Why Not? Trivia Quiz

Answer: Penguins live in Antarctica and polar bears don't.

Polar bears are native to Arctic regions (in the northern hemisphere) - in fact approximately 60% of the world's polar bear population can be found in Canada! The diet of the polar bear is mainly seals, although sometimes they will catch small beluga whales or walruses. If their main food is not available, they will eat other animals (reindeer, small rodents, birds, garbage, etc.)

All penguins can be found in the southern hemisphere, with most of them living in Antarctica. They are birds, but they cannot fly. They are so good at swimming, though, that it looks like they are flying through the water. Penguins don't need to look out for polar bears, but they do need to watch out for leopard seals and orcas.

Answer: The Predator is from Dark Horse Comics and Doctor Doom is from Marvel Comics.

The Predator first appeared in the 1987 movie "Predator" starring Arnold Schwarzenegger. Following that, the Predator character was taken up by Dark Horse Comics in a series of stories beginning in 1989. The Predator is an alien creature who is the consummate hunter, with advanced weapons and the ability to camouflage itself with its surroundings.

Doctor Doom is a villain from Marvel Comics, the archenemy of The Fantastic Four". He made his first appearance in "Fantastic Four" #5 in 1962. Doctor Doom's real name is Victor von Doom and he comes from the fictional country of Latveria. Most of Doctor Doom's powers are from his intellect to create weapons and armor that are highly technological, but he has also learned some mystical powers such as energy manipulation and shield generation.

Answer: They are islands that are too far apart.

Australia is both an island and a continent (the smallest continent), plus some smaller islands, while New Zealand is made up of three main islands (and some smaller ones). The closest distance between the two countries is 1,491 kilometres, or 926 miles across the Tasman Sea.

That would make for a VERY long bridge!

Answer: They lived in different centuries.

Gaius Julius Caesar lived from 100 BCE (before common era) to 44 BCE. He was a Roman General who became the Dictator of Rome in 49 BCE and was assassinated (killed) five years later.

Alexander the Great lived over two hundred years earlier from 356 BCE until 323 BCE. He was from Macedonia and he conquered Persia and Egypt and made a great empire before he died in Babylon (some believe he was poisoned).

Answer: You play with a spinner numbered one to ten.

"The Game of Life" is made by the Milton Bradley Company, originally created by Rueben Kramer and Bill Markham in 1860. It used to be called "The Checkered Game of Life". The more modern game with the little plastic cars and spinning wheel numbered one to ten first came out in 1960.

In the game the players (cars with spots for people that are blue and pink pegs) travel a road through life - going to school, choosing a career, getting married, buying a house, having kids, and retiring. It's a lot more fun to play than I make it sound.

Answer: Gandalf is from "The Lord of the Rings".

Gandalf the Gray (and later Gandalf the White) is a character from J.R.R. Tolkien's series "The Lord of the Rings", which was written as three books and published in 1954 and 1955. The books were made into movies in 2001 ("The Fellowship of the Ring"), 2002 ("The Two Towers"), and 2003 (The Return of the King".

Quidditch is a game played by witches and wizards on brooms in J.K. Rowling's "Harry Potter" books. The story of Harry and his time at Hogwarts (and his fight against the evil Lord Voldemort) was written in seven novels published between 1997 and 2007. These books were also made into movies:

"Harry Potter and the...
...Philosopher's Stone" (2001)
...Chamber of Secrets" (2002)
...Prisoner of Azkaban" (2004)
...Goblet of Fire" (2005)
...Order of the Phoenix" (2007)
...Half-Blood Prince" (2009)
...Deathly Hallows - Part 1" (2010)
...Deathly Hallows - Part 2" (2011)

Answer: It was invented after Mozart lived.

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was born in Salzburg, Austria in 1756 and he died in 1791 at the young age of 35. He was a musical prodigy - which means that he could play and write music very well at a VERY young age. He was writing music at the age of five and performing on violin and harpsichord all over Europe.

The saxophone was invented by Belgian Adolphe Sax in 1846. The instruments in the saxophone family are made of metal, but they are actually part of the woodwind family, and not the brass family. This is because they use a reed to make sound, and not a cup-mouthpiece like a brass instrument.

Answer: They play different sports.

The Calgary Flames are a hockey team in the National Hockey League. Calgary is in Alberta, Canada. Originally, the team was the Atlanta Flames, but in 1980 they moved to Calgary. The Flames won their first Stanley Cup in 1988.

The New York Yankees play baseball in the American League of Major League Baseball. They started out in Baltimore, Maryland in 1901, then moved to New York in 1903 as the New York Highlanders. They became the New York Yankees in 1913. The team won their first World Series in 1923, and won another 25 by the end of the 20th century.

Answer: They are from different video games.

Mario is the main character of the "Super Mario" series of video games from Nintendo. Along with his brother Luigi, his goal (in the original 1985 "Super Mario Bros." game) is to save Princess Peach from bad guy Bowser.

Mario first appeared as Jumpman in the 1981 "Donkey Kong" arcade game, then as Mario in the 1983 "Mario Bros." arcade game.

Princess Zelda is from Nintendo's "The Legend of Zelda" series, where the hero is Link. The very first game in the series came out in 1986.

Answer: Canada has a Prime Minister, not a President.

Canada has a Prime Minister, with the government modelled on the British parliamentary system. That means that in an election, the political party with the most people voted in wins the election, and the leader of that party becomes the Prime Minister.

In the United States there are separate elections for Congress and and the office of the President. The President can be part of a political party that is different than the party that has the most seats in Congress.