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The following article is from an archived newsletter. See our Shared Waters newsletter.

Test Your Great Lakes Knowledge, and Win a ‘Valuable Prize’

IJC staff
IJC

By IJC Staff
 

 

The Great Lakes basin is the world’s greatest freshwater ecosystem, containing nearly 18 percent of the planet’s surface freshwater and providing tens of millions of Canadians and Americans with abundant drinking water, recreational opportunities and ecosystem services that keep us healthy and safe.


The IJC helps the governments of both nations keep Great Lakes waters clean by providing guidance, advice, and the best available science to manage these shared waters.


To spread the word about the Great Lakes’ importance, we’re challenging all comers to an online Trivia Challenge. We’re planning more challenges for later this year about other basins we cover, from west to east. The first installment is below. And, yes, there is a valuable prize involved!


The rules are simple:
1. Take the quiz. Score yourself. (Honor system!)
2. If you get six or better out of eight questions, email us at: mcdiarmidh@windsor.ijc.org. Be sure and include your snail mail address.
3. We’ll send you the valuable prize in the mail. This installment’s prize is a terrific sticker suitable for a window, bumper or wherever, proclaiming: “Great Lakes, 10,000 miles of freshwater coastline.” Thanks to our friends at the Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory for providing the stickers!
OK, here we go!

1. How much water is in the Great Lakes?Overlooking the dunes at Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. Credit: Anne Swoboda
a) 6 million gallons
b) 6 trillion gallons
c) 6 quadrillion gallons
d) 6 bazillion gallons

2. How were the Great Lakes formed?
a) Earthquakes left deep rifts in land masses
b) Retreating glaciers scoured them out
c) Ancient rivers carved them
d) Comets left deep impact craters

3. All but one of the Great Lakes border both the U.S. and Canada. Which one doesn’t?
a) Superior
b) Ontario
c) St. Clair
d) Michigan

4. The deepest spot in the Great Lakes is:
a) 985 feet in Lake Superior
b) 985 feet in Lake Ontario
c) 1,332 feet in Lake Superior
d) 2,110 feet in Lake Superior

5. The least-visited national park in the continental United States is where?
a) Beaver Island in Lake Michigan
b) Isle Royale Island in Lake Superior
c) The Manitoulin Archipelogo in Lake Huron
d) Microcystis Peninsula in Lake Erie

6. On average, a drop of water that lands in Lake Superior will take how long to travel through the Lakes and into the St. Lawrence Seaway on its way to the Atlantic Ocean?
a) About 12 years
b) About 204 years
c) More than 1,000 years
d) That water would flow to the Mississippi River, not the ocean

7. Manitoulin Island in Lake Huron lays claim to what distinction?
a) It is the largest freshwater island in the world
b) It is the birthplace of both Canadian hockey star Sydney Crosby and astronaut Chris Hadfield
c) It is connected to the mainland by the world’s longest swing bridge
d) It is the only volcanic island in the Great Lakes

8. Eight U.S. states and two Canadian provinces are in the Great Lakes basin. Which two are not?
a) New York and Quebec
b) Ontario and Michigan
c) Quebec and Pennsylvania
d) Iowa and Manitoba
e) Saskatchewan and Indiana

Answers:
#1: C, 6 quadrillion gallons. That’s a 6, followed by 15 zeros!
#2: B, Glaciers carved the Great Lakes basin and many of our inland lakes.
#3: D, Lake Michigan is entirely within the U.S.
#4: C, 1,332 feet in Lake Superior
#5: B, Isle Royale, with fewer than 20,000 visitors annually
#6: B, More than 200 years
#7: A, Nothing else like it in the world
#8: D, Iowa and Manitoba are jealous

 

IJC staff
IJC

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