Earth
If the earth were the size of a billiard ball. Would its surface be as smooth or not?
Approx just as smooth
Using an onion, describe how thick the earth’s atmosphere is. How many onion layers?
One
Fun campfire trick - throw some borax into the fire to get this colour of flames
Green
What portion of a human is water (+/- 5%)?
66%
In terms of outer space, what do astronomers refer to as the cosmic ‘void’?
The empty space between galaxies
When does a hill become a mountain?
At 1000 ft. But debate continues whether absolute height or height relative to surrounding land. Both hills and mountains must have a discernible summit
The fact that fire cannot exist in a vacuum led to the invention of this - one of the greatest inventions of all time
Lightbulb (incandescent)
Does a flame cast a shadow? Why? (Need both)
No. A shadow is basically the absence of light. Fire doesn't have a shadow cause fire is itself a source of light, so the wall or obstacle you'd be expecting it's shadow to fall on, would instead be covered by the light from the fire. Test this with a candle
Can you drown in quicksand? Explain your answer
No. Because humans are less dense than quicksand, a person would only sink to their chest before they begin to float. Impossible to be completely submerged.
What happens to a glass of water (room temperature) if it is placed in a vacuum?
It immediately boils
What would be great name for a guy who sells a soil-like material made from the decomposition of vegetable matter in the wet acidic conditions of bogs and swamps?
Pete
If you breath in O2, and breath out CO2, how is it that artificial respiration works?
You only use about 4% of the O2 inhaled. Breath in at 21%, exhale at 17%. Plenty O2 available for the patient
How could you start fire with ice?
Make a convex-shaped piece of ice (formed or carved) and then use it the same as a glass lens
What is it called when snow is warmed directly into a vapour without becoming water 1st?
Sublimation
Imagine our entire solar system fitting into a school gymnasium. How big would the earth be? Speck of dirt?, grain of sand ?, marble?, billiard ball?, tennis ball?, soft ball?, etc?
Grain of sand
How deep down would you have to dig to get to a temperature that remains constant at the annual mean temperature of the air? (+/- 3ft)
12- 15 ft. Once you exceed 40 ft, the temp starts going up
If your barometer is falling, what should you prepare for? (Mark, the answer is not ‘a broken barometer’)
Bad weather. When atmospheric pressure drops suddenly, this usually indicates that a storm is on its way.
During intense wildfires, trees have been known to literally explode. Why?
Water/ sap in trees turns instantly to steam and the pressure blows the trees apart
Why is the water in lakes and oceans blue?
The water appears blue because water absorbs colors in the red part of the light spectrum. Like a filter, this leaves behind colors in the blue part of the light spectrum for us to see
What would happen to you if you were ejected out of an airlock without a spacesuit? Freeze solid? Burn up? Explode? Do fine until you run out of air? What?
Assuming you exhaled so your lungs don’t rupture, you would go unconscious in about 15 sec. This is because the oxygen would diffuse out of your bloodstream when your lungs are exposed to a vacuum. This leads to a condition called hypoxia, or oxygen deprivation.
Name the 3 classes of rock. Bonus points for examples
Sedimentary (sandstone, limestone, shale), Metamorphic (granite, quartz, marble), and Igneous (basalt, obsidian, pumice)
What is atmospheric pressure (or barometric pressure ) at sea level in kPA, psi, or in Hg?
101,3 kPa, 29.9212 inches Hg, or 14.696 psi
Why was the the 1666 Great Fire of London (destroyed 80 percent of the city) a good thing?
The fire also ended the outbreak of bubonic plague that had killed more than 100,000 people. The fire fried the rats and fleas that carried the plague-causing bacterium
What is heavy water? (molecule)
Heavy water contains deuterium and O. Instead of H2O, its D2O. Deuterium is a hydrogen isotope with a nucleus containing a neutron and a proton;( the nucleus of a normal hydrogen atom consists of just a proton)
Name the R & B/ pop band formed in Chicago in 1969 that went on to become one of the world’s best selling bands of all time. This band was credited with ‘changing the sound of black pop’
Earth, wind and fire