What happens under your eyelids when you blink? Try our kids’ quiz

1. Dylan, 7, asks: what happens underneath your eyelids when you blink?

   1. Our eyes do a tiny dance

   2. Our eyeballs disappear for a split second

   3. Our eyes stay very still

   4. Tears clean our eyes and keep them moist

2. Jennifer, 8, asks: how strong is Earth’s magnetic field?

   1. As strong as a fridge magnet, so it can pull small metal objects

   2. It can lift cars off the road

   3. So weak it has no real effect on anything

   4. Weaker than a fridge magnet

3. Jessica, 9, asks: who taught the first teacher?

   1. A great school that existed before anyone else

   2. A single, ancient book

   3. A wise king from space

   4. They learned from nature, experiences and sharing knowledge

4. Ben, 7, asks: how do we know how fast dinosaurs were?

   1. Scientists study fossilised footprints and bone structure to estimate speed

   2. We have ancient video footage of dinosaurs

   3. A famous fossil recorded dinosaurs’ race times

   4. Darker bones mean those dinos were faster

5. Felix, 10, asks: do forces always travel in a straight line?

   1. Forces move in straight lines, but only downwards

   2. Only very strong forces can change direction

   3. Forces act in one direction and are pushes and pulls on an object

   4. Forces travel in zigzags

Solutions

1:D - When we blink, our eyelids act like windscreen wipers for our eyes. Tiny muscles quickly close and open the eyelid, and tears spread across the eye to keep it clean and moist – about 10-15 times a minute! , 2:D - Earth’s magnetic field helps protect us from harmful radiation from space. It’s a lot weaker than the magnet holding up drawings on your fridge, but it helps guide compasses., 3:D - The first teacher learned from the world around them, experimented, observed nature and shared knowledge with their communities. Before there were schools, you learned from people around you (and hopefully still do, as well as from your schoolteachers)., 4:A - By measuring fossilised footprints and the distance between them, and using information such as hip height and leg structure, experts can estimate dinosaurs’ speed., 5:C - Forces act in one direction, so when a force is applied to an object, it causes movement in a straight line – unless another force changes its direction, like when gravity bends a planet’s orbit.

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.