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General knowledge quiz for 11-14 year olds

Look-alike flags, capitals that fool adults, the elements, history dates and mental maths, with a stretch round at the end. This general knowledge quiz for 11-14 year olds suits form time or a club. There are no film or music rounds. Press Play and the game mixes its age 11, 12 and 13 levels, the hardest of its age quizzes.

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44 questions in 5 rounds, every one with its answer. Questions last changed: .

Round 1: the world

  1. Age 11 True or false: This is the flag of Bangladesh.

    A red circle, set a little toward the pole, on a dark green field.

    True. It's Bangladesh. Japan is red on white. Bangladesh puts its red disc on green.

  2. Age 11 Which country's flag is this?

    A blue field with a red cross edged in white, set toward the pole side.
    • Iceland
    • Denmark
    • Norway
    • Germany

    Iceland. Iceland is blue with a red cross. Norway flips it.

  3. Age 11 True or false: The capital of Cameroon is Douala.

    False. It's Yaoundé. Mount Cameroon is one of the most active volcanoes in Africa.

  4. Age 12 True or false: The capital of Myanmar is Yangon.

    False. It's Naypyidaw. Myanmar's Shwedagon Pagoda is covered in gold, and its top is set with thousands of diamonds and other gems.

  5. Age 12 What is the capital of Botswana?

    • Gaborone
    • Dakar
    • Lusaka
    • Pretoria

    Gaborone. Botswana's Okavango Delta is a huge river delta that spreads into the Kalahari Desert instead of reaching the sea.

  6. Age 12 Which of these is the newest?

    • White House
    • Stonehenge
    • Parthenon
    • St Basil's Cathedral

    White House. Oldest first: Stonehenge (about 2500 BC), Parthenon (about 440 BC), St Basil's Cathedral (1561), White House (1800).

  7. Age 13 True or false: Hagia Sophia is in Türkiye.

    True. Hagia Sophia is in Türkiye. Istanbul's Hagia Sophia was finished in the year 537. It has been a church, a museum and a mosque.

  8. Age 13 What is the capital of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines?

    • Washington, D.C.
    • Managua
    • Kingston
    • Kingstown

    Kingstown. La Soufrière, the volcano on Saint Vincent, erupted in 2021.

  9. Age 13 Put these countries in order from west to east. Start with the one furthest west: Croatia, Portugal, Switzerland, Ukraine.

    Portugal → Switzerland → Croatia → Ukraine. Portugal is the westernmost country on mainland Europe.

Round 2: science and nature

  1. Age 11 True or false: Bromine is a solid at room temperature (about 20 °C).

    False. Bromine is a liquid. Bromine is one of only two elements that are liquid at room temperature. Mercury is the other.

  2. Age 11 Which metal never rusts or tarnishes, so ancient treasure made of it still shines?

    • Iron
    • Copper
    • Gold
    • Silver

    Gold. Gold reacts with almost nothing, so gold coins from old shipwrecks can come up from the seabed still shining.

  3. Age 11 For roughly how long were dinosaurs around before the asteroid hit?

    • About 10,000 years
    • More than 1 billion years
    • About 1 million years
    • More than 150 million years

    More than 150 million years. The first dinosaurs appeared more than 230 million years ago. The giant ones died out 66 million years ago.

  4. Age 12 What does the name Pteranodon mean?

    • Iguana tooth
    • Ancient wing
    • Toothless wing
    • Thick-headed lizard

    Toothless wing. Unlike many other pterosaurs, it had no teeth in its long beak.

  5. Age 12 Which part of a plant cell supports and strengthens it?

    • Vacuole
    • Cell membrane
    • Chloroplast
    • Cell wall

    Cell wall. The cell wall supports and strengthens a plant cell.

  6. Age 12 True or false: Magnesium is a metal.

    True. Magnesium is a metal. Magnesium burns with a dazzling white light, which is why it is used in flares and fireworks.

  7. Age 13 True or false: Sulfur is a non-metal.

    True. Sulfur is a non-metal. Sulfur is a yellow element found around volcanoes. In old stories it was called brimstone.

  8. Age 13 Put these planets in order, starting nearest the Sun: Jupiter, Mars, Neptune, Saturn, Uranus, Venus.

    Venus → Mars → Jupiter → Saturn → Uranus → Neptune. To remember the order, try: My Very Easy Method Just Speeds Up Naming.

  9. Age 13 Which of these is a dinosaur?

    • Mosasaurus
    • Microraptor
    • Crocodile
    • Ichthyosaurus

    Microraptor. Mosasaurus was a giant sea lizard, not a dinosaur. Its closest living relatives are lizards and snakes.

Round 3: history

  1. Age 11 True or false: Vesuvius buried Pompeii in the 3rd century AD.

    False. It was AD 79, in the 1st century AD. The ash kept the Roman town so well preserved that you can still walk its streets today.

  2. Age 11 In which century was Elizabeth II crowned?

    • 18th century
    • 21st century
    • 19th century
    • 20th century

    20th century. Elizabeth II was crowned in 1953, which is in the 20th century.

  3. Age 11 Put these in order, earliest first: Battle of Bosworth, Everest first climbed, First public TV demonstration, UK switches to decimal money.

    Battle of Bosworth (1485) → First public TV demonstration (1926) → Everest first climbed (1953) → UK switches to decimal money (1971). The UK switched to decimal money 486 years after the Battle of Bosworth was fought.

  4. Age 12 Which came first?

    • Battle of Waterloo
    • First powered aeroplane flight

    Battle of Waterloo. The Battle of Waterloo was fought in 1815, 88 years before the Wright brothers made the first powered aeroplane flight.

  5. Age 12 True or false: The Gunpowder Plot was foiled after the Spanish Armada sailed.

    True. Spanish Armada sails: 1588. Gunpowder Plot foiled: 1605. The Spanish Armada sailed in 1588. About 130 Spanish ships set out to invade England. Storms and English fireships scattered them.

  6. Age 12 In which year did Karl Benz patent his motor car?

    • 1914
    • 1911
    • 1986
    • 1886

    1886. It had three wheels. In 1888 his wife Bertha drove one more than 100 kilometres.

  7. Age 13 True or false: The Battle of Agincourt was fought after the Peasants' Revolt took place.

    True. Peasants' Revolt: 1381. Battle of Agincourt: 1415. The Peasants' Revolt took place in 1381. Thousands marched on London to protest about a new tax. One of their leaders was Wat Tyler.

  8. Age 13 Which came first?

    • Eiffel Tower completed
    • Second World War ends

    Eiffel Tower completed. The Eiffel Tower was completed in 1889, 56 years before the Second World War ended.

  9. Age 13 Which came first?

    • Telephone patented
    • Slavery Abolition Act passed

    Slavery Abolition Act passed. The Slavery Abolition Act was passed in 1833, 43 years before the telephone was first patented.

Round 4: numbers

  1. Age 11 Put these in order, smallest first: −12, −7, 12, 9.

    −12 → −7 → 9 → 12. The further below zero, the smaller the number, so −12 is the smallest here.

  2. Age 11 Fill in the missing number: 75 × ? = 375

    • 6
    • 300
    • 5
    • 4

    5. Divide to find it: 375 ÷ 75 = 5, because 75 × 5 = 375.

  3. Age 11 What is 20% of 480?

    96. 10% of 480 is 48, so 20% is double that: 96.

  4. Age 12 True or false: 323 + 484 = 797.

    False. 323 + 484 = 807. Hundreds, tens, then ones: 300 + 400 = 700, 20 + 80 = 100, 3 + 4 = 7. Altogether: 807.

  5. Age 12 What is 236 + 465?

    701. Hundreds, tens, then ones: 200 + 400 = 600, 30 + 60 = 90, 6 + 5 = 11. Altogether: 701.

  6. Age 12 What is 228 ÷ 19?

    12. Think backwards: 12 × 19 = 228, so 228 ÷ 19 = 12.

  7. Age 13 What is 2.9 + 1.73?

    4.63. Line up the decimal points: 2.90 + 1.73 = 4.63.

  8. Age 13 What is 1.7 + 1.62?

    3.32. Line up the decimal points: 1.70 + 1.62 = 3.32.

  9. Age 13 Fill in the missing number: 25 × ? = 250

    10. Divide to find it: 250 ÷ 25 = 10, because 25 × 10 = 250.

Round 5: the stretch round

The hardest kinds of question in the quiz for 13 year olds: flags and capitals with no choices to pick from, element symbols and exact years.

  1. Which country's flag is this?

    Three horizontal stripes: red, white and red.

    Austria. Austria's red, white and red flag is one of the oldest national flags in the world.

  2. Which country's flag is this?

    A wide red stripe edged in white with blue stripes above and below, and a white disc holding a red star toward the pole side.

    North Korea. Mount Paektu, on North Korea's border with China, is a volcano with a lake in its crater.

  3. What is the capital of Luxembourg?

    Luxembourg. Luxembourg is the world's only grand duchy.

  4. What is the capital of Uruguay?

    Montevideo. Uruguay hosted and won the first football World Cup, in 1930.

  5. Which element was once known by the Latin name kalium?

    • Potassium
    • Krypton
    • Carbon
    • Calcium

    Potassium. Potassium reacts so fiercely with water that it bursts into lilac flames. K comes from its Latin name, kalium.

  6. Name the element with the symbol Na.

    Sodium. Sodium is a metal soft enough to cut with a knife. Its symbol Na comes from the Latin natrium.

  7. True or false: The Channel Tunnel opened in 1918.

    False. It was 1994. It runs under the sea between England and France, and is about 50 kilometres long.

  8. In which year did women in the UK first win the right to vote in general elections?

    • 1893
    • 1938
    • 2012
    • 1918

    1918. At first only women over 30 who met certain rules could vote. All women over 21 could from 1928.

How to use these questions

Four subject rounds, then a stretch round for anyone who found those too easy. It covers flags, capitals, landmarks, the world map, science, history and maths, and nothing else. To see every answer at once, switch on Show all answers at the top of the list. The page also prints on A4 paper from your browser's own Print command: the questions come first and the answers follow on a separate sheet.

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