School Assembly Quiz Questions
A school assembly quiz is a short run of general knowledge questions read out to the whole school in the morning, usually by one student, usually in under three minutes. That format sets the rules for what belongs in it. The question has to work spoken aloud with no picture and no textbook, the answer has to land as an "oh, of course" rather than a shrug, and the fact behind it has to still be true next term. The fifteen questions here are written for ages nine to fourteen and each one carries a single line of explanation, so whoever reads them out has something to add after the answer instead of just moving on. Some are counting questions with a number for an answer, like the twenty four spokes on the Ashoka Chakra or the two hundred and six bones in a grown-up skeleton. Some are the why questions that make a hall go quiet, like why lightning reaches you before the thunder does. You get fifteen seconds per question and a score at the end, so it also works as practice before you stand up and read them.
All 15 questions
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Which bird is the national bird of India?
- Peacock
- Parrot
- Sparrow
- Kingfisher
Show answer
Peacock The Indian peafowl was chosen in 1963, and only the male grows the long fan of feathers.
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How many spokes does the wheel on the Indian flag have?
- 12
- 16
- 24
- 32
Show answer
24 It is the Ashoka Chakra, copied from a stone pillar carved more than two thousand years ago.
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How many bones are there in an adult human body?
- 186
- 206
- 256
- 306
Show answer
206 A baby starts with about 300, and many of them fuse together as the child grows.
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Which is the only mammal that can truly fly?
- Flying squirrel
- Bat
- Sugar glider
- Barn owl
Show answer
Bat A flying squirrel only glides. A bat wing is a hand, with skin stretched between very long fingers.
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Which is the largest animal alive on Earth today?
- African elephant
- Whale shark
- Blue whale
- Giraffe
Show answer
Blue whale It lives on tiny shrimp-like krill, and a newborn calf is already longer than a car.
-
What causes day and night on Earth?
- The Earth turning on its axis
- The Earth travelling round the Sun
- The Sun moving across the sky
- The Moon blocking the sunlight
Show answer
The Earth turning on its axis The Earth spins once every 24 hours, so your side of the planet turns into the sunlight and out again.
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Which planet orbits closest to the Sun?
- Venus
- Earth
- Mars
- Mercury
Show answer
Mercury Mercury also has the shortest year of all. It goes round the Sun in just 88 Earth days.
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Why do you see lightning before you hear the thunder?
- Light travels faster than sound
- The thunder starts a moment later
- Sound bends around the clouds
- Your eyes react quicker than ears
Show answer
Light travels faster than sound Sound needs about three seconds to cross a kilometre, while light crosses it almost instantly.
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At sea level, water boils at which temperature?
- 80°C
- 90°C
- 100°C
- 120°C
Show answer
100°C High in the mountains the air presses down less, so water boils cooler and rice takes longer to cook.
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Which mountain is the highest above sea level?
- K2
- Mount Everest
- Kangchenjunga
- Mount Kilimanjaro
Show answer
Mount Everest It sits on the border of Nepal and China, and it is still pushed a few millimetres higher each year.
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Which is the largest ocean on Earth?
- Indian Ocean
- Atlantic Ocean
- Pacific Ocean
- Arctic Ocean
Show answer
Pacific Ocean It covers more of the planet than every piece of dry land added together.
-
What do you call a word that reads the same backwards?
- Homophone
- Palindrome
- Anagram
- Acronym
Show answer
Palindrome Malayalam and level both work backwards, and so does the number 121.
-
The word 'alphabet' is built from the first two letters of which alphabet?
- Latin
- Greek
- Arabic
- Hebrew
Show answer
Greek Alpha and beta are the first two Greek letters, so the word really just means 'a b'.
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When you eat a carrot, which part of the plant are you eating?
- Stem
- Leaf
- Flower
- Root
Show answer
Root A carrot is a fat taproot where the plant stores sugar, which is why it tastes sweet.
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How many days are there in a leap year?
- 364
- 365
- 366
- 367
Show answer
366 The Earth takes about 365 and a quarter days to circle the Sun, so the leftover quarters add up to a whole day.
What your result means
Warming Up
0 to 4 of 15 correct
A slow start, and that is exactly what an assembly quiz is for. Read the explanation under each answer, then run it again before you read these out to anyone. Most people jump several answers on a second go.
Front Bench
5 to 8 of 15 correct
A solid middle score. The ones that slip at this level are usually the counting questions, where the number itself is the whole answer and there is nothing to work out. Those are the ones worth learning first.
Assembly Ready
9 to 12 of 15 correct
Strong. You could stand up and read this set out tomorrow morning without checking a single answer. Two or three more and you clear the whole board.
Head of the Line
13 to 15 of 15 correct
Almost perfect, which on a mixed set like this is genuinely hard. You held the symbols, the science and the word questions together. Try the free IQ test next and see whether the streak survives a change of subject.