We promise to tell no tall tales, but this science quiz will have you sitting up straighter. Can you reach the 5/5 mark?
#1. Giraffes are the tallest living land animals on Earth. How many neck bones do they have?
Even though giraffes have necks up to 2.5 metres long, they have the same number of neck bones as humans, 7! The giraffes just have really tall neck bones. Interestingly, long-necked dinosaurs had up to 19 neck bones.
#2. How did Mount Everest get so tall?
Mount Everest is a fold mountain, caused when two tectonic plates collide. In Mount Everest’s case the Indian plate started colliding with the Eurasian plate about 40-50 million years ago. It still grows about 4 millimetres each year.
#3. Olympus Mons is often cited as the tallest mountain in our solar system. Which planet hosts this massive volcano?
At nearly 3 times the height of Mount Everest, Olympus Mons is a huge volcano over 21.9 kilometres high (Mt Everest is 8.8 kilometres high). Incredibly, there’s a crater on asteroid Vesta with a similar height, bottom to top!
#4. Before the 1300s, which of the following archaeological sites was the tallest human-made structure?
The Great Pyramid of Egypt was the tallest human-made structure from its construction in 2570 BCE (4,593 years ago) until the Lincoln Cathedral was completed in England in 1311 CE.
#5. True or false? The tallest human who ever lived was just over 3 metres tall.
False. The American Robert Wadlow was the tallest person ever recorded at 2.72 metres tall. His staggering height was caused by a problem with his pituitary gland, which controls growth.
Results
Congratulations! You are a real science whiz!
Oh dear! Better brush up before the next quiz!
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