A lot of trivia questions focus on world records. For example, the biggest desert in the world is the Sahara Desert and the longest highway in the world is 8,000 kilometers. These questions are inherently interesting because they cover extreme topics.
Really obscure trivia questions can throw trivia experts for a loop. Some really obscure forms of trivia are not realistic, such as the third prime minister of Bangladesh. But questions that focus on the first of something, the biggest, the smallest and other extremes can serve as effective trivia questions for students.
Different countries have different names for certain countries. When students are learning a language, trivia questions such as the Japanese name for Japan can help quiz students about languages that they have learned. Students can also have trivia about geography. For example, the teacher can ask students about the capital of India.
Various countries have products or natural resources that they specialize in. Many students know that Saudi Arabia is the world's largest producer of oil, but do the students know the world's largest producer of tin?
Certain cities and geographic locations have special names, such as the Forbidden City and the Land of the Rising Sun. Can the students connect these exciting names to the specific geographies that they are referencing?
Famous individuals are great subjects for trivia. Do students know who discovered Australia? Do they know who built the Eiffel Tower? Who founded the Red Cross? These individuals deserve recognition.
Countries usually have a national flower. The lily is the national flower of Italy. The Narcissus is the national flower of China. The rose is the national flower of Great Britain.
Really unusual and surprising pieces of trivia can spark interest among students. The cost of the first tour arranged by Thomas Cook was 14 cents. Leonardo da Vinci, Albert Einstein and Thomas Edison were dyslexic. The vacuum cleaner was promoted as a hair dryer until the actual hair dryer was invented. For the very obscure questions, the teacher could give points to the student who gets the closest to the right answer.
Younger students might need easier trivia questions. Teachers could ask questions like "what does your heart pump," "what country has the most people," "what is the most popular indoor sport in the US," and "who sings rap, Mariah Carrey or Eminem?