Biology  by Bradford
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The General Science Pub Quiz

A mixed-science quiz that works for any class from grade 7 up: general knowledge, missing vowels, connections and estimation.

Print teacher pagesPrint student pagesOpen in the builder to change it

Teacher pages are the quizmaster script and tally sheet. Student pages are the team answer sheet, handout and picture sheet. Both open ready to print, on A4 or US Letter.

The rounds

General science, Missing vowels: science, Fact or fiction, Connections, General science, Emoji science, General science, Closest wins, and a handout of riddles. 73 questions in all, about 60 minutes. Every answer is on this page, folded under its round.

Round 1General science

A classic general-knowledge science round. ten questions.

  1. What is the chemical symbol for gold?
  2. Which planet has the most known moons?
  3. What is the hardest natural substance?
  4. Which gas do plants take in for photosynthesis?
  5. What is the largest organ of the human body?
  6. How many legs does a spider have?
  7. Which blood group is the universal red-cell donor?
  8. What is the most abundant gas in Earth's atmosphere?
  9. What force keeps the planets in orbit around the Sun?
  10. What is the closest star to Earth?
Answers
  1. Au
  2. Saturn (as of 2025)
  3. Diamond
  4. Carbon dioxide
  5. Skin
  6. Eight
  7. O negative
  8. Nitrogen
  9. Gravity
  10. The Sun

Round 2Missing vowels: science

Vowels removed, spaces moved. Name the science word. eight questions.

  1. PH TSY NTHS S
  2. VP RTN
  3. LC TRC TY
  4. CH RMS M
  5. TL SCP
  6. TM SPH R
  7. SK LTN
  8. TH RMM TR
Answers
  1. Photosynthesis
  2. Evaporation
  3. Electricity
  4. Chromosome
  5. Telescope
  6. Atmosphere
  7. Skeleton
  8. Thermometer

Round 3Fact or fiction

Myths and true-but-weird facts. Teams write Fact or Fiction. ten questions.

  1. Cracking your knuckles gives you arthritis.
  2. Sealed honey can stay edible for thousands of years.
  3. Humans have more than five senses.
  4. Bats are blind.
  5. Sugar makes children hyperactive.
  6. Diamonds form from compressed coal.
  7. Wombats produce cube-shaped droppings.
  8. Humans and chimpanzees share about 98% of their DNA.
  9. Chameleons change colour mainly to blend into the background.
  10. A day on Venus is longer than its year.
Answers
  1. Fiction. Studies have found no link between the habit and arthritis.
  2. Fact. It holds so little water, and is so acidic, that microbes cannot grow in it.
  3. Fact. Balance, temperature, pain and body position are all sensed too.
  4. Fiction. All bats can see, and many also use echolocation.
  5. Fiction. Controlled trials have found no effect on behaviour.
  6. Fiction. Most formed deep in the mantle, long before land plants, so long before coal.
  7. Fact. The shape comes from how their intestine stretches, and it stops the droppings rolling away.
  8. Fact. Estimates run from 96% to 99%, depending on how the comparison is counted.
  9. Fiction. Colour change is mostly signalling to other chameleons, plus temperature and mood.
  10. Fact. Venus turns once in about 243 Earth days and orbits the Sun in about 225.

Round 4Connections

Four things. What links them? five questions.

  1. Quartz, Feldspar, Mica, Calcite
  2. Oak, Beech, Birch, Ash
  3. Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Neutron
  4. Bacillus, Coccus, Spirillum, Vibrio
  5. Kelvin, Joule, Newton, Pascal
Answers
  1. Minerals
  2. Deciduous trees native to Britain
  3. Types of ionising radiation
  4. Bacterial shapes: rod, sphere, spiral and comma
  5. SI units, with a scientist's name behind each

Round 5General science

A classic general-knowledge science round. ten questions.

  1. What is the chemical symbol for sodium?
  2. Which planet is known as the Red Planet?
  3. Which organelle makes most of a cell's ATP?
  4. How many chromosomes are in a typical human body cell?
  5. Roughly what percentage of air is oxygen?
  6. At what temperature does water boil at sea level, in °C?
  7. What is the SI unit of electrical resistance?
  8. Which part of the eye changes the size of the pupil?
  9. What is the pH of pure water at 25 °C?
  10. What is the study of fungi called?
Answers
  1. Na
  2. Mars
  3. Mitochondrion
  4. 46
  5. 21%
  6. 100 °C
  7. Ohm
  8. Iris
  9. 7
  10. Mycology

Round 6Emoji science

Read the emoji, name the science word or phrase. eight questions.

  1. 🔵🔔
  2. 🐉🪰
  3. 🌍🪱
  4. 🍮🐟
  5. ☀️🔥
  6. 🌧️🌳
  7. 🥇🐟
  8. 🍯🐝
Answers
  1. 🔵🔔 Bluebell
  2. 🐉🪰 Dragonfly
  3. 🌍🪱 Earthworm
  4. 🍮🐟 Jellyfish
  5. ☀️🔥 Sunburn
  6. 🌧️🌳 Rainforest
  7. 🥇🐟 Goldfish
  8. 🍯🐝 Honeybee

Round 7General science

A classic general-knowledge science round. ten questions.

  1. Roughly how fast does light travel, in km per second?
  2. What is the most abundant element in the universe?
  3. Which vitamin does skin make in sunlight?
  4. What is the smallest bone in the human body?
  5. What type of rock forms when lava cools?
  6. What is the common name for H₂O₂?
  7. Which blood cells fight infection?
  8. Which planet is closest to the Sun?
  9. What is the loss of water vapour from plant leaves called?
  10. Which instrument measures atmospheric pressure?
Answers
  1. About 300,000 km/s
  2. Hydrogen
  3. Vitamin D
  4. The stapes
  5. Igneous
  6. Hydrogen peroxide
  7. White blood cells
  8. Mercury
  9. Transpiration
  10. Barometer

Round 8Closest wins

Estimation questions. Nearest team wins the point. Doubles as the tiebreaker. four questions.

  1. How many bones are in the adult human body?
  2. How far is the Moon from Earth, on average, in kilometres?
  3. How tall is Mount Everest, in metres?
  4. How fast does sound travel through air at 20 °C, in metres per second?
Answers
  1. 206
  2. 384,400 km
  3. 8,849 m
  4. 343 m/s

HandoutRiddles and puzzles

Little brain-teasers. Best as the handout teams chip away at all quiz long. eight questions.

  1. The more of me there is, the less you see. What am I?
  2. I'm lighter than a feather, but even the strongest person can't hold me for long. What am I?
  3. Bacteria in a jar double every minute. The jar is full at 12:00. When was it half full?
  4. I have a nucleus but I'm not a cell. I have shells but I'm not a beach. What am I?
  5. Germanium, nickel, uranium and sulfur. Write their symbols in order: what word do you get?
  6. What word is this: H I J K L M N O?
  7. You'll find me in Mercury, Earth, Mars and Jupiter, but never in Venus. What am I?
  8. What comes next: 2, 3, 5, 7, 11, …?
Answers
  1. Darkness
  2. Your breath
  3. 11:59
  4. An atom
  5. GENIUS (Ge Ni U S)
  6. Water (H to O, H₂O)
  7. The letter R
  8. 13 (the primes)

How it runs

  1. Open it in the builder. The running order loads ready to go. Swap, add or drop rounds, or draw a round's questions again.
  2. Present it or print it. Present puts each round on the projector in 16:9 with quizmaster notes. Print gives the script, team answer sheets, a picture sheet and a tally sheet on A4 or US Letter, with no projector needed.
  3. Score it. Teams swap sheets, mark, and each plays one joker to double a round. The scores page reveals the leaderboard from last place up.

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