NewsTracker Answers for week of Aug. 31, 2026

Q: Amid a growing trade war with Canada, President Donald Trump ordered the U.S. government last week to start calling the easternmost Great Lake "America," not "Ontario." Where is the body of water that has been called Lake Ontario for more than 400 years?

Circle the area on this map


Q: Lake Ontario got its name from a Native American word meaning “great water.” Which Great Lake name was not derived from a Native American word?

A. Erie

B. Huron

C. Michigan

D. Superior


D. French explorers named the largest and deepest Great Lake “le Lac Superieur,” meaning “upper lake.” Lakes Erie and Huron were named after Native American tribes. Lake Michigan comes from the Ojibwe word "Michigami," meaning “really large body of water.” The state of Michigan and the province of Ontario were both named after the lakes.


Q: The Great Lakes are the largest group of freshwater lakes on Earth by total area and contain more than 20% of the world’s surface freshwater. However, a lake in which nation contains even more fresh water?

A. Argentina

B. Peru

C. Russia

D. Tanzania


C. Lake Baikal in Russia’s Siberia region is the world’s deepest lake and contains 22-23% of the world’s fresh surface water. It is 5,387 feet deep compared with the 1,333-foot depth of Lake Superior. Lake Ontario covers the smallest area, and Lake Erie is the shallowest of the Great Lakes.


Q: Thousands of U.S. lakes, rivers, mountains, counties, towns, and cities carry names that came from native languages. Of the 50 state names, how many are derived from indigenous languages?

A. 20

B. 25

C. 30

D. 35


B. Half of the states have native language names – Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Connecticut, Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, New Mexico, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Wisconsin, and Wyoming.


Q: The word “America” first appeared on a 1507 German map labeling what is now South America. Most of what is now North America appeared as empty ocean on that map. What is the origin of the name America?

A. Italian mariner

B. Norse god

C. Portuguese town

D. Spanish noble


A. The mapmaker used the name to honor Amerigo Vespucci, an Italian who made at least two voyages across the Atlantic between 1499 and 1505. He described the coast of what is now Brazil in colorful letters that were published and widely read in Europe. Some other explorers and historians have doubted the truth and source of Vespucci’s letters.