Science Grab Bag
General Science
Which is Canada's oldest national park?
a) Banff National Park in Alberta
b) Sandbanks National Park in Ontario
c) Auyuittuq National Park on Baffin Island
d) Parc de conservation de Miguasha in Quebec
Answer: a) Banff National Park in the Rocky Mountains, since 1885.
How many head of cattle are there in Alberta?
a) 3 million
b) 2 million
c) 6 million
d) 10 million
Answer: c) About 6 million. There were actually 5,930,000 head of cattle in Alberta as of Jan 1, 2005 (the most of any province in Canada), a decrease from 6,400,000 head in July of 2004. Saskatchewan comes in second with 3,040,000. Just as a side note, the population of Alberta in 2004 was only 3,201,000...meaning almost two cows per person!
How many people live in the Athabasca River Basin?
Answer: According to the Alberta Municipal Affairs of 2001, there were 140,452 people living in the Athabasca River Basin.
Is the Athabasca town site near Lake Athabasca?
Answer: No. The Athabasca town site is ~150km north of Edmonton while Lake Athabasca is in the very north-eastern corner of the province.
Which town on the banks of the Athabasca River lies near extensive deposits of petroleum impregnated sands?
Answer: Ft. McMurray. The most prominent theory of how this vast resource was formed suggests that light crude oil from southern Alberta migrated north and east with the same pressures that formed the Rocky Mountains. Over time, the actions of water and bacteria transformed the light crude into bitumen, a much heavier, carbon rich, and extremely viscous oil. The percentage of bitumen in oil sand can range from 1% -20%.
Science Outreach Athabasca - September 26, 2012
