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Are You Smarter Than an 8th Grader? Science Edition (33 Questions)

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Are You Smarter Than an 8th Grader? Science Edition (33 Questions)

About this quiz

Are you smarter than an 8th grader? Science edition: 33 middle-school science questions on cells, forces, rocks, weather and space. 🧪

Photosynthesis, inertia, igneous rocks and Earth's tilt: the science every 8th grader learns. Parents, this one is for you! Great for family quiz nights, road trips and classrooms.

❓ IN THIS QUIZ

  • What causes Earth's seasons?
  • What makes leaves green?
  • Which particles in an atom have a positive charge?
  • Which element makes up most of your body by mass?

💬 How many did you get right? Tell us your score in the comments. Did you beat the 8th grader?

How to play

  1. Read the question and look at the pictures.
  2. Pick your answer before the timer runs out (or switch the timer off).
  3. See if you were right and read the fun fact.
Answers and fun facts (spoilers!)
  1. Can you beat an eighth grader? First: what is the basic unit of life?
    The cell
    Some living things, like bacteria, are just one single cell!
  2. What do we call the way plants make food from sunlight?
    Photosynthesis
    Photosynthesis turns sunlight, water and carbon dioxide into sugar and oxygen.
  3. A moving object keeps moving unless a force stops it. What is this called?
    Inertia
    That's Newton's first law, and why you lurch forward when a car brakes!
  4. What makes leaves green?
    Chlorophyll
    Chlorophyll absorbs red and blue light and reflects green, so leaves look green!
  5. Which part of a cell holds its DNA?
    Nucleus
    The nucleus is the cell's control center, holding its DNA.
  6. Which cells have a cell wall?
    Plant cells
    Plant cells have a stiff cell wall that helps plants stand upright. Animal cells don't.
  7. Water vapor turning into liquid droplets is called what?
    Condensation
    That's how clouds form, and why a cold glass gets 'sweaty'!
  8. Rain, snow, sleet and hail are all types of what?
    Precipitation
    Precipitation is any water falling from clouds.
  9. What type of rock forms when lava cools?
    Igneous
    Granite and basalt are both igneous rocks.
  10. In which type of rock are most fossils found?
    Sedimentary
    Sedimentary rock builds up in layers that can trap plants and animals.
  11. What causes most earthquakes?
    Moving plates
    Earth's crust is broken into plates that slowly grind past each other.
  12. What causes Earth's seasons?
    Earth's tilt
    Earth is tilted about 23.5°. We're actually closest to the Sun in early January!
  13. What mainly causes ocean tides?
    Moon's gravity
    The Moon's gravity pulls on the oceans, making tides rise and fall.
  14. How long does Earth take to go around the Sun?
    About 365 days
    About 365¼ days, which is why we add a leap day every 4 years!
  15. What is the unit of energy?
    Joule
    Named after James Joule. Food labels often show energy in kilojoules!
  16. A ramp is which simple machine?
    Inclined plane
    A ramp lets you lift something using less force, just over a longer distance.
  17. A seesaw is which simple machine?
    Lever
    A lever turns around a pivot point called a fulcrum.
  18. Which material conducts electricity best?
    Copper
    That's why wires are copper inside and plastic outside!
  19. What do we call animals without a backbone?
    Invertebrates
    By one estimate, about 97% of all animal species are invertebrates!
  20. What is the chemical formula for table salt?
    NaCl
    Sodium chloride: two dangerous elements that together make harmless salt!
  21. Which gas makes up most of the Sun?
    Hydrogen
    About three-quarters of the Sun's mass is hydrogen.
  22. What measures how much matter is in an object?
    Mass
    Your mass stays the same on the Moon, but your weight would be about a sixth!
  23. An animal that eats both plants and meat is called what?
    Omnivore
    Bears, pigs and humans are all omnivores!
  24. Which part of a plant cell makes food?
    Chloroplast
    Chloroplasts are where photosynthesis happens.
  25. What energy is stored in a stretched rubber band?
    Potential energy
    Stored energy is potential energy. Let go and it turns into kinetic energy!
  26. What is a scientist who studies weather called?
    Meteorologist
    Meteorology comes from the Greek for 'high in the sky', not from meteors!
  27. Which of these is a renewable energy source?
    Wind
    Wind keeps blowing, so it won't run out like coal or oil.
  28. Light bending as it enters water is called what?
    Refraction
    That's why a straw in a glass of water looks broken!
  29. What's the smallest part of an element that is still that element?
    Atom
    Atoms are so small that millions could fit across the width of a human hair.
  30. Which particles in an atom have a positive charge?
    Protons
    Protons are positive, electrons negative, and neutrons have no charge.
  31. In which layer of the atmosphere do we live?
    Troposphere
    Almost all weather happens in the troposphere.
  32. Which is denser: ice or liquid water?
    Liquid water
    Water expands when it freezes, so ice is less dense and floats!
  33. Final question! Which element makes up most of your body by mass?
    Oxygen
    About 65% of your body mass is oxygen, mostly locked in water!