41 trivia questions for 5th grade with answers

Questions for 10- and 11-year-olds on what 5th graders usually study: the planets, matter and food chains, the colonies and the Revolution, fractions and decimals, and figures of speech. Easy ones make a warm-up; hard ones stretch a strong class. Every science and history answer links to its source, and every math answer shows the working. Printed without the answers, the set makes a review sheet for the class.

41 questions · Trivia questions for 5th grade with answers · answers included

Updated 26 Oct 2026

Space

1
How many planets are in our solar system?

easy

Answer
Eight planets.
In order from the Sun: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune.
Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_System?oldid=1379807231
2
Which is the largest planet in the solar system?

easy

Answer
Jupiter.
More than 1,300 Earths would fit inside it.
Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jupiter?oldid=1380352046
3
Which planet is closest to the Sun?

easy

Answer
Mercury.
It is also the smallest planet.
Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercury_%28planet%29?oldid=1381089194
4
Mars is known by which nickname, for its orange-red color?

easy

Answer
The Red Planet.
Its rocks and dust are full of iron oxide, which is rust. Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun.
Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mars?oldid=1381679380
5
Mercury is the closest planet to the Sun, but which planet is hotter?

medium

Answer
Venus.
Venus has a thick atmosphere that traps the heat; Mercury has almost none.
Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercury_%28planet%29?oldid=1381089194
6
Which planet comes after Jupiter as the second largest?

medium

Answer
Saturn.
Saturn is famous for its rings of ice and rock.
Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saturn?oldid=1381487901
7
Which is the farthest planet from the Sun?

medium

Answer
Neptune.
It was discovered in 1846.
Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neptune?oldid=1381618450
8
Which force keeps the planets moving around the Sun?

hard

Answer
Gravity.
The same force pulls a ball back down to Earth.
Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gravity?oldid=1374741444
9
What is at the center of our solar system?

easy

Answer
The Sun.
Every planet, moon and comet in the solar system travels around it.
Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_System?oldid=1379807231

Matter and living things

10
Name three states of matter you see every day.

easy

Answer
Solid, liquid and gas.
Ice, water and steam are the same water in all three states. The fourth, plasma, is in lightning and the Sun.
Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/State_of_matter?oldid=1381481463
11
In the water cycle, what is it called when water vapor turns into tiny drops that make clouds?

medium

Answer
Condensation.
It is the same thing that happens on the outside of a cold glass.
Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_cycle?oldid=1368240581
12
What is the water cycle step called when liquid water turns into a gas and rises into the air?

medium

Answer
Evaporation.
The Sun's heat drives it.
Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_cycle?oldid=1368240581
13
What do we call rain, snow, sleet or hail falling from clouds?

medium

Answer
Precipitation.
After it falls, the water runs into rivers, lakes and the ground, and the cycle starts again.
Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_cycle?oldid=1368240581
14
When salt dissolves in water, which one is the solute?

medium

Answer
The salt.
The solvent is what does the dissolving; here, the water.
Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solution_%28chemistry%29?oldid=1379699096
15
Plants make their own food from light, water and which gas from the air?

medium

Answer
Carbon dioxide.
The process is called photosynthesis.
Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Photosynthesis?oldid=1379238357
16
Which gas do plants give off during photosynthesis, the one we breathe?

medium

Answer
Oxygen.
Most of the oxygen in Earth's air comes from photosynthesis.
Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Photosynthesis?oldid=1379238357
17
In a food chain, what is a living thing such as grass, which makes its own food, called?

medium

Answer
A producer, also called an autotroph.
Animals that eat producers are consumers.
Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Food_chain?oldid=1377450966
18
What are living things such as fungi that break down dead plants and animals called?

medium

Answer
Decomposers.
They return the nutrients to the soil for new plants.
Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decomposer?oldid=1381470834

American history

19
Who was the first president of the United States?

easy

Answer
George Washington.
He served two terms, from 1789 to 1797.
Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Washington?oldid=1381875691
20
On which ship did the Pilgrims sail to America in 1620?

easy

Answer
The Mayflower.
The Pilgrims founded Plymouth Colony, in what is now Massachusetts.
Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mayflower?oldid=1378889980
21
How many British colonies broke away to form the United States?

easy

Answer
Thirteen.
They lay along the Atlantic coast, from New Hampshire to Georgia.
Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thirteen_Colonies?oldid=1380458739
22
Which settlement in Virginia was the first permanent English settlement in the Americas?

medium

Answer
Jamestown.
It was founded in 1607.
Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jamestown%2C_Virginia?oldid=1380238160
23
On which date was the Declaration of Independence adopted?

easy

Answer
July 4, 1776.
That is why the Fourth of July is Independence Day.
Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Declaration_of_Independence?oldid=1379685614
24
Who was the main author of the Declaration of Independence?

medium

Answer
Thomas Jefferson.
He later became the third president, from 1801 to 1809.
Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Jefferson?oldid=1381901012
25
At the Boston Tea Party in 1773, what did colonists throw into Boston Harbor?

medium

Answer
Tea, 340 or 342 chests of it.
They were protesting a British tax on tea.
Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boston_Tea_Party?oldid=1381795994
26
What are the first ten amendments to the Constitution called?

medium

Answer
The Bill of Rights.
They protect rights such as free speech and freedom of religion.
Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Bill_of_Rights?oldid=1378725217
27
In which city was the Constitution written, in 1787?

hard

Answer
Philadelphia.
The Declaration of Independence was signed in the same building, Independence Hall.
Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constitution_of_the_United_States?oldid=1381340946
28
What was the Lewis and Clark Expedition also called?

hard

Answer
The Corps of Discovery.
It reached the Pacific Ocean in 1805 and was back in St. Louis in 1806.
Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lewis_and_Clark_Expedition?oldid=1381521726
29
Lewis and Clark explored land the United States had just bought from France. What was the deal called?

medium

Answer
The Louisiana Purchase.
The United States bought the land in 1803, and the expedition set out the next year.
Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lewis_and_Clark_Expedition?oldid=1381521726

Math

30
What is 3/4 + 1/8?

easy

Answer
7/8.
3/4 is the same as 6/8, and 6/8 + 1/8 = 7/8.
31
Write 0.75 as a fraction in its simplest form.

easy

Answer
3/4.
0.75 is 75 hundredths, 75/100, and dividing both by 25 gives 3/4.
32
What is 6 + 4 × 3?

medium

Answer
18.
Multiply before you add: 4 × 3 = 12, then 6 + 12 = 18.
33
A box is 4 cm long, 3 cm wide and 2 cm tall. What is its volume?

medium

Answer
24 cubic centimeters.
Volume is length × width × height: 4 × 3 × 2 = 24.
34
What is 2.5 × 4?

medium

Answer
10.
Two 4s make 8, and half of 4 is 2, so 8 + 2 = 10.
35
21 is 3 × 7. Is it a prime number or a composite number?

medium

Answer
A composite number.
A prime number has exactly two factors, 1 and itself; 21 also has 3 and 7.
Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prime_number?oldid=1381705799
36
Round 3.47 to the nearest tenth.

hard

Answer
3.5.
The hundredths digit is 7, which is 5 or more, so the tenths digit goes up from 4 to 5.
37
What is half of 3/5?

medium

Answer
3/10.
Halving the fraction doubles the bottom number: 3/5 × 1/2 = 3/10.
38
How many milliliters are in 2 liters?

easy

Answer
2,000 milliliters.
One liter is 1,000 milliliters, so 2 liters is 2 × 1,000.

Words and writing

39
"As busy as a bee" compares two things using "as". What is this kind of comparison called?

easy

Answer
A simile.
A simile uses "like" or "as": "She runs like the wind."
Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simile?oldid=1379894233
40
"The classroom was a zoo" says one thing is another, with no "like" or "as". What is it called?

medium

Answer
A metaphor.
The classroom was not really a zoo; it was noisy and wild, like one.
Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metaphor?oldid=1374859971
41
In the word "unhappy", what does the prefix "un-" mean?

easy

Answer
Not.
A prefix goes at the start of a word and changes its meaning: unhappy means not happy, and unlock means the opposite of lock.

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