The Express Tribune hi five - May 18

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Gardening tips PAGE 2-3

Make a medal PAGE 4

Going Dutch PAGE 6

Science Experiment PAGE 8

THE EXPRESS TRIBUNE, MAY 18, 2014

Hi light

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Do you like playing with mud? Are interested in how flowers and vegetable grow? Well, this summer you can take your sand bucket and shovel and garden your own flower or vegetable bed with the help of your parents.

Lets take a look at some of the basics of gardening so you can plan one of your own.

Steps • Determine when to plant seeds. Depending on your climate and the plant variety, planting times may vary. Check the seed packet for details.

• Fill the tray with soil. Press the soil down with your hands until the top of the board is level with the top of the tray.

• Moisten the soil. Use a watering can with holes on the end of the spout.

• Sow your seeds. Pour some seeds into the palm of your hand and pinch some out with your other hand. Sprinkle the seeds on top of the soil, leaving a little space between each one and its neighbours. The amount of space you need to leave depends on the plant, so check your seed packet for further instructions.

• Cover the seeds with soil. Most seeds need to be covered with soil. Check your seed packet to be sure. Sieve a light layer of soil over the tray. In general, seeds should be covered with soil to a depth equal to twice the height of the seeds, but check the packet for exact information.

• Label the tray. Use a permanent marker or pen to write the variety planted on one side of the label and the date planted on the other side.

• Follow growing instructions provided on the packet. The temperature, amount of sunlight, and amount of water the seeds need will be detailed on the instructions.

Once your plant starts to sprout, dig space with a shovel for your plant in your garden bed and plant it there.

Process Engage yourself through the entire process, from seed to table. Besides planting and nurturing your garden beds, be sure you do the harvesting and preparation of your crop for the table, even if it is under your parent’s supervision.

Planning Before you start off, you need to plan what kind of a garden you want. Do you want to grow flowers or vegetables?

Once you have decided that you need to choose a site for your garden. Talk to your parents and find a green patch in your garden that you may use as your own garden bed. Make sure your garden plot has the best soil and sunlight.

What to grow?

Grow vegetables and flowers that you like. Look through garden catalogues and cut out your favourite vegetables and flowers to read more about. You should ideally start with crops that mature quickly such as lettuce, radish, sunflowers, spinach and zucchini.

Taking care When you plant the seeds, label them with stakes and mark the area with a string so you don’t accidentally step on your plants. Remember to make a note in your notebook and look at your plants once or twice a day. Water them according to the instructions given behind the packet of seeds and wait for them to grow accordingly.

THE EXPRESS TRIBUNE, MAY 18, 2014

Food for plants Plants use sunlight and the green in their leaves to make sugars from carbon dioxide (which they breathe in through their leaves during the day) and water. This sugar is then used to give the plant energy so that it can grow. This process is called photosynthesis and is the most important process on the planet, as many other plants and animals depend on plants to survive. Most of the energy is used to make new plant material, although some of it is stored by the plant for use during the months when there is less sunlight.

Insects An insect is a small creature with three body parts (head, thorax and abdomen) and three pairs of legs. Many have wings. Most of them undergo complete changes of shape during their lifecycles. A lot of insects may attack your plants so you will need to spray insecticide through the sprayer or wear gloves and with your parents help pick a few slugs off the lettuce.

Seeds While it’s a convenient shortcut to buy starters, you will learn more by seeing the growing process as it begins from seed. The care given to sprouting seeds and nurturing the young seedling are a valuable part of the gardening experience. Seeds will need to be started indoors in a warm room and once sprouted they can be transplanted into pots until ready to set out.

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Hi light

Gardening tools There are certain tools that you need for gardening listed below: 1) Digging tools: spade and fork 2) Measuring: yard stick and measuring tape 3) Making and labeling rows: stakes and string 4) Planting: hand shovel 5) Watering: bucket and hose 6) Controlling insects: sprayer 7) Gardening gloves Before you buy these tools check at home if you already have them or ask your friends if you can borrow theirs.

THE EXPRESS TRIBUNE, MAY 18, 2014

Activity

4 Medal Making

This week Ayesha Mehmood teaches you how to make your own medal.

Step 1 First spread the clay on a plastic surface/ plate and level it using the rolling pin.

Step 2 Take the molds and press them lightly on the clay.

Supplies needed: •Clay •Rolling pin •Cutting mold •Wire rings •Ribbon •Paint •Paint brush

Step 3 Use a thin wire to make a hole in a corner for passing the string through. Leave the medal to dry for a day.

Step 5 You can paint designs or write on your medal as well.

Want to watch a video guide for this?

Log onto Toffeetv.com and check out the activities section!

Step 4 Paint the medal and leave it for two minutes to dry.

Step 6 Take the wire string and pass it through the hole you made. Twist the wire. You can also cross a ribbon from that string to wear the medal around your neck. Your medal is ready and you can make it in different shapes.

THE EXPRESS TRIBUNE, MAY 18, 2014

Get your weekly dose of the unusual and funny news from across the globe!

Fighting cows Switzerland, home of cheese and watchmakers has a new craze: fighting cows.

What began as an event restricted to an annual festival in the Valais region of Switzerland has now spread across the country and is now used as a method of grading cows in a herd and establishing a hierarchy. The sport dates back to 1915, when farmers in the Alpine regions noticed that cows wrestle naturally within herds and had the idea to turn it into a show for public to watch and to crown the winner as the Queen of the Herd. The horns were blunted and the cows would fight in pairs, with the winner passing to the next round to fight another winner till the final round. But unlike dog-fighting or Spanish bull fighting, injuries are very rare, Jean-Francois Rossat, a cow owner, told a paper. “It is never a nasty fight,” he said. “Fights can be very long, and then one of them gives up.” For those concerned about the welfare of the cows there has been a lot of debate regarding this matter. “There has been some controversy with animal welfare groups,” Philippe Dorsaz, president of the organising committee, said back in 2010. “But it was proven most injuries were superficial, if any.” METRO.CO.UK

Latest must-have pet Are those pandas or dogs? Well, those are panda dogs — dogs who have been made to look like pandas. The animals have become the latest ‘must have’ in China, with pet shops runing out of them quickly. Hsin Ch’en, who owns an animal store in Chengdu city in southwest China’s Sichuan province, said he was struggling to meet demand. According to him, Chinese people have been developing a great affection towards dogs and wanting one as a companion. “The cute breeds like French bulldogs and Labradors were the favourites, but now it is the panda dog.” Hsin admitted he used a bit of trickery to make the chow dogs appear like pandas. He added: “With a bit of careful grooming and colouring it is easy to turn a chow into a panda dog in about two hours. Then the look will stay with the dog for around six weeks and the owners bring them back for some touching up.” He added the animals were not subjected to any chemical treatments during the process and were not harmed in any other way. They are just given a makeover. So anyone, looking for a friendly panda as a pet or a unique dog, you know where to go. METRO.CO.UK

World wide weird

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On sale

The massive igloo that’s a must-stop for tourists heading up the Parks Highway in Alaska can now be bought for $300,000 (Rs30,000,000). The 80-foot high structure was built more than four decades ago over a shell of plywood and was never completed on a 38-acre site, which is part of the sales package. The igloo, which shows its age, has never been anything more than an attraction for cameras and tourists. But for someone with lots of money to spare, property owner Brad Fisher sees great possibilities for the picturesque location in Alaska’s interior. The site, 20 miles from the nearest community at Cantwell, is a great location for snowboarding in winter and hiking in summer, a land of rolling hills surrounded by mountains and splendid views. Fisher, 55, envisions the igloo as an eye-catching seasonal restaurant and hotel run on green power. However, there’s a catch, there is no available electricity around. “It’s always been a curiosity for our guests,” spokesman Charlie Bull said. “It’s always been a uniquely Alaskan desired photo stop.” Fisher, who has owned the igloo since 1996 through his family business, Fisher’s Fuels Inc., rented out four nearby cabins and ran a single fuel pump at the site until 2005. The property has been for sale off and on for six years. If Fisher has no takers this time around, there are no plans to demolish it. “It’s just there to stay,” he said. AFP

Tombs and mummies Archaeologists in southern Egypt have discovered a 5,600-year-old preserved tomb and mummy belonging to the First Dynasty of the pharaohs, the antiquities ministry said Wednesday. The tomb was built before the rule of king Narmer, the founder of the First Dynasty who unified Upper and Lower Egypt in the 31th century BC, the ministry said in a statement. The tomb was discovered in the Kom al-Ahmar region, between Luxor and Aswan, on the site of Hierakonpolis, the city of the falcon, which was the dominant pre-dynastic urban centre and the capital of the Kingdom of Upper Egypt. The archaeologists found an ivory statue of a bearded man and the mummy of the tomb´s owner, who appeared to have died in his late teenage years, the ministry said. The tomb´s preserved state will provide new information on pre-dynastic rituals, said Renee Friedman, the head of the multinational archeological team. The tombs of king Narmer and king Ra, a pre-dynastic pharaoh who paved the way to Egypt´s unification, were previously discovered in Hierakonpolis. AFP

THE EXPRESS TRIBUNE, MAY 18, 2014

6 Word Origins Going dutch When you go out with your friends do all of you divide the bill and pay equally or does only one person pay? The commonly used term for this is ‘going Dutch’ or ‘Dutch lunch’ and it indicates that each person participating in a group activity pays for themselves, rather than any person paying for anyone else, particularly in a restaurant bill. Have you wondered why it is referred to as ‘going Dutch’ and not something else? The origin of this word is debatable. Some believe the phrase is traced back to the 17th century when England and the Netherlands fought constantly over trade routes and political boundaries. The British use of the term ‘Dutch’ had a negative connotation for the Netherlanders who were said to be stingy. However, others believe that this word is an American creation from the 19th century as first, Dutch lunch was used in its literal sense of a meal. For example, a newspaper report in 1894 mentions that for a Dutch supper to be successful everything must be “consistently expressive of [the] vaterland” and mentions rye bread, cabbage salad as being on offer. The evidence makes clear that ‘going Dutch’ and its synonyms are too recent and from the wrong continent to be linked with the ancient enmity between the English and the Dutch. However, there is a hint in James Fenimore Cooper’s Satanstoe of 1845 that paying for oneself was a known custom of Dutch people in New York. The custom of paying for oneself is still believed to be strong among Dutch people in Europe. Hence, this confirms that Americans invented the expression based on their memories or observations of the habits of Dutch immigrants.

How to say ‘fire’ in different languages Alabnian Afrikaans Basque Bulgraian Catalan Czech Dutch Fijian Finnish French Georgian German Haitian Creole Hungarian Lithuanian Malay Norwegian Portugese Slovenian Vietnamese

: : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

Zjarr Brand Sute Pozar Foc Hori Brand Kama Tulipalo Au feu Khandzaria Feuer Dife Tuz Gaisras Api Brann Fogo Gori Chay

Cool facts People that study biology are known as biologists.

Australia’s Great Barrier Reef is the largest living structure on Earth. Reaching over 2000 kilometres in length.

The first person to see a live cell with a microscope was Antonie van Leeuwenhoek, in 1674.

Ecology is the study of ecosystems and how organisms interact with their environment.

While some bacteria can make you sick, others have positive benefits such as helping you digest food or even make yoghurt.

Moulds, yeasts and mushrooms are types of fungus.

The common cold is a type of virus.

Viruses can be treated with antiviral drugs.

Bacteria are extremely small and are made up of just one cell.

Bacterial infections can be treated with antibiotics.

Animals that eat plants as their primary food source are known as herbivores.

Endangered species are those that are in danger of being completely wiped out, they include blue whales, tigers and pandas.

Without protection these species may eventually become extinct.

THE EXPRESS TRIBUNE, MAY 18, 2014

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Fun & games

Notable Entries for the Liberty Books Card Competition

Ayesha Fawad

Maryam Majeed Winner

THE EXPRESS TRIBUNE, MAY 18, 2014

You will need: • Different socks that you wish to test.

• Half litre plastic bottles, one for each of the socks.

• Access to a freezer

It’s no fun when your feet are freezing cold. Lets test a few socks on how well they keep you warm.

What to do: 1. Fill each bottle with lukewarm tap water. Measure the temperature of water in each bottle and tighten the caps.

2. Wrap the bottles in socks and put them in the freezer.

• Access to a clock • A thermometer

3. Take out the bottles after every half an hour and measure the temperature for each bottle every time. How can you best keep track of your measurements? Perhaps you should draw a table?

4. Which of the bottles manage to hold the heat best?

This activity is brought to you by:

Word of the week: Temperature Temperature tells us how much heat energy something has. When the temperature in an object rises, its atoms and molecules start moving very fast. When the temperature drops, they move more slowly. At a temperature of -273.15°C, atoms and molecules stop moving altogether.

The coldest temperature ever recorded in the universe is -272oC.

Scientist Factory is a Norwegian social enterprise working to spread science literacy among students in Norway and Pakistan.