Imagine it is 1980 - not so very long ago. You do not have access to a computer anywhere, or DVDs and certainly no Internet. People still had to get facts somehow.

In this task, you may use any resource you like, as long as it has nothing to do with a computer. You may ask anyone for help and look anywhere - as long as it has nothing to do with a computer. Agree on a time limit with your teacher. A day, two days, a week ... whatever is appropriate for your situation. Collect as many of the fifty answers you can in that time - without any use of a computer in the process of getting the fact. You may do the questions in any order.

For each question, record the answer AND how you found it.

1. What is the German for "the spider"?

2. How is pappi-yon (the dog at left) spelt?

3. What is a baby seal called?

4. What is the only metal that is liquid at room temperature?
5. What Vincent van Gogh's brother's name?

6. What is the name of the mathematician who was immortalised in the 2001 film, A Beautiful Mind?

7. What political system was gradually dismantled in South Africa, starting in 1989?

8. Who is the composer of the Pastoral Symphony?

9. A spheksophobic fears which insects?

10. Who was the tragically misunderstood daughter of Shakespeare's King Lear?

Vincent van Gogh, self portrait

11. Who is the author of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time?

12. What does the acronym "NATO" stand for?

13. In what country was the Australopithecus afarensis skeleton, nicknamed "Lucy" found?

14. Who played Scarlett O'Hara in the 1939 film Gone With The Wind?

15. What type of natural substance is caoutchouc (pronounced kachook)?

16. What is the capital of Cambodia?

17. The middle of what part of the body is inflamed when a person has uveitis?   

18. How many squares are there on a Scrabble board?

19. Which chemical element is represented by the symbol Pb?

20. What was Dimitri Mendeleev famous for?

21. What is the other instrument usually played by the musician who plays a Cor Anglais in an orchestra?

22. Which country was previously called Persia?

23. What is the main vegetable ingredient in the dish Borsht?

24. What gas do plants absorb from the atmosphere?

25. Which rock group did George Harrison belong to?

26. What is the -ology which is the name for the study of trees?

27. In what city are the headquarters of the United Nations?

28. What is the legal term for a testimony taken under oath and recorded in an authorized place outside the courtroom?

29. In which continent is Lesotho?

30. How many lines are in a limerick?

 

31. In what year was Queen Elizabeth II born?

32. What are the names of Snow White's seven dwarfs from the Disney production?

33. In what year did Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen discovers x-rays? 

34. What is the sixteenth letter of the Greek alphabet? 

35. What does a philatelist collect?

36. What does 'E' represent in E = mc2?

37. How many kilojoule are there in a 100g banana?

38. What is the Dewey number for Atlases?

39. What is the length of the English channel?

40. Who won the Nobel prize for literature in 2001?

41. In what country do the Gurkhas live?

42. What is the musical term for "very soft"?

43. Who founded the Red Cross?

44. Who wrote "Crime and Punishment"? 

45. What city is situated at the mouth of river Liffey?

46. Who was the Greek god of travel, thieves, and commerce?

47. When was Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) founded?

48. Who wrote "War and Peace"?

49. Who was the founder of the Chinese Republic?

50. Would you cuddle a Vespula germanica?

 

Collect as many of the answers as you can in the time limit given.

You are not expected to find all the answers, just as many as possible.
You must not use anything to do with a computer. The purpose is to find out how people found information only a few decades ago - before the Information Age.
Ensure you write down how you found each of the answers.

The correct answers are in the Teachers' Guide.
When you have corrected the answers, make sure you keep your responses to use again in the task on Evaluating Resources.