Why is Mars red if it’s cold and do hedgehog spikes fall out? The kids’ quiz

Illustration: Hennie Haworth/The Guardian

1. Esmé, 7, asks: why is Mars red if it’s cold?

   1. Mars is red because it’s sunburnt

   2. Mars isn’t red

   3. Mars is red due to dust from the iron rocks on its surface

   4. Mars is red because of its many volcanoes

2. Maisie, 5, asks: do hedgehog spikes fall out?

   1. Yes, the process is called quilling

   2. Yes, but only when they’re very, very old

   3. No, they die with the spikes they were born with

   4. No, but they do have to get them cut

3. Anton, 7, asks: where is the most likely place to find gold?

   1. The Scottish Highlands

   2. The Witwatersrand Basin in South Africa

   3. The moon

   4. The Mariana trench

4. Elliot, 6, asks: what’s the most popular invention ever?

   1. Soap

   2. Plumbing

   3. The printing press

   4. The internet

5. Sage, 7, asks: why do we blow out candles on a cake on our birthday?

   1. The Spartans used to test if a baby was healthy by making it blow out a candle

   2. It’s a tradition invented by Queen Elizabeth I, as a cake with candles looks like a crown

   3. We used to set the cake on fire and eat the candles, but it didn’t work

   4. The ancient Greeks made cakes and blew out candles to celebrate Artemis, the goddess of the moon

Solutions

1:C - Mars is red because its dusty surface contains iron rocks, which over time form rust. Martian winds help to move this dust around the planet, making it look red., 2:A - Hedgehog spikes are called spines, and can be shed in many different circumstances, but they’re designed to grow back. Adolescence can cause shedding, but so can stress or poor diet. , 3:B - The Witwatersrand Basin, South Africa, holds the largest gold deposit ever found. Gold reserves of more than 40,000 tonnes have been extracted, and many more tonnes are still there., 4:C - Opinions vary on this, but according to Ohio State University, the printing press is the most popular invention of all time. It meant knowledge could be documented and widely distributed, allowing other minds to use that knowledge and create more inventions., 5:D - he ancient Greeks would blow out candles, believing the smoke would rise and take their prayers to the moon and Artemis. Birthday cakes as we know them with candles only started becoming popular in 18th-century Germany.

Scores

1. 5 and above.

2. 4 and above.

3. 3 and above.

4. 2 and above.

5. 0 and above.

6. 1 and above.

Molly Oldfield hosts Everything Under the Sun, a podcast answering children’s questions. Do check out her books, Everything Under the Sun and Everything Under the Sun: Quiz Book, as well as her new title, Everything Under the Sun: All Around the World.