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Science Games for Kids
Supplementary Activities
Science Quiz Bowl
Time:
20 minutes (+10 minutes for preparation)
Materials: Note Cards, Marker, Tape, and
“prizes” (optional)
Description: Before you meet with your youth,
you will need to prepare some materials. In this
game there will be 4 categories with 5 questions
ranging in point values from 100 to 500 in
increments of 100. (Think Jeopardy, only you do not
need to answer in the form of a question). The
categories are Just Water for Me, Please;
Tropical Rainforest Trivia; Science and
Crime-Fighting; and Space Numbers, and
the questions in each category become harder as the
point values increase. Below is a list of
recommended questions and answers for each category,
but feel free to replace them with your own
questions where you see fit. (You can use these as a
starting point to make your Quiz Bowl easier or more
difficult!) Write the categories on four cards and
tape them to the wall. Next make 4 cards of each
point value, writing the number on the blank side of
the card. Write the question and acceptable answers
on the lined side and tape the cards under their
respective categories in ascending order from top to
bottom.
When your youth arrive, have them sit facing the
wall and divide them into two or three groups. Give
each group a few minutes to come up with a sound
related to science or nature as their buzzer
(thunder boom, electrical buzz, heartbeat rhythm,
running water, birds chirping, etc). At this point,
explain the point system and that the questions get
harder as the point value goes higher. Then start
the game with a kick-off question. The first team to
buzz-in and correctly answer the kick-off question
takes control of the board and picks the first
category and point value. It is up to your judgment
whether or not to have a prize for the winning team.
Kick-Off Question
Q:
True or False. About one-quarter of all the
medicines we use come from rainforest plants.
A:
True—AND—less than 1% of the tropical rainforest
plant species have been analyzed for their medicinal
value.
Just Water for Me, Please
Q: What is the chemical name or abbreviation for
water?
A:
“H2O” which refers to a molecule made up
of two hydrogen atoms and one oxygen
atom. (100 points)
Q: True or False. H2O is the most abundant
molecule on Earth’s surface.
A:
True! H2O is the most abundant molecule
on Earth's surface, composing about 70% of the
Earth's surface as liquid and solid state in
addition to being found in the atmosphere as a
vapor. (200 points)
Q: True or False. Water can be extracted from underground
rock, gravel, sand, or clay with a well and used for
everyday purposes like drinking.
A:
True. This type of underground water is known as
“groundwater” or as an “aquifer.” (300 points)
Q: At what temperature does water freeze?
A: 32 degrees Fahrenheit. (400 points)
Q: At what temperature does water boil?
A: 212 degrees Fahrenheit. (500 points)
Tropical Rainforest Trivia
Q: True or False. Rainforests cover less than 2% of the
Earth's total surface area, but are home to 50% of
the Earth's plants and animals.
A:
True. (100 points)
Q: Which of the following is not true?
-
Rainforests have 170,000 of the world's 400,000
known plant species.
-
The
United States has 81 species of frogs, while
Madagascar (which is smaller than Texas) may have
300 species.
-
Europe has 321 butterfly species, while Manu
National Park in the tropical rainforest of Peru has
1,300 species!
-
The
world’s only species of flying snake and lizard live
in the Borneo rainforest.
-
The
largest elephant in the world lives in a tropical
rainforest river in Vietnam. It weighs over 660
pounds.
A: “The largest elephant in the world lives in a
tropical rainforest river in Vietnam. It weighs over
660 pounds” is not true. Actually it
is the world’s largest CATFISH that
lives in a tropical rainforest river in Vietnam and
weights over 660 pounds. (200 points)
Q: True or False. The Amazon Rainforest is roughly the same
size as Tennessee.
A:
False—very false! The Amazon Rainforest covers over
a billion acres, encompassing areas in
Brazil, Venezuela, Colombia and the Eastern Andean
region of Ecuador and Peru. If Amazonia were a
country, it would be the ninth largest in the world.
It is about 40 times the size of Tennessee. (300
points)
Q:
What percentage
of the plants identified by the U.S.
National Cancer Institute as useful in the treatment
of cancer are found only in rainforests?
A: 70% of the plants identified by the U.S. National
Cancer Institute as useful in the treatment of
cancer are found only in rainforests. (400 points)
Q: How many different species of birds are estimated
to live in a single four-mile-square patch of
typical rainforest?
A: 400 species of birds are estimated to live
in a single four-mile-square patch of typical
rainforest. (500 points)
Science and Crime-Fighting
Q:
True or False. There is enough human genetic
material (DNA) left on a cell phone to reliably
identify the user.
A: True! A molecular biologist at McMaster
University in Hamilton, Ontario, conducted a
scientific experiment on multiple flip-type phones
and discovered DNA that belonged to the phone's
owner on each of the phones. Swabs also picked up
DNA that belonged to other people who had apparently
also handled the phone...and DNA showed up even in
swabs that were taken immediately after the phones
were scrubbed “clean” with alcohol. (100 points)
Q: Do identical twins have the same fingerprints?
A:
The short answer is no. Identical twins have
fingerprints that can be readily distinguished from
each other on close examination.
The
longer answer is that the prints do have striking
similarities. Identical twins do, after all, have
identical DNA, which is the blueprint for physical
characteristics. According to an article from
www.forensic-evidence.com, the
differences in identical twins’ fingerprints are
caused by the
development of the fingertip skin while the twins
are still in their mother’s womb.
For fingerprints, genes determine the general
characteristics of the patterns used for fingerprint
classification. Fingertip skin shows these general
characteristics. However, this developing skin is
also in contact with the fluid in the mother’s womb.
At the same time, the fingertips are in contact with
other parts of the baby’s own body and its
environment inside the mother. This environment for
the growing cells on the fingertip is constantly
changing, and is always slightly different from hand
to hand and finger to finger. It is this
microenvironment that determines the fine detail of
the fingerprint structure. (200 points)
Q: True of False. It is possible to determine a
person’s identity by comparing his teeth to existing
dental records.
A: True. Teeth can tell scientists a lot of things,
such as age and even identity. This science is
called “forensic
dentistry” or “forensic odontology.” It is the
examination and evaluation of dental evidence
relating to a crime.
(300 points)
Q: How do crime scene investigators determine if a
reddish-brown substance found on the scene is blood
or not?
A: Frequently seen on TV crime shows, the
“phenolphthalein blood test” is one of the most
commonly used and specific tests in the field or
forensic laboratory to indicate the presence of
blood. Scientists take a sample of the suspected
blood with a cotton swab, then place a drop of the
chemical indicator phenolphthalein on the sample. If
the swab turns pink rapidly, it is said to
“test presumptive positive for blood.” (400 points)
Q: How could a criminal’s shoes be used to help
convict him?
A: There are many kinds of “forensic footwear
evidence” used by scientists in criminal
investigations.
Footwear trace evidence is one kind (in addition to
footprints, shoeprints, impressions left inside
shoes, etc.).
Footwear trace evidence is trace evidence that is
recovered from footwear. Types of trace evidence
that could be recovered include skin, glass
fragments, body hair, fibers from clothing or
carpets, soil particles, dust, and bodily fluids.
The study of this trace evidence could be used to
link a piece of footwear to a location, its owner,
or a crime scene.
(500 points)
Space Numbers
Q:
True or False. There are more planets outside
the nine planets in our solar system.
A: True! Since 1992 scientists have been finding
planets outside our solar system. For more info on
these additional planets, visit your local library
or check out Public Television’s NOVA site at
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/worlds/planets.html
(100 points + 50 bonus points if you can name all
nine planets in our solar system: Mercury, Venus,
Earth, Mars, Saturn, Jupiter, Uranus, Neptune,
Pluto)
Q: Why does the moon shine?
A: The moon doesn’t produce light itself. It reflects light
from the sun. (200 points)
Q: Which of the following sentences is not true?
-
There are a lot of craters on the moon’s rough
landscape.
-
The
moon orbits around the Earth.
-
People have walked on the moon.
-
The
moon changes shape throughout the month.
-
The
moon’s gravity controls the tides on Earth.
A: The moon does not change shape throughout the
month, but it may look like it does. As the moon
makes its monthly journey around the earth, we see
the part of the moon lit by the sun from different
angles. For a great diagram on the phases of the
moon, visit
www.kids.niehs.nih.gov/lunar/home.htm. (300
points)
Q: Which of the following sentences is not true?
-
The
sun is a big ball of burning gas.
-
It
warms the Earth.
-
It
orbits around the planets in our solar system.
-
It’s very old.
-
Our
sun is a star.
A: The sun does not orbit around the planets in our solar
system. The planets in our solar system orbit around
the sun. (400 points)
Q: True or False. The sun is so big you could fit
more than 1 million earths inside it.
A: True. (500 points)
Games and activity sheet created from information
at:
www.space.com/spacekids/
www.space.com
www.nasa.gov/audience/foreducators/index.html
www.kids.niehs.nih.gov/lunar/home.htm)
www.sciencenewsforkids.org
www.kidinfo.com/Health/Human_Body.html
www.forensic-evidence.com
www.rainforest-alliance.org |
