Reporters Notebook (Gburg Times: 07/20/07): "Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader?"

Good wholesome family fun was the name of the game last weekend at the Legion woods in Biglerville where my clan found a unique — and incredibly amusing — way of spending an afternoon reunion: a round of Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader?
Mom, an educator of fifth grade youth, developed the questions.
Dad, Grandma Pitzer and I hosted the trivia session.
The categories? Math, spelling, science, geography, and reading.
Answers emanating from the mouths of our relatives were creatively inaccurate.
One family member had difficulty naming all four of the Earth’s oceans.
Another high-ranking member of the family stumbled while remembering the seven colors of the rainbow.
“Pink,” the fellow said.
Pink?
Stunningly, our panel of experts — a pair of young elementary pupils — was not able to guide the chap in the correct direction.
Spell handkerchief.
My cousin couldn’t...and neither could the experts.
One of the youngsters falsely thought the word started with a “k.”
Can you name a type of cloud?
One of the experts wrote: “storm cloud.”
What are the four components of the Earth’s water cycle?
How about four of the six categories involving simple machines?
Is an alligator an amphibian or a reptile?
Tough questions. Challenging answers.
I’m still trying to figure out the seven colors of the rainbow.
— Scot “Roy G. Biv” Pitzer