50 Funny Trivia Questions for Families

1. A thick cornstarch-and-water mixture acts stubborn when squeezed quickly. What happens to its resistance to flow?

2. Ketchup finally leaves the bottle after a good shake. Under stirring or squeezing, its apparent viscosity usually does what?

3. Red-cabbage juice is playing color detective. In a clearly acidic solution, it usually turns which color?

4. An apple slice is turning brown while everyone debates who wanted it. Which gas helps drive that reaction?

5. Honey has turned grainy in its jar. Which sugar tends to form those crystals?

6. Chocolate melts in your mouth thanks largely to which natural fat?

7. Brown rice keeps a nutritious outer layer that white rice loses during milling. What is it called?

8. Four equal cups of water are at 5°C, 10°C, 20°C and 40°C. Which can dissolve the most table sugar before becoming saturated?

9. Which ice crystals help ice cream feel smooth rather than like a mouthful of tiny pebbles?

10. The mixing bowl is on the scale, but you only want the flour's weight. Which button usually subtracts the bowl's contribution?

11. A kaleidoscope turns a few colored pieces into a whole pattern party. What repeats their images?

12. A glass prism spreads white light into rainbow colors. What is this separation called?

13. A soap bubble wears swirling colors without any paint. What produces them?

14. For a shadow-puppet giant, move your hand closer to a small lamp while keeping the wall fixed. What happens to the shadow?

15. The family magnifying glass is ready to inspect a crumb. Which kind of lens normally does the enlarging?

16. A bicycle reflector looks bright in a headlight beam. Where does it send much of that light?

17. In a simple optical fiber, which effect helps keep light bouncing along inside?

18. What is the raised part of a sundial that casts its time-telling shadow called?

19. Polarized sunglasses can make a shiny lake less dazzling by reducing what?

20. A lenticular picture seems to change when you tilt it. What helps send different images toward different viewing angles?

21. The seesaw has a very important middle manager. What is its pivot point called?

22. Turning a screw makes it advance through a matching thread. What kind of motion is being converted into straight-line motion?

23. A single fixed pulley lets you pull down to lift a load up. What does it change?

24. Two ordinary external gears mesh directly. If one turns clockwise, which way does the other turn?

25. On a bicycle, which arm connects a pedal to the central rotating shaft?

26. A stretched rubber band is waiting to spring back. Which kind of energy has been stored?

27. Two pendulums make small swings in the same place. Which one completes each swing cycle sooner?

28. A spinning toy gyroscope resists having its axis redirected. Which quantity helps explain that behavior?

29. Ball bearings help a wheel move smoothly by replacing much sliding contact with what?

30. The wavy middle layer of corrugated cardboard has a musical-sounding name. What are its waves called?

31. A maple's spinning helicopter fruit is called what?

32. The tiny parachute of hairs on a dandelion fruit has which name?

33. A pea tendril finds a support and curls around it. Which stimulus triggers this growth response?

34. The sensitive plant has a quick trick when gently touched. What does it do?

35. A seedling's main root usually grows downward even in darkness. Which force is it responding to?

36. Leaves have tiny adjustable doorways for exchanging gases. What are these pores called?

37. What is a cotyledon, one of a seedling's earliest leafy parts?

38. A dry resurrection fern curls up, then gets its big comeback. What helps it unfurl again?

39. A gardener calls a soil loam. Which three particle types does it combine?

40. A lichen is a tiny teamwork project: a fungus partners with which kind of organism to make food using light?

41. In bright light, the pupil of a common cuttlefish (Sepia officinalis) resembles which letter?

42. Most four-toed woodpeckers grip trees with which toe arrangement?

43. A seal's whiskers do more than look impressive. What can they detect underwater?

44. An elephant's trunk is a flexible multitool. How many bones are inside it?

45. What mainly gives the blue parts of a blue jay's feathers their blue appearance?

46. Besides hearing, a rabbit's large ears help it do what?

47. A fly's big compound eyes contain many tiny visual units. What are these units called?

48. An acorn barnacle sticks to a rock with its body positioned which way?

49. A flamingo's meal comes with a built-in headstand. How does it hold its bill while filter-feeding?

50. On a typical garden snail, where are the eyes that seem to ride on little periscopes?