Why are there holes in doughnuts? Try our kids’ quiz

1. Elliot, 7, asks: why are there holes in doughnuts?

   1. Because in 1847 a captain made a hole in a doughnut to put it on his ship’s wheel

   2. So police officers can put them on their fingers and eat them while they drive

   3. In 1926 a baker found he made more money selling rings and holes separately

   4. Doughnuts started out as sugar-covered bagels

2. Josie, 11, asks: how long have cats been domesticated and kept by humans?

   1. At least 20,000 years

   2. At least 9,500 years

   3. At least 3,600 years

   4. At least 900 years

3. Tovah, 4, asks: why is healthy food often green?

   1. Green foods are usually vegetables or fruit, which are healthy!

   2. It makes our bodies think we’re eating grass, like cows

   3. Green food is full of mould, which is healthy

   4. Green foods contain vertillus maximus, the best molecule for our bodies

4. Solly, 10, asks: if you slept every time you blinked (for the duration of the blink), how much longer would you need to sleep at night?

   1. No sleep – we blink for more than eight hours a day!

   2. About four hours

   3. Seven and a half hours

   4. More than 10 hours, as the blink-sleeps are tiring

5. David, 6, asks: how does glue work?

   1. By using tiny threads to sew surfaces together

   2. By magnetising surfaces

   3. By forming an adhesive bond between surfaces

   4. Scientists don’t know!

Solutions

1:A - It is said that in 1847, while at sea in Maine, Captain Hanson Gregory punched a hole in a doughnut his wife had made for him to fit it over the spokes of the ship’s wheel!, 2:B - The earliest evidence for cat domestication is 9,500 years old, from Cyprus. A person was buried next to their cat, suggesting they kept it as a pet. , 3:A - Fruits, vegetables and herbs are some of the healthiest foods because they contain lots of amazing nutrients – and green foods are usually fruits or vegetables or herbs! , 4:C - If you blink 900-1,200 times an hour, and a blink lasts 0.1 seconds, then on average you would sleep 90-120 seconds every hour. If you did that for the 16 hours of the day you are awake, you would get an extra 1,440-1,920 seconds, or 24-32 minutes of sleep. So if you wanted eight hours of sleep, you would only need to sleep about seven and a half, thanks to the blinks! , 5:C - Glue works by forming strong bonds between surfaces that are made as the glue dries, so that while it is still wet, things can still be moved.

Scores

1. 5 and above.

2. 4 and above.

3. 3 and above.

4. 2 and above.

5. 1 and above.

6. 0 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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