Monthly Trivia Archives: March 2011

Week of March 27 – Bug facts

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Bumble bees can vibrate or “shiver” their wing muscles to raise their body temperature.  Most insects warm themselves in the sun.

Damselfy are some of the oldest insects on Earth.  They were around when dinosaurs lived.

Dragonflies have amazing compound eyes that allow them to see in every direction at once.

After Honey bees collect nectar, thebee will go back to the hive and wiggle her abdomen while moving in a figure 8 pattern.  This wiggle dance tells the other bees the direction and distance to go find the flowers.

For many mayflies once it molts for the last time, it leaves the water, finds a mate and dies – usually within one day.

Army ants are famous for their method of hunting and killing prey much bigger than themselves.  They hunt together in groups called raids that might contain up to a million ants.

Field crickets chirp by rubbing the rough edges of their wings together.  Only male crickets can chirp – and they usually do it to attract females. 

There are around 11,000 different grasshopper species.  All of them have superstrong back legs that allow most to leap distances 20 times their body lengths – about three and a half feet.

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Week of March 20 – MOONS

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“Super Moon:” The full moon of March  2011was 221,565 miles (356,575 kilometers) on Saturday, March 19 just 50 minutes after it hit its full phase, making it the biggest and brightest full moon since 1993. The “supermoon” phenomenon occurred because the moon was in its full phase and just 50 minutes past perigee – the point of its orbit that brings it closer to Earth.

The Wolf Moon:  Named the wolf moon for the wolves that stalked early Indian villages looking for food during the winter months.

The Snow Moon:  Named the snow moon due to the fact that the heaviest snow fall often falls during this month. Also called the hunger moon because food was often scarce during this time.

The Strawberry Moon:  Dubbed the strawberry moon because the relatively short season for harvesting strawberries comes each year during the month of June.

The Buck Moon:  July was called the buck moon because during this month is when you see the antlers of the deer push out from their foreheads.

Harvest Moon:  This is the full Moon that occurs closest to the autumn equinox. In two years out of three, the Harvest Moon comes in September, but in some years it occurs in October. At the peak of harvest, farmers can work late into the night by the light of this Moon.

The Full Cold Moon: During December the winter cold fastens its grip, and nights are at their longest and darkest. The term Long Night Moon is a doubly appropriate name because the midwinter night is indeed long, and because the Moon is above the horizon for a long time. The midwinter full Moon has a high trajectory across the sky because it is opposite a low Sun.

Blue Moon: A blue moon can refer to the third full moon in a season with four full moons. Most years have twelve full moons that occur approximately monthly. In addition to those twelve full lunar cycles, each solar calendar year contains roughly eleven days more than the lunar year of 12 lunations. The extra days accumulate, so every two or three years (7 times in the 19-year Metonic cycle, there is an extra full moon.  The term “blue moon” comes from folklore. Different traditions and conventions place the extra “blue” full moon at different times in the year.


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Week of March 13 – St. Patrick’s Day Trivia

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Originally, the color associated with Saint Patrick was blue.  Over the years the color green and its association with Saint Patrick’s day grew. Green ribbons and  shamrocks were worn in celebration of St Patrick’s Day as early as the 17th century.

The traditional food of St. Patrick’s Day is Corned Beef and Cabbage.

St. Patrick’s Day became an official public holiday in Ireland in 1903. Prior to that, it was only observed as a religious holiday.

Saint Patrick was known for banishing dangerous animals.

If you were celebrating the tradition of St. Patrick’s Day in Ireland, you would wear a small bunch of shamrocks on your cap or jacket and, if you are a female, you would wear green ribbons in your hair.

Not surprisingly, the first American city to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day was Boston, Massachusetts, first taking place in the year 1737.

The world’s smallest St. Patrick’s Day parade is held in Dripsey, County Cork. It lasts for only 25 meters and goes from a pub…to a pub!

The word “leprechaun” comes from the Irish Gaelic word “leiprechan”, which was originally an underwater sprite.

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Week of March 6 – Snoopy Trivia

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Snoopy first appeared in the comic strip on October 4, 1950, two days after its premiere.  We didn’t learn his name until a month later, November 10, 1950.

Snoopy was born and raised on Daisy Hill Puppy Farm.

Snoopy was not the original name that Charles Schultz was going to give him.  His original name was going to be Sniffy.

Before Charlie Brown became Snoopy’s owner, he had one previous owner and her name was Lila.

Snoopy has 7 brothers and two sisters.  Only five of his siblings appeared in the comic strip.  Olaf, Marbles, Andy, Spike and Belle.   Molly and Rover never appeared in the comic strip.

Snoopy’s best friend was Woodstock.  They met when a Mother bird built a nest on Snoopy’s stomach.  There were two birds in it, but the Mother never came back. Schultz never said what happened to Woodstock’s sibling.

Snoopy’s favorite drink was root beer.

Snoopy was born and raised on
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