NAPLES DAILY NEWS
March 16, 2008
A team of four students from Barron Collier High School made history as the first to represent Collier County in a regional competition leading to the National Ocean Science Bowl (NOSB). The team of Kate Caputo, Sara Goodman, Devin Lawso and Scott Sundvor competed in St. Petersburg; this year's finals will be in Alaska.
The NOSB has been sponsored since 1998 by the Consortium for Ocean Leadership, representing leading oceanographic institutions, universities and aquariums, to promote the study of oceans.
To leam more, visit the NOSB's Web site at wwvv.nosb.org.
Here is a sample of multiplechoice questions from the contest:
1. The portion of the atmosphere that lies at the greatest distance from the ocean surface is called the:
a. stratosphere
b. troposphere
c. ozone layer
d. mesosphere
2. Why is the Gulf Stream stronger than the California current?
a. Eastern intensification
b. constant Corlolis eflfect
c. Beta effect
d. Eastern intensification and the beta effect
3. Tropical fish are sometimes found in NewYork bays during the summer. The most effective way for getting these species to NewYork is in:
a. deep undercurrents
b. eddies
c. Kelvin waves
d. upwelling
4. The Cromwell current is found in the:
a. Antarctic Ocean
b. Indian Ocean
c. Arctic Ocean
d. Pacific Ocean
5. If a full moon occurs on the first day of the month, then a new moon will occur on approximately the:
a. 8th
b.16th
c. 23rd
d. 31st
6. Temperature and salinity will both affect:
a. the depth to which light penetrates the ocean
b. the speed of ocean surface currents
c. the speed of sound in seawater
d. the shape ofthe local halocline
7. Which of the following is not a,way in which global warming might bring about sea-level rise?
a. thermal expansion of sea water
b. increased glacial meltwater
c. destabilization of Antarctic ice sheets
d. decreased strength of thermohaline circulation
8. Calm water is more likely to have:
a. more turbidity
b. more matter in the water column
c. less dissolved gases
d. more dissolved gases
9.The coastal mammal species driven nearly to extinction by hunting after the arrival of the Russians in Alaska is the:
a. sea otter
b. grey whale
c. northern fur seal
d. polar bear
10. SCUBA was invented by:
a. Benoit Rouquayrol and Aug:ust Denayrouze in 1865
b. Jules Verne in 1868
c. Yves Le Prieur in 1931
d. Jacques-Yves Cousteau and Emile Gagnon in 1942 1
1. All the following are methods of desalinating seawater except:
a. evaporation and condensation
b. freezing and thawing
c. osmotic filtration
d. bio-engineered salt-consuming bacteria
12. Sea level rise due to global warming threatens to eliminate which country?
a. Tuvalu
b. Jamaica
c. Haiti
d. Guam
13. High and low tides would not exist without:
a. seismic activity in the upper mantle
b. temperature differences between shallow and deep water
c. the gravitational attraction of the moon
d. the Coriolis force
14. The sea spider is one of the few creatures capable of feeding on:
a. hydroids
b. Portuguese-man-of-war
c. jellyfish
d. corals
15. Which of the following organisms is not pelagic as an adult?
a. jellyfish
b. radiolarian
c. clam
d. tuna
16. Tropical free-living feather stars attach themselves to coral reefs using which of the following structures?
a. cilia
b. parapodia
c. uncini
d. cirri
17. Species diversity in the ocean mostly depends on:
a. ocean currents
b. stability of the food supply
c. nature of seasonal fluctuations d. temperature
18. The oldest known oceanic crust is about:
a. 90 million years old
b. 120 million years old
c. 180 million years old
d. 320 million years old
19. These plate boundaries have the deepest seismic activity:
a. divergent
b. convergent
c. mid-oceanic ridges
d. transform
20. Which of the following marine arthropods feeds using structures called chelicerae?
a. blue crab
b. sea spider
c. slipper lobster
d. copepod
Answers: l.d; 2.c; 3.b; 4.d; 5.b; 6.c; 7.d; 8.c; 9.a; lO.d; ll.d; 12.a; 13.c; 14.a; 15.c; 16.d; 17.b; 18.c; 19.b; 20. b
