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40 fall trivia questions

Fall questions for a class, a harvest party or the Thanksgiving table: why leaves change color, the harvest moon, pumpkins and cranberries, and the geese and monarchs on the move. Each answer links to its source. Play them on the screen, or print a player sheet and the answer key.

40 questions · Fall trivia questions · answers included

Fall trivia questions

Choose a score button to add a point. Scores last for this page visit.

Space shows the answer, then the next card. Arrow keys move. With scores on, keys 1 to 6 add a team point. F fills the screen. Escape closes play.
  1. 1

    Which three months make up meteorological fall in the Northern Hemisphere?

    easy

    Answer

    September, October and November.

    Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autumn?oldid=1381121151

  2. 2

    Which months are fall in the Southern Hemisphere?

    medium

    Answer

    March, April and May.

    Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autumn?oldid=1381121151

  3. 3

    Before the 16th century, which word did English speakers usually use for the season?

    hard

    Answer

    Harvest, before autumn and fall.

    Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autumn?oldid=1381121151

  4. 4

    The season's name "fall" is short for which longer expressions?

    medium

    Answer

    "Fall of the leaf", and "fall of the year".

    Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autumn?oldid=1381121151

  5. 5

    Which two autumn holidays still echo the old harvest festivals?

    medium

    Answer

    Thanksgiving, in the United States and Canada, and the Jewish holiday of Sukkot.

    Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autumn?oldid=1381121151

  6. 6

    Between which dates can the September equinox fall?

    medium

    Answer

    September 21 to 24.

    Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/September_equinox?oldid=1381429913

  7. 7

    What is the full moon nearest to the autumn equinox called?

    easy

    Answer

    The harvest moon, also called the corn moon.

    Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Full_moon?oldid=1381067342

  8. 8

    What is the full moon after the harvest moon called?

    medium

    Answer

    The hunter's moon, usually in October.

    Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Full_moon?oldid=1381067342

  9. 9

    Around the harvest moon, when does the moon rise each evening?

    hard

    Answer

    Close to the time of sunset, so it lit the fields for the harvest.

    Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Full_moon?oldid=1381067342

  10. 10

    Which green pigment fades from leaves in the fall?

    easy

    Answer

    Chlorophyll, which kept them green all summer.

    Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autumn_leaf_color?oldid=1372641622

  11. 11

    Which pigments give fall leaves their yellow color, there all summer under the green?

    medium

    Answer

    Carotenoids.

    Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autumn_leaf_color?oldid=1372641622

  12. 12

    Which pigments give fall leaves their reds and purples?

    medium

    Answer

    Anthocyanins, made as the leaf changes.

    Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autumn_leaf_color?oldid=1372641622

  13. 13

    Does bright autumn sunshine make leaf colors duller or more brilliant?

    hard

    Answer

    More brilliant, as more red pigment forms.

    Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autumn_leaf_color?oldid=1372641622

  14. 14

    What is the scientific word for a tree shedding its leaves?

    hard

    Answer

    Abscission, from the Latin for "to cut away".

    Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abscission?oldid=1356024195

  15. 15

    What is the hobby of traveling to look at fall colors called?

    medium

    Answer

    Leaf peeping.

    Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leaf_peeping?oldid=1376006603

  16. 16

    In which US region is leaf peeping especially popular?

    medium

    Answer

    New England, and New York.

    Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leaf_peeping?oldid=1376006603

  17. 17

    What do people in Japan call their tradition of going to see autumn leaves?

    hard

    Answer

    Momijigari, "hunting autumn leaves".

    Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leaf_peeping?oldid=1376006603

  18. 18

    An acorn is the nut of which tree?

    easy

    Answer

    The oak, and its close relatives.

    Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acorn?oldid=1381296896

  19. 19

    Which two animals bury acorns and so help plant new oak trees?

    easy

    Answer

    Squirrels and jays.

    Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acorn?oldid=1381296896

  20. 20

    Before pumpkins, what did people in Ireland and Scotland carve into lanterns?

    hard

    Answer

    The turnip, as well as mangelwurzels and swedes.

    Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pumpkin?oldid=1381464354

  21. 21

    Why did immigrants to North America switch from turnips to pumpkins?

    medium

    Answer

    Readily available and much larger, pumpkins were easier to carve.

    Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pumpkin?oldid=1381464354

  22. 22

    At which California festival was the world's heaviest pumpkin weighed in 2023?

    hard

    Answer

    Half Moon Bay, at 1,247 kg.

    Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pumpkin?oldid=1381464354

  23. 23

    Which US state grows about 95 percent of the pumpkins grown for processing?

    hard

    Answer

    Illinois.

    Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pumpkin?oldid=1381464354

  24. 24

    Besides the shell, which parts of a pumpkin plant can you eat?

    medium

    Answer

    The seeds, the leaves and the flowers.

    Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pumpkin?oldid=1381464354

  25. 25

    Where is the first full-size corn maze said to have been made, in 1993?

    hard

    Answer

    Annville, Pennsylvania.

    Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corn_maze?oldid=1379032443

  26. 26

    In the United States, when are corn mazes usually cut down?

    hard

    Answer

    Around the first week of November.

    Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corn_maze?oldid=1379032443

  27. 27

    In the United States, what is apple cider?

    medium

    Answer

    Unfiltered, unsweetened apple juice.

    Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple_cider?oldid=1381925411

  28. 28

    What is apple cider usually called outside the United States and Canada?

    hard

    Answer

    Cloudy apple juice, to tell it from clear juice.

    Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple_cider?oldid=1381925411

  29. 29

    Why can farmers flood a cranberry bog to harvest the berries?

    medium

    Answer

    Cranberries float, so they can be gathered from the water.

    Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cranberry?oldid=1377840283

  30. 30

    Which US state grows the most cranberries?

    medium

    Answer

    Wisconsin, with 59% of the total.

    Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cranberry?oldid=1377840283

  31. 31

    In what shape do Canada geese fly when they migrate?

    easy

    Answer

    V-shaped, about 1 km up.

    Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canada_goose?oldid=1381995546

  32. 32

    In Canada geese, is the "honk" the call of the male or the female?

    hard

    Answer

    The male, while the female's call is the hrink.

    Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canada_goose?oldid=1381995546

  33. 33

    How much energy can geese save by flying in a V?

    hard

    Answer

    12–20%, compared with flying alone.

    Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bird_migration?oldid=1381887515

  34. 34

    Which bird migrates the greatest distance of any bird?

    medium

    Answer

    The Arctic tern, from the Arctic to the Antarctic.

    Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bird_migration?oldid=1381887515

  35. 35

    Which bird flies 11,000 km nonstop from Alaska to New Zealand?

    hard

    Answer

    The bar-tailed godwit.

    Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bird_migration?oldid=1381887515

  36. 36

    To which two places do eastern North American monarch butterflies migrate in the fall?

    medium

    Answer

    Florida and Mexico.

    Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monarch_butterfly?oldid=1381611596

  37. 37

    During their fall migration, how far do monarch butterflies travel?

    medium

    Answer

    Thousands of miles, as far as Mexico.

    Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monarch_butterfly?oldid=1381611596

  38. 38

    What phrase helps people remember which way the clocks go?

    easy

    Answer

    "Spring forward, fall back."

    Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daylight_saving_time?oldid=1381922735

  39. 39

    Since 2007, on which day does daylight saving time end in most of the United States?

    medium

    Answer

    The first Sunday in November, when the clocks go back.

    Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daylight_saving_time?oldid=1381922735

  40. 40

    Who first proposed modern daylight saving time, in 1895?

    hard

    Answer

    George Hudson, a New Zealand entomologist and astronomer.

    Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daylight_saving_time?oldid=1381922735

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