Why do whales need to live in the sea when they breathe air? The kids’ quiz

1. Rose, 9, asks: why do whales need to be in the sea when they breathe air?

   1. Their huge bodies can’t survive on land – the water supports their weight

   2. Their blubber keeps them warm in the water but on land they would overheat

   3. They can’t move around on land

   4. All the above

2. Ezra, 7, asks: what is the coldest known natural place in the entire universe?

   1. The world’s biggest freezer, in Barnstaple

   2. Antarctica

   3. The Boomerang Nebula

   4. The dark side of the moon

3. Juno, 6, asks: how come the sea is salty but rivers are not?

   1. Every night, otters clean all the salt from rivers

   2. Rivers carry salt from rocks to the sea, and it has built up over many years

   3. Mermaids love salt on chips, but always spill it

   4. Marine fish pee out salt

4. Luna, 7, asks: when you hum, why does it sound louder when you put your fingers in your ears?

   1. It doesn’t sound louder!

   2. No one knows

   3. It’s because you hum louder to hear yourself

   4. It’s because you hear the sound through the bones and tissues of your head, as well as through the air

5. A teenager asks: where would you find written, “Where Scotland meets the world”?

   1. Glasgow train station

   2. Edinburgh airport

   3. Loch Ness

   4. Fairy Glen, Isle of Skye

Solutions

1:D - Millions of years ago, the ancestors of whales lived on the land, and so whales breathe air using lungs, like other mammals, rather than through gills like fish. They evolved over time to live in the ocean and their bodies adapted to life under water, but they need to come up to the surface to breathe air., 2:C - The Boomerang Nebula, 5,000 light years from Earth, is minus 272C. It’s a giant cloud of gas and dust., 3:B - Originally, seas were not very salty. But over time, rain washed over the land, taking minerals, including salt, from rocks to the sea. Rivers don’t taste salty because rain keeps falling into rivers and streams, keeping it fresh and diluting the salt in the water., 4:D - When you hum, you make vibrations that travel through your body, including the bones in your head. If you put your fingers in your ears, the vibrations make trapped air near your eardrums move more strongly and make the humming sound louder. You also hear the hum in the air, which adds to the sound., 5:B - This phrase is the motto of Edinburgh airport, the busiest airport in Scotland.

Scores

1. 5 and above.

2. 4 and above.

3. 3 and above.

4. 2 and above.

5. 0 and above.

6. 1 and above.