The Golden Landscape
California has 4 main regions: the Beach Coast, the Cold Mountains, the Dry Desert, and this big, flat middle area where lots of fruits and vegetables grow.
A) Central Valley
B) Great Plains
C) Death Valley Basin
A) The Central Valley
California gets thousands of tiny earthquakes every year because of a famous giant crack in the earth called the San Andreas... what?
A) Canyon
B) Fault
C) Valley
B) Fault
In 1848, a man found shiny yellow metal at Sutter’s Mill, starting a crazy rush of people coming to California called the... what?
A) Silver Rush
B) Gold Rush
C) Great Migration
B) Gold Rush
Giant Sequoia trees actually need this scary forest event to help drop their seeds and clear room for baby trees to grow!
A) Flood
B) Wildfire
C) Windstorm
B) Wildfire
The area around San Francisco is famous for making computer chips, apps, and iPhones, giving it what techy nickname?
A) Silicon Valley
B) Computer Coast
C) Robot City
A) Silicon Valley
This famous California desert holds the world record for the hottest temperature ever measured on Earth!
A) Mojave Desert
B) Death Valley
C) Colorado Desert
B) Death Valley
Over millions of years, moving rivers and giant ice glaciers carved out this famous, beautiful valley in Yosemite National Park.
A) Yosemite Valley
B) Napa Valley
C) Death Valley
A) Yosemite Valley
People who rushed to California in 1849 looking for gold got this famous nickname—which is also the name of San Francisco's football team!
A) The 49ers
B) The Cowboys
C) The Raiders
A) The 49ers
California has huge desert farms full of shiny panels that turn sunshine into electricity. What type of energy is this?
A) Solar power
B) Wind power
C) Water power
A) Solar power
Night animals like owls and coyotes can see in the dark because light travels into this black circle part of their eye.
A) Retina
B) Pupil
C) Eyelid
B) Pupil
This massive mountain in California is the tallest mountain in the entire United States outside of Alaska.
A) Mount Shasta
B) Mount Whitney
C) Mount Everest
B) Mount Whitney
When big ocean waves keep crashing against rock cliffs, they slowly break the rocks down into tiny pieces of sand. What is this process called?
A) Evaporation
B) Weathering
C) Condensation
B) Weathering
Native American tribes lived in California for thousands of years before California officially became an American state in what year?
A) 1776
B) 1850
C) 1900
B) 1850
Giant Coastal Redwood trees are so tall that they drink water straight out of the sky using this thick, cloudy weather phenomenon.
A) Rain
B) Fog
C) Snow
B) Fog
California rattlesnakes can hunt mice in total darkness because they have special sensors on their face that detect body... what?
A) Heat
B) Smell
C) Movement
A) Heat
Badwater Basin in Death Valley sits way lower than the ocean. We say it is "below" this level.
A) Sea level
B) Ground level
C) Cloud level
A) Sea level
California isn't just mountains—it also has volcanoes! This famous volcano in Northern California last erupted a little over 100 years ago.
A) Mount Lassen
B) Mount St. Helens
C) Mount Fuji
A) Mount Lassen
Long ago, Spanish priests built 21 special church settlements along the California coast. What were these places called?
A) California Forts
B) California Missions
C) California Pueblos
B) California Missions
Plants are like little factories that use sunlight, air, and water to make their own food. What is the science word for this?
A) Photosynthesis
B) Hibernation
C) Adaptation
A) Photosynthesis
Bats and ocean animals like sea lions send out sound squeaks and listen for the bounce-back echo to "see" underwater or in the dark. What is this called?
A) Echolocation
B) Camouflage
C) Migration
A) Echolocation
This giant body of water in Northern California is the largest natural freshwater lake located completely inside our state.
A) Mono Lake
B) Shasta Lake
C) Clear Lake
C) Clear Lake
Thousands of years ago, mammoths and saber-toothed cats got stuck in sticky black goo in Los Angeles. Today, we call these famous pits what?
A) La Brea Tar Pits
B) Hollywood Mud Pits
C) Death Valley Clay Pits
A) La Brea Tar Pits
In 1869, workers finished building a giant train track that connected California all the way to the rest of the United States. What was it called?
A) The Transcontinental Railroad
B) The Pacific Express
C) The Route 66 Railway
A) The Transcontinental Railroad
These spiky, funny-looking desert trees in Southern California have super deep roots to survive without rain.
A) Oak Trees
B) Joshua Trees
C) Redwood Trees
B) Joshua Trees
Long before cell phones, people in 1906 sent emergency messages through electric wires using clicks and dashes. What was this machine called?
A) Telephone
B) Telegraph
C) Radio
B) Telegraph