The short answer
- A good extra credit question is short, fun, has one clear answer (or is openly creative) and rewards curiosity rather than luck. Below are 125 original questions for K-2, grades 3-5, middle school and high school, plus math, science, ELA, social studies and creative sets, with answers.
- Printable: copy the ready-made 10-question bonus set and its answer key into your next test.
- Keep the grade impact small and known: a 2% cap on extra credit can lift an 86.2% (B) to at most 88.2% (B+). Put one bonus question on a single test and it barely moves the final grade (about 0.2 points in the example below).
- Fair policy: offer it to every student, tie it to learning, cap it, and never trade points for supplies.
- Check the effect with the grade calculator before you announce the points.
Extra credit questions are the small, fun bonus at the end of a test or worksheet that rewards curiosity. Below are 125 original extra credit questions for teachers, sorted by grade band and by subject, with answers for every factual question. After the lists, you’ll find a printable bonus set and a short guide to designing an extra credit policy that doesn’t distort grades, with the math worked out.
All answers are standard general knowledge. Where a fact has a common trap (the largest desert, for example, is not the Sahara), the answer explains it.
What makes a good extra credit question?
A good extra credit question does three jobs at once: it is quick, it is fair, and it is a little bit fun.
| Quality | Why it matters | Example from this page |
|---|---|---|
| Takes 1 to 2 minutes | Never steals time from graded questions | “How many legs does a spider have?” |
| One clear answer (or openly creative) | Grading takes seconds and can’t be argued | “What is 15% of 80?” |
| Rewards thinking, not luck | A guess shouldn’t earn the same as reasoning | The bat-and-ball puzzle |
| Linked to the course where possible | Points still reflect learning | “What is the sum of the angles in a triangle?” |
| Open to every student | No supplies, money or home help needed | Any question below |
Table: five qualities of a good extra credit question.
Put bonus questions last, label them clearly, and decide in advance how many points they are worth. The section on policy design below shows why the number of points matters less than where you add them.
Extra credit questions for K-2
Questions for kindergarten to grade 2 work best read aloud, with answers students can say, draw or circle.
| # | Question | Answer |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | How many legs does a spider have? | 8 |
| 2 | What does a caterpillar turn into? | A butterfly or a moth |
| 3 | How many days are in a week? | 7 |
| 4 | What is 5 + 5? | 10 |
| 5 | What color do you get when you mix blue and yellow? | Green |
| 6 | What is the biggest planet in our solar system? | Jupiter |
| 7 | How many sides does a triangle have? | 3 |
| 8 | What do bees make? | Honey (and beeswax) |
| 9 | Which season comes after winter? | Spring |
| 10 | What is the opposite of “hot”? | Cold |
| 11 | How many months are in a year? | 12 |
| 12 | What do we call frozen water? | Ice |
| 13 | Which animal has the longest neck? | Giraffe |
| 14 | How many cents are in a quarter? | 25 |
| 15 | What letter comes after M? | N |
Table: 15 extra credit questions for kindergarten to grade 2.
Extra credit questions for grades 3-5
Upper elementary students like a mix of math facts and “did you know” questions. These fit at the bottom of a unit test or a Friday quiz.
| # | Question | Answer |
|---|---|---|
| 16 | What is 7 × 8? | 56 |
| 17 | What is the largest ocean on Earth? | The Pacific Ocean |
| 18 | How many continents are there? | 7 |
| 19 | Which planet is called the Red Planet? | Mars |
| 20 | What gas do plants take in from the air to make food? | Carbon dioxide |
| 21 | What is the capital of the United States? | Washington, D.C. |
| 22 | How many minutes are in 3 hours? | 180 |
| 23 | What do we call a word that means the same as another word? | A synonym |
| 24 | What is the hardest natural substance? | Diamond |
| 25 | At what temperature does water boil at sea level, in Fahrenheit? | 212 °F |
| 26 | How many sides does a hexagon have? | 6 |
| 27 | What is 1/2 + 1/4? | 3/4 |
| 28 | Who was the first president of the United States? | George Washington |
| 29 | What is the closest star to Earth? | The Sun |
| 30 | What do we call animals that eat only plants? | Herbivores |
| 31 | How many states are in the United States? | 50 |
| 32 | What is the plural of “mouse”? | Mice |
| 33 | What is the perimeter of a square with 5-inch sides? | 20 inches |
| 34 | Which organ pumps blood around your body? | The heart |
| 35 | Name the three states of matter you see every day. | Solid, liquid and gas |
Table: 20 extra credit questions for grades 3 to 5.
Extra credit questions for middle school
Middle schoolers enjoy questions that feel slightly hard. Several of these connect directly to grade 6-8 standards, so they double as quick review.
| # | Question | Answer |
|---|---|---|
| 36 | What is pi rounded to two decimal places? | 3.14 |
| 37 | Which part of the cell is called its powerhouse? | The mitochondria |
| 38 | What is 15% of 80? | 12 |
| 39 | Who was the main author of the Declaration of Independence? | Thomas Jefferson |
| 40 | What is the chemical symbol for gold? | Au |
| 41 | What is the smallest prime number? | 2 |
| 42 | In what year was the Declaration of Independence adopted? | 1776 |
| 43 | What is the longest bone in the human body? | The femur (thigh bone) |
| 44 | Name the three branches of the US government. | Legislative, executive and judicial |
| 45 | What is the square root of 144? | 12 |
| 46 | Which layer of Earth do we live on? | The crust |
| 47 | What figure of speech compares two things using “like” or “as”? | A simile |
| 48 | What is the largest desert in the world? | Antarctica (a cold desert); the Sahara is the largest hot desert |
| 49 | What do the angles of a triangle add up to? | 180 degrees |
| 50 | Which civilization built Machu Picchu? | The Inca |
| 51 | Which part of speech describes a noun? | An adjective |
| 52 | At what temperature does water freeze, in Celsius? | 0 °C |
| 53 | How many amendments does the US Constitution have? | 27 |
| 54 | Solve for x: 3x + 4 = 19. | x = 5 |
| 55 | What force keeps the planets in orbit around the Sun? | Gravity |
Table: 20 extra credit questions for middle school (grades 6 to 8).
Extra credit questions for high school
High school bonus questions can stretch into the content of specific courses. Pick the ones that match your subject, or use the set as general trivia.
| # | Question | Answer |
|---|---|---|
| 56 | What is the derivative of x²? | 2x |
| 57 | What is Avogadro’s number, to four significant figures? | 6.022 × 10²³ |
| 58 | Who wrote the novel 1984? | George Orwell |
| 59 | In what year did World War II end? | 1945 |
| 60 | What is the chemical formula for table salt? | NaCl |
| 61 | Write the quadratic formula. | x = (−b ± √(b² − 4ac)) ÷ 2a |
| 62 | Which amendment abolished slavery in the United States? | The 13th Amendment |
| 63 | About how fast does light travel in a vacuum? | About 300,000 km per second (299,792 km/s) |
| 64 | Who developed the general theory of relativity? | Albert Einstein |
| 65 | State Newton’s third law in one sentence. | For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction |
| 66 | What is the name for the point of highest tension in a story? | The climax |
| 67 | What is log₁₀ 1,000? | 3 |
| 68 | Which molecule carries genetic information in most living things? | DNA |
| 69 | Which 1954 Supreme Court case ruled school segregation unconstitutional? | Brown v. Board of Education |
| 70 | What is the pH of pure water at 25 °C? | 7 |
| 71 | Who wrote The Great Gatsby? | F. Scott Fitzgerald |
| 72 | What do the interior angles of a hexagon add up to? | 720 degrees |
| 73 | What is the economic term for a general rise in prices? | Inflation |
| 74 | What process divides one cell into two identical cells? | Mitosis |
| 75 | What is i² (i is the imaginary unit)? | −1 |
Table: 20 extra credit questions for high school (grades 9 to 12).
Math and logic extra credit questions
These are the classic “fun extra credit questions”: short puzzles where the first answer that comes to mind is often wrong. Ask students to show one line of reasoning.
| # | Question | Answer |
|---|---|---|
| 76 | A bat and a ball cost $1.10 together. The bat costs $1.00 more than the ball. How much is the ball? | 5 cents (the bat is $1.05) |
| 77 | If 5 machines make 5 widgets in 5 minutes, how long do 100 machines take to make 100 widgets? | 5 minutes |
| 78 | What comes next: 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, …? | 13 (add the two previous numbers) |
| 79 | How many times can you subtract 5 from 25? | Once. After that you are subtracting from 20 |
| 80 | What is the smallest number divisible by 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6? | 60 |
| 81 | A farmer has 17 sheep. All but 9 run away. How many are left? | 9 |
| 82 | Writing every number from 1 to 100, how many times do you write the digit 9? | 20 |
| 83 | At 3:15, what is the angle between the hour and minute hands? | 7.5 degrees |
| 84 | How many squares of all sizes are on a standard 8 × 8 chessboard? | 204 |
| 85 | A snail climbs 3 feet up a 10-foot well each day and slides back 2 feet each night. On which day does it reach the top? | Day 8 |
Table: 10 math and logic extra credit questions with answers.
Questions 76 and 77 come from the cognitive reflection test, introduced by psychologist Shane Frederick in 2005 to measure whether people stop and check an intuitive answer. The intuitive first answer to the bat-and-ball question is 10 cents, which makes it a good conversation starter about checking work. Why 7.5 degrees for question 83: at 3:15 the minute hand points at the 3, but the hour hand has moved a quarter of the way from 3 to 4, which is a quarter of 30 degrees.
Science extra credit questions
| # | Question | Answer |
|---|---|---|
| 86 | What is the most abundant gas in Earth’s atmosphere? | Nitrogen (about 78%) |
| 87 | Which planet spins tipped over on its side? | Uranus |
| 88 | How many bones are in the adult human body? | 206 |
| 89 | What is the chemical symbol for sodium? | Na |
| 90 | Is a dolphin a fish or a mammal? | A mammal |
| 91 | What is the center of an atom called? | The nucleus |
| 92 | Which color of visible light has the longest wavelength? | Red |
| 93 | Which vitamin does your skin make in sunlight? | Vitamin D |
| 94 | Which metal is liquid at normal room temperature? | Mercury |
| 95 | About how long does sunlight take to reach Earth? | About 8 minutes |
Table: 10 science extra credit questions with answers.
English and word-play extra credit questions
| # | Question | Answer |
|---|---|---|
| 96 | Which word becomes shorter when you add two letters to it? | “Short” (shorter) |
| 97 | What is a word that reads the same backward and forward called? | A palindrome |
| 98 | Name the five main vowels in English. | A, E, I, O, U (and sometimes Y) |
| 99 | What are words that sound the same but mean different things, like “pair” and “pear”? | Homophones |
| 100 | Which punctuation mark ends a direct question? | A question mark |
| 101 | What is the past tense of “swim”? | Swam |
| 102 | Unscramble R-A-C-E-H-T-E. | TEACHER |
| 103 | Which literary device is used in “The wind whispered through the trees”? | Personification |
| 104 | What is the opposite of a synonym? | An antonym |
| 105 | Who wrote Romeo and Juliet? | William Shakespeare |
Table: 10 English and word-play extra credit questions with answers.
Social studies and geography extra credit questions
| # | Question | Answer |
|---|---|---|
| 106 | What is the capital of Canada? | Ottawa |
| 107 | What is the smallest US state by area? | Rhode Island |
| 108 | On which continent is Egypt? | Africa |
| 109 | Which mountain has the highest peak above sea level? | Mount Everest |
| 110 | Which country is the largest by area? | Russia |
| 111 | What are the imaginary lines that run east to west on a map called? | Lines of latitude (parallels) |
| 112 | Which document begins with “We the People”? | The US Constitution |
| 113 | Which US state is made up entirely of islands in the Pacific? | Hawaii |
| 114 | Which wall was built across northern China over many centuries? | The Great Wall of China |
| 115 | Which ocean lies between the United States and Europe? | The Atlantic Ocean |
Table: 10 social studies and geography extra credit questions with answers.
Creative extra credit questions (no single answer)
Creative prompts let students who don’t love trivia earn the bonus too. Grade them on effort and following the prompt, and tell students that before they start.
- Invent a new school holiday. What is it called, and how do people celebrate it?
- Write a six-word story about today’s lesson.
- If you could add one subject to the school day, what would it be and why?
- Draw a comic strip with three panels that explains one thing you learned this week.
- Describe your town to someone from 200 years ago in three sentences.
- Design a new animal. What does it eat, where does it live, and how does it protect itself?
- Write a short text message from a historical figure we studied.
- If numbers could talk, what would 0 say to 8?
- Rename this unit with a better title and explain your choice.
- Write one question you think should have been on this test, and answer it.
Printable bonus question set
Copy this set into the end of a test or a worksheet. It mixes logic, math and general knowledge for grades 5 to 8, and the answer key follows in a separate box.
Extra credit: answer as many as you can. Spelling doesn’t count; thinking does.
- A bat and a ball cost $1.10. The bat costs $1.00 more than the ball. How much is the ball? ______
- What comes next: 2, 4, 8, 16, …? ______
- How many sides does a hexagon have? ______
- Which planet is called the Red Planet? ______
- What is 15% of 80? ______
- Unscramble R-A-C-E-H-T-E: ______
- What do the angles of a triangle add up to? ______
- A farmer has 17 sheep. All but 9 run away. How many are left? ______
- What is the capital of Canada? ______
- Write a six-word story about this unit: ________________________________
- 5 cents · 2. 32 · 3. 6 · 4. Mars · 5. 12 · 6. TEACHER · 7. 180 degrees · 8. 9 · 9. Ottawa · 10. Any six-word story that follows the prompt earns the point.
If you grade the bonus section separately, the EZ Grader turns the number wrong into a percentage in one step, the test score calculator handles tests where questions carry different points, and the random name picker is a quick way to choose who reads a creative answer aloud.
How much does extra credit change a grade? The math
The same “2% extra credit” can mean very different things depending on where you add it. Take one student in a weighted class:
| Category | Weight | Student average | Contribution |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tests | 50% | 82% | 41.0 |
| Homework | 30% | 92% | 27.6 |
| Projects | 20% | 88% | 17.6 |
| Course grade | 86.2% (B) |
Table: worked example of a weighted course grade before extra credit.
Now add extra credit three ways:
- A bonus category worth up to 2% of the course grade. The student earns 75% of the available bonus, so the grade rises by 0.75 × 2 = 1.5 points to 87.7% (B+). Earning all of it gives 88.2%.
- Two bonus points on one test. If the class has five 100-point tests, the test average rises by 2 ÷ 5 = 0.4 points, and tests are half the grade, so the course grade rises by just 0.2 points to 86.4%.
- A points-based course. With 1,000 points possible and 862 earned (86.2%), 20 bonus points (2% of the course) give 882 ÷ 1,000 = 88.2%.
So a bonus question on a single test is almost symbolic, while a bonus category can cross a letter-grade line. The table shows who a 2-point lift actually helps on the standard plus/minus scale:
| Grade before | Plus 2 points | Letter change |
|---|---|---|
| 58.5% | 60.5% | F to D− |
| 78.6% | 80.6% | C+ to B− |
| 88.4% | 90.4% | B+ to A− |
| 96.0% | 98.0% | A to A+ |
Table: effect of 2 points of extra credit at different starting grades (standard US plus/minus scale).
To test your own numbers before you promise points, enter the categories in the weighted grade calculator; a category score above 100% models bonus points. Students asking whether extra credit can rescue a final can check with the final grade calculator, and the grading scale converter shows where the letter lines fall on other scales.
Designing a fair extra credit policy
A short written policy prevents most extra credit arguments. These five rules cover the common problems:
- Cap it. Decide the maximum share of the course grade (for example 2%) and put it in the syllabus.
- Offer it to everyone at once. No private deals. If one student gets an opportunity, the whole class does.
- Tie it to learning. Bonus questions, test corrections with explanations, or a short reflection. Not tissues, supplies or attendance at paid events, which reward family resources instead of work.
- Set a deadline. Extra credit that piles up in the last week becomes a substitute for the regular work.
- Grade it quickly. Questions with clear answers, or a simple rubric for creative work.
Adding extra credit in Canvas. Canvas has no dedicated extra credit setting. Utah State University’s Canvas help describes two methods: a 0-point assignment where you type the bonus into the gradebook (it only counts if another assignment in the same group has points), or a separate assignment group whose weight pushes the course total above 100% (USU, create an extra credit assignment). The second method is the “bonus category” from the worked example above.
Bonus questions also make a good low-stakes reset between tasks; for movement-based versions, see the brain breaks list. For more ready-to-use classroom resources, from timers to report card comments, see The Homework Site for teachers.