40 Technology Trivia Questions for Kids

1. Which older office machine sends a picture of a document through a telephone line?

2. On a traditional typewriter, what inked strip sits between the letters and the paper?

3. Morse code uses two signal lengths. What are they usually called?

4. A record player's needle follows what on the surface of a record?

5. On a rotary telephone, what does the round dial do after you let go?

6. Many fiber-optic communication cables carry light through thin strands of what?

7. What role does a communication satellite play between distant places on Earth?

8. What protection for an invention can an inventor apply for at a patent office?

9. To keep food cool, a refrigerator moves heat in which direction?

10. What carries dust into a vacuum cleaner's bag or container?

11. Why does a washing machine spin clothes quickly near the end of a wash?

12. What do a dishwasher's spinning spray arms send over the dishes?

13. In a lockstitch sewing machine, what does the small bobbin hold?

14. Which device turns home heating on and off to help keep a chosen temperature?

15. Why do many microwave ovens turn the food on a round tray?

16. What is the flat heated bottom of a clothes iron called?

17. What supports a hovercraft just above land or water?

18. A submarine can take water into which tanks to help it dive?

19. What is the name for the big spinning blades above a helicopter?

20. On a chain-driven bicycle, what carries movement from the pedals toward the rear wheel?

21. In many cable elevators, what balances much of the weight of the cabin?

22. After an escalator step goes under the floor at the top, where does it go?

23. What pushes the pistons in a traditional steam locomotive?

24. Where is energy recovered by regenerative braking stored in an electric car?

25. Mary Anderson's 1903 patent described a device for clearing which vehicle surface?

26. Garrett Morgan's three-position traffic signal added a pause that stopped traffic in which directions?

27. Which inventor worked with George Antheil on a radio system that switched between frequencies?

28. Elijah McCoy's automatic lubricator fed what to the moving parts of engines?

29. Margaret Knight designed a machine to make which useful shopping containers?

30. Chester Carlson developed a machine to make copies of what?

31. Whitcomb Judson's early clasp-locker fastener was designed to help close what?

32. Sarah Goode's folding bed could turn into which useful piece of furniture?

33. How does a 3D printer build a solid object?

34. Which robot parts collect information about nearby objects or conditions?

35. What is an actuator's job in a robot?

36. A robotic gripper acts most like which part of a human body?

37. What do inventors call an early model built to try out a design?

38. What is an artificial hand or leg made to replace a missing limb called?

39. A desalination plant makes seawater less salty by removing what?

40. What mainly supports the roadway of a suspension bridge from above?