Nature quiz questions about the world around us

Not every quiz round needs to be about animals or the solar system. Some of the best trivia hides in the plants growing around us, the weather patterns overhead, and the landscapes that shape entire regions. This round pulls together questions on trees and flowers, rainfall and storms, ecosystems, and some of the planet's more extreme natural landmarks, the kind of places that sound made up until you check a map.

The 20 questions below are split into four sections: plants and trees, weather and climate, ecosystems, and natural wonders and geology. For more from the natural world, our science quiz questions cover space, the human body and chemistry, and our animal quiz questions handle mammals, birds, sea life and insects. Everything here is about what's growing, blowing, and eroding instead.

Plants and Trees

1What is the fastest-growing plant in the world, capable of gaining up to 91cm in height in a single day under the right conditions?

Answer:Bamboo. Not every species grows quite that fast, but some varieties can add close to an inch an hour. (Guinness World Records)(click to reveal)

2In Utah, a single tree has spread underground roots across more than 100 acres, producing over 47,000 genetically identical trunks that are technically all one organism. What type of tree is it?

Answer:A quaking aspen. The colony, nicknamed Pando, is estimated to be tens of thousands of years old, which would make it one of the oldest living things on Earth as well as one of the heaviest. (Live Science)(click to reveal)

3This plant produces a giant bloom that smells like rotting flesh to attract flies and carrion beetles, and only opens for about a day, once every several years. What is it commonly called?

Answer:The corpse flower (also known as titan arum). The stench comes from a chemical mix that's been compared to rotting fish, garlic and sweaty socks. (Chicago Botanic Garden)(click to reveal)

4Which species of tree, found high in California's White Mountains, holds the record for the oldest known living individual tree, at close to 5,000 years old?

Answer:The Great Basin bristlecone pine. The most famous specimen, nicknamed Methuselah, has its exact location kept secret to protect it from damage or vandalism. (Guinness World Records)(click to reveal)

5What type of tree includes the tallest living tree on Earth, a Californian specimen measured at over 115 metres?

Answer:The coast redwood. The tree, nicknamed Hyperion, is roughly the height of a 35-storey building, and like the bristlecone pine, its precise location isn't published either. (Guinness World Records)(click to reveal)

Weather and Climate

6Where on Earth was the highest reliably recorded air temperature ever measured, hitting 56.7°C (134°F) back in 1913?

Answer:Death Valley, California (at a spot called Furnace Creek). A handful of earlier, higher readings from other locations have since been discredited by meteorologists as measurement errors. (Science News)(click to reveal)

7Which village, in the hills of northeast India, holds the Guinness World Record for the highest average annual rainfall on the planet?

Answer:Mawsynram. It receives close to 12 metres of rain a year on average, most of it arriving in just six months during the monsoon. (Guinness World Records)(click to reveal)

8Which desert, running along Chile's Pacific coast, is considered the driest non-polar place on Earth, with some spots having gone decades without any recorded rainfall?

Answer:The Atacama Desert. Its extreme dryness comes from a cold ocean current and high-pressure air that stop rain clouds from forming, and NASA has used its landscape to test equipment destined for Mars. (HowStuffWorks)(click to reveal)

9Which lake in Venezuela produces a lightning storm so frequent, caused by warm lake air colliding with cool mountain air overnight, that sailors once used it to navigate and it earned the nickname "the everlasting storm"?

Answer:Lake Maracaibo. The phenomenon, known as Catatumbo lightning, can flash up to 1,600 times an hour and occurs on around 300 nights a year. (NASA Earthdata)(click to reveal)

10Scientists say it's essentially impossible for two large, fully formed snowflakes to look exactly alike. What's the main reason for that?

Answer:Each one falls through slightly different conditions of temperature and humidity on its way down, so its ice crystals branch and grow in a unique pattern. Simpler, smaller snow crystals can sometimes look alike, but fully developed ones almost never do. (Library of Congress)(click to reveal)

Ecosystems

11In a tropical rainforest, what's the name for the very top layer, made up of a handful of exceptionally tall trees poking out above the main canopy?

Answer:The emergent layer. Trees here face stronger winds and more direct sun than anything growing below the canopy.(click to reveal)

12Which biome, found in the Arctic and on high mountain tops, is defined by a layer of permanently frozen subsoil?

Answer:Tundra. That frozen layer is called permafrost, and its slow thaw in a warming climate is something scientists are watching closely.(click to reveal)

13What term describes the salt-tolerant trees and shrubs that grow in tangled roots along tropical and subtropical coastlines, helping to buffer the shore from storms and erosion?

Answer:Mangroves. Their roots also trap sediment and provide a nursery habitat for young fish and other marine life.(click to reveal)

14In ecology, what's the general term for a close relationship between two different species where both sides benefit?

Answer:Mutualism (a type of symbiosis). A classic example is a bee getting nectar from a flower while pollinating it in return, though we'll leave the pollinators themselves for another round.(click to reveal)

Natural Wonders and Geology

15Which US canyon, carved out by a river over roughly six million years, plunges to depths of more than a mile (over 1,800 metres) in places?

Answer:The Grand Canyon. The Colorado River is still cutting into the rock today, though nowhere near as fast as it did in the canyon's early history. (Live Science)(click to reveal)

16What is the name of the world's tallest waterfall, found in Venezuela's Canaima National Park, with a total drop of nearly a kilometre?

Answer:Angel Falls. Its longest single, uninterrupted drop alone is over 800 metres, more than twice the height of the Eiffel Tower. (Geology.com)(click to reveal)

17Which body of water holds the record for the lowest point on dry land, with its shores sitting more than 400 metres below sea level, and is so salty that almost nothing can survive in it?

Answer:The Dead Sea. Its water is roughly ten times saltier than the open ocean, which is also what makes it so easy to float in. (Britannica)(click to reveal)

18Stretching over 2,300km off the coast of Queensland, what is generally considered the largest structure on Earth built by living organisms?

Answer:The Great Barrier Reef. It's made up of almost 3,000 individual reefs and is visible from space. (NOAA)(click to reveal)

19What's the name for the horseshoe-shaped belt of fault lines circling the Pacific Ocean that's home to around 75% of the world's active volcanoes?

Answer:The Ring of Fire. The same belt is also responsible for roughly 90% of the world's earthquakes. (National Geographic)(click to reveal)

20Which geyser in Yellowstone National Park earned its name for erupting fairly predictably, roughly every 90 minutes, since it was first documented in 1870?

Answer:Old Faithful. A single eruption can shoot over 100 feet into the air and release thousands of gallons of boiling water. (National Park Service)(click to reveal)

Running a nature round well

Mix the sections up. Reading straight down the list means one team can coast through an entire category if someone happens to know their trees or their geysers. Pull a couple of questions from each section instead.

Let the numbers sink in. Some of these facts (a 5,000-year-old tree, a lake that lights up 300 nights a year) are worth a pause after the reveal rather than rushing straight to the next question.

Build a full science-and-nature night. Pair this round with our science quiz questions and animal quiz questions for a complete natural world evening, or put together your own running order with the quiz creator.