Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?

Fifth grade covers a surprising amount of ground: fractions that actually make sense once you draw them out, the basics of photosynthesis, the shape of the United States on a map, and enough grammar to spot a noun in a sentence without thinking too hard. This quiz pulls one of each.

Twelve questions, no homework pass required.

The Math That Trips Up Grown-Ups First

Fractions are the classic adult stumbling block, mostly because most of us haven't simplified one since middle school. The trick fifth graders learn early is that a fraction is just division waiting to happen, and reducing it to its simplest form usually just means finding the biggest number that divides evenly into both the top and bottom.

• 3/4 + 1/4 adds up to a whole, since the pieces combine into 4/4.
• 2/4 simplifies to 1/2 once you divide both numbers by 2.
• Multiplication facts like 7 x 8 are still worth knowing cold.

Science and Geography, By the Book

Fifth grade science tends to stick to observable basics: the order of the planets, what plants need to grow, and how the solar system fits together. Geography, meanwhile, focuses on the home turf first, covering the states, their relative sizes, and the country's capital before venturing out to the rest of the world.