Which Russian empress hired a herd of cats? Try our kids’ quiz

Illustration: Hennie Haworth/The Guardian

1. Agatha, 9, asks: which Russian empress hired a herd of cats?

   1. Empress Alexandra

   2. Empress Elizabeth

   3. Catherine the Great

   4. Empress Anna

2. Jocelyn, 3, asks: why does your skin go wrinkly in the bath?

   1. So that you can hold on to things more easily

   2. It’s a warning sign, telling you that you have been sitting in there too long

   3. Because if you put anything in water for long enough, it softens

   4. It’s the start of a process of transformation into a fish

3. Oak, 9, asks: what is the world’s longest snake?

   1. Cobra

   2. Reticulated python

   3. Boa constrictor

   4. Anaconda

4. Elsie, 6, asks: how does a snail’s shell stay on?

   1. It has little hooks that the snail fastens on to its body

   2. It is balanced on top, which means that if a snail topples over, then the shell is likely to fall off

   3. The shell is actually part of the snail’s body

   4. The slime that snails produce acts as glue, which keeps their shell in place

5. Percy, 8, asks: what is the melting point of glass?

   1. Between 200C and 400C

   2. Between 600C and 800C

   3. Between 1,000C and 1,200C

   4. Between 1,400C and 1,600C

Solutions

1:B - In 1745 Empress Elizabeth of Russia ordered that all the largest cats be brought to her Winter Palace to help deal with the rat and mice infestation. There are still some cats patrolling the palace today, though it is now a museum., 2:A - Scientists believe the cause of the wrinkling is that the top layers of the skin swell and/or the lower layers contract when we immerse our skin in water for a long time. Recently, they have investigated why this happens and have discovered that the wrinkling of our fingers allows us to better grip things without them slipping from our hands, a bit like tyre treads on a car wheel., 3:B - The reticulated python is the longest snake in the world. It grows up to about seven metres., 4:C - Snails’ shells are connected to their bodies by tissue as the shell is simply a hardened part of the body and it grows as the snail grows., 5:D - Glass melts at between 1,400C and 1,600C. Although technically glass is not a solid, so when it is heated and becomes runny, it’s not really “melting”.

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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