Google is celebrating Earth Day with an Earth Day quiz and an original Google Doodle.
The quiz, titled “Earth Day: Which Animal Are You?,” consists of five questions.
- What are you up to on a typical Friday night? (Alone in my burrow, Rarely seen out, Strutting my stuff, Following the heard)
- You and your best friend show up to a party wearing the same outfit. What’s your reaction? (No big deal, How embarrassing!, Fight!, Change outfits)
- Choose a snack: (Seafood, Fruit and/or insects, Meat, Salad)
- What do you look for in a partner? (Bright colors, Loud grunting sounds, A complex system of glands, Old-fashioned values)
- Choose a hobby: (Feats of strength, Work around the house, Swimming, None of the above)
Once you complete all of the questions, Google informs you of what type of animal you are (I was a komodo dragon -I have an appetite for life–as well as the ability to swallow an entire goat).
The doodle features a spinning globe with various animals inside the letters.
So, what is Earth Day and how did it come about?
Earth Day, April 22, started when the birth of the modern environmental movement took place in 1970, according to Earth Day Network .
Gaylord Nelson, then a U.S. Senator from Wisconsin, came up with the idea after witnessing the catastrophes that came along with the 1969 massive oil spill in Santa Barbara, California. The New York Times called the oil spill the “ecological shot heard “’round the world.”
Nelson announced the idea of “national teach-in on the environment” to the national media. He then recruited Pete McCloskey, a Republican Congressman, to be his co-chair and Denis Hayes as the national coordinator who then built a staff of 85 people to help with the movement.
On April 22, 1970, over 20 million people took to the streets to demonstrate for a healthier environment.
“I was satisfied that if we could tap into the environmental concerns of the public and infuse the student anti-war energy into the environmental cause, we could generate a demonstration that would force this issue onto the national political agenda.”
Former President Bill Clinton later presented Nelson with the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
“In establishing Earth Day, Gaylord Nelson helped us to recognize that our fragile environment was increasingly at peril and that each of us could make a difference,” Clinton said. “His work has inspired all Americans to take responsibility for the planet’s well-being and for our children’s future.”
[Photo via Shutterstock]
