2024 is a leap year and February 29th is only a hop, skip and a jump away! So, it’s clearly time to celebrate with a leaps and bound-iful quiz. Don’t jump to conclusions and you’ll be sure to land a 5/5!
#1. When was the leap year successfully introduced?
In 46 BCE, Julius Caesar introduced the Julian calendar, which inserted a leap day every 4 years. Earlier calendars often had fewer than 365 days in a regular year, and occasionally included a whole leap month!
#2. The current record for high jump for humans is 2.45 metres. Which of the following animals can beat that leap?
Fleas can jump 50-100 times their body length but that’s still much smaller than 2.45 metres. Similarly, rabbits can jump high for their size, but still only about a metre. Of these choices, only the impala can top the human with a vertical leap of 3 metres!
#3. Which of the following scientific leaps happened after 1900?
Perhaps surprisingly, the theory of plate tectonics is quite new, starting with ideas proposed in 1912 and supported by evidence gathered in the 1950’s and 60’s. The theory has since revolutionised Earth sciences.
#4. Which of the following was a leap year?
The Earth orbits the Sun in 364.2422 days so our calendar adds a leap day every four years, making an average year 365.25 days. To get an even better approximate, leap days are skipped on centuries, unless that century is divisible by 400. This makes an average year 365.2425 days.
#5. Evidence of maths can be found in ancient history. Which of the following maths-related leaps were found in ancient Babylonian tablets?
Impressively, Babylonian tablets show evidence of fractions, interest rates and some impressively large Pythagorean triples. Some tablets look like graded homework!
Results
Congratulations! You are a real science whiz!
Oh dear! Better brush up before the next quiz!
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