Issue 4: June 2011
(Inside this issue) Indigenous Australian Diets The North Pole Paper Mache Piggy Bank Lava Fizz Fresh Fruit Recipes
It’s a penguin egg hunt
www.justkidding.com
.au
n a i l a r t s u A d i g e n ou s
(Our Australia)
In
Diets
The Australian indigenous people had quite a healthy diet, they would eat different types of foods which depended on what part of Australia they lived in. Those who lived close to the coast line would have a diet which consisted more of seafood, fish and other marine animals like turtles. For the indigenous people who lived inland and away from the coast, their diet would consist more of kangaroo, possums and snakes.
The men would hunt for the food using a wide range of tools like spears and boomerangs, they also knew how to catch their food using different techniques. That would not hunt nocturnal animals at night, but would catch them in their burrows during the day while they were sleeping. They also knew how to get within spearing distance to emus and kangaroos, and they learnt that putting certain poisonous plants in to lakes and waterways would kill the fish.
While the men were out hunting the women would collect plants like herbs, seeds, fruits, nuts even roots. As collecting plants requires a lot of knowledge due to certain plants being poisonous, the elders would teach the younger females which plants are poisonous and how to remove poisons from certain plants by soaking them in water for weeks. The desert quandong
s t c a f g n i t s e r e t In There were around 250 Numbers of Aboriginal languages spoken in Australia before the first settlers. nguage The largest Original La the Group people today are live o wh ra tja tja jan Anangu Pit ru. in the area around Ulu
On 19 July 1873, the surveyor William Gosse sighted Uluru and named it Ayers Rock in honour of the then Chief Secretary of South Australia, Sir Henry Ayers.
Today there are around 145 Numbers of Aboriginal languages spoken in Australia today.
Local Aboriginal people recognise five seasons: • Wanitjunkupai (April/May) – Cooler weather • Wari (June/July) – Cold season bringing morning frosts • Piriyakutu (August/September/October) – Animals breed and food plants flower • Mai Wiyaringkupai (November/December) – The hot season when food becomes scarce • Itjanu (January/February/March) – Summer storms can roll in suddenly
(Geography)
e l o P N or t h
The
Where is it?
The North Pole is located in the middle of the Arctic Ocean. The Arctic Ocean is located in the Northern Hemisphere and is surrounded by Alaska, Canada, Greenland and Russia, it is mostly in the Arctic North Polar Region. It is the smallest and shallowest of the world’s five major oceanic areas.
s t c a f g n i t s e r e t In rn ost northe le is the m o P h rt y o tl N c ire The rth, lying d point on Ea Pole. th u o S the opposite to The sea depth at the North Pole has been measured at 4,261 m.
warmer The North Pole is significantly lies at it e aus bec e than the South Pol an. oce an of dle mid sea level in the
Polar Bear
US Navy Officer, Robert Peary’s sledge party at the North Pole in 1909.
At the North Pole all . directions point south
It is under international law, meaning that no country currently owns the North Pole or the region of the Arctic Ocean surrounding it.
At the North Pole, the sun is permanently above the winter horizon during the summer months and then in the er summ In n. horizo months it is permanently below the In light. is there and es the temperatures are near 0 degre dark. is it and es degre winter the temperature is about -30
Life at the North Pole: Research shows that it’s very rare for polar bears to travel to the North Pole due to the lack of food supply, though tracks have been seen in the area in the past. Animals such as the ringed seal and the Arctic fox have been seen less than 60km away from the North Pole. Researches say that birds such as the snow bunting, northern fulmar and the black-legged kittiwake can be seen in the area or be very near the pole. Sea creatures such as fish are very rarely seen in the waters of the North Pole, and if are seen have been in very small numbers.
Arctic Fox
e h c a M r e p Pa
(Craft)
k n a B Piggy Supplies Needed
This project takes a few days (there is a lot of drying time between paper mache layers).
• One balloon for each piggy bank
• A lot of old newspaper and/or brown-bag paper
• Masking tape
• a paper egg carton (plastic ones won’t work)
• pink tissue paper
• Flour-water glue (instructions below)
• One pink pipe cleaner
• A craft knife
• Plastic googly eyes (optional)
• Markers
Steps
To make a simple, thin glue from flour and water, simply mix 1 cup of flour into 1 cup of water and stir until the mixture is thin and runny. Then stir the mixture into 4 cups of boiling water. Simmer for about 3 minutes, then allow to cool.
1. You need to blow up a balloon for each piggy bank. 2. Then tear a lot of strips of newspaper or brown paper bags. The strips should be about 3cm or less wide; the length doesn’t really matter. 3. Y ou then need to dip each strip of paper in the flour glue and then wrap it around the balloon. Have at least two to three layers surrounding the balloon. Let it dry after each layer.
4. L et the paper mache balloon dry for a few days. When it is dry, you can pop and remove the balloon from the inside. This will be the body and head of the pig. 5. A fter the paper mache is completely dry, it’s time to add the legs and the snout. 6. S eparate 5 paper egg carton sections (one for each leg and the snout). Then use the masking tape to attach them to the oval-shaped body. 7. To colour your pig, you will use the pink tissue paper. 8. F or the tissue paper coating, first tear or cut the tissue paper into small pieces. Then cover the pig with a very thin layer of the flour-water glue (using your fingers is the easiest way). Next, put the tissue paper pieces on the pig (you may need to add a little more glue occasionally) until you have a nice pink coat for the pig. Let the pig dry completely.
The tail: Using a sharp crafts knife, have an adult make a small hole at the tail end of the pig. Insert a pipe cleaner into the hole, and then shape the pipe cleaner into a spiral. Eyes: Make eyes with a marker or glue on plastic googly eyes. Nostrils: Make two nostrils on the snout with a marker. The Money Slot: Along the top of the pig’s body, have an adult carefully cut a slot large enough to fit any coin.
z z i F Lava (Experiments)
ese Follow th
volcano. g in z iz f lava your own e k a m o ns t instructio
What you need: To do this activity you will need the following items: • Vegetable oil • Glass jar • Water • Food colouring • Plasticine • Aspro Clear, Alka-Seltzer, or another kind of fizzing tablet
What to do:
1. P our water into the jar until it is 1/5th full. 2. A dd several drops of food colouring. 3. F ill the remainder of the jar with vegetable oil.
4. M ake a volcano shape out of the plasticine, with a hole about two centimetres in diameter for the spout. Drop it into the bottom of the jar. 5. Wait about five minutes for the oil and water to separate completely. 6. Drop an Aspro Clear or Alka-Seltzer tablet into the jar through the volcano hole and see what happens.
What’s happening?
‘Fizzing’ tablets contain a mix of chemicals, including sodium bicarbonate and citric acid. Nothing happens when they’re added to oil, but when added to a solvent like water, the sodium bicarbonate separates and reforms with the citric acid to form sodium citrate. In the process, it also creates some carbon dioxide gas and a few water molecules. In your jar, the tablets reacted once they had sunk down into the water at the bottom, where they created bubbles that trapped and carried drops of water up through the oil to create your lava-like eruption.
Interesting facts: The Greek root word for water is ‘hydro’, so we say that water is ‘hydrophilic’ (loves water) while oil is ‘hydrophobic’ (afraid of water).
Join CSIRO’s Double Helix Science Club! If science makes you smile, then join the club! Membership includes a magazine subscription to Scientriffic (age 7+) or The Helix (age 10+) full of news, activities and science fun, plus exciting events around Australia, holiday programs, email newsletters, discounts and lots more.
To join call 02 6276 6643 or visit www.csiro.au/helix.
t i u r F resrehcipes F Iced orange, pineapple (Recipes)
ubes. lueberry cMethod: anPredpab ration about 15 minutes (plus overnight freezing time for cubes)
Makes:
20 ice-cubes
Ingredients
200g of peeled pineapple, chopped. 150g of punnet blueberries 4 fresh oranges, juiced.
1: Chop the peeled pineapple and then juice the 4 oranges. 2: T hen to make the ice-cubes, combine pineapple, blueberries and orange juice in to a jug. 3: Pour fruit mixture into 2 deep ice-cube trays (each tray having about 10 holes each). Then put into the freezer and allow them to freeze over night.
Serving suggestions:
•S erve the cubes in a glass of freshly squeezed orange juice. • Serve for an after sport or after school snack. (Great in summer) • Blend the cubes with fruit juice to make a refreshing slushies.
. s ie ll e J o g n a M & y rr e b Straw
Makes:
6 jelly cups
Preparation:
20 minutes
Ingredients:
1 x 9g sachet of mango or pineapple flavoured jelly crystals. 1 medium ripe mango 250g of strawberries (extra hulled sliced strawberries, to serve) 6 disposable clear plastic cups or small jelly moulds Reduced fat natural or vanilla yoghurt (to serve)
Method:
1: M ix the jelly in a heat proof jug following packet directions. Then set aside to cool slightly. 2: M eanwhile, peel the mango and roughly dice the flesh. Then cut streams off the strawberries and cut them into quarters lengthways. 3: Spoon mango and strawberries evenly into 6 plastic cups. 4: Gently press fruit into the base of the cups or moulds to prevent the fruit from rising when the jelly mixture is poured over the top. 5: Pour the jelly mixture over the fruit. Then refrigerate for 4-5 hours or until firm. Top with extra strawberries and natural yoghurt and serve.
Interesting facts: rch to November Mandarins are available from Ma May to August. with there best value being from ble. t a vegeta entre. o n it u fr ber is a in the c A cucum as seeds h it e s u ca Why? Be Strawberries are the only fruit which grows seeds on the outside. s of apples. 00 different kind There are over 1,0
Quick Jokes
Q: Why did the banana go to the doctor? A: Because it wasn’t peeling well Q: What’s the strongest vegetable? A: A muscle sprout
Q: Why did the Tomato go out with a prune? A: Because he couldn’t find a date!