Do mushrooms decompose carbon, and how many people have been to the moon? Try our kids’ quiz

Illustration: Hennie Haworth/The Guardian

1. Beau, 7, asks: do mushrooms (like the one above) decompose carbon?

   1. Red and white ones do, but not grey ones

   2. No, mushrooms produce carbon as they grow

   3. Yes, they decompose dead plants and animals, breaking down carbon compounds

   4. Mushrooms don’t have anything to do with carbon

2. Joshua, 7, asks: how long a line could you draw with a Biro before it runs out?

   1. As long as 125 tennis courts

   2. 25 metres long

   3. As long as a football pitch

   4. As long as a marathon

3. Lyra, 7, asks: why does the prime minister always live in 10 Downing Street?

   1. 10 is a lucky number

   2. The first prime minister lived there and gave the house to the government

   3. No 10 has magical powers

   4. King George II gave the first prime minister of England the house as a gift, which started a tradition

4. Eleni, 8, asks: why do stars only come out at night?

   1. We can’t see stars in the day because of the sunlight

   2. Because stars only shine at night, they sleep in the day

   3. Stars are on the other side of the Earth during the day

   4. They need the light of the moon to twinkle so you can see them

5. Frankie, 4, asks: how many people have been to the moon?

   1. More than 350

   2. Only two men have walked on the moon but lots have been close to it

   3. No one has ever been

   4. 24 have flown to the moon but only 12 have landed on it

Solutions

1:C - Mushrooms make their own food by breaking down dead plants and animals. The complex carbon compounds in these is changed into carbon dioxide, which goes into the air, or into smaller pieces of carbon, or simple carbon compounds, which stay in the soil., 2:A - Most pen companies say the average pen could draw a line of up to 3km, the length of 125 tennis courts., 3:D - In the early 1730s, King George II offered 10 Downing Street to Sir Robert Walpole, the UK’s first prime minister. He didn’t want to take it as a personal gift, so he asked the king to make it an official residence, which started the tradition. When Tony Blair became prime minister in 1997, he lived in No 11 instead as there’s more space. Others since have done the same. It’s close to Westminster, so handy for work!, 4:A - The stars are always there, but in the daytime we can’t see them because the light of the sun is so strong it blocks out their light. When the sun sets at night, we can see the light from other stars., 5:D - Between 1968 and 1972, America sent several Apollo missions to the moon. On these, 24 astronauts flew into the moon’s orbit, but only 12 walked on the moon.

Scores

1. 5 and above.

2. 4 and above.

3. 3 and above.

4. 2 and above.

5. 0 and above.

6. 1 and above.

Molly Oldfield hosts Everything Under the Sun, a weekly podcast answering children’s questions, out now as a book.

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• Question 1 of this quiz was amended on 4 April 2022 to refer to breaking down complex carbon compounds, rather than to breaking down carbon.