Where does electricity come from and do pandas eat people? Try our kids’ quiz

Illustration: Hennie Haworth/The Guardian

1. Beatrice, 6, asks: where does electricity come from?

   1. It comes mostly from lightning that we catch

   2. It comes from energy sources that are harnessed so they can be used to power the world

   3. It comes from the sun

   4. It comes from power stations that create energy

2. Jacob, 7, asks: what is the oldest living thing that is still alive?

   1. A clonal tree that’s called Pando

   2. An ancient sea turtle living in the Pacific Ocean

   3. A form of bacteria

   4. A bristlecone pine tree living in the US

3. Alice, 10, asks: what happens when you go into a black hole?

   1. You get spaghettified

   2. You disintegrate into nothingness

   3. You get crushed into a speck the size of a pinpoint

   4. You enter a different universe on the other side

4. Jolie, 12, asks: do pandas eat people?

   1. Yes, pandas are born killers

   2. No, pandas mostly eat bamboo

   3. No, pandas are strictly vegetarian

   4. Yes, but only on special occasions

5. Milan, 6, asks: which number comes after a trillion? There are hundreds, thousands, millions, billions, trillions, but then what?

   1. A squillion

   2. A reptillion

   3. A bazillion

   4. A quadrillion

Solutions

1:B - Electricity begins with an energy source like fossil fuels or wind power or solar power. Big power stations catch the energy from these sources and turn it into electricity, which is then spread far and wide to power our toasters and our kettles., 2:C - The oldest living thing that is still alive is a form of bacteria scientists found inside salt crystals that is 250m years old! Other very old living organisms include the clonal tree Pando in Utah whose root system could be 80,000 years old, and a bristlecone pine tree that is 5,000 years old., 3:A - If you were to jump into a black hole, the gravity force would compress you while also stretching you, leaving you looking a little like strings of spaghetti., 4:B - Pandas mostly eat bamboo but sometimes other things like fruit, insects and vegetables. They need to eat up to 38kg of bamboo a day to meet their energy needs!, 5:D - A quadrillion comes after a trillion. The prefixes bi-, tri-, quad- come from Latin and mean two, three, four. So next is a quintillion (quint- from the Latin for five). A quadrillion is written 1,000,000,000,000,000.

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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