40 Science Trivia Questions for Kids

1. You notice that one leaf has five spots. What science skill are you using?

2. What do scientists call a possible explanation that can be tested?

3. What is a planned test used to investigate a scientific idea called?

4. Before a test, you say what result you expect. What have you made?

5. You test paper bridges of different widths. What is the independent variable?

6. You test how paper-bridge width affects the weight it holds. What is the dependent variable?

7. You compare paper bridges while keeping their length the same. What is bridge length in this test?

8. In a test of a new plant food, what is the group given no plant food called?

9. What word covers the measurements and observations collected during an investigation?

10. Which record is quantitative, meaning it uses a number?

11. You find wet footprints and decide someone walked in from the pool. What is that reasoned idea called?

12. Which display uses bars to compare how many seeds sprouted in each group?

13. After studying your results, what part of a report explains what they mean for your question?

14. Why do scientists repeat a test several times?

15. What is the name for other experts checking a scientific paper before publication?

16. Where should a scientist keep dated notes about each step and result of an investigation?

17. Which wide-mouthed lab container usually has a flat bottom and a small pouring spout?

18. Which tall, narrow container has marked lines for measuring liquid volume?

19. Which tool can a scientist squeeze to add liquid one drop at a time?

20. Which tool guides liquid into a bottle with a narrow opening?

21. Which holder keeps a row of test tubes upright on a lab bench?

22. Which tool would a teacher use to grip a hot crucible?

23. Which pair of lab tools is used to grind a solid into smaller pieces?

24. Which item seals the opening of a test tube?

25. Which instrument helps a scientist see details too small to see with eyes alone?

26. Which instrument compares a sample with known masses to find its mass?

27. Which tool has start and stop buttons for timing a short experiment?

28. What should cover your eyes during a classroom experiment with splashing liquids?

29. A botanist is a scientist who specializes in studying what?

30. What does an oceanographer study?

31. A hydrologist follows the movement of which substance on and under the ground?

32. A mycologist studies which group that includes mushrooms?

33. Which specialist studies genes and how traits are passed between generations?

34. Which scientist specializes in tiny organisms such as bacteria?

35. A mineralogist examines which natural materials?

36. Which specialist would study basic questions about forces and energy?

37. Which scientist worked with Pierre Curie to discover polonium and radium?

38. Who discovered the neutron in 1932?

39. Dorothy Hodgkin used patterns made by which rays to work out molecule structures?

40. Caroline Herschel searched the sky and discovered several of which objects?