Fourth Grade Knowledge –A-Thon Questions 2008

Literature

1) What is it called when a poet varies the standard form of a poem? ANSWER: Poetic license

2) At the end of the poem, Humanity, what does Elma Stuckey mean when she writes:  A life that’s lived worthwhile and fine, What matters the one who lives it?  ANSWER:  It does not matter what you look like, it is being a person of inner virtue that counts.

3) What should you do if you receive an invitation with an RSVP on it? ANSWER: Answer whether or not you can come.

4) Who gave the famous speech, “Give me Liberty”? ANSWER: Patrick Henry

5) What is a story passed down through the years that is based on some facts, but is not historically accurate?  ANSWER:  a legend

6) Why does Rip Van Winkle go hunting in the Catskill Mountains?    ANSWER:  to escape work and his nagging wife

7) What job does Ichabod Crane take in Sleepy Hollow?  ANSWER:  a schoolmaster

8) In which novel would you find the following characters:  Jim Hawkins, Dr. Livesay, Squire Trelawney, and Israel Hands?  Name the title and author.   ANSWER:  Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson
9)  Sojourner Truth was born into slavery.  When New York emancipated its slaves, Sojourner began to speak publicly for abolition and women’s rights.  Name her famous speech of 1851.
ANSWER:  “Ain’t I a Woman?”

10) Name King Arthur’s legendary sword.  ANSWER:  Excalibur

Language Arts (Writing, Grammar)

11) What part of speech names a person, place, thing, or idea?  ANSWER:  noun

12) What are the adjective questions?  ANSWER:  what kind, which one, how many

13) What is the verb question? ANSWER: what is being said about

14) What does an adverb modify? ANSWER: verb, adjective, or another adverb

15) What is the plot of a story?  ANSWER:  what happens in the story

16) What is the name of the verb that goes with a direct object? ANSWER:  a transitive verb

17) What is a metaphor? ANSWER:  a comparison of two unlike things without using like or as

18) What is genre?  ANSWER:  a particular style of literature

19) What is the first sentence called in an expository paragraph? ANSWER:  topic sentence

20) Name the 8 parts of speech. ANSWER: noun, verb, pronoun, adjective, adverb, preposition, interjection, conjunction

Science

21) Name the 4 states of matter.  ANSWER:  solid, liquid, gas; plasma

22) How is wind produced?  ANSWER:  uneven heating

23) Name the three types of rocks.  ANSWER:  igneous, sedimentary,
                  metamorphic

24) Which system of the body is made up of blood, the blood vessels, and the heart?  ANSWER:  the circulatory system

25) Which system of the body is made up of the trachea and lungs, and involves the exchange of oxygenated air for carbon dioxide?  ANSWER:  the respiratory system

26) What is the difference between magma and lava?  ANSWER:  Magma is melted rock from the earth’s mantle which is inside a volcano.  Lava is magma that reaches the earth’s surface.

27) During which era did the dinosaurs live?  ANSWER:  mesozoic

28) Name the four layers of the earth, beginning with the inside and moving out.  ANSWER:  inner core, outer core, mantle, crust

29) What is the name of the instrument that geologists use to record earthquake and volcanic activity?  ANSWER:  seismograph

30) A scientist named Michael Faraday used a copper plate and and a magnet.  What did this experiment lead to?  ANSWER:  the electric generator

American & World Geography

31) Name the seven continents: ANSWER:  North America, South America, Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia and Antarctica

32) What is the capital of Wisconsin?  ANSWER:  Madison

33) What country was famous for silk produced by silkworms, which led to trade routes across Asia?  ANSWER:  China
 

34) Name the Great Lakes:  ANSWER: Huron, Ontario, Michigan, Erie, Superior

35) Name the largest desert in Africa:  ANSWER: Sahara

36) Name the “Great River” which Wisconsin explorers Father Marquette and Louis Jolliet took south to the Spanish lands? ANSWER: The Mississippi River

37)  Name the world’s tallest mountain and the range in which it is located.  ANSWER: Mount Everest in the Himalayas

38) What is the second largest continent?  ANSWER: Africa

39) Where was our nation’s first capital city? ANSWER:  New York

40) What separates England from Normandy? ANSWER: The English Channel
 
American & World History

41) Which kingdom did Mansa Musa rule from 1312 to 1337 and which religion was he?  ANSWER:  Mali, Muslim

42) Why was the Great Wall of China built?  ANSWER: to keep out invaders from the north
 
43) What is the name of the Muslim holy book?  ANSWER:  the Koran

44) What was feudalism?  ANSWER: Land exchanged for loyalty

45) What is another name for the French and Indian War?  ANSWER:  the Seven Years War

46) During the Second Continental Congress, the delegates accepted an important document written by Thomas Jefferson.  What is the name of that document?  ANSWER:  The Declaration of Independence

47) Which president was known for the doctrine that said European countries should leave nations in our hemisphere alone?  Monroe

48) What battle occurred in 1066?  ANSWER:  The Battle of Hastings.

49) Name the 3 branches of American government:     ANSWER:  Executive, Legislative, Judicial,

50) Who is considered the Father of the Constitution?  ANSWER:  James Madison

Mathematics

51) What is the formula for the area of a rectangle?  ANSWER:  area=length x width

52) What is the name of a polygon with 4 sides?  ANSWER: A quadrilateral

53) Turn this fraction into a decimal: 90/100 ANSWER:  .90

54) How do you read the decimal number “point seven two four” (.724)? ANSWER:  Seven hundred twenty four thousandths

55) What is the square root of 9?  ANSWER: 3

56) Round this number to the nearest hundreds:  726   ANSWER:  700

57) Round this number to the nearest tens:  17   ANSWER:  20

58) Reduce 50/100 to its lowest terms. ANSWER: 1/2

59) Add:  ¾ + 2.  Give your answer as a mixed number.       ANSWER:  2 ¾

60) How many millimeters equal a centimeter?   ANSWER:  10

Spelling

61) When do you drop the final e from a word?  ANSWER:  When the next morphograph begins with a vowel letter

62) What is a morphograph?  ANSWER:  Smallest unit of meaning

63) Which letter acts like two consonants?  ANSWER:  x

64) When do you double the final c in a short word?  ANSWER:  When the word ends cvc and the next morphograph begins with v

65)Which two letters act as vowels at the end of a morphograph?  ANSWER:  y, w

66)When do you change the y to I in a word?  ANSWER:  when the word ends consonant and y and the next morphograph begins with anything except i

67) spell the word “friend.”
 
68) spell the word “aren’t.”
 
69) spell the word “reconfirmed.”

70) spell the word “happiness.”

Music

71) Who wrote Symphony No. 94, “Surprise Symphony?”  ANSWER: Haydn

72) Who wrote The Magic Flute?  ANSWER: Mozart

73) Who wrote the “Hallelujah Chorus” from The Messiah?  ANSWER: Handel

74) Which is the highest female part?  ANSWER: Soprano

75) Which is the highest male part?   ANSWER: Tenor

76) Did Gregorian Chant come before or after the Renaissance?  ANSWER: before

77) What does crescendo mean?  ANSWER: Gradually getting louder

78) What does a sharp (#) mean?  ANSWER: raise it (the note) one half step

79) Who was Papageno?  ANSWER: The Queen of the Night’s birdcatcher

80) What do we call a fancy solo in an opera? ANSWER: an aria

Spanish

 (Students need to give the opposite of each adjective for all 10 items.)

81) gordo   flaco o delgado

82) inteligente  tonto

83) simpa’tico  cruel
84) aburrido   interesante

85) alto `   bajo

86) bonito   feo

87) estudioso  perezoso

88) fuerte   débil

89) grande   pequeño

90) nervioso   tranquilo
 

Art

91) Name features of a gothic cathedral.     ANSWER: Spires, pointed arches, flying buttresses, rose windows, gargoyles, and statues

92) A tapestry can be made from a number of things.  Name one.  ANSWER: Fabric, cloth, wool, etc.

93) The art of the Middle Ages had a general theme of what? Answer: Religious theme

94) What great building in India was built to be tomb?     ANSWER: Taj Mahal

95) What was the name of the building that President Thomas Jefferson lived in?  ANSWER: Monticello

96) African masks were often used for spiritual purposes.  Name one of these purposes.          ANSWER: Planting, harvesting, hunting, rain, or whatever they needed.

97) Name one characteristic of Islamic architecture.   ANSWER: Domes or minarets.

98) Where do we see domes or minarets: ANSWER:  Dome of the Rock or Alhambra Palace

99) Name a cathedral.  ANSWER: Chartres,  Notre Dame etc.

100) Name a tapestry.   ANSWER: The Unicorn Tapestries