PARENTS’ CHOICE AWARDS GOLD MEDAL RECIPIENT
Brainspace space AUGMENTED REALITY PRINT FOR KIDS 8-14
WHERE BRIGHT YOUNG MINDS GO TO GROW
MAKE IT Use the sun to tell time like the Egyptians did.
MAGIC MATH Mind-blowing number sequencing tricks!
THIS IS ANIMATED Download Blippar app to scan this cover. Wow.
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ANATOMY OF FEAR
Why does fright send chills up our spines?
The Sound of
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Do gaseous planets make sound in the absence of air?
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Brainspace is fully interactive.
Enjoy the extra digital content on the pages of this magazine. First, download the free Blippar App at the App Store or at
Google Play. Once the app is downloaded, simply tap the app to scan pages with the
and engage your mind.
symbol and enjoy. Read, listen, watch
Visit us at brainspacemagazine.com to ďŹ nd out more or call us toll free at 1(800) 330-4314. BRAINSPACE
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c ntents PAGE 23
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ANIMAL ADAPTATION
MATH: MATHEMAGIC Sequential numbers and algebra are the stuff of magic. ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE: TALLULAH The power is yours to use. Or not. MONEY: THE PEOPLE IN YOUR POCKET Facts about the faces on currency around the world. MUSIC/SPACE/PHYSICS: SPACEY MUSIC The science of sound. CULTURE: GHOULS, GHOSTS AND GOBLINS The folklore of spooky stories. ZOOLOGY: ANIMAL ADAPTATION Surviving the cold winter. PLUS EXPERIMENT GEOGRAPHY: NICE ICE The effects of glaciers. HISTORY: SUN TIME Sundials were the original watch. PLUS MAKE YOUR OWN LANGUAGE: A BUMPY STORY Braille writing PLUS TEMPLATE PLUS HOW-TO WRITE YOUR OWN BIOLOGY: THE ANATOMY OF FEAR Why we react to fear the way we do.
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B. DesRoches “I saw one on holiday in Alghero Sardinia and would love to have my own catapult!” editor’s note: Very cool! G. Niu “What I loved about the catapult section is Newton’s Third Law (...) Also I like your magazines so much!” editor’s note: Thank you, Gary. It means so much to us!
on. For every act direction) reacti and opposite (in
Win this catapult making kit. See below.
Torsion
G. Booth “I really like the history of it and thinking about how cool it was for them to create so long ago (...) it prompted us to look more at DaVinci and chemistry of the era.”
-go-nell) is the The mangonel (man catapult. of siege weapon or most recognized type d around to the axle and woun Ropes were attached the latch place, in cranks. Once with man operated e bucket Th gear. the to lock in was pushed in place bombs. a boulder or flaming was loaded with and the h, the latch was pulled When ready to launc le. at soldiers in field batt was amunition was hurled n powered catapult r in Another type of torsio which was quite simila than the onager (on-ad-jer) but used a sling rather onel mang a to structure a bucket.
Did you know
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axel lever
Use Blippar to watch this mangonel in action
latch
bucket
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Winners!
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otion: ird Law of alM(in size) Newton’s Th equ ion there is an
away!” may “fire!” or “bombs soldiers Middle Ages? The the in s pult of cata and ved from the use have been deri lever to be released the for time n it was ilar command whe l expression you would shout a sim quia collo the morphed into hurled away. This the projectile be bs away!” balloons. “Bom n hurling water may still use whe
J. Kirkland “My favourite part of the catapult is the axle. It helps to translate the torsional potential energy into kinetic!”
WIN
Catapult Making
The expression
nders Design & Kit from Pathfi
Technology
r - turned Wulff is a teache would DESIGNER Derek n building kits he CATAPULT KIT er, making the woode range educational kit design still wants as an adult!). While the kits (and variety of have loved as a child g things with a wide hurlin to back comes ped this in themes, he often he probably develo urfer, winds and , gymnast and waves in the ocean catapults. As a past bars high off lf himse g studio fascination with hurlin y here. He designs his kits in a secret histor uver Island, so it seems there is e of Victoria on Vanco outsid t t, hamle in Metchosin, a small ng on a hydraulic gearbo He is currently worki esign.com in British Columbia. at www.pathfindersd yikes! See his work another catapult kitagazine.com today! A KIT at brainspacem ENTER TO WIN NE SUMMER BRAINSPACE MAGAZI
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ou told us you loved the catapult article! The office of Brainspace received so many great submissions to our Win this Catapult contest. Reader comments ranged from scientific “I loved the name of the third law and the definition of it,” to “I want to use it to launch strawberries at my sister!” We enjoyed reading everything you had to tell us. Thanks to all of you who entered. Congratulations to the randomly selected winners of our summer issue’s Catapult contest.
COPY EDITING GRACE BUELER CONTRIBUTING WRITERS CHELSEA WOOTTEN GRACE BUELER TRISTAN SIMPSON PASCALE BIDER DYLAN SCHMIDT GARY RABBIOR FACT CHECKING JENNIFER ALEXANDER ART DIRECTION AND DESIGN CHANNON LEATHLEY GALEXY STUDIO PUBLISHER BRAINSPACE PUBLISHING INC. PRESIDENT NICOLE MIDDLETON ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT CHANNON LEATHLEY
Brainspace magazine is published four times a year by Brainspace Publishing Inc., 394 Ontario Street, Newmarket ON, L3Y 2K4 PHONE (905) 830-4314 EMAIL brainspacemagazine@bell.net
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ISSN 2291-8930 If you would like to contribute to Brainspace magazine, please email brainspacemagazine@bell.net
2016
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A SPECIAL NOTE OF THANKS to Derek Wulff of Pathfinders Design & Technology for donating the kits. We appreciate your passion for education and science.
WE ARE DEEPLY GRATEFUL TO OUR PARENT/CHILD ADVISORY COMMITTEE Laurie and Kenny Weeden; Christine Bhumgara and Tia Nguyen; Rachel and Audrie Meredith; Catherine, Jill and Delia Jansen; Valerie and Alex Brown; Julianne and Michael McKall; Kelly, Finn and Ollie Fitzsimmons MISSION Brainspace magazine endeavours to produce intelligent and engaging articles for students ages 8 to 14 in a format that bridges the gap between print and digital technology to expand literacy and promote optimal learning. NOTE The opinions expressed herein are those of the respective authors and not necessarily those of Brainspace magazine or of Brainspace Publishing Inc. Brainspace magazine and Brainspace Publishing Inc. will not be liable for any damages or losses, howsoever sustained, as a result of the reliance on or use by a reader or any other person of any of the information, opinions or products expressed, advertised or otherwise contained herein. Where appropriate, professional advice should be sought.
ADVISORY BOARD: CHRISTOPHER EMERY, ROSEMARY SINCLAIR-MUNRO, PAUL EEKHOFF, ARMANDO IANNUZZI, NIGEL NEWTON, BRYAN MIDDLETON, JANE GERTNER BRAINSPACE
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Brainyack
sc Chat- worthy tech, news and findings
Technology & You
Pokémon Go! has made augmented reality (AR) big news. Here are some other great ways you can experience smart augmented reality tools.
Blippar We use Blippar throughout Brainspace magazine. Blippar offers its users the chance to create their own augmented reality experiences. Classrooms can get their own free account (ask your teacher to visit blippar.com). Augment your paper project into a live presentation by blending your digital interview, movie, pictures in. The demonstrations in Blippar show you how to create a project in fairly simple ways. Blippar also offers educational blipps like the solar system image above that allows
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you to interact in 360°. Try it for a totally new experience! Visit blippar.com for more information. Quiver The Quiver App combines physical coloring with state of the art augmented reality technology. Colouring pages have never been so much fun! Colouring books will always be popular because you can apply your own artistic vision to templates of your favourite characters, items, and places.
Quiver brings your unique colouring creations to life in extraordinary 3D augmented reality. Characters literally leap off the page, to inspire and entertain. Quiver Education content is designed around topics as diverse as biology, geometry, and the solar system. Colouring reduces stress, and provides an outlet for creative expression. Colouring page to the right. Download Quiver app. Launch. Watch! Available for classrooms. Go to quivervision.com.
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science
Colour
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math
Number Patterns and Sequences This is the stuff of magic
A
young magician accurately guesses a random number that an audience member has written down secretly on a piece of paper. The crowd gasps in disbelief. “How did she do that?” What special mind powers does she possess? Math. Algebra and sequential numbers are the stuff of magic. We’ve selected a few math patterns that are good to know. With these you can come up with your own tricks. Master the magic tricks on these next pages and wow your friends.
And The Number Shall Be 5 example 300
Take any number at all
algebra formula a
add the number that comes after it (if the number is 5 add 6; 8 add 9; 3 add 4 etc..)
301 300 + 301= 601
a +1=b a+b=c
add 9 to that result
601 + 9 = 610
c+9=d
divide by 2
610 ÷ 2 = 305
d÷2=e
now subtract your original number
305 - 300 = 5
e-a=5
Lightning Speed 11 Multiplying a 2-digit number by eleven is as easy as adding the 2 digits of the multiplicand together and putting the sum between the 2 digits! Like this:
23 (multiplicand) x 11 2 3, add 2+3 =5 2 5 3 answer: 253 8
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When the 2 digits add up to more than 9 simply carry over the 1 to the first digit:
87 x 11 8 7, add 8 + 7 =15 8 +1 5 7 answer: 957
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Is x your number? Go ahead. Encourage your friends to use a calculator for this. Understanding the algebra pattern is the focus though we’d never discourage anyone from doing the math in their head. Challenge!
You:
Your friend:
1. Write down a number on a piece of paper. For example 10. Let’s give your number the value of x. Tell your friend not to look at it.
Your friend puts it in their pocket without looking at it.
2. Tell your friend to write down a number between 200 and 1,000.
They write a number (example 493).
3. Subtract your x value from 999 and tell your friend to add this result to their number. Example 999 - 10 = 989.
They add
493 + 989 1,482
4. Tell them to cross off the first digit and add it to the result.
They remove and they add
1,482 + 1 483
5. Ask them to subtract this result from their original number.
They subtract
6. Have your friend read the number you wrote on the paper. Applause!
493 - 483 10 (your x value!)
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Birthdate Mystery
You don’t have to tell me— I’ll tell you the exact date of your birth. Just do as I say... 1. Write down the number of the month in which you were born, taking January as month No. 1. 2. Add to this the next higher number. 3. Multiply by 5. 4. Add a zero to the right of your total. 5. Add any number less than 100. Tell me the number you added. 6. Now add the day of the month in which you were born. 7. Write down any number less than 100, tell it to me, and place this to the right of your result. 8. Add the last two numerals of the year of your birth. 9. Tell me your total and I will tell you your birthday— year, month and day.
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Here is how it’s done Suppose your friend was born February 12, 2009. As per the instructions, they do the following: 1.
2.
3.
Write down the month
Add the next higher number
Multiply by 5
2 +3 5
2
5.
Ask that they tell you a number between 1 and 100. Tell them to add it to 250.
Add a zero to the right
Add the day of the month
250
25
7.
6.
They choose another number under 100, tell it to you. They place it at the right.
282 + 12 294
250 + 32 282
4.
8.
They add the last two figures of his birth year and tell you the result
29422
29422 + 09 29431
While your friend is doing all this, you can quietly prepare yourself as follows: 1.
Add 50 to the first number they told you in step 5
32 + 50 82
2.
Add the second number they told you in step 7 to the right of 82, thus...
8222
3.
Now, subtract this 8222 from the final total they give you, thus...
4.
Now mark off 2/12/09 and you get February 12, 2009.
Their result..... 29431 Deduct......... - 8222 21209
day month year
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math
Digits l i p
s
For a change, we have one that has no connection with arithmetic or geometry or mathemagic. It merely goes to prove how silly our reactions are at times. 1. Ask a friend if they’re ok with doing a mind trick. 2. Now tell them that you are going to give them ten numbers very quickly. 3. After each number they must say the next higher one. (If you say 10, he must say 11, etc.) 4. Tell them that you are going to go very fast. Read the numbers on the list.
“I like nonsense, it wakes up the brain cells.” Dr. Seuss
Here’s the list: 66 12
123 7
149 315 212
1196 78
4099 Nine out of ten people will say 5,000 after the last number. That’s 90% of people that will get it wrong!
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math
Dealing with Numbers Here’s what the world’s been waiting for—a cardless trick.
All you need to do is ask someone to think of any card in the deck, giving the value of 11 to a Jack, 12 to a Queen, 13 to a King, and 1 to an Ace. This quick trick is used to tell them what card they are thinking of. Here’s the technique: 1. “Think of a card,” you tell your friend. 2. Direct them to “add the number of the next card higher in sequence.” (If they are thinking of a King, add 14.) 3. Multiply the result by 5. 4. Assign a value to the suits: Clubs, 6—Diamonds, 7—Hearts, 8—Spades, 9. Tell them to add the value of the suit to their total. 5. Ask for the result. 6. Mentally deduct 5, and tell them the card they thought of.
Example: Suppose he thinks of the 9 of Diamonds
1. They add the next card
2. Multiply by 5
3. Add the suit value (Diamonds=7)
4. As soon as you hear 102, subtract 5
9 + 10 19
19 x 5 95
95 +7 102
102 - 5 97
higher in sequence
“Nine of diamonds!” Applause!
The first figure tells you the card he was thinking of. The second figure shows you the suit it was in.
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science
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history
People in Your Pocket by Tristan Simpson
United States’ one dollar bill ($1)
England’s ten pound bill (£10)
All of England’s bills (notes)
George Washington is so important that his face has been on the one dollar bill since 1963 (he is also on the quarter). You may already know he was the first president of the United States, but did you know Washington was an exceptional dancer? There are many accounts of him impressing audiences at balls during the 18th century. Washington D.C. is named after George Washington, however the first president never lived in the White House. Although he played a role in the city’s development, the historic building wasn’t completed until after his death. New York, and later Philadelphia, were the capitals in his lifetime.
Charles Darwin is, without question, the most famous naturalist (life scientist) in history, but that profession wasn’t his first choice. Darwin wanted to be a doctor like his father, but he couldn’t stand the sight of blood and quickly changed his mind. Not only is Darwin featured on the £10 note; there are mountains named after him. Mount Darwin in Tierra del Fuego, is one of the regions Darwin explored during his legendary voyage on the HMS Beagle. Mount Darwin was named in honour of his 25th birthday. Try to gift wrap that present!
Darwin may be on England’s £10 bill (note), but Queen Elizabeth II is on all of England’s money! The longest ruling British (UK) monarch has also appeared on money around the world. More than 20 countries have had Queen Elizabeth II’s face on their money. The list includes Australia, Bermuda, Belize, Fiji, Jamaica and Canada. In fact, Canada had her on money before she was queen. In 1935, the country issued a bill featuring Elizabeth when she was an eightyear-old girl.
Image source: www.talkingretail.com
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»
A Note-worthy Canadian Woman Did you know that for first time an individual iconic Canadian woman will be featured on Canadian money? The new bill will be issued in 2018. But who will be the lucky lady? The Bank of Canada received thousands of nominations and created a list of 12 inspiring women, including historic figures like Emily Carr, Elizabeth MacGill, Pauline Johnson and Viola Desmond.
Which woman would you like to see on the next bill?
?
Canada’s ten dollar bill ($10)
Switzerland’s ten franc bill
Australia’s ten dollar bill ($10)
The face on a Canadian $10 bill is the country’s first prime minister, Sir John A. Macdonald. That is noteworthy but here is a lesser known fact about his eventful life. Macdonald dodged death. In 1866, during a London Conference where negotiations for the Confederation were taking place, Macdonald fell asleep in his hotel room with a candle still lit. There are accounts that he woke up to the smell of smoke, and quickly escaped.
The Swiss 10 franc bill features Charles Edouard Jaenneret (also spelled Charles-Édouard Jeanneret-Gris), better known as Le Corbusier. He is often referred to as an icon for modern design. Le Corbusier had many talents, including being an architect, town planner, urbanist and painter. Not only is he known around the globe for his work in infrastructure, but more than 80 years ago he designed a line of sleek furniture (Le Corbusier’s Furniture) which is still popular today.
A portrait of Andrew Barton “Banjo” Paterson graces the Australian $10 bill. Banjo is a significant literary figure in Australia. He was a poet, ballad writer, journalist and horseman. In 1895 Banjo composed the now famous ballad “Waltzing Matilda” and his first book “The Man from Snowy River, and other verses” which sold out its first edition within a week.
Sweden’s twenty krona bill (20kr)
New Zealand’s five dollar bill ($5)
You may not know Astrid Lindgren, but you’re probably familiar with her character Pippi Longstocking. Lindgren is one of the most famous Swedish authors in history. Her Pippi Longstocking books have been translated into 70 languages and approximately 60 million copies have been sold. Some of her other popular reads for children include The Brothers Lionheart and Mio, My Son (there’s also the Emil series and Six Bullerby Children). Lindgren had a passion for writing children’s books. She once said, “I want to write for a readership that can create miracles. Children create miracles when they read. That’s why children need books.”
New Zealand’s $5 bill features Sir Edmund Hillary, one of the most famous mountaineers around. He and Tenzing Norgay were the first men to stand atop Mount Everest in 1953. Sir Edmund Hillary was also the first to voyage across Antarctica to the South Pole. Take that Dora the Explorer!
Mexico’s twenty peso bill ($20) Don Benito Juárez García (aka Benito Juárez) is the face you’ll see on Mexico’s $20 bill. He served as the president of Mexico for five terms. Still not impressed? In 1853, a few years before he became president, Juarez was actually exiled (or deported) by the opposing government. He returned in 1855 and by 1858 became the president of Mexico. Juarez is known for defending human rights. In a famous speech he said, “Among individuals, as among nations, respect for others’ rights is peace.”
Image source: www.brightermoney.co.nz
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space
T
he presence of sights we can’t see and sounds we can’t hear have been a curiosity to scientists since the early 1800s, when William Herschel discovered infrared radiation. Sight and sound exist beyond what humans can detect. Dogs, for instance, can hear sounds at a much higher frequency than humans can. Why? In short, things make noise that we can’t always hear. It has a lot to do with wavelength. FACT: AIR CARRIES SOUND. There are several types of sound waves. Sound waves are caused by vibrating air molecules. Essentially, sound is vibration and we know that anything with an atomic composition vibrates. Therefore everything produces some degree of sound. But not always acoustic — the type
of sound we hear. Some sound is created by longitudinal wavelengths which move like a slinky. The distance measured between each new wave is is called a wavelength. Lengths are measured in nanometers and wavelengths are categorized from shortest (gamma) to longest (radio). The length of a wave is an important factor in determining whether we can see and or hear it. If an asteroid crashes into another asteroid in space, can you hear it? The absence of air in space suggests that the answer to our question is no. Correct, you can’t hear it. At least not without some help. In fact, recent technology has allowed NASA to record interplanetary sounds. From planets to moons and other masses in the solar system, our galaxy is filled with sound. Listen below.
Use Blippar to hear the sounds of the Milky Way. Fill your screen with one planet or moon at a time to hear it.
This is an image of Earth taken in November by the Neptune has some of the fastest winds Russian satellite Electro-L. Elektro-L is now orbiting in the solar system, which reach speeds Earth on a geostationary orbit 36,000 kilometers of thousands of kilometers per hour. Picture courtesy of NASA above the equator. Electro-L’s images were made combining three visible light wavelengths and one infrared.
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Io, one of Jupiter’s moons, the most volcanic body in the solar system taken from spacecraft Galileo Picture courtesy of NASA
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Roy Gbiv
Not a great scientist. It’s an acronym used to remember the visible spectrum of colours and specifically those in the rainbow. Namely — red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet.
What do rainbows and microwaves have in common? Popcorn in a microwave oven is being cooked by microwaves, a form of electromagnetic radiation energy, which is found on the electromagnetic spectrum. Energy on the spectrum takes the form of a wave, and is measured by the wave’s length. X-rays and radio waves can be found on the spectrum, and so can visible light. The light we can see makes up a very small part of the spectrum, and its waves are too short to see with the naked eye. Compared to visible light, microwaves have a much longer wavelength, about 12 cm, or the diameter of a baseball.
Saturn
Uranus
Jupiter
Picture courtesy of NASA
Picture courtesy of NASA
Picture courtesy of NASA
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& , s l u o h G Goblins, e r o L l a r u t l Ghosts: Cu n by Chelsea Woote
The Snarly Yow (United States)
Knockers
Reports of this apparition date back to the late 1700s, where it was claimed that The Snarly Yow, a large, black dog, would haunt South Mountain, close to Hagerstown, Maryland, terrorizing travelers. Recorded accounts say that the Snarly Yow would spook horses, then vanish after the rider had been thrown off. Many attempted to throw rocks at the dog to scare it away, and some even tried shooting it, but it didn’t matter- it all went right through him! The last recorded sighting of the Snarly Yow was in 1975.
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A form of goblin known for living in the mines of Cornwall, Knockers have been said to be both helpful and harmful to the humans around them, depending on whether or not they feel respected. Their name comes from the noise they make when they either aid or create mischief. If they feel respected by the miners, they will knock when they come across gold, or as a warning that a cave-in is about to occur. If unappreciated, they knock to cause the cave-in.
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Image credit: http://www.mysticďŹ les.com/ten-types-of-goblins
Image credit: http://wesclark.com/jw/s_yow.html
(England)
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T
he art of storytelling has been used by people since the beginning of time as a creative and entertaining way to pass on important information and cultural history to future generations. All those legends and myths you heard when you were younger might have just seemed like exciting bedtime stories, but chances are they probably had a deeper moral, or message, to teach you. Take for example the Grimm fairy tales. Were they scary? Absolutely! But all those goblins, ghosts, and ghouls had a purpose, too: to teach children about real-life dangers and how to best avoid them, like sticking to the path and not wandering off, or not talking to strangers. It was the fear the children remembered, but the message was passed on. Still, the Brothers Grimm weren’t the only ones to tell these kinds of stories. All around the world, people have told similarly frightening tales. But have you ever wondered where some of your favourite creepy stories and the creatures they’re about came from? Well gather around the campfire and listen closely — Brainspace is about to take you on a global ghost-tour!
Ghouls Tengu These goblins, who used to be known more for their violent tendencies, are now revered as guardians of the forests and mountains. In fact, they despise arrogance, and have been known to punish people who abuse their power. The name, Tengu, means heavenly dog which is fitting for these shape-shifters whose general appearance is that of a winged dog, or bird of prey.
Image credit: http://park5.wakwak.com/~semilog/japan/critter.html
(Japan)
These flesh-eating creatures’ origins are believed to be traced back to the Middle East, in places such as Afghanistan, and even parts of Africa. Some stories say that ghouls lived in graveyards, and were known for feasting on corpses. Others have called them sirens of the desert, who would lure, then kill, unsuspecting travelers. One in particular, the Ghul-I Beaban, was said to have one eye, one hand, and one leg. A truly horrifying creature, it would terrorize and hunt anyone passing through its territory.
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(Middle East)
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The Dungarvon Whooper (Canada)
There are many variations of this Canadian ghost story, but the most common tales say it is based on an incident that took place in a New Brunswick logging camp in the 19th century. Ryan, a newly-hired cook, came to the camp with a large amount of money in tow. One day when the loggers returned from their work in the woods, they found Ryan dead, his money gone, and the camp boss as the only witness, claiming Ryan’s death to be a freak accident. With a snow storm brewing, the loggers were forced to bury Ryan in a shallow grave. That night, a deep and wailing whoop haunted the loggers throughout the camp. The next morning, the loggers fled in terror. To this day, some claim they can still hear the Dungarvon Whooper’s frightening calls when they are in the area.
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ANIMALS ADAPT
biology
by Pascale Bider
W
experiment
hen winter rolls around, things start to look very different. Snow covers the ground, leaves fall off trees, and the temperature drops drastically. Us humans adapt to these changes by bundling up, cranking up the heat and staying inside. For animals though, this is not an option. They can’t put on a jacket or some extra woolly socks when it gets cold outside. Instead, the animals that stay up north during the winter have to adapt to survive the changing seasons.
Fur, fat and air: insulators This experiment simulates the protection some animals develop in harsh climate.
You will need: • margarine or shortening • ice water • plastic bag or plastic wrap (to fit a hand in) • balloon • straw • paper towel • a large container (to fit a hand in) AND insulating materials such as cotton balls, foil, fleece, wool sock, fake fur
1. Put enough ice water in the large container to fully immerse your finger into it. 2. Wrap your finger in an insulating material. Dip it in! Test all of your insulating materials. Which one works best? 3. Now test the insulating properties of air. Squeeze your finger
into a deflated balloon. Squeeze a straw in next to your finger and blow air into the balloon. Dip it in! Does it feel cold? 4. Test the insulating properties of fat. Put a thick coat of margarine or shortening around your finger. Dip it in! How does that feel in comparison?
"Toasty Tunneling"
When thick snow covers the ground, the small rodents of the forest get to work. Mice, shrews, and voles are small critters, but they are mighty survivors. They spend all winter beneath the snow, digging elaborate tunnel systems around their little grass nests as they forage for food. The thick layer of snow above and below the rodent’s tunnels acts as insulation, so even though the outside temperature drops well below freezing, the rodent’s nests and tunnels remain around 0°C. BRAINSPACE FALL 2016 23 BSp FAll 2016.indd 23
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"Deep Sleepers" If there was ever a sleeping competition, bears would take the cake. In the fall, bears go on feeding frenzies to build up their fat reserves, then find a cozy place to den. Next, bears fall asleep and don’t wake up till winter is over. They are such deep sleepers that, unlike most hibernating animals, they don’t even wake up to go to the bathroom. They don’t pee or poop a single time all winter long! Instead, their body automatically recycles almost everything that they would normally excrete as waste. Mama bears wake up once during the winter to give birth to their babies, then go right back to sleep until summer!
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"Pond Dwellers" In winter, lakes and ponds freeze over, which is a challenge for all the animals living beneath the ice. Turtles and frogs are airbreathing organisms that spend most of their time underwater, occasionally coming to the surface to breathe. But in winter, the ice means that these animals become trapped underwater! They have to survive for months without breathing even once. In order to achieve this, turtles drastically slow their heart rate and digestion, and bury themselves in the mud. Frogs on the other hand survive by letting themselves freeze. Their body fluids turn to ice and they spend all winter as frogsicles. When summer rolls around, the frogs thaw and are ready to hop away!
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"Colourful Critters" Snowshoe hares are a choice meal for everything from wolves, to owls and squirrels. In order to survive they have to be excellent at evading predators. In the summer, the snowshoe hare has a grayish brown pelt to blend in with shrubs and grasses. When the days get shorter in the fall, its brown fur falls out and it grows a thick new coat of white fur, to camouflage with the snow and keep it warm. This way, the hare can stay hidden from predators all year round. Unfortunately, sometimes there is no snow until late in December, long after the days have started to grow shorter. When this happens, the hare is the completely wrong colour for its environment! It then has to rely on its other survival abilities, like its speed, to escape predators.
"Icy Hunting" For carnivorous creatures like foxes and owls, frigid temperatures and thick snow are challenges that require specialized hunting techniques. These animals have finely tuned senses that are well adapted to winter hunting. Owls have an astounding sense of hearing that allows them to detect a mouse under the snow from over 30 metres away! Once they have located their dinner, they punch through the snow and catch their prey in their talons. As for foxes, they have the ability to detect magnetic fields. They use this sense in combination with their excellent hearing to locate mice, then they jump into the air and dive under the snow to catch them.
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Ice
science
Nice
WHAT IS A GLACIER?
When the earth’s temperature is cold enough, snow falls in winter but doesn’t melt over the summer. Instead, it becomes more and more compressed as layers of unmelted snow accumulate over several years. Eventually, these layers of snow turn to ice. The ice keeps layering on until massive blocks of ice are formed: glaciers. As the earth’s temperature varies, glaciers melt and refreeze. They also move across the landscape as gravity takes its toll. As the glaciers thaw and freeze, they pick up debris from the rocks they are plowing over, as well as chunks of rock that fall on them from above. Glaciers are therefore composed not only of ice, but also of rocks and dirt.
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Taking a closer look at the role glaciers play in shaping our valleys, lakes and landscapes by Pascale Bider
T
oday, only about 10% of the world’s surface is covered by glaciers. However, this was not always the case. A mere 115,000 years ago, the earth would have looked very different. This was the beginning of the Wisconsin ice age, the last great period of glaciation in Earth’s history. During this glaciation period, 97% of Canada was covered by two gigantic glaciers: The Cordilleran ice sheet in the west and the Laurentide ice sheet in the east. The Cordilleran ice sheet is estimated to have had a maximum depth of 2 km. As for the Laurentide ice sheet, it would have been nearly 4 km thick! Try to imagine 4 km of ice above you right now! The Wisconsin ice age lasted until approximately 10,000 years ago, at which point most of these great glaciers had melted away. The Laurentide and Cordilleran ice sheets didn’t disappear without a trace though. They squished, carved, and molded the earth beneath them, leaving their mark across North America. Many geographic features still visible today all over the continent were created by glaciers millions of years ago. See the facing page for geographical signs that a glacier has been there.
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Erratics
By Wing-Chi Poon [CC BY-SA 2.5 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/ by-sa/2.5)], via Wikimedia Commons
Erratics are big chunks of rock that look like they popped out of nowhere into an otherwise flat landscape. These big rocks were once part of cliffs and mountains, until they were carried off by a glacier. As the glacier melted, it dropped the rocks in a new spot. This is why we sometimes find erratics very far from mountains.
The Great Lakes
By NASA image by Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Rapid Response Team, Goddard Space Flight - [ This image] from this page on the Earth Observatory website operated by the EOS Project Science Office located at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia. org/w/index.php?curid=11550776
As the glaciers melted, they produced a whole lot of water, which formed pools at the foot of the glaciers. These pools became so big that they formed what has now come to be known as the Great Lakes: Lake Superior; Lake Michigan; Lake Huron, Lake Ontario and Lake Erie.
Striations
By Walter Siegmund
These are thin scratches carved into smooth rock. They are the result of a glacier dragging smaller rocks across the ground as it moves.
U-Shaped Valleys
By Ansgar Walk - photo taken by Ansgar Walk, CC BY-SA 2.5, https:// commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=659852
U-shaped valleys are made by a glacier squeezing between two mountains and squishing flat everything in its path.
Keep an eye out!
Spotting any of these landforms is a sure sign a glacier has been there. The gigantic glaciers of the Wisconsin ice age changed our world dramatically and forever...or at least till the next ice age rolls around! BRAINSPACE
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e
r
ig i
pe
Th
SunTime or
e nal timeke
BY SHREYA DALAL AND CASEY CHARETTE
FROM CANADIAN ASSOCIATION FOR GIRLS IN SCIENCE
Sundial Science
The sun appears to “move” over the sky, even though the Earth is really the one moving because of its elliptical orbit around the sun. The Earth rotates on its axis. It takes 24 hours to complete one full rotation. The light from the sun causes shadows on Earth which change in direction depending on the position of the sun. A sundial contains a thin rod, or gnomon, which casts a shadow onto a platform with different times written on it. The rod’s shadow changes, as the sun “moves” over the sky over the course of a day. The shadow overlaps the times written upon the sundial, therefore as the shadow changes, so does the time.
FAC TS The earliest known sundials were ca lled “shadow clocks” which were used In in ancient Egypt.
1500 BC
The oldest known device to measure time is the sundial.
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How to
Make a Sundial Materials
• • •
1.
• • • •
Paper plate Permanent marker Scissors, with adult supervision A straw A pipe cleaner A ruler Tape
Ask an adult to help you poke a hole through the centre of the round plastic lid with scissors. Write the number 12 on the inside edge of the lid with the marker. Use the ruler to draw a straight line from the number 12 to the hole in the centre of the lid.
2. Thread the pipe cleaner through the centre of the straw. Let 3 cms of pipe cleaner stick out from one end of the straw.
3. Poke the pipe cleaner through the hole so the straw sits right on top of the plastic lid. Bend the pipe cleaner under
the lid so that it is flat with the bottom of the lid and tape it to secure it. Now slant the straw toward the number 12 so that the straw is above the line you drew. This is your sundial.
4. At noon, take your sundial outside. Now carefully turn
it so the shadow of the straw falls along the line to the number 12. Leave the sundial where it is and do not move it. If you are worried about the wind blowing the sundial away, you can place some sand or pebbles on top of the lid near the centre (away from the edges).
5. One hour later, at 1 p.m., check where the shadow falls
along the edge of the sundial. Make a mark on the edge of the lid under the shadow and write the number 1. Continue to do this every hour, marking the location of the shadow on the edge of the lid.
6. At the end of the day your sundial will be complete. On the next sunny afternoon you will be able to tell time by watching where the shadow of the straw falls on your clock.
TIP: avoid this activity on a windy, cloudy, or rainy day!
This project is to show you how people used to tell time before clocks were invented. They would see where the shadow of the sun fell on their sundial, and then they would know what time it was. It gave people the sense of what time it was but it wasn’t precise. BRAINSPACE
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By Grace Bueler
Please read a story blindfolded. Impossible? In fact, it isn't. Thanks to Louis Braille, your fingers can read. He perfected a raised dot codex for letters and words that is interpreted with your fingers instead of your eyes!
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A bit about Louis. And Charles. And Frank. Born in 1809 and blinded at the age of three, Louis Braille won a scholarship to the National Institute for Blind Children in Paris when he was ten years old. There, he learned a way of reading called ‘night-writing’, a system of ‘dots’ to feel with your fingertips, invented by Capt. Charles Barbier for use by soldiers in the French Army in the 1800s to silently communicate at night. In 1824, after mastering night-writing, Louis invented his own variation, The Braille System. He originally developed it for writing music. The Braille System was officially adopted by the Institute in 1854, two years after his death. Books or other materials in Braille used to be produced entirely by hand, until the first Braille machine was invented by Frank Hall in 1892. As the Braille System was originally in French, an English version was developed in 1932.
Everyday Braille Today, you can find Braille all around you - on paper money, ATMs, elevators, food packages, menus, medicine, and telephones – just to name a few.
How does it work? Each of the Braille System’s 64 original characters (there are now 100 or so characters today!) are made of a combination of raised dots in a six-dot ‘cell’. This ‘cell’ is a vertical rectangle with 2 columns of 3 dots. Each cell represents a letter, word, number, punctuation, or modifier. You use your fingertips to feel which dots are raised to read their meaning. Reading Braille can be tough, since some raised dot combinations are the same but have different meanings. Context is key as you have to pay attention to where each combination falls in a sentence you’re reading.
Practice and patience. Reading Braille is like reading the same line, in three different sections, at the same time! You use your index finger to read the first words, and use your other fingers to read ahead to pick up clues to make sure you read the first words correctly. The best readers use both hands at once, so they can not only read and look ahead, but also check what they’ve already read for mistakes.
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Write YOUR OWN BRAILLE
a
b
n
o
c p
d q
e r
f
using the braille alphabet chart below.
g
s
h
t
i
u
j
v
k
w
l
x
m
y
z
Watch the how-to video on page 29 or follow these simple steps: b
{
r
{
a
{
i
{
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l
{
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l
{
32
e
{
1. Use a stylus and the template below. If you do not have a stylus, *punch* the dots in with a push pin. 2 With the help of the alphabet chart write a message from right to left. 3. Turn the page over , close your eyes and read. 4. Download and print this writing template at brainspacemagazine.com to practice and to share with friends.
REMEMBER: A person using Braille writes from right to left; when the sheet is turned over, the dots face upward and are read from left to right.
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D
L
o
THIS IS COOL STEM! TRY augmented reality. DOWNLOAD the free Blippar app
on your mobile device. LAUNCH the Blippar app and fill your device screen with only one of the subject icons at a time.
WATCH experiments or demonstrations for each topic. TRY each of these easy experiments at home. CHECK for new content in January.
© illustrations and video content are copyright of Brainspace Publishing Inc. BRAINSPACE
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biology
Y
our heart beats faster, you breathe quickly, your hair stands on end. You’re scared. Why does your body react this way? It’s your amygdala. This part of your brain is the fear response centre. Your brain receives signals from your senses: touch, eyes, ears, nose and taste. If the signal is suspicious or scary your amygdala goes into action, quickly triggering what’s known as a fight or flight response. Everything goes on high alert ready for action. Your eyes go wider, your body tenses to run and you ready yourself. Think of the last time something made you frightened.
Hair Raising Horror
Goosebumps form when the tiny muscles around the base of each hair on our body tense and our hair stands on end. Like other animals, this happens when we are cold. Scientists think that it may be a leftover from when humans had more hair because the tensing of the muscles would fluff up the hair on our bodies to make us warmer. Sometimes these muscles tense up when we are surprised or frightened too. We can especially feel our scalp go tight. That’s where “it made my hair stand on end” originated to describe being really scared.
Scary Scratching Sounds
The sound of fingernails on a chalkboard makes many people cringe and it could have been hardwired in our brains dating back to the cenozoic era. Scientists believe that our auditory objection to the noise is inherited from a common primate. The excruciating noise is quite like the warning cry of monkeys. The research suggests that our response to the noise is an instinctive cue to potential danger.
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Adrenaline
Have you ever heard of people who suddenly have seemingly superhuman strength? It is believed that adrenaline is the reason. An intense fear produces a surge of adrenaline in our bodies. When intensely afraid, your body’s nervous system readies itself for action. The adrenal gland releases cortisol and adrenaline into your blood stream. Blood pressure rises and your heart beats faster, boosting oxygen and energy to your muscles. It’s as though your body gets a jolt.
The Smell of Fear
You’ve heard of animals being able to smell fear. Is it possible? It’s never been proven but here’s what we know. When you’re stressed you sweat. It’s a physiological response to fear and anxiety. Think of sweat as your body’s cooling system. But does our sweat smell differently if we’re horrified as opposed to having just played an intense sport? The thought is that we’d release chemicals like pheromones to give off a distinct fear odour though this has yet been to be proven.
Scared to Death
Can fear kill someone? It’s possible. Recently scientists have linked stress to the way our cells and molecules communicate. Molecules known as cytokines are the cellular signals that warn our immune systems to danger. The body reacts to stress by releasing various hormones and chemicals that are believed to interfere with cytokine signaling which compromises our immune systems. Ultimately it can make us susceptible to illness.
o my of Fear BRAINSPACE
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