Are you smarter than a 5th grader? Some of us probably feel like our brain is fried after a long day. Put your skills to the test. Compete with your kids to see who’s the brain box in the family.
About the Are you smarter than a 5th grader game
This game show franchise was produced and co-created by Howard Stern and Mark Burnett, based on a game created for The Howard Stern Show. In the show, adult contestants answer questions based on knowledge attained in the 5th grade. The game has a similar structure to an elementary grade school quiz.
The show’s original version debuted on February 27, 2007, on the Fox Broadcasting network, hosted by Jeff Foxworthy. The show went on to air for two years until 2011 on Fox, becoming a nationally syndicated series. The show experienced a revival in 2015 and 2019 on Nickelodeon with John Cena as the host.
The “Are You Smarter than a 5th Grader?” format is replicated in many other countries, with some shows having modified titles. Each game features a single contestant earning monetary prizes for correct answers based on an incremental payout ladder. The game retains the feel of a trivia show but with simple questions, and every adult should know the answers.
The following questions are based on the US version of the show. Can you answer them all?
Do you think you’re smarter than a 5th grader?
How many nouns are in this sentence – “The rat ran to the restaurant and ate a large salad”?
Three – Rat, restaurant, and salad.
What unit of measurement do we abbreviate to “Oz”?
Ounces.
True or false? Our shoulder is a “ball-and-socket” type of joint.
True.
Which one is a mammal – a sea urchin, seahorse, or sea lion?
Sea lion
Which is the least populated continent on the globe?
Antarctica
Who was the President of the United States before Bill Clinton?
George H.W Bush
What is the largest African country by population?
Nigeria
What US policy resulted in the segregation and mistreatment of African Americans until 1964?
The Jim Crow laws
Which civil rights leader said Americans should be judged by their character’s content and not their skin color?
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
What were the names of America’s southern and northern regions during the Civil War?
The Confederacy (South) and the Union (North).
What was the formal term for the first ten amendments to the Constitution?
The Bill of Rights.
How many inhabited countries are there in the world?
Six
How many inches are there in a yard?
36
What’s the capital of New York State?
Albany
What do we call the body of water between Texas and Florida?
The Gulf of Mexico
How many syllables does the word Mississippi contain?
Four
What’s the prefix in the word “unnecessary?”
“Un-”
Name the three states of matter?
Gas, liquid, solid
Which country has the longest border with America?
Canada
How many times can you divide 7 into 49?
7
Which planet in the solar system has rings?
Saturn
How many zeroes are in one million?
Six
True or false – A kangaroo is a marsupial?
True
Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader Math Questions
How many sides are there in a hexagon?
Six.
141 x 2 = ?
282.
If you need three cups of corn flour for a recipe and you have a quarter measuring cup, how many times do you need to use it to get the right amount of corn flour?
12.
If a football field is 100 yards in length, how many feet is it?
300 feet.
34 x 20 = ?
680.
If a train leaves its station traveling at 60 kilometers per hour, how much time passes after arriving at a train station 300 kilometers from the starting point?
5 hours (300 minutes).
The inside angles of a triangle always add up to how many degrees?
180 degrees.
The farmer notices that the number of pigeons in his field has doubled daily for the last 10 days. There are 1024 pigeons today and 2 pigeons on the first day. How many pigeons were there yesterday?
512.
You have 20 pairs of sneakers, but there’s only room for 8 shoes in your closet. How many shoes do you need to donate to the thrift shop?
32 shoes (16 pairs)
Solve the equation 5 + 3 * 4 / 2 – 1 = ?
10.
Are you smarter than a 5th grader science questions
What force pulls the tides and objects toward the Earth’s core?
Gravity.
Why do we see lightning before we hear the thunder?
Light travels faster than sound.
Which tool do we use to estimate the likelihood of genetic outcomes?
The Punnett square.
What species lives on land and water?
Amphibians.
What do we call animals that don’t have a backbone?
Invertebrates.
The Earth has four layers. If the thickest is the mantle, what is the thinnest?
The crust.
What temperature does water freeze at?
32°F or 0°C
Are you smarter than a 5th grader History questions
Who was the last Queen of France?
Marie Antoinette.
Who was the founder of the Red Cross?
Clara Barton.
Who was the president to commission the Lewis and Clark expedition?
Jefferson.
What did we call the city of Istanbul in Turkey during the 13th century?
Constantinople.
What crops did farmers mostly grow in the middle colonies?
Wheat.
Where do we find the region called the “Fertile Crescent”?
The Middle East.
When did Hong Kong gain independence from British rule?
1997.
Who was the president of Confederate states during the US Civil War?
Abraham Lincoln.
Which Japanese city did the US strike with the first atomic bomb?
Hiroshima.
What was the written language of the Ancient Egyptians?
Hieroglyphics
Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader Geography Questions
What is the main language spoken in Quebec, Canada?
French.
Which country is both a continent and an island?
Australia.
What sea borders Europe to the north and North Africa to the south?
The Mediterranean Sea.
What is the highest mountain peak on Earth?
Mt. Everest.
What do we call the mountain range that includes Mount Everest?
The Himalayas.
What imaginary lines traverse the globe from the north to the south pole?
Meridians.
In what country can we find the Taj Mahal?
India.
Which country has the largest surface area?
Russia.
What is the name of France’s capital city?
Paris.
Which continent has no spiders?
Antarctica.
Which continent do kangaroos call home?
Australia.
What is the name of the deepest part of the ocean?
Challenger’s Deep, Mariana Trench.
What is the largest continent on the planet?
Africa.
Name the five Great Lakes in America.
Huron, Superior, Michigan, Ontario, and Erie.
How many Oceans are there in the world, and what are their names?
Five – Atlantic, Indian, Pacific, Southern, and the Arctic.
How many South American countries speak Portuguese as their first language?
Only Brazil.
Which country has “The Golden Wattle” as its national flower?
Australia
General trivia questions for 5th graders
A peanut is a nut, but it’s more accurate to call it a ?
Legume.
Who was the author of “The Star Spangled Banner?”
Francis Scott Key.
What is the main difference between tap water and ocean water?
Ocean water is salty.
Which of the four layers of the earth is a liquid?
The outer core.
What is the name of the most famous fault line in California?
The San Andreas fault.
A pound cake contains a pound of which ingredients?
Flour, eggs, butter, and sugar.
Where do you find the most important article in a newspaper?
Above the fold.
How many months have exactly 30 days in the calendar year?
Four.
What do we call opposite angles in a parallelogram?
Complementary.
When copyright expires, where does the right of publication pass to?
The public domain.
What material were bricks traditionally made of?
Clay.
What do we call the energy of moving objects?
Kinetic energy.
How many pounds does a gallon of water weigh?
8 pounds.
What machine can work indefinitely without connecting to an energy source?
Perpetual motion machine.
Who was the famous playwright who wrote Macbeth, Romeo and Juliet, and King Lear?
William Shakespeare.
Which American author wrote “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn?”
Mark Twain.
Which series created by J.K. Rowling features magical creatures, such as “pygmy puffs” and “nifflers?”
The Harry Potter series.
Which American novel features the characters Boo Radley and Atticus Finch?
To Kill a Mockingbird
Which character wore P.F. Flyers sneakers in the movie “The Sandlot?”
Benny’ The Jet’ Rodriguez
What’s the minimum age for attending an “R-rated” movie without a parent?
17.
In literature, theater, and film, what’s the difference between a first-person and a third-person perspective?
A first-person perspective places the audience “inside” the eyes of the main character. The third-person perspective watches the actor as a bystander.
What is the moral in the story “The boy who cried wolf?”
It doesn’t pay to lie. Liars eventually need to tell the truth, and no one believes them.
