What would you weigh on Jupiter and how polluted is the US? The kids’ quiz

1. Iona, 10, asks: how much would you weigh on Jupiter?

   1. The same as on Earth

   2. Half as much as on Earth

   3. More than twice as much

   4. Nothing – you’d float off into space on Jupiter

2. Sara, 12, asks: why are dogs more disciplined than cats?

   1. Dogs are bred from army wolves, who loved rules

   2. Humans have trained dogs for centuries

   3. Cats are too fluffy to understand rules

   4. Dogs read the rulebook but cats just don’t care

3. Seb, 9, asks: how much pollution is there in America?

   1. Just a little on busy roads

   2. None – it’s very clean

   3. Nearly half of Americans breathe unhealthy air

   4. The US has 100% of the world’s pollution

4. William, 6, asks: is there an outside of space?

   1. Yes – deep in space there’s a sparkling door that’s a portal into a world too insane to even imagine

   2. No – space goes on for ever and ever

   3. We don’t really know!

   4. Yes, it leads into a galaxy of aliens and rainbows

5. K, 10, asks: what do whales lay on the ocean floor?

   1. Seaweed pillows for sleep

   2. They lay down their tails when they need a rest

   3. Nothing when alive – but when they die, their bodies fall to the ocean floor and feed other sea creatures

   4. They lay their eggs on the ocean floor

Solutions

1:C - You would weigh more than twice as much on Jupiter. Its gravity is about 2.5 times stronger than Earth’s. If you weigh 30kg on Earth, you’d weigh about 75kg on Jupiter – though you couldn’t stand on it because it’s made of gas!, 2:B - Dogs were domesticated about 15,000 years ago and have been trained to herd, guard and hunt. Their brains are better adapted for learning commands and social signals. Cats were domesticated later and are more independent., 3:C - The US has reduced its pollution over the last 40 years, but about half of its population live in a place where the air is dangerous to breathe. There’s also pollution in water and land, and wildfires are making air pollution worse., 4:C - Scientists aren’t sure if space goes on for ever. It might be like a balloon’s surface – if you keep going, you loop back round. The truth is that we don’t know!, 5:C - Whales don’t lay anything on the ocean floor – they don’t lay eggs or lay their heads down to sleep. But when they die they sink in a “whale fall” and other animals feed off their bodies.

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 podcast answering children’s questions. Do check out her books, Everything Under the Sun and the new Everything Under the Sun: Quiz Book.