Water Trivia Questions

							                                         Water Trivia Questions




1. What percent of the earth’s surface is water?
     (75-80%)

2. 2% of the earth’s fresh water resources cannot be used because they are in
_______.
      (glaciers)

3. Why is soft water better than hard water?
     (works better for cleaning, tastes better)

4. What makes water “hard?”
     (minerals like calcium or magnesium that are dissolved in the water)

5. What uses the most water in households?
     (flushing the toilet)

6. What percent of water in homes is used for drinking purposes?
     (2%)

7. How many times per day does the average family turn on a faucet?
     (70)

8. What percent of the earth’s water supply is salt water?
     (97%)

9. About how much does one gallon of water weigh?
      (8 lbs.)

10. How thick does ice have to be to hold an average-sized human?
      (4”)

11. What is the average yearly rainfall in Iowa?
     (32”)

12. What is the scientific term for rain, snow, sleet or hail?
     (precipitation)
13. What is the process of liquid water turning into a gaseous form called?
     (evaporation)

14. What is the process of water vapor cooling into droplets called?
     (condensation)

15. At what temperature does water boil?
      (212° F or 100° C)

16. At what temperature does water freeze?
      (32° F or 0° C)

17. What word is used to describe how much water vapor is in the air?
     (humidity)

18. About how long can a human live without water?
      (one week)

19. About how much of the human body is water?
      (65% or 2/3)

20. What is the name for an area of land that water flows across or under on its
way to a stream, river, or lake?
      (watershed)

21. What is it called when water rises higher than the banks of a river or levee?
     (flood)

22. What is the longest river in the world?
     (Nile)

23. What is the name of the canal that connects the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans?
      (Panama)

24. What common chemical is found in acid rain?
     (sulfur)

25. What is the chemical symbol for water?
     (H2O)

26. An unusually high wave caused by an earthquake in the ocean is called a
_______.
      (tsunami)

27. What is an artificial lake whose purpose is to collect and store water?
     (reservoir)
28. Water is a poor conductor of ________.
     (heat)

29. The gradual wearing away of soil by water, ice, and wind is called
__________.
      (erosion)

30. What does the acronym EPA stand for?
     (Environmental Protection Agency)

31. About how many gallons of water does it take to wash a full load of clothes?
      (50)

32. What has the greatest effect on tides?
     (moon)

33. What does water lubricate in our bodies to make us able to move more
easily?
       (joints)

34. About how much water does our body need daily?
      (8 glasses or 2 liters)

35. What helpful chemical does Des Moines Water Works add to water to help
keep your teeth healthy?
      (fluoride)

36. Drinks containing this cause you to lose extra water from your body.
      (caffeine)

37. What are a couple things in water that you can’t see and usually cannot taste
or smell either?
      (germs and chemicals)

38. What are the best things to do to keep dirt from washing away and getting in
our rivers and lakes?
       (plant grass and trees to hold it in place)

39. What is the best way to prevent vehicles from leaking oil onto driveways,
streets, and parking lots so it won’t wash into storm sewers and then rivers?
       (keep vehicles in good repair)

40. What two rivers run through Des Moines and are the ones Des Moines
Water Works to making drinking water?
      (Des Moines and Raccoon Rivers)
41. How do our bodies lose water each day?
      (sweating, breathing, crying, and going to the bathroom)

42. What is the term used to describe a person’s body that has lost too much
water?
       (dehydrated)

43. What should you do with things in your house that you don’t want or need
anymore to prevent them from polluting our environment?
     (reduce, reuse, recycle, or put in a trash can)

44. What chemical is added to water to kill harmful germs?
     (chlorine)

45. Besides from drinking, where else can our bodies get the water they need?
      (fruits and vegetables)

46. What does water help regulate in our bodies to keep at 98.6?
     (temperature)

47. What is the best way to dispose of items like old dishes, old clothes, books,
or old games?
       (take them somewhere like Goodwill, Salvation Army, secondhand store,
       or have a garage sale)

48. What is the best way to dispose of diapers, styrofoam cups, or pizza boxes?
     (put them in the garbage)

49. What is the best way to dispose of items like oil-based paint, fertilizer, or
pesticides?
       (take them to a place for Household Hazardous Materials {such as the
       Regional Collection Center in Bondurant)

50. What is the best way to dispose of magazines, newspapers, or cardboard?
     (put them in your recycling bins on the curb or take them to a recycling
     center)

51. What are two things that plants need in order to grow?
     (water and sunlight)

52. What is the general name for a utility that is responsible for managing rainfall
runoff, particularly into storm sewers?
        (storm water utility)
53. What is the general name for a community’s utility that purifies river and/or
ground water to make it safe for drinking?
      (water treatment plant)

54. When Iowa was first settled, what was most of the state was covered by?
     (prairie)

55. What is very good at removing dirt from river water as water sinks down
through it?
      (sand and gravel- nature’s filters)

56. How many gallons of water does the average American use daily?
      (100-150)

57. What room of the house uses the most water each day?
     (bathroom)

58. What is a large hole that has been drilled into the ground so that
groundwater can be pumped out of it called?
      (well)

59. How many pounds of garbage are generated by the average Polk County
resident each day?
      (6.5)

60. About how many trees are needed to make one ton of paper?
      (17)

61. What fraction or percent of the garbage in landfills is packaging materials?
     (1/3 or 66%)

62. What kind of material is most commonly composted at compost facilities?
     (yard waste)

63. How many gallons of water does the average American use for a five-minute
shower?
      (30)

64. About how many quarts of water is needed by the body each day?
      (2 ½)

65. What is the name for an area of land that water flows across or under on its
way to a larger body of water?
      (watershed)
66. What is the longest navigable river in the United States?
      (Mississippi River)

67. What is the process of plants giving off water vapor into the air as they grow
called?
       (transpiration)

68. People are being encouraged to plant ___________ because they are
especially good at soaking up pollutants like fertilizer and pesticides so they do
not get into lakes, rivers, and streams.
       (wetlands)

69. About how many gallons of water will run down the drain if you leave a
faucet on for one minute?
       (5)

70. What is especially good at holding soil in place and keeping dirt from
washing away?
      (plant roots)

71. Because so many things will dissolve in water, water is often called the
___________________.
      (Universal Solvent)

72. What makes water sometimes look cloudy when it first comes out of a
faucet?
      (air bubbles)

73. What is something water does for our bodies and is a reason it is so
important for our good health?
      (regulates body temperature, or removes body waste, or protects body
      organs, or carries nutrients to body cells)

74. Of all the water on earth, how much is available to use for drinking water?
      (1%)

75. What are often used at construction sites to reduce soil runoff during
construction?
       (silt fences or tarp)

76. What is a word often used to describe a hazardous material that is
poisonous to our bodies?
      (toxic)
77. What is a word used to describe a hazardous material that can easily catch
on fire?
       (flammable)

78. When rain soaks into the garbage at landfills, it picks up many harmful
substances and is then called ________________. Landfills are designed to
protect groundwater from this substance.
       (leachate)

79. What is a piece of a glacier that has broken off into a body of water called?
     (iceberg)

80. What is the gas form of water called?
     (vapor)

81. Where is the rainiest spot on earth?
     (Hawaii)

82. What is the number one pollutant in Iowa lakes and rivers?
     (soil, dirt)

83. Lakes, rivers and streams need plenty of oxygen to be healthy waterbodies.
Two ways that oxygen gets in the water are from something moving the water,
such as wind, and ________.
      (plants)

84. In the past couple years in Iowa, many beaches have been closed or had
swimming warnings due to high counts of what pollutant?
       (bacteria)

85. Things that go down most storm sewers (or storm drains) end up in_____.
      (rivers)

86. What are the names of the five Great Lakes?
     (Huron, Michigan, Ontario, Superior, Erie)

87. What is the name for a building containing a machine that is used to grind up
grain (like wheat) into flour and used to be powered by a water wheel?
        (mill)

88. Has total water use since 1940 doubled, tripled or quadrupled?
      (quadrupled)

89. What is the name of a whitish crunchy vegetable often used in Chinese
cooking?
      (water chestnut)
90. What is another name for the cottonmouth snake?
     (water moccasin)

91. What is the name of a game similar to soccer that is played in the water?
     (water polo)

92. What is material that will not let water soak into called?
     (waterproof)

93. What is the name for a docking area where a large number of boats can be
kept?
      (marina)

94. Who is the mythological god of the sea?
     (Neptune or Poseidon)

95. What are the names of the 4 major cloud groups?
     (stratus, cumulus, cirrus, nimbus)

96. The world’s largest freshwater lake was destroyed by over-irrigation by the
former Soviet Union. What is the name of this lake?
      (Aral Sea)

97. Name a plant that grows in water.
      (cattail, water lily, arrowhead, etc.)

98. What is the Spanish word for water?
     (agua)

99. How much snow is equal to one inch of water?
      (10 inches)

100. Name the five oceans.
      (Atlantic, Pacific, Indian, Arctic, Antarctic)

101. What are fabled women who live in the ocean known as?
      (mermaids)

102. What country has the longest coastline of any nation?
      (Canada)

103. What is the name for the zone of water saturation below ground?
      (water table)
104. Name one purpose for building a dam on a river to create a reservoir.
      (irrigation, flood control, recreation, drinking water source, hydropower)

105. What percent of the earth’s fresh water is stored as groundwater?
      (50%)

106. About how many gallons of water does the average person use to brush
his/her teeth?
       (2 gallons)

107. What percent of our skin is water?
      (70%)

108. What percent of blood is water?
      (82%)

109. What percent of a watermelon is water?
      (92%)

110. About how many gallons of water evaporate off of an acre of corn in one
day?
      (4,000 gallons)