Facts of the Week – Groups A and B - UNOi Internacional
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Facts of the Week – Groups A and B

by Elaine Gallagher             Hello Readers, as I visit school after school in Mexico, talking with teachers, I am surprised at how many teachers are not using material that UNO has available in its Platform for support. Three years ago, I wrote «300 Facts of the Week», a collection of trivia facts and answers, so […]

Autor: UNOi

Fecha: 3 de marzo de 2014

Elaine Gallagher 08 cegby Elaine Gallagher

            Hello Readers, as I visit school after school in Mexico, talking with teachers, I am surprised at how many teachers are not using material that UNO has available in its Platform for support.

Three years ago, I wrote «300 Facts of the Week», a collection of trivia facts and answers, so teachers could animate and interest their students to think «outside the box», outside the text, to research, investigate, and learn about a broad segment of topics.

            This publication, I’ll put into «The English Corner» trivia facts (GROUP A and GROUP B) that you may have missed in the UNO Platform. Use them as explained below. ENJOY stretching the students’ brains! Students love a challenge!

            The next publication of UNONEWS, «The English Corner» will include trivia questions from GROUPS C, D, E, and F. 

FACTS OF THE WEEK

FOR TEACHERS:

            Place one of these questions each week on the board, project from an i-pad, or write on a poster. Have children guess the answer, or look up the answer, or ask someone at home for the answer.  Some items, the students will know immediately.  Others, they may have to ask at home, and tell you later. The difficulty level varies within each level, A-F, for fairness to students of various abilities, and to build interest in the facts.

Easier facts are in Group A. The difficulty level rises, up to Group F, with more difficult questions.

            If you put a new FACT OF THE WEEK on the board the first day of each week, the students will have the rest of the week to research it, discuss, and expand on the topic in class. They also can relate these trivia facts to on-going studies, or to programs they might see on television. or Internet.

            I suggest you have a section of the students’ notebook named «FACTS OF THE WEEK», where students will copy the fact you give them. Then, when the correct answer is revealed, they write the answer in their notebooks where they had written the question.

            Once a class gets enthused, some students will want to be the «FIRST» one to answer the fact. There are many sites on Internet to find more questions. Students can help you find more facts and answers as part of a learning experience for them.

            A positive «reward’ when a student correctly answers the trivia fact can be «virtual points» Just saying, «Great! You got 50 points», is enough to build intrinsic interest in seeking knowledge outside the book. The «points» are imaginary, virtual, but to a student with the correct answer, it’s a positive form of recognition. Some students, for fun, actually keep a total score of their virtual points.

MAIN OBJECTIVE: 

To stimulate curiosity and to encourage further research

 NOTE:

Some of the answers provided have extra information for teachers to use as background when they encounter a super-curious or a very intelligent student who may require more depth.

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 300 FACTS OF THE WEEK

 GROUP A

1. What is the largest land animal in the world? It is a vertebrate (has a backbone) and is a mammal.

An elephant

2. Which bone protects the brain?   C _ _ _ _ _ _

The cranium    (sometimes called «the skull»).

3. What musical instrument has 88 ivory and black keys?

A piano

4. What vertebratehops, has a pouch for its babies, and lives in Australia?       

A kangaroo

5. What country in the world has the most people?

China

6. How are all birds different from any other living thing?

They all have feathers.

7. Name a bird that cannot fly because it is too heavy

An ostrich….(or an emu)

8.  What is a MARSUPIAL ?

It’s an animal that has a pouch in front of its body.       Mothers carry their babies in the pouch until they are big enough to walk alone. Marsupials live in Australia. 

9. What sport needs 9 people on each team?

Baseball

10. What is the very hardest mineral / rock?

A diamond

11. When did Columbus discover America?

October 12, 1492

12.  What do the letters AVE stand for in the train system of Spain?

                  ALTA VELOCIDAD  (a high speed train in Spain/Europe)

13. What is the birthstone for December?

The turquoise

14. In the Tarzan movies and books, (Tarzan of the Jungle), what was Tarzan’s girlfriend’s/wife’s name?

Jane

 15. What is the animal with the largest brain in proportion to its body size?

The ant

16. How many years in a decade?   …in a century? in a millenium?

Ten years………100 years………1000 years

17. Which people invented paper, to replace papyrus and parchment?

The Chinese, about 200 A.D.

18. Which bird lays the largest egg?

The ostrich

19. How many stars were there in the original flag of the United States of America?

Thirteen  (one for each original colony)

20. What color is associated with Valentine’s Day?

Red

21. What is the name of the imaginary line that divides the Earth into northern and southern hemispheres?

The Equator

22. What color do you get if you mix red and blue paint?

Purple

23. What color to you get if you mix yellow and blue paint?

Green

24. What kind of animal was King Kong?

Gorilla

25. A lifeguard always works near what?

Water

26. What are figs, mangos, and pomegranates?

Fruits

27.  What does a red road sign with 8 sides mean?

STOP

28. What color clothes do cricket players wear?

White

29. If you visited a tropical climate, what would the climate be like?

Warm

30. What happens when the sun shines through raindrops that are falling in a distant rain shower?

A rainbow is formed.

31. What is the largest mammal on Earth?

A whale…It breathes air, so it is NOT a fish.

32. What is the most common vitamin in orange juice?

Vitamin C

33. Who is Batman’s partner?

Robin

34. What part of your body cannot be used to touch the ball in soccer (football)?

Hands

35. What language would you speak if you lived in modern Australian cities?

English

36. In what sport can you have a «fly ball»?

Baseball

37. What food crop grows in flooded fields?

Rice

38. What state in the USA has made the hula a famous dance?

Hawaii

39. When is Saint Patrick’s Day?

March 17th

40. What object is about 230,000 miles (365,000 kilometers) from Earth?

The moon

At its closest point, known as the perigee, the Moon is only 363,104 km (225,622 miles). And at its most distant point, called apogee, the Moon gets to a distance of 406,696 km (252,088 miles).?

?(Here’s a trick to remembering which is which – “apogee”, starts with “A”, just like going “away”).

You can see that the distance from Earth to Moon can vary by 43,592 km. That’s a pretty big difference, and it can make the Moon appear dramatically different in size depending on where it is in its orbit.

Read more: http://www.universetoday.com/103206/what-is-the-distance-to-the-moon/#ixzz2sne8fzoC

41. What is a veterinarian?

A doctor for animals

42. What language do people from Tokyo speak?

Japanese

43. What might you find inside an oyster shell, if you are lucky?

A pearl

44. How did people first travel?

They walked.

45. In what game would you use a pawn?

Chess

46. What is an Eskimo’s jacket called?

A parka

47. On what continent are the countries Italy, France, and Monaco located?

Europe

48. What is the Japanese art of paper folding called?

Origami

49. What country still uses a rickshaw as a means of transportation?

China

50. What common animal has a horrible smell as its weapon?

A skunk

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GROUP B

 

1. What does the word «SAHARA» mean?

It means «Great Desert» in Arabic. (So don’t say «the Sahara Desert» because it’s as if you are saying «The Great Desert Desert». )  Simply say, «The Sahara».

2.   Name the vertebrate:    It flies, has sonar, with large ears for the size of its body

A bat

3. What item should you have with you if you go camping?  It helps you find directions. 

A compass

4. What is the chemical formula for water?

H2O

5. Which are the two official languages of Canada?

French and English.   Both languages are taught in ALL the schools, and are used in all official     government documents.

6. What is the longest river in the world?

The Nile River in Egypt.  It is more than 5,000 miles long (8,000 km).

7.  Most of us have heard of the Swiss company Nestlé, which is famous for its chocolate. It now produces various foods in over 80 countries. When it first opened, in 1867, it produced a different product. What was it?

Infant formula (for babies to drink)

8. Which country has the most computers in the world?

The USA…over 24 million.   Next: Canada with 2 million.   Finland has the most per capita, about 1 million (per capita means  in proportion to the number of people it has.)

9. What would you not do if you were to fast for 3 days?

Eat

10.  How many pickles did Peter Piper pick?

A peck

11. Name the vertebrate: He is known as «King of the Jungle», appeared in the book and  the movie «The Wizard of Oz»……

A lion

12.  What kind if building was Alcatraz (in California, USA)?

It was a prison.

13. What is the name of the player in the baseball diamond that is located between second and third base?

The shortstop

14. What is the name of the material that lines an oyster shell?

Mother-of-pearl

15. What does a geologist study?

Rocks / the Earth

16. What do traditional oriental people use to eat with?

Chopsticks

17. Who couldn’t put Humpty Dumpty back together again?

All the King’s horses and all the King’s men

18. How many sides does every snowflake have?

Six  (6)       Each one is a different hexagon.

19. What is the traditional food for the American holiday,Thanksgiving?

Turkey

20. What do you call the remains of a plant or animal that are preserved in the earth’s crust?

A fossil

21. What kind of a tree has acorns?

An oak tree

22. What country has made the bagpipe famous?

Scotland

23. What is the name of a period of time when almost all the earth was covered in ice or snow?

The Ice Age    (There were at least 9 Ice Ages during the earth’s history.)

24. Where do Dutch people come from?

Holland

25. What country’s flag is all white with a red circle in the center?

Japan         

26. What is a make-believe creature that is 1/2 fish and 1/2 human?

A mermaid

 27. How many states make up the United States of America?

50  (fifty)

28. Why do birds sit on their eggs?

To keep them warm so they will hatch

29.  How many months of the year have 28 days?

All of them, but February is the month that has ONLY 28 days and in Leap Year it has 29 days.

Leap Year comes once every 4 years, and it has 366 days instead of 365. This is to keep the calendar months in line with the movements of the Earth and the Sun. Look up «Leap Year», See what else you can find out.

 30. What do the letters «BBC» stand for?

British Broadcasting Company

31. What is the «lead» inside a lead pencil made of?

Graphite

32. What are 727’s, 747’s, and 767’s?

Kinds of airplanes

33. What book documents world records?

Guinness Book of World Records

34. If your only sisters are triplets, how many sisters do you have?

Three

35. In car racing, what is it called when you stop to change a tire or to get fuel?

A pit stop

36. What kind of fruit are oranges, grapefruits, limes, and lemons?

They are citrus fruits.

37. In Italy, how do you say, «So long» ?

Ciao (pronounced chow)

38. On what part of your body does an orthodontist work?

Your teeth

39. From what part of a fish do we get caviar?

The eggs

40. In the Bible, what was the work of Mary’s husband, Joseph?

Joseph was a carpenter.

41. What did butter start as?

Milk

42. What is the «grand slam home run» in baseball?                          

It’s when the batter has a home run, with all the other three bases loaded. It results in 4 home runs at the same time.

43. For how many days do the Chinese celebrate their New Year?

Fifteen days

44. Why does a refrigerator warm your kitchen?

Because of the heat coming from the motor used to cool the inside of the refrigerator

45. What are the largest pieces of land on earth called?

Continents

46. How many insects does a toad eat daily, on an average?

100

47. If your pet is a feline, what is it?

A cat

48. Originally, piano keys were made of ivory. What are they made of today?

Plastic

49. Which of the planets has rings?

Saturn

50. If you suffer from zoophobia, what are you very afraid of?

Animals

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