The American West

Question 1

The longest mountain chain on earth

Answer 1

Cordilleran chain

Question 2

“The backbone of North America”

Answer 2

The Rockies

Question 3

“The roof of America” (hint: (state) (r__ki_s)

Answer 3

Colorado Rockies

Question 4

Highest peak in the Rockies (hint: located in Colorado)

Answer 4

Mt. Elbert

Question 5

Highest point of a mountain range

Answer 5

Summit

Question 6

What are the meanings of flora and fauna?

Answer 6

Flora - the plants of a specific region
Fauna - the animals of a specific region

Question 7

What are ponderosa pines prized for?

Answer 7

Their fine lumber

Question 8

Above the snow line,little grows except for delicate flowers,but what else covers the ground?

Answer 8

Snow and ice

Question 9

A stretch of high land that divides the river systems of a continent

Answer 9

Continental divide

Question 10

North America’s divide is so big,it’s called…

Answer 10

The Great Divide

Question 11

What are begging points for rivers? (Hint: from up to down,where does your body begin?)

Answer 11

Headwaters

Question 12

What does arid mean?

Answer 12

Dry

Question 13

The river that flows through the Grand Canyon?

Answer 13

Colorado River

Question 14

The largest river flowing into the Pacific Ocean from North America (hint: if we’re singing our Canadian song,what’s the first province? Look at the second word of that province)

Answer 14

Columbia River

Question 15

The oldest national park in the world

Answer 15

Yellowstone

Question 16

More than (how many?) active geysers are Yellowstone

Answer 16

200

Question 17

A hot spring is a spring in which the water is above (how much degrees?) Fahrenheit

Answer 17

98 degrees Fahrenheit

Question 18

What is a geyser?

Answer 18

A hot spring that shoots out boiling water and steam.

Question 19

What is the most famous geyser?

Answer 19

Old Faithful

Question 20

When does Old Faithful erupt?

Answer 20

Every 80 mins or so

Question 21

Why has Old Faithful declined in its frequency of erupting?

Answer 21

An earthquake changed its pattern in 1998

Question 22

The world’s largest geyser

Answer 22

Steamboat Geyser

Question 23

The largest high altitude lake in North America (hint: named after the most famous national park)

Answer 23

Yellowstone Lake

Question 24

The wild sheep of North America

Answer 24

Bighorn

Question 25

Female bighorns

Answer 25

Ewes

Question 26

What are rams?

Answer 26

Male bighorns

Question 27

What do male bighorns have?

Answer 27

Thick curling horns

Question 28

What’s the difference between between grazing and browsing?

Answer 28

Grazing is eating grass,and browsing is eating shrubs and other things.

Question 29

What part of a mountain goat helps them climb effortlessly?

Answer 29

Their hooves

Question 30

Most widely distributed carnivorous animal in the New World which is called by many different names.

Answer 30

Mountain lion

Question 31

How many names is the mountain lion called by?

Answer 31

4

Question 32

Which animal’s scientific name is Ursa horribilis?

Answer 32

Grizzly bear

Question 33

What does the grizzly bear’s scientific name mean?

Answer 33

Horrible bear

Question 34

Egg-shaped member of the hares sometimes called a cony or whistling hare

Answer 34

Pika

Question 35

The fat little farmer of the mountain slopes

Answer 35

Pika

Question 36

The bird that makes its nest behind a waterfall,also known as a dipper

Answer 36

Water ouzel

Question 37

What does the water ouzel do to protect its feathers?

Answer 37

It’s oil glands produce an oily ‘raincoat’

Question 38

Largest lava plateau

Answer 38

Columbia Plateau

Question 39

Which river runs through the deepest canyon in the U.S. ? (Hint:it’s named after the animal a river looks like)

Answer 39

Snake river

Question 40

How many regions is the North American desert split up into?

Answer 40

5

Question 41

The largest desert area in the U.S. which also has a plant with a sweet smell and a bitter taste

Answer 41

Great Basin Desert

Question 42

What is a sagebrush?

Answer 42

A plant with a sweet smell and a bitter taste

Question 43

What’s the longest living tree?

Answer 43

Bristlecone pine

Question 44

What name was given to the oldest known living tree?

Answer 44

Methuselah

Question 45

Largest SALTwater lake in North America

Answer 45

Great Salt Lake

Question 46

What desert is near the Great Salt Lake noted for its hard salt beds?

Answer 46

Great Salt Lake Desert

Question 47

What are mesas?

Answer 47

Flat-topped hills

Question 48

The largest canyon

Answer 48

Grand Canyon

Question 49

Deepest canyon in the U.S.

Answer 49

Hells Canyon

Question 50

Colorado River flows through what canyon?

Answer 50

Grand Canyon

Question 51

What (mostly) formed the Grand Canyon? (Hint:water)

Answer 51

The Great Flood

Question 52

What Indians lived in the Grand Canyon?

Answer 52

Pueblo Indians

Question 53

What did the name of Havasupai Indians mean?

Answer 53

People of the blue-green water

Question 54

Why does the Painted Desert sometimes glow?

Answer 54

A purple or pink dust rises from the desert

Question 55

The two Indians that lived in the Painted Desert that used the colorful sand to make famous paintings

Answer 55

Navajo and Hopi

Question 56

The largest and points colorful petrified forest in the world

Answer 56

Petrified Forest National Park

Question 57

What’s the other spelling of Mojave? (Hint: one letter difference)

Answer 57

Mohave

Question 58

What are salt flats also called?

Answer 58

Dry lake beds

Question 59

The hottest and driest part of North America

Answer 59

Death valley

Question 60

The highest point in the US outside of Alaska

Answer 60

Mount Whitney

Question 61

Where did the highest temperature recorded in the US occur?

Answer 61

In death valley

Question 62

The largest cactus in the world

Answer 62

Saguaro cactus

Question 63

What is the Chihuahuan Desert famous for?

Answer 63

The breeding center for the Chihuahua

Question 64

The worlds most spectacular limestone caverns (hint: you’ve been there)

Answer 64

Carlsbad caverns

Question 65

What is the Chihuahua desert known for besides its breeding center?

Answer 65

Huge dunes of dazzling, white sands

Question 66

What are the two things plants and animals have to cope with in the desert?

Answer 66

Lack of water and extreme heat

Question 67

The cacti that got named because it looked like a storing unit

Answer 67

Barrel cacti

Question 68

Most widespread cactus (hint: named after a fruit)

Answer 68

Prickly pear

Question 69

What time do most desert animals come out at?

Answer 69

Night

Question 70

One of only two poisonous lizards in the world (hint: named after the thing that hides under your bed)

Answer 70

Gila monster

Question 71

The horned toad is an actual toad! (T or F and why)

Answer 71

False, it’s a lizard

Question 72

The most abundant animals of the desert (hint: inside joke)

Answer 72

Rodents

Question 73

What part of the antelope jack rabbit’s body is used as a cooling system?

Answer 73

It’s ears

Question 74

What is bats doodoo called? (Hint: sounds Spanish.)

Answer 74

Guano

Question 75

The largest land bird in North America

Answer 75

California condor

Question 76

Home of the tallest trees in North America

Answer 76

Intermountain region

Question 77

Sometimes called the Gooneybird, this bird has the greatest wingspan of any bird (hint: usually seen on beaches)

Answer 77

Wandering albatross