Planet Earth Quiz 1
We believe this quiz is not as difficult as others on our site, due to the multiple choice nature of the questions. Simply remove the multiple choice answers and add boundaries (plus or minus 200, for example) to the start of the questions to make them tougher.
1. Approximately how long has the earth existed:
a: 3,600 million years
b: 4,600 million years or
c: 5,600 million years?
2. How often do earthquakes take place every year:
a: 1,000 times per year
b: 10,000 times per year
c: 100,000 times per year
3. What proportion of the surface of the earth is covered with salt water:
a: One third
b: One half
c: Two thirds?
4. Staying with salt water, how much salt can one find on average in a litre of seawater:
a: 15g
b: 35g
c: 75g ?
5. What does the ocean floor look like:
a: mostly flat or
b: mostly hilly
6. How many varieties or species of plants, animals and other life forms exist on earth:
a: roughly 2 million
b: roughly 20 million
c: roughly 200 million?
7. How hot is the central core of the earth:
a: 1,000 degrees C
b: 2,000 degrees C or
c: 5,000 degrees C
8. How many storms are there every day on earth:
a: 2,000
b: 12,000
c: 20,000
9. How big is the circumference of the earth:
a: ~ 40,000 km
b: ~ 50,000 km
c: ~ 70,000 km?
10. How many people on average are there in Australia per square kilometre:
a: 2
b: 20
c: 200?
11. Which of the following is the biggest island on earth:
a: Iceland
b: Australia
c: Greenland?
12. How many known volcanoes are there on earth:
a: 220
b: 520
c: 720?
ANSWERS
1. b: 4,600 million years
2. b: 10,000 times per year
3. c: Two thirds
4. b: 35g - if all the salt from all the oceans were to be collected and layed flat completely over Europe, Europe would be covered by a 5km thick crust!
5. a: mostly flat
6. b: roughly 20 million
7. c: 5,000 degrees C
8. c: 20,000, although there are roughly 2,000 at any one time
9. a: ~ 40,000 km - in fact it is 40,075 km.
10. a: 2
11. c: Greenland, with 2,175,600 km2
12. b: 520 - some active, some not, obviously!