Category: Brain Teasers

Trivia: In which country can you find the Black Forest?

Germany
Thailand
Sweden
Canada

The correct answer is Germany

So why is this answer correct? : The Black Forest covers a large mountainous region in the state of Baden-Wurttemberg in southwestern Germany. It’s home to several picturesque towns and villages, including Baden-Baden, renowned for its spas and thermal baths, and Triberg, which boasts one of the world’s biggest cuckoo clocks. The Black Forest is also known for its hiking, skiing, and jewelry production.

Trivia: What rainforest spans nine countries?

The Amazon
The Congo
The Daintree
The Hoh

The correct answer is The Amazon

So why is this answer correct? : The Amazon is the largest rainforest on the planet, touching nine countries: Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Peru, Suriname, and Venezuela. It covers more than 2.1 million square miles (approximately 40% of the South American continent) which is about the same amount of space as the lower 48 United States. More than 60% of the Amazon falls within Brazil’s borders.

Trivia: Missouri is home to a national forest named for which famous author?

John Steinbeck
Ernest Hemingway
Harper Lee
Mark Twain

The correct answer is Mark Twain

So why is this answer correct? : Missouri’s only national forest is named for one of the most famous Missourians. Mark Twain National Forest covers approximately 1.5 million acres of land in and around the Ozark Mountains, in the central and southern parts of the state. But while the park is home to a number of notable springs, caverns, and volcanic mountains, it was never home to Mark Twain.

Trivia: What is the largest forest in the United States?

Coconino National Forest, Arizona
Tongass National Forest, Alaska
Bridger-Teton Forest, Wyoming
Sierra National Forest, California

The correct answer is Tongass National Forest, Alaska

So why is this answer correct? : Tongass National Forest in southeast Alaska covers 16.5 million acres, which is roughly half the size of North Carolina. There’s no shortage of activities for visitors, either. Take a hike, spot some eagles, camp, fish, or ride a dog sled across a glacier. There are also several cultural centers in the forest, where you can learn about native culture, geology, and wildlife.

Trivia: Which forest is home to the world’s largest tree?

Giant Forest, California
Dancing Forest, Russia
Wistman’s Wood, England
Hallerbos Forest, Belgium

The correct answer is Giant Forest, California

So why is this answer correct? : At about 52,500 cubic feet when it was last measured accurately in the 1980s, General Sherman is the world’s largest tree by volume. (For reference, that’s about half the volume of an Olympic-size swimming pool.) But despite being big, General Sherman is not particularly old by sequoia standards — the tree is only about 2,000 years young, whereas other sequoias are thought to be more than 3,000 years old.

Trivia: What U.S. state has the highest percentage of forest land?

Alaska
Montana
Tennessee
Maine

The correct answer is Maine

So why is this answer correct? : There’s more to the Northeast than just cities — especially if you head all the way up the coast to Maine, a largely rural state that is 89% forest land. Neighboring New Hampshire takes second place (and actually finishes ahead of Maine in tree cover, which is a little different — a tree on a golf course, for example, counts as tree cover but not forest land).

Trivia: Which continent is home to the second-largest rainforest in the world?

Australia
Africa
South America
Asia

The correct answer is Africa

So why is this answer correct? : Though the Amazon covers 1.2 billion acres, the world’s second-largest rainforest is nothing to sneeze at. The Congo Rainforest stretches over 500 million acres — bigger than the entire state of Alaska. It is home to 10,000 species of tropical plants (30% of which can be found nowhere else on Earth), 400 species of mammals, 1,000 species of birds, and 700 species of fish.

Trivia: Which country is home to a mysterious “crooked” forest?

Lithuania
Spain
Poland
Colombia

The correct answer is Poland

So why is this answer correct? : In a quiet northwestern corner of Poland is a groove of around 400 pine trees whose bizarre shapes have long baffled scientists. The majority of the trees of the Crooked Forest possess a 90-degree bend at their base that points due north. Some say that it’s due to a gravitational pull in the area, while others suggest that heavy snowfall flattened the trees when they were young.

Trivia: Which country contains more than 25% of the world’s forests?

China
Canada
Sweden
Russia

The correct answer is Russia

So why is this answer correct? : The world’s largest rainforest is located in South America, but the largest forested area on Earth starts in Eastern Europe and stretches all the way to Siberia. Comprising 808.8 million hectares, these boreal forests make up over 25% of the Earth’s forests. Though they don’t include a wide diversity of tree types, the forests play an important role in keeping carbon out of the atmosphere.

Trivia: Where is the world’s oldest known forest?

Russia
United States
South Africa
Venezuela

The correct answer is United States

So why is this answer correct? : It was only in 2009 that scientists uncovered the remnants of an ancient root system just outside Cairo, New York, that hadn’t changed much over the course of 385 million years. The fossilized roots are believed to be part of Archaeopteris, a genus that yielded the first modern tree. Reaching out around 18 feet from their trunks’ bases, the tree roots once dominated forests around the world.