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169 free 3rd Grade trivia questions with answers — trivia quiz, new questions added Aug 2026.
67 free 3rd grade trivia questions with answers, written around what eight and nine year olds actually cover in class. There is a geography round (the seven continents, the biggest ocean, the tallest mountain, the largest US state), a space round (the eight planets, the Red Planet, the first Moon walk), animals (the fastest, the tallest, the biggest, how many legs a spider has), science (magnets, the water cycle, why plants need sunlight, where water freezes), and US history from Columbus and the Mayflower to Washington, Lincoln and Rosa Parks. The math round sticks to third grade skills: sides of a hexagon, minutes in an hour, inches in a foot, a dozen, a century, a right angle and the Roman numeral X. The reading round covers the books third graders pass around, from Charlotte's Web and Magic Tree House to Captain Underpants, Junie B. Jones and Diary of a Wimpy Kid, and a few sports and music questions round it out. Every question is multiple choice with four answers, so a child can make a smart guess, and each one comes with a short explanation that adds one extra fact. Use it as a classroom warm-up, a family quiz night or a car game. Every answer has been checked against a reference page and shows its source once you have answered.
30 of 169 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01How many continents are there on Earth?
7
The seven are Africa, Antarctica, Asia, Australia, Europe, North America and South America. Some countries teach six by joining Europe and Asia together.
Q 02Which is the biggest and deepest of the world's oceans?
Pacific
The Pacific is so big that all of Earth's land could fit inside it with room to spare.
Q 03Which city is the capital of the United States?
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C. is not part of any state; the D.C. stands for District of Columbia.
Q 04Which US state is the biggest by area?
Alaska
Alaska is bigger than Texas, California and Montana put together, but it has fewer people than most states.
Q 05Which is the longest river in the world?
Nile
The Nile flows north through Africa for about 4,100 miles (6,650 km) before reaching the Mediterranean Sea, which makes it the longest river by the traditional measurement.
Q 06What is the tallest mountain on Earth above sea level?
Mount Everest
Everest sits on the border of Nepal and China and is still growing a tiny bit every year.
Q 07Which is the largest hot desert in the world?
Sahara
The Sahara covers most of North Africa and is almost as big as the whole United States.
Q 08The Statue of Liberty was a gift to the United States from which country?
France
France gave the Statue of Liberty to the United States in 1886. It crossed the Atlantic in 350 pieces packed in 214 crates and was assembled in New York Harbor.
Q 09The Grand Canyon is in which US state?
Arizona
The Grand Canyon is in northern Arizona. The Colorado River carved it over millions of years, and it is more than a mile deep in places.
Q 10Which continent is the largest?
Asia
Asia is home to more than half of all the people on Earth, including everyone in China and India.
Q 11Which continent is the smallest?
Australia
Australia is also the flattest continent, and it is the only one that is a single country.
Q 12Which continent is the coldest?
Antarctica
Antarctica is so cold that it holds the record for the lowest temperature ever measured on Earth.
Q 13The Eiffel Tower stands in which city?
Paris
The Eiffel Tower stands in Paris. It was built for the 1889 World's Fair and was originally meant to be taken down after 20 years.
Q 14Giant pandas eat almost nothing but which plant?
Q 21The Wright brothers are famous for building and flying the first successful what?
Airplane
Their airplane, the Wright Flyer, made the first powered flight on December 17, 1903; it lasted 12 seconds and covered 120 feet, shorter than a jumbo jet is long.
Q 22Who was the first person to walk on the Moon?
Neil Armstrong
Neil Armstrong was first onto the Moon during Apollo 11. Buzz Aldrin followed about 20 minutes later while Michael Collins stayed in orbit in the command module.
Q 23The Pilgrims sailed to Plymouth in 1620 aboard which ship?
Mayflower
The Mayflower carried about 102 passengers across the Atlantic in roughly 66 days in 1620, landing at Plymouth, where the colonists held the first Thanksgiving in 1621.
Bamboo
A panda can spend 12 hours a day eating and get through more than 20 pounds of bamboo.
Q 15Who was the first president of the United States?
George Washington
George Washington served two terms, from 1789 to 1797, and then chose to step down, which set an example most presidents followed.
Q 16On what date was the Declaration of Independence adopted?
July 4, 1776
The Continental Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776, which is why Americans celebrate Independence Day on the Fourth of July.
Q 17Abraham Lincoln was which number president of the United States?
16th
Abraham Lincoln was the 16th president, serving from 1861 until 1865. He led the country through the Civil War, and his face is on the penny and the five-dollar bill.
Q 18Martin Luther King Jr. is famous for which speech, given to a huge crowd at the Lincoln Memorial in 1963?
I Have a Dream
King delivered "I Have a Dream" on August 28, 1963, at the March on Washington, speaking for about 17 minutes from the Lincoln Memorial steps to roughly 250,000 people.
Q 19In which year did Christopher Columbus first sail across the Atlantic Ocean?
1492
Columbus sailed from Spain in August 1492 with three ships, the Nina, Pinta and Santa Maria, and reached land in the Bahamas on October 12, 1492.
Q 20In 1955, Rosa Parks became famous for refusing to give up her seat on what?
A bus
Her arrest in Montgomery, Alabama, started a bus boycott that lasted more than a year.
Q 24How many stars are on the flag of the United States?
50
There is one star for each state; the 50th star was added in 1960 after Hawaii joined.
Q 25The Sun is which kind of object?
A star
It looks huge and bright only because it is so close; it is really a medium-sized star.
Q 26Which object is Earth's only natural satellite?
The Moon
The Moon is slowly drifting away from Earth by about an inch and a half every year.
Q 27About how many days does it take Earth to travel once around the Sun?
365
Earth takes about 365 days (365.25, to be exact) to orbit the Sun once. The extra quarter of a day is why a leap day is added every four years.
Q 28How many planets are in our Solar System?
8
Pluto used to make it nine, but in 2006 scientists decided it was a dwarf planet instead.
Q 29Which is the largest planet in our Solar System?
Jupiter
More than 1,300 Earths could fit inside Jupiter, and its Great Red Spot is a storm bigger than our planet.
Q 30Which planet is nicknamed the Red Planet?
Mars
Mars looks red because its soil is full of rusty iron dust.