowling ball manufacturers used polyester resin for the first time, enabling the production of plastic balls with bright, swirled colors.

200

What are some other instruments in the violin family? 

The viola, cello, and possibly the double bass (jury's out)!

The violin family of musical instruments was developed in Italy in the 16th century. At the time the name of this family of instruments was viole da braccio which was used to distinguish them from the viol family (viole da gamba). The standard modern violin family consists of the violin, viola, cello, and (possibly) double bass. 

The violin is actually a part of a bigger string instrument family. The family is made up of various kinds of stringed instruments, including the viol family and the violin family next to various types of lutes, zithers, lyres, and harp.

200

True or False: Greece is one of the cloudiest places in the world. 

False! 

According to MSN Weather, Rhodes, Greece has about 300 sunny days each year! That’s about 3,000 hours of sunshine! 

On July 10, 1977 the Elefsina and Tatoi suburbs of Athens recorded a temperature of 48.0 °C (118.4 °F)—the highest temperature ever recorded in Europe by the World Meteorological Organization.

The heat isn’t just because of the city’s Mediterranean climate, though. Due to various human activities, Athens also experiences the urban heat island effect, further increasing its temperature compared to surrounding areas.

200

Is watermelon a fruit or a vegetable?

Trick question! It's both!

Like the pepper, tomato, and pumpkin, watermelon is a fruit, botanically. It is the fruit of a plant originally from a vine of southern Africa. Loosely considered a type of melon, watermelon has a smooth exterior rind and a juicy, sweet interior flesh.

Watermelon is a member of the cucurbitaceae plant family of gourds, related to the cucumber, squash, and pumpkin. It is planted from seeds or seedlings, harvested, and then cleared from the field like other vegetables.
According to Webster’s dictionary, a vegetable is anything made or obtained from plants. Since watermelon is grown as a vegetable crop using vegetable production systems, watermelon is considered a vegetable.

200

True or False: Sunflowers track the sun.

True! 

Sunflowers plants display a behavior called heliotropism. The flower buds and young blossoms will face east in the morning and follow the sun as the earth moves during the day.


300

How many points do you get in a perfect game of bowling?
What's the best game you've ever bowled?

300 points 

Each pin is set 12 inches apart from each other. For an optimal strike to be thrown in the first place, you’d need to throw your ball to hit the pocket at six degrees.
The pins that are set in the pocket weigh roughly three and a half pounds – but as long as the pin tilts at least 9 degrees, you’re in great shape. All pins that tilt at least 9 degrees will fall.

It is said that the odds of any adult male bowling a 300 game are 11,500 to one.

300

What does the word violin closely translate to in Latin?

a. Tree

b. Squirrel

c. Calf

d. Flower

c. Calf!

The word we used to describe our four-stringed instrument actually comes from the medieval Latin word vitula, which was a reference to the goddess of joy before becoming the modern word for a female calf. Eventually, the Latin word vitula becomes fides/fidula, then violin and fiddle, respectively.

So if you want to call your instrument the fiddle (like Mozart and his father might have) then now you have some evidence that supports your reasoning!

300

What were tunics called in Ancient Greece?

a. Togas

b. Loincloths

c. Chitons

c. Chitons!

Learn more about the chiton here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PCgIRStKct8 

300

How much of a watermelon is edible?

a. 70%, just the inside.

b. 30%, just the rind. 

c. 100%, the entire watermelon.

c. 100%

Watermelon is popularly used as a fruit, to be a sweet enhancer or fun accompaniment to everyday meals. Like other fruits, it is commonly cubed, balled, sliced and enjoyed fresh.

In places like China, the outer rind of the watermelon is used as a vegetable – stir-fried, stewed and often pickled. Pickled watermelon rind also is widespread in Russia, not to mention in the southern United States.

300

What year were sunflowers brought into space?

a. 1921

b. 1985

c. 2012

d. They were never brought into space

c. 2012

In 2012, U.S. astronaut Don Pettit brought along a few companions to the International Space Station: sunflower seeds. Petit regularly blogged about his budding friendship and shared photos of the gardening process.

400

How far back do we have evidence of bowling?

a. 1930 AD

b. 100 AD

c. 100 BC

d. 3200 BC

d. 3200 BC

According to the International Bowling Museum and Hall of Fame, a British anthropologist discovered in the 1930s evidence of bowling items in an Egyptian grave. Evidence suggests that bowling dates back as far as 3200 BC – around the same time that some of the first forms of the written word were discovered on cuneiform tablets.  It’s that old!

Modern bowling is only a few thousand years younger: indoor bowling lanes made their debut in 1840 in New York City. The first televised games appeared in 1950.

400

What do you use to play the violin? 

A bow (sometimes also called a fiddlestick)!

Violins bows are made up of a stick, wood, horse hair, wooden, plastic or carbon parts – all working together to create a “magical wand” with which you can play beautiful violin music! Every violin bow is different, but there are always three fundamental parts: the bow stick, the bow hair, and the frog.

Violinists actually typically burn 170 calories per hour when playing their instrument which is about the same calories burned as taking a slow, one-hour walk!

400

What is in a Greek Salad?

A traditional Greek salad consists of sliced cucumbers, tomatoes, green bell pepper, red onion, olives, and feta cheese.

It was created in the late ’60s or early ’70s in Plaka, a picturesque area in Athens. There, local caterers found ways to get around government fixed prices on tomatoes, cucumbers and other vegetables. To a salad made of fixed-price vegetables, they added feta cheese and so created a “new” dish.  However, this dish could charge significantly more to tourists. It seems it was created as an attempt to exploit a loophole in the law at that time.

There is a similar salad in Cyprus and, of course, it is called Cypriot Salad. In addition to the usual Greek salad ingredients, capers, parsley and lemon juice are added to this.

Thanks to Greek emigration, this salad has become famous in America as well. There, it has many variations, to the point where they have almost lost the original version. In America, it can be found with lettuce, pickled hot peppers, radishes, beetroots and even anchovies or sardines.

400

Watermelon is not in the cucumber family. 

True or False?


False! 

Watermelons and cucumbers are members of the Cucurbitaceae family, and they have similar growing needs: lots of sun, lots of room for their vines to spread (a fence, cage or trellis can help manage them in a smaller space), consistent moisture and nutrient-rich, well-draining soil.

400

What continent are sunflowers native to?

North America

They were cultivated in North America as far back as 3000 BCE, when they were developed for food, medicine, dye, and oil. Then, they were exported to the rest of the world by Spanish conquistadors around 1500.

500

True or False: Women were allowed to bowl before men.

False! 

The American Bowling Congress was a gentleman’s club (no ladies allowed!) and it wasn’t until 1917 that women got their own governing body, the Women’s National Bowling Association.

But the ladies have come a long way! Kelly Kulick was the first woman to win a title on the Professional Bowlers Association tour in 2010.  And recently, nine year old bowling prodigy Hannah Diem just became the youngest person in the United States to bowl a perfect game.

500

What famous ship sank while violinist Wallace Hartley and his ensemble played music to keep the passengers calm?

The Titanic.

While the RMS Titanic was tragically sinking in 1912 after striking an iceberg, the first violinist and leader of the ship’s music ensemble, 33-year-old Englishman Wallace Hartley, decided he and his ensemble would play music to keep the passengers aboard calm. We cannot know for certain which their last piece of music was that they performed, but many survivors from the Titanic recall the ensemble playing “Nearer, My God, to Thee” as the ship was sinking.


500

Who was the author of "The Odyssey"?

The Odyssey.

The Odyssey is one of two major ancient Greek epic poems attributed to Homer. It is one of the oldest extant works of literature still widely read by modern audiences. As with the Iliad, the poem is divided into 24 books. It follows the Greek hero Odysseus, king of Ithaca, and his journey home after the Trojan War. After the war, which lasted ten years, his journey lasted for ten additional years, during which time he encountered many perils and all of his crewmates were killed. In his absence, Odysseus was assumed dead, and his wife Penelope and son Telemachus had to contend with a group of unruly suitors who were competing for Penelope's hand in marriage.

500

What country is the top producer of watermelon in the world?


China is the number one producer of watermelons worldwide. 

In China and Japan, watermelon is a popular gift to bring a host. 

500

Sunflowers have many uses from their edible seeds and leaves to medicinal purposes. What is another way people use sunflowers?


As a scrubbing pad for cleaning!

Once the flower heads are empty of seeds, they can be converting into disposable scrubbing pads for jobs too tough for your cleaning tool.