How smart is an octopus and how do lips get chapped? Try our kids’ quiz

1. Cathal, 12, asks: how smart is an octopus?

   1. Clever! They can do puzzles, open jars and lots of other amazing things

   2. They’re super-dumb – they can’t do anything except shoot ink

   3. They’re the cleverest creature known to man

   4. There’s no way of knowing if they’re clever

2. Myla, 12, asks: how do lips get chapped?

   1. By whistling too much

   2. By shouting a lot

   3. It’s because you’ve licked your lips or the weather is very cold or hot, or you haven’t drunk much water

   4. By playing the flute or the recorder

3. Neena, 7, asks: how heavy is the sun?

   1. The sun is incredibly heavy – it has the same mass as 333,000 Earths

   2. The sun weighs nothing because it is made of fire

   3. The sun’s weight is the same as the Earth

   4. The sun weighs the same as your first ever teacher

4. Maya, 5, asks: how many acorns do chipmunks collect?

   1. They collect only the acorns they like to eat which is about five a day

   2. Chipmunks don’t eat any acorns – you’re thinking of squirrels

   3. Chipmunks can collect more than 160 acorns in a single day

   4. Chipmunks do nothing but collect acorns, and average 723 acorns a day

5. Chris, 7, asks: what is the biggest frog in the world?

   1. The giant tree frog

   2. The speckled frog

   3. The tyrannosaurus frog

   4. The Goliath frog

Solutions

1:A - Octopuses can do puzzles, navigate mazes, open jars and escape from aquariums, and probably all kinds of things humans can’t understand yet. Around two-thirds of their neurons are in their arms (not in their heads, like humans)., 2:C - Licking your lips makes them chapped because you’re covering your lips in saliva, which is full of things that are a bit harsh for lip skin, so makes lips dry. Sunburn can also cause this, as can dry or hot weather, cold weather and not drinking enough water., 3:A - The mass of the sun is about 1.989 x 1030 kilograms, which is 1,989 followed by 27 zeros – the same as about 333,000 Earths, according to Nasa., 4:C - Chipmunks can collect more than 160 acorns a day. In theory they can collect all the acorns they need for a whole winter in just two days – though they tend to hoard them, and often gather many more than they need., 5:D - The Goliath frog is the largest in the world. It’s an endangered species – it lives in west Africa, and can grow up to about 35cm. It’s as big as some house cats!

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 podcast answering children’s questions. Do check out her books, Everything Under the Sun and the new Everything Under the Sun: Quiz Book.

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