NewsTracker Answers for week of Oct. 31, 2022

Q: A young bar-tailed godwit appears to have set a non-stop distance record for migratory birds by flying at least 8,435 miles from the western coast of Alaska to the island of Tasmania off the southern tip of Australia. Where is Alaska?

Circle the area on this map

Q: The bird was tagged with a tracking GPS chip that allowed scientists to follow it on its record-breaking 11-day journey. The five-month-old bird traveled about how far around the globe?

A. Two-thirds of the way

B. Half the way

C. A third of the way

D. A quarter of the way

C. Measured around the poles, the Earth’s circumference is 24,859 miles. The bird’s 8,435-mile trip is 33.9 percent of that distance.

Q: The bird started out on a southwestern course toward Japan then turned over what chain of Alaskan islands in the North Pacific Ocean?

A. Aleutian

B. Chukchi

C. Inupiaq

D. Yupik

A. The Aleutian Islands are a chain of 14 large volcanic islands and 55 smaller islands that stretch from Alaska to Siberia in the Russian Federation. Most of the islands belong to Alaska. The Aleuts, Chukchi, Inupiaq and Yupik are indigenous peoples living in the Arctic and subarctic regions near the Bering Sea.

Q: The flight crossed the largest of the world’s five oceans. The Pacific is larger than ...

A. Africa

B. Eurasia

C. The Americas

D. All land areas

D. The Pacific Ocean division of the world ocean is 63.8 million square miles, while the Earth’s land area covers 57 million square miles. The Pacific is bounded by Asia and Australia to the west and North and South America to the east. It extends from the waters of the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south.

Q: Experts say the bird probably lost about half of its weight by the time it landed in Tasmania, Australia’s southernmost state. The history of Tasmania inspired which of these science fiction tales from the 19th century?

A. Island of Doctor Moreau

B. Mysterious Island

C. Propeller Island

D. War of the Worlds

D. The island of Tasmania was inhabited by Aboriginal peoples for nearly 40,000 years before they were wiped out by British prisoners and colonists during the 19th century. H.G. Wells cited that genocide in the opening chapter of his novel about invading Martians trying to destroy humanity, so the aliens could colonize the planet.