Topic: Science quiz for the American public.

[Nemesis]

Take the quiz below (created by the National Science Foundation for research purposes) to test your science savvy. The answers are after the jump.

1. The center of the Earth is very hot.
2. All radioactivity is man-made.
3. It is the father’s gene that decides whether the baby is a boy or a girl.
4. Lasers work by focusing sound waves.
5. Electrons are smaller than atoms.
6. Antibiotics kill viruses as well as bacteria.
7. The universe began with a huge explosion.
8. The continents on which we live have been moving their location for millions of years and will continue to move in the future.
9. Human beings, as we know them today, developed from earlier species of animals.
10. Does the Earth go around the Sun, or does the Sun go around the Earth?
11. How long does it take for the Earth to go around the sun?

By Jess Zielinski

Link to answers.

Naturally I scored 100%.   

[Bonk]

I did not score 100%, I got 9 out of 11, therefore the test must be flawed! 

Seriously though, questions 1 and 7 invalidate the quiz as neither is proven. (personally I suspect the mantle has a greater temperature than the core, both are certainly hot, but it is a relative thing... and as for the universe beginning with a "huge explosion" no - certainly not an explosion as such)

I suspect this is a feel-good test, typical government stats collection to paint a pretty picture. Too bad its authors were not better scientific test makers.

[Centurus]

I got 100%, however, the answer to the last question, one year, I feel is a bit vague, since we normally measure a year as being 365 days, when in reality it's more like 365 1/4 days, which is why every 4 years we have an extra day in February.

[Beeblebrox]

Color me at 100%.  Not to sound stuck up, but the quiz was sort of basic common knowledge questions.

[FCM_SFHQ_XC]

Color me at 100%. Not to sound stuck up, but the quiz was sort of basic common knowledge questions.

Put these questions in today's high school class(not the AP, but like Honors level or below), and you'll probably see 1 or 2 questions answered correctly

[Centurus]

Actually, all of these questions I had on quizzes and tests when I was in grade school, except for the one about lasers.  Learned that in high school.

[marstone]

Take the quiz below (created by the National Science Foundation for research purposes) to test your science savvy. The answers are after the jump.
3. It is the father’s gene that decides whether the baby is a boy or a girl.

   Actually it is the lack of the second x chromazone that make a baby a boy (not actually having the y but it is normal that way)
 

7. The universe began with a huge explosion.

   Theory so far.

9. Human beings, as we know them today, developed from earlier species of animals.

  Macro evolution is still a theory also.

10. Does the Earth go around the Sun, or does the Sun go around the Earth?

   Check out the other board with the posts about the Earth being the center of the universe (it's good to chuckle at)
 

11. How long does it take for the Earth to go around the sun?

   See 10 above, if the websites pointed to are true  then this one has no answer.

[Centurus]

*smacks Marstone with a rubber chicken and turns him into Paris Hilton's talent*

[marstone]

*smacks Marstone with a rubber chicken and turns him into Paris Hilton's talent*

now that is just cruel.  Turn me into nothing.

[Nemesis]

There are definitely errors in the quiz.  In fact to score perfect you have to understand what they THINK they are asking and make the appropriate answer to that. 

[Soreyes]

Easy-Peasey. 11 out of 11

The fun began after I gave the test to some of my Collage Educated Co-Workers
It seems that they all missed Questions 3, 6, and 8. Got into a heated discussion about question 8. I finally blurted out "WTF do you think Earthquakes are"

[GE-Raven]

I knew the answers they wanted on all 11...

That being said their were more than a few questions that are no where near "factual" enough for true and false answers.  I suppose if they were prefaced "According to the "blank theory"" they would be decent.

Odd that of all the iron clad questions that COULD be asked...  Nah.. I am just looking to pick a fight.

GE-Raven

[GE-Raven]

So given my above I thought I would create my own 11 questions if people want to answer them they surely can:




1.  A right triangle has three sides of equal length.
2.  The speed of sound is constant.
3.  The speed of light is constant.
4.  All amphibians spend at least part of their life in water.
5.  1000 molecules of Iron weighs more than 1000 molecules of Zinc.
6.  Cartesian Geometry is named after the person who invented it
7.  The Whale Shark is a mammal.
8.  The tomato is indigenous to the North American Continent.
9.  The Average temperature of the North Pole is Colder than that of the South Pole.
10.  Yeast is:  Bacteria, Virus, Fungus, Single-celled Animal  (Choose one)
11.  Sun spots are hotter then the surrounding areas of the sun.

GE-Raven

[Tus-XC]

eh, 2 and 3 can be tricky as they are dependent on the medium they are traveling through .  For 3 you should add 'in a vaccuum'  to be more precise.  Of course i could say true for 2 if i added if the medium it were traveling through had a constant density, temperature, and consitency

[GE-Raven]

eh, 2 and 3 can be tricky as they are dependent on the medium they are traveling through .  For 3 you should add 'in a vaccuum'  to be more precise.  Of course i could say true for 2 if i added if the medium it were traveling through had a constant density, temperature, and consitency

I stand by the questions as worded.  I didn't say they were all "easy"... some may be awfully tricky.

GE-Raven

[Corbomite]

So given my above I thought I would create my own 11 questions if people want to answer them they surely can:




1.  A right triangle has three sides of equal length. (False)
2.  The speed of sound is constant. (False)
3.  The speed of light is constant. (True)
4.  All amphibians spend at least part of their life in water. (True)
5.  1000 molecules of Iron weighs more than 1000 molecules of Zinc. (Not sure what it is your getting at. Iron and Zinc are elements and Zinc is heavier)
6.  Cartesian Geometry is named after the person who invented it (Don't know, but I'd guess no)
7.  The Whale Shark is a mammal. (False)
8.  The tomato is indigenous to the North American Continent. (True)
9.  The Average temperature of the North Pole is Colder than that of the South Pole. (Don't know, but I'll say yes)
10.  Yeast is:  Bacteria, Virus, Fungus, Single-celled Animal  (Choose one) (Bacteria)
11.  Sun spots are hotter then the surrounding areas of the sun. (False, I think)

GE-Raven


BTW I got the original 11 all correct.

[Bonk]

My answers to Raven's quiz:

1.  A right triangle has three sides of equal length. -false
2.  The speed of sound is constant. -false
3.  The speed of light is constant. -false (everyday refraction, Bose-Einstein condensates etc...) It is constant in every frame of reference in the same medium however.
4.  All amphibians spend at least part of their life in water. -can't think of one that doesn't
5.  1000 molecules of Iron weighs more than 1000 molecules of Zinc. - You can't have molecules of Iron or Zinc they are elements not molecules and 1000 ATOMS of iron mass less than 1000 atoms of zinc at natural isotopic abundances
6.  Cartesian Geometry is named after the person who invented it - Correct: Rene Descartes
7.  The Whale Shark is a mammal. -false
8.  The tomato is indigenous to the North American Continent. - True
9.  The Average temperature of the North Pole is Colder than that of the South Pole. - Dunno?
10.  Yeast is:  Bacteria, Virus, Fungus, Single-celled Animal  (Choose one) Single-celled Animal
11.  Sun spots are hotter then the surrounding areas of the sun. -Dunno?

Only one flawed question that I see (#5). Much better questions. Again, I get nine out of eleven, well my old analytical prof always said I was a solid "B student". 

[GE-Raven]

My answers to Raven's quiz:

1.  A right triangle has three sides of equal length. -false
2.  The speed of sound is constant. -false
3.  The speed of light is constant. -false (everyday refraction, Bose-Einstein condensates etc...) It is constant in every frame of reference in the same medium however.
4.  All amphibians spend at least part of their life in water. -can't think of one that doesn't
5.  1000 molecules of Iron weighs more than 1000 molecules of Zinc. - You can't have molecules of Iron or Zinc they are elements not molecules and 1000 ATOMS of iron mass less than 1000 atoms of zinc at natural isotopic abundances
6.  Cartesian Geometry is named after the person who invented it - Correct: Rene Descartes
7.  The Whale Shark is a mammal. -false
8.  The tomato is indigenous to the North American Continent. - True
9.  The Average temperature of the North Pole is Colder than that of the South Pole. - Dunno?
10.  Yeast is:  Bacteria, Virus, Fungus, Single-celled Animal  (Choose one) Single-celled Animal
11.  Sun spots are hotter then the surrounding areas of the sun. -Dunno?

Only one flawed question that I see (#5). Much better questions. Again, I get nine out of eleven, well my old analytical prof always said I was a solid "B student". 

Actually after typing number 5 I checked it... Even is a single atom is all there is (in the case of elements) it can and often is referred to as a molecule.  Hence the reason the "Mole" is important.  For instance Oxygen, Nitrogen, Hydrogen, and Cholorine are all Elements that always appear in binary as a molecule of two atoms.  However to clear it up... Fe and Zn can and do appear in single atom "molecules".  This is what I am referring to in the "weight" question.

Also not to be a jerk... but you answered 9... you actually have at least one answer that is incorrect... if you want I can PM the answers.

GE-Raven

[Nemesis]

Also not to be a jerk... but you answered 9... you actually have an answer that is incorrect... if you want I can PM which one it is.

GE-Raven

#8 -South America.

For instance Oxygen, Nitrogen, Hydrogen, and Chlorine are all Elements that always appear in binary as a molecule of two atoms.

Ozone = O₃

#9 false (You don't specify, pole as in axis of rotation or magnetic which could change the answer.)

#11 False - they are "dark spots" only in comparison to the hotter regions around them.

[GE-Raven]

Also not to be a jerk... but you answered 9... you actually have an answer that is incorrect... if you want I can PM which one it is.

GE-Raven

#8 -South America.

Oops missed this one... actually two wrong then LOL

For instance Oxygen, Nitrogen, Hydrogen, and Chlorine are all Elements that always appear in binary as a molecule of two atoms.

Ozone = O₃

Fair enough... however Ozone is not a molecule of Oxygen... it is a Molecule of Ozone...  A Molecule of Iron has a specific structure, as does a Molecule of Zinc.  It happens to be a single Atom of that element.

#9 false (You don't specify, pole as in axis of rotation or magnetic which could change the answer.)

#11 False - they are "dark spots" only in comparison to the hotter regions around them.

May be different in Canuckistan... however in the U.S. North Pole and South Pole always refer to the axial poles.  If you mean magnetic you insert the word Magnetic.

I should have said "at least" one answer wrong :-p... to be honest I didn't look close enough... just at the one that jumped out at me... which btw you didn't mention.

GE-Raven