Week after week the Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader? gameshow made us question whether we should go back to elementary school. Brush up on your childhood expertise with these Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader? questions. Let's see just how much of what your teachers taught you actually stuck.
Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader? Questions
For all the game shows that graced network television, nothing made us question our common sense more than Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader? If you've had a burning desire to put your noggin to the test, you're in luck. We've got some Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader? questions hard enough to make you beg to be held back another year.
1st-Grade Questions
If you thought we’d take things easy on you with our 1st-grade questions, you’re probably right. Starting our list of Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader? questions with this early elementary roundup should help ease you back into the swing of things.
Which is the closest star to Earth?
The sun
What makes flamingoes turn pink?
The shrimp they eat
What is 4x4?
16
Instead of leaves, what do Christmas trees sprout on their branches?
Needles
The feathery sprouts on the sides of an axolotl’s head are what body part?
Gills
Where will the minute hand be on the clock when it’s 4:00 pm?
Pointing to 12
What is 15x15?
225
What is the largest mammal on Earth?
The blue whale
How many continents are there?
Seven
2nd-Grade Questions
We’re taking things a step up with our 2nd-grade questions. While we’re confident that you’ll be able to ace this category, there may be a few questions that'll trip you up.
How many planets are in our solar system?
8
What parts of speech are sometimes, often, and badly?
Adverbs
If Drew has five apples and three oranges and gives four apples to his neighbor, Jamie, and two oranges to his other neighbor, Joe, how many apples and oranges does he have left?
1 apple and 1 orange
Two quarter notes are equal to what musical measurement?
A half note
Martin Luther King Jr. championed what social movement?
The Civil Rights Movement
What type of animal is a salamander?
An amphibian
If something costs $1.74 and you give the cashier $2, which coins would you get back in change?
1 quarter and 1 penny
Nouns that you capitalize are known as what?
Proper nouns
3rd-Grade Questions
Now, here’s where the going gets tough. Think back to your 3rd-grade experiences, and you’ll probably remember learning cursive and running with scissors when your teacher’s back was turned. Unfortunately for you, this is where that good old-school curriculum memory starts to fail most of us.
What type of triangle has two sides of equal length?
Isosceles
Who pioneered agricultural innovation and invented peanut butter?
George Washington Carver
What year was the Louisiana Purchase finalized?
1803
What are the three branches of American government?
The executive, legislative, and judicial
The tundra, rainforest, and desert fall under what scientific category?
Biomes
What is the capital of South Dakota?
Pierre
The Earth’s crust is made up of what structures?
Plates
Which planet’s axial tilt causes it to rotate almost 100% on its side?
Uranus
What are the clumped groups of lines in a poem called?
Stanzas
4th-Grade Questions
We’re at the stage in these Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader? questions where we start to question how good our memory really is. And once you take a crack at them, we’re sure you will, too.
What chemical compound do plants absorb?
Carbon dioxide
What galaxy is our solar system in?
The Milky Way
What parts of speech are aboard, above, under, and upon?
Prepositions
What 1862 Act granted 160 acres of land in the American West to settlers in exchange for five years of residence?
The Homestead Act
What do the horizontal lines, aka parallels, on a map, measure?
The latitude
What machine is unfinished pottery fired in?
A kiln
An object that’s in motion is exerting what kind of energy?
Kinetic
What type of cloud produces thunderstorms?
Cumulonimbus
What makes plants look green?
The chlorophyll in their cells
The Preamble to the United States Constitution starts with what phrase?
We the People of the United States
5th-Grade Questions
Pat yourself on the back, because you’ve nearly made it! Graduation is just around the corner — so long as you can ace these deceptively easy questions.
Which British cruise liner was sunk by a German U-boat in 1915?
The Lusitania
What is the type of rhyme where two words sound similar but not exactly the same?
Near rhyme
What is the powerhouse of the cell?
Mitochondria
What are the four states of matter?
Solids, liquid, gas, and plasma
What is ⅛ + ¾?
⅞
What are the five main layers of the atmosphere?
The troposphere, stratosphere, mesosphere, thermosphere, and exosphere
Which layer is immediately beneath the Earth’s crust?
The mantle
What unique weather event precipitated by erosion decimated the American prairies in the 1930s?
The Dust Bowl
What years did the American Civil War take place?
1961-1965
Million-Dollar Questions
In true Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader? fashion, we have to close out our list with some hard-hitting but elementary-age-appropriate million-dollar questions. Wrack your brain for the answers to these prize-winning questions and see how many you can knock out of the park.
Which map projection is considered the most distorted one of all time?
The Gall-Peters Projection
The study of tree rings and other tree-related phenomena is called what?
Dendrochronology
What city does the Prime Meridian run through?
Greenwich, England
What volcanic eruption sent the world into a volcanic winter in 1883?
The Krakatoa eruption
How many feet are in a mile?
5,280
Instead of the Metric System, America follows which measurement system?
Imperial
What is at the top of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs?
Self-actualization
What is the name of the first ever successfully cloned animal?
Dolly
See You at Graduation
You did it! Your final grades have come back, and you passed by the skin of your teeth. So, grab your graduation caps and get ready to celebrate!
