How many seeds are there in a sunflower? Try our kids’ quiz

Illustration: Hennie Haworth/The Guardian

1. Indie Blue, 8, asks: how many seeds are there in a sunflower?

   1. Up to 50 seeds

   2. Up to 250 seeds

   3. Up to 2,000 seeds

   4. Up to 10,000 seeds

2. Beatrice, 6, asks: why is Neptune windy?

   1. The internal heat of Neptune creates fast wind

   2. Neptune is spinning quickly so it’s very windy

   3. Because there is a huge storm in space right next to Neptune

   4. Because it is so far away from the sun

3. Jocelyn, 5, asks: how much venom does the bite of a tiger snake contain?

   1. Not enough to hurt you

   2. Only enough to hurt for a few days

   3. Enough to kill about half of the people who are bitten

   4. Enough to kill four whole elephants

4. Betty, 9, asks: are there more kids in the world than adults?

   1. No, about a quarter of the global population are kids

   2. About a third of the world’s population are children

   3. The world is made up of half kids, half adults

   4. Kids make up about 70% of the world’s population

5. Arlo, 6, asks: how was plastic discovered?

   1. A chemical spillage in a lab created a new material

   2. Scientists were trying to find a replacement for ivory

   3. Archaeologists found the first plastics dating to 3,000 years ago

   4. It fell on to Earth in an ancient meteorite and was replicated by scientists

Solutions

1:C - A single sunflower can produce from 1,000 to 2,000 seeds. Of course, it depends on the size of the sunflower., 2:A - It’s not totally clear why Neptune is SO windy, but scientists think it’s because it’s extremely hot inside the core of the planet. Neptune is the windiest planet in our solar system, with winds travelling at more than 1,200 miles per hour. Earth’s strongest winds go at 250 miles per hour!, 3:C - Tiger snakes have a lot of venom in their bite – usually around 35mg but the record is 180mg. A bite from a tiger snake has enough venom in it to kill a human between 40% and 60% of the time if left untreated., 4:A - There are many more adults in the world than kids – about 25% of the global population is under the age of 14. This number has gone down a lot over the years because adults are living longer than they used to!, 5:B - The very first plastic was invented by Alexander Parkes in 1855. It wasn’t very popular but in 1869 John Wesley Hyatt used Parkes’s ideas to make an improved version that could replace the ivory used to make billiard balls.

Scores

1. 5 and above.

2. 4 and above.

3. 3 and above.

4. 2 and above.

5. 0 and above.

6. 1 and above.

Molly Oldfield hosts Everything Under the Sun, a weekly podcast answering children’s questions, out now as a book.

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