Brain Teasers
The more you take, the more you leave behind. What am I?
Footsteps
I am a three-digit number. My tens digit is 5. My hundreds digit is twice my ones digit. My digits add up to 14. What number am I?
653.
The digits add to 14, the tens digit is 5, and 6 is twice 3.
What imaginary line divides Earth into the Northern and Southern Hemispheres?
Answer: The Equator.
What are 3 synonyms for “big”?
Answer: Huge, gigantic, or massive.
What is the largest ocean on Earth?
Answer: The Pacific Ocean.
If you have me, you want to share me. If you share me, you don't have me. What am I?
A secret.
A student buys 3 notebooks for $2.45 each and pays with a $10 bill. How much change should the student receive?
$2.65.
3 × $2.45 = $7.35. Then $10.00 − $7.35 = $2.65.
What is the name of the line at 0° longitude?
Answer: The Prime Meridian.
What is the meaning of the idiom “It's raining cats and dogs”?
Answer: It is raining very heavily.
Name the continents on Earth?
The seven continents are:
Asia
Africa
North America
South America
Antarctica
Europe
Australia
What has keys but cannot open locks, space but no room, and an Enter key but no door?
A keyboard.
Solve: 48 ÷ 6 × (3 + 5) − 7.
Answer: 57
Parentheses first: 3 + 5 = 8. Then 48 ÷ 6 = 8, and 8 × 8 = 64. Finally, 64 − 7 = 57.
Which planet is known as the Red Planet?
Answer
Mars.
Iron minerals in its soil give Mars its reddish appearance.
What is the difference between a simile and a metaphor? Give one example of each.
Answer:
Simile: Compares two things using like or as. Example: “She is as brave as a lion.”
Metaphor: Says one thing is another to make a comparison. Example: “She is a lion.”
What was the name of the giant landmass when all the continents were joined together?
Answer: Pangaea.
A man looks at a photograph and says, "Brothers and sisters I have none, but that man's father is my father's son." Who is in the photograph?
His son.
A school orders 18 boxes of pencils. Each box contains 24 pencils. The school distributes 3/8 of all the pencils to fifth graders. How many pencils are left?
Answer: 324 pencils
18 × 24 = 432 pencils. Distributed: 432 × 3/8 = 162. Left: 432 − 162 = 270 pencils. Correction: the correct answer is 270 pencils.
In a food chain, grass → rabbit → fox, which organism is the producer, and why?
Answer
Grass, because it makes its own food using sunlight through photosynthesis.
Identify the adverb in this sentence: “The rabbit quickly hopped across the garden.”
Answer: Quickly.
Which continent is the largest by land area?
Answer: Asia.
A rooster lays an egg on top of a roof. Which side does the egg roll down?
Neither—roosters don't lay eggs.
A rectangular aquarium is 12 inches long, 8 inches wide, and 10 inches tall.
What is the volume of the aquarium in cubic inches?
The aquarium is filled to \(\frac{3}{4}\) of its capacity. How many cubic inches of water are inside?
How many more cubic inches of water are needed to fill the aquarium completely?
Final answers:
Total volume: 960 cubic inches
Water inside: 720 cubic inches
More water needed: 240 cubic inches
A student puts an ice cube in a cup and leaves it in a warm room. The ice melts, and later the water disappears. What are the names of these two changes of state?
Answer
Melting, followed by evaporation.
Melting changes solid ice into liquid water. Evaporation changes liquid water into water vapor.
Identify the adjective, subject, and predicate: “The curious student opened the ancient box.”
Answer:
adjective:Curious and ancient.
subject: the curious student
predicate: opened the ancient box
Scientists believe Pangaea broke apart over millions of years. What caused the continents to slowly move apart?
Answer: The movement of Earth's tectonic plates.