Polar Seasons Trivia Quiz

Answer: Summer & Winter

The Earth's axis is tilted 23.5 degrees, so the area above 66.5 degrees latitude are designated polar regions. In the polar regions, during summer the sun never sets; during polar winter, it never rises.

Answer: November, December, January

The southern hemisphere, and thus Antarctica, is having summer when the northern hemisphere is having winter. Operation Deep Freeze is the U.S. military-led mission to bring in large amounts of ship-borne freight during the warmer months.

Answer: North

The land that surrounds the northern polar region is largely made up of tundra, an area with low plants, shrubs and a few trees. The southern landmass, Antarctica, is mostly ice-covered and surrounded by ocean, and has no significant plant life.

Answer: Aurora

For reasons not entirely understood, the geomagnetic storms that ignite the aurora peak in the months around the equinoxes in March and September. One factor may be that interplanetary magnetic field aligns with that of Earth at these times, but that and the increase in solar wind account for only 1/3 of the observed changes; the other factors are as of yet unknown.

Answer: Icebergs

The International Ice Patrol (IIP) was formed in 1914, soon after the sinking of RMS Titanic, to locate icebergs that are dangerous to shipping. The ice season in the North Atlantic shipping lanes runs generally from April through July.

Answer: Circadian rhythm

High-latitude animals like reindeer and penguins often show a circadian rhythm only in the Spring and Fall when there is both light and dark in the polar regions. The constant light of polar summer and constant dark of polar winter can cause the circadian cycle to disappear altogether in some animals, although a few retain the cycle even in constant light or dark.

Answer: Wintering over

Wintering over is most often done by explorers and scientists at the Antarctic land stations, although some early Arctic explorers wintered-over in their ships or floating research stations. The U.S. military has attachments to their Arctic and Antarctic service medals to indicate those who completed the harder task of wintering over.

Answer: International Geophysical Year

The International Geophysical Year (IGY) built on previous periods of polar science conducted in 1882-1883 and 1932-1933. The scientific advances of the mid-1900s - especially rocketry, radar and radio communications- allowed scientists from 67 nations to conduct coordinated experiments in hitherto sparsely studied areas.

Answer: Emperor Penguin

Both male and female Emperor Penguins walk 60-100 miles inland to designated nesting sites that are used by the same colonies year after year. The male Emperor winters-over with a single egg while the female returns to the ocean to feed. When the eggs hatch in August, the females return and watch the young chicks while the males go to the ocean to feed.

The two parents will then take turns going to the ocean to feed and bring food back to the chicks for the next nine months, after which the chicks are left on their own.

Answer: Sea ice breaks up

The opening of sea ice allows natives to hunt whales; in all of Alaska, about 75 bowhead whales are taken annually from an estimated population of 10,000 animals. The International Whaling Commission allows this under a program known as Aboriginal Subsistence Whaling.