--- title: Quiz: Can You Answer 5th-Grade Science Questions? description: Most Americans lack a basic understanding of science canonical: https://time.com/3394642/quiz-5th-grade-science/ author: Alexandra Sifferlin article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-09-18T12:00:19.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-21T10:15:16.742Z article:section: Health og:title: Quiz: Can You Answer 5th Grade Science Questions? og:description: Most Americans lack a basic understanding of science og:url: https://time.com/3394642/quiz-5th-grade-science/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Quiz: Can You Answer 5th Grade Science Questions? twitter:description: Most Americans lack a basic understanding of science twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # Quiz: Can You Answer 5th-Grade Science Questions? ## Video: Know Right Now: Scientists Discover Why Chameleons Change Color [Watch (HLS stream): Know Right Now: Scientists Discover Why Chameleons Change Color](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/UAjpLWb3.m3u8) (1:05)  _Published 2015-03-11. Know Right Now: Scientists Discover Why Chameleons Change Color_ by [Alexandra Sifferlin](https://time.com/author/alexandra-sifferlin/) ## Alexandra Sifferlin Sep 18, 2014 12:00 PM UTC by [Alexandra Sifferlin](https://time.com/author/alexandra-sifferlin/) ## Alexandra Sifferlin Sep 18, 2014 12:00 PM UTC A new survey on scientific literacy from the Center for Accountability in Science found that most respondents failed to correctly answer questions designed for a fifth-grade science class. “Most Americans are not armed with the basic facts about science,” said Dr. Joseph Perrone, chief science officer at the Center for Accountability in Science, in a statement. “This alarming lack of scientific literacy makes it easier for the public to be duped by the scary headlines and junk science.” You can get the results of the survey [here](https://www.accountablescience.com/). Take our quiz to see if you can answer fifth-grade-level science questions. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3394642/quiz-5th-grade-science/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3394642/quiz-5th-grade-science/"},"headline":"Quiz: Can You Answer 5th-Grade Science Questions?","datePublished":"2014-09-18T12:00:19.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T10:15:16.742Z","description":"Most Americans lack a basic understanding of science","url":"https://time.com/3394642/quiz-5th-grade-science/","keywords":["Research","medicine","Biology"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Alexandra Sifferlin","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/alexandra-sifferlin/"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/health/","name":"Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/research/","name":"Research"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3394642/quiz-5th-grade-science/","name":"Quiz: Can You Answer 5th-Grade Science Questions?"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Know Right Now: Scientists Discover Why Chameleons Change Color","description":"Know Right Now: Scientists Discover Why Chameleons Change Color","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/UAjpLWb3/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2015-03-11T18:21:55.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/UAjpLWb3.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/3394642/quiz-5th-grade-science/","duration":"PT1M5S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/3394642/quiz-5th-grade-science/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```