Whizz Pop Bang Science Magazine for Kids! Issue 68: PESKY PARASITES by Whizz Pop Bang

ISSN 2399 -2840

THE AWESOME SCIENCE MAGAZINE FOR KIDS!

PESKY PARASITES

Play a parasite battle game

Find out how water is made safe to drink

MEET THE WORLD’S WORST GUESTS!

e Wee e ee

ee e!

Checkhe out t ky cheeoo cuck

Creat e a flea catapul t

wiggling orm w a c i t e p a ra s i ak WHIZZPOPBANG.COM ISSUE 68

EXPERIMENTS PUZZLES AMAZING FACTS SCIENCE NEWS

WELCOME!

Welcome to the weird and wonderful world of parasites!

Take a look at some of the wo rld’s most grisly guests inside this itchy edition of Whizz Pop Ba ng! Meet mind-controlling paras ites that encourage mice to cosy up with cats, parasitic plants th at suck up others’ nutrients and even some useful parasites, such as wasps that help farmers protect their cotton plants. There’s also ple nty of parasitic science fun to be ha d too – get busy engineering a flea catapult, play a parasitic battle card game and make wig gling paper worms – and that’s jus t scratching the surface of what’s inside!

Let’s grow tomatoes from saved seeds!

Riley

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ISSN 2399-2840

HE if i cE t uR r t l e sT t e r rV O N! MROeO m S R a r kH aW ObLVE l e a di p w i t h

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Editor-in-Chief: Jenny Inglis Editor: Tammy Osborne Assistant Editor: Tara Pardo Designers: Rachael Fisher and Simon Oliver Illustrator: Clive Goodyer Staff writer: Joanna Tubbs Contributors: Nick Arnold, Sarah Bearchell, Claire Cock-Starkey, Ned Hartley and Joe Inglis

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Welcome to WHIZZ POP BANG – the magazine bursting with enticing articles, mind-boggling facts and hands-on experiments to get your child hooked on science! Whizz Pop Bang is a gender-neutral magazine with plenty of inspirational male and female scientists and content that appeals to all children.

The magazine is ideal for home educators and it’s linked to the national curriculum too, for use in schools. Whizz Pop Bang will help with literacy development as well. Transform science teaching in your school with our hands-on science and reading resources. Our downloadable lesson packs link fun science experiments and reading with key curriculum topics for years 2-6. Subscribe at whizzpopbang.com/schools

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GET IN TOUCH

Gakk

Where you see this symbol, use a QR code reader on a phone or tablet to visit a relevant web page.

Emmi

CONTENTS

Meet a space spider, the coolest new tech inventions and a rock that looks just like Cookie Monster!

THE WORLD’S WORST GUESTS

Create a flea catapult and make a wiggling parasitic worm while learning about parasites!

Atom

ANIMAL ANTICS

Check out the cheeky cuckoo, cuckoo the avian parasite who invades other birds’ nests!

SILLY SCIENCE

Can fleas be trained to do tricks? Take a ‘fact or fiction’ quiz and put your parasite knowledge to the test.

EMMI’S ECO CLUB

Grow yourself a tasty snack from saved tomato seeds in upcycled pots!

Sim

Meet Professor James Logan, a scientist who uses body odour to prevent the spread of deadly diseases!

24 ©

/B e

rts

Have you ever wondered how water from a reservoir becomes clean enough to drink? Find out here.

TEN AWESOMELY AMAZING…

Parasite-busting adaptations! Discover the animals who have evolved their own nit combs – and more.

Read the inspiring story of Alice Ball, who had developed a treatment for leprosy by the time she was 23.

NEW

Epic Eng ! in badge to eer earn!

Y’S WONDER CLUB

Ask our robot, Y, your burning science questions and share all of your adventures in science with the club.

I’d love to see pictures of your experiments! Send them to Y@whizzpopbang.com

SPECTACULAR SCIENCE

HOW STUFF WORKS

SENSATIONAL SCIENTISTS

k. c

Play parasite battle cards and test these pesky parasites head-to-head!

INTERVIEW WITH A SCIENCE HERO

toc tobart / Shutters

PULLOUT

AWESOME NEWS AND AMAZING FACTS

ur ut yo Cut o ok token bo FREE page 34! on

Wrap your eyes around this incredible close-up photo of a nest-nabbing cuckoo wasp!

QUIZ POP BANG AND COMPETITION

Test your knowledge with our super-duper science quiz and win two super science books!

JOKES AND ANSWERS

Laugh out loud at some awesome jokes and find the answers to all of our quizzes, puzzles and riddles.

32 34

FIND THE SCIENCE EQUIPMENT Hidden on each double page is a piece of science equipment. Tick each one to find the complete kit!

s Awesome New cts and Amazing Fa

Gemologist Lucas Fassari had a nice surprise when he opened this lump of volcanic rock to reveal an agate that looks just like Cookie Monster from TV’s Sesame Street! The agate was found in the Rio Grande do Sul region of Brazil. Agates form in cavities created by gases trapped in volcanic lava as it cools and solidifies into rock. Water containing silica then enters the cavity, where – over many years – silicon dioxide crystals (quartz) form in layers. Impurities in the water can create different coloured patterns. Sometimes agates have cavities inside lined with sparking quartz crystals – and in this case, the cavity looks just like the big smile of our favourite muppet! Probably best to store this stone far away from the cookie jar, just in case. © Hussein Abdelaziz / Shutterstock.com

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Most cats go mad for catnip, but why? Scientists from Japan and Britain think they might have the answer. Catnip is a plant from the mint family. The dried leaves are sewn into cat toys, which cats love to roll around with. In a series of experiments, the researchers showed that the chemical that makes catnip so irresistible also repels mosquitoes – and that cats who had rolled in catnip got fewer mosquito bites. So, when cats rub themselves with catnip, they’re essentially applying insect repellent. The team has already patented an insect repellent for humans based on catnip chemicals. Let’s hope anyone who uses it really likes cats!

ck.com

The secret of catnip

ME WANT COOKIE!

ck.com

SPACE SPIDER Asagumo is just 10 cm tall

Don’t panic! This little fellow isn’t on its way to take over the Earth, but it will be on its way to the Moon later this year. Inspired by singer David Bowie’s backing band, The Spiders from Mars, British company Spacebit has created a lunar rover that moves on legs rather than wheels. Asagumo is scheduled to hitch a ride aboard the Peregrine lander, taking its first steps on the Moon in July 2021. If the mission is successful, Asagumo will later explore lunar lava tubes – natural tunnels left behind by ancient volcanoes. Lava tubes are filled with rocky obstacles, which are more easily explored by a scuttling robo-spider than a rover with wheels. Scientists hope that one day humans might build bases inside these rocky underground tunnels.

THE FUTURE IS HERE

Mof lin

This year, the world’s biggest technology show, CES, was a virtual affair, but that didn’t stop it wowing us with the latest weird and wonderful inventions from around the world. This year’s offerings included augmented reality smart glasses, a gaming chair with a wraparound screen and an interactive smart pillow that tracks your movements and can sing you a lullaby. There were a whole host of voice-activated devices, from a smart shower that can learn how hot you like the water to a smart toilet with feet and buttock warmers! One highlight was a self-driving racecar that will be put to the test later this year in the Indy Autonomous Challenge, a high-speed race of autonomous vehicles designed by university students from around the world. There were cute robot pets, ranging from the gurgling guinea-pig-sized Moflin, an AI pet that develops is own ‘personality’, to a faceless, tail-wagging cushion called Qoobo. There was even a robot companion for kids – Moxie can chat and play with you and help you with your learning. And finally, the robot you’ve all been waiting for is here at last – Samsung’s BotTM Handy is designed to tidy your bedroom for you! It uses advanced AI to recognise and pick up objects on the floor – and it can even put them away where they belong. Now that’s progress!

Bot Handy

Self-driving racecar

Moxie

may think parasites are horrible... You

Imagine a guest who won’t leave and takes whatever they want. These grisly guests are parasites – and they often live inside their host’s body! Parasite science is called parasitology (say para-site-ol-ogy). Living things are organisms. A type of living thing is a species.

But parasite science is horribly fascinating!

EVERYTHING YOU WANTED TO KNOW ABOUT PARASITES What is a parasite?

It’s an organism that spends time with another organism and harms it.

The organism that gets harmed host. is the host

Living together

Symbiosis is when members of different evolved to spend time together.

species have

ers feed bees • Some species help each other – flow and bees spread flower pollen. s – remora fish stick • Some neither help nor hurt their host the sharks. to sharks for a free ride, but they don’t harm

ones • Some harm their hosts; we call these

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parasites.

One parasite makes ants’ heads fall off.

old

THE WORLD’S WORST GUESTS

ick Arn yN

What sort of organisms are parasites?

They can be any kind of animal, plant, fungus or microbe. All microbes that cause disease are parasites. The first scientist to discover microscopic parasites was Antonie van Leeuwenhoek (1632-1723). He used a microscope to see them in his own poo!

Do parasites prefer particular hosts?

Many parasites have just one host species. Californian condor lice died out because their hosts were in captivity and humans killed the lice. Some parasites live in more than one host species during their life cycle.

How do parasites harm their hosts?

Have there always been parasites?

Many parasites live and feed on their host. Some do little harm, but others kill their host or pass on microbes that cause diseases. For example, mosquitoes pass on the microscopic parasite that causes malaria.

They’ve been around for millions of years. Parasites ate dinosaur feathers and sucked their blood. The T. rex skeleton known as Sue may have died after a parasite made holes in her jaw.

LIFE CYCLES

All plants and animals have a life cycle including reproduction.

Parasites can have parasites of their own. For example, certain wasp parasites have bacteria parasites. And the bacteria parasites have virus parasites!

Insect life cycle

Plant life cycle

Adult

Plant

Egg

Pupal stage

Flower

Seedling

Fruit Larva or grub

A parasite can turn male insects into females.

HORRIBLE HUMAN PARASITES Parasites such as ticks, bedbugs, fleas and lice can suck our blood. Worms such as tapeworms, threadworms or Guinea worms can live in our guts or within our bodies. Worm eggs enter the body in contaminated food or water. Guinea worm larvae live in tiny water bugs called copepods. When humans drink contaminated water, the larvae enter the body.

Worms can be killed with medicines.

Clean food and treated water are parasite free.

The water filter challenge In Africa, scientists are trying to wipe out Guinea worm disease by removing copepods from water. Can you make your own water filter?

You will need: • Two-litre plastic bottle • Ruler • Cotton wool or light cotton cloth • Coffee filter paper • Sand

• Gravel • Strong collection container with a wide base so it won’t tip over. It should be narrower than the plastic bottle.

What you do: 1. Ask an adult to cut the bottle in half, as shown.

2. Make some dirty water by mixing in soil or coffee. 3. Layer the materials in the top half of the bottle as shown. Each layer should be 2-3 cm thick.

4. Place the top half of the bottle on top of the collection container and slowly pour the dirty water into it.

You should find: The water in the lower container looks clean! The materials trap small particles in the water.

Investigate further… Repeat the experiment using the same water mixture but each time removing one of the layers. How does this affect the colour of the water? Keep your water samples so you can compare them.

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f ma

Make a wiggly worm!

WARNINGe!

Don’t drink th – it filtered water eria! ct ba may contain

Roll a piece of pink tissue paper (about 15 x 15 cm) loosely around a pencil, starting with a corner. Wet the opposite corner to stick it down, then squish the tissue paper roll down and off the end of the pencil. Drip a few drops of water onto your worm to make it grow and wiggle!

Try using coffee filter paper instead of cotton – which works best?

Water from the tap is safe. It’s filtered AND disinfected.

F ind t er ow w a h t u o t n e treatm ork w s t n pla e 24. on pag

Find these parasite names in the grid. Circle them and check your answers on page 34. BEDBUG

U N D W O

FLEA

GUINEA WORM

U B

HEADLICE

E N

F N K

B U M H

Y R R

P N F

E M C W A

K A V K D

SCABIES

TAPEWORM

K H

THREADWORM

D H R

TICK

E W O

LEECH LIVER FLUKE ROUNDWORM

Some parasites have their uses...

H A

HOOKWORM

R M E

O W O W E O

O H X

R M E M M

USEFUL PARASITES

• Traditional ink was made from tannic acid found in oak apples. These swellings are caused by gall wasp parasites. • When caterpillars eat crops like maize or cotton leaves, they release chemicals. These attract parasite wasps that attack the caterpillars. • Leeches have been used in medicine for thousands of years to remove blood from patients. Some doctors still use them today to prevent blood from clotting during surgery. • Hookworms release chemicals that damp down the body's immune defences, so infected people are less likely to suffer from bad asthma and allergies. Meet a scientist who infected himself with hookworms on page 22!

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HORRIBLE ANIMAL PARASITES

Almost every species has its own species of lice and fleas. They have evolved and adapted to living on their host. Many animals suffer from worms. Larger animal parasites include vampire bats.

Divide the grid into four parts so that each part contains a complete flea life cycle – eggs, larva, pupa and an adult flea. Check your answer on page 34.

Make a flea catapult You will need: • Rectangle of thick card or hardboard • Clothes peg with metal spring

• • • •

Craft or lolly stick A spoon Hot glue or strong tape Sticky tack

What you do: 1. Place the clothes peg on its side on the board as shown. Ask an adult to help you use hot glue (or tape) to attach the clothes peg to the board, then attach the craft stick to the clothes peg.

2. Use strong tape to attach the spoon to the craft stick, as shown.

Every species is adapted to life in its own environment. Species change over time – this is called evolution.

Parasitic skua birds make smaller birds vomit fish – and then eat the fish themselves!

Ugh – how sickening!

3. Place the board so that it is level with the edge of a table. The stick and spoon should overhang the edge. 4. Make a little flea shape from sticky tack and place it in the spoon. 5. Push the spoon down below the level of the table edge and release it.

You should find: Your ‘flea’ leaps! Like a real flea leg, your catapult spring and the stick and spoon store energy when you push them down. The stick and spoon form a lever. Real flea legs work like levers too.

Why did the flea lose her job?

? She just wasn’t up to scratch!

Whales have giant tapeworms up to 40 metres long. They can lay 100,000 eggs per day that come out in whale poo.

PLANT PARASITES

Parasitic plants and fungi suck food and water from other plants. Australian Christmas trees cut the roots of other plants and suck their water. They can chop through electricity cables too!

Did you know?

Mistletoe is a parasite! It grows in trees, sucking water and nutrients from them. Look out for the balls of greenery in high branches.

Thurber’s stemsucker is a plant parasite that grows INSIDE other plants. You only know it’s there when its flowers bloom.

ad ii F i

v/ ko ha lc

Shutterstock.co

https://www.britannica.com/ plant/stemsucker-plant ok to use image? © needed

The world’s largest flower is a parasite.

w There are plenty more sneaky parasite tricks...

SOME PARASITES MAKE HOSTS RAISE THEIR YOUNG

One bumblebee parasite pretends to be a bumblebee queen. She eats the bumblebee eggs and makes the bumblebee workers care for her young. But sometimes the real queen fights back! Cuckoos also lay their eggs in other birds’ nests – read all about them on page 12.

SOME PARASITES CONTROL THEIR HOSTS’ BRAINS

• Baculoviruses make their caterpillar hosts climb to the top of plants, then turn to goo. The gruesome goo rains down on other caterpillars, spreading the virus. • Green-eyed wasp larvae eat ladybirds from the inside. They make the host twitch to protect them during their pupal stage. Amazingly, the ladybirds sometimes survive! • One species of phorid fly parasite makes bees act like moths. The bees fly at night and gather round lights.

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Cuckoos

AL ANIM S TIC

Cuckoo in the nest Cuckoos are probably best known for their parasitic breeding behaviour, where they lay their eggs in the nests of other birds. The host birds are tricked into raising the baby cuckoos as their own. This is called brood parasitism and means that cuckoos can reproduce without having to look after their own young.

17 g

This month, our vet Joe Inglis has hopped into someone else’s nest to find out all about some master avian parasites.

Cuckoos are birds that belong to a family of over 100 species that live across the world (except in Antarctica). Most cuckoos are tree-dwelling, medium-sized birds that eat insects and fruit.

stock.com

The weight of the smallest cuckoo species, the little bronze cuckoo from Australia. The largest is the channelbilled cuckoo which weighs nearly 40 times as much!

The first cuckoo of spring Lots of cuckoos migrate between their breeding areas and winter feeding grounds. The common cuckoo flies into Europe from Africa to breed in the spring before heading back in early summer. The arrival of the first cuckoos traditionally marks the start of spring.

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Cunning cuckoos One challenge that cuckoos face is getting their eggs into a host bird’s nest without being noticed. Some species have developed a particularly devious way of doing this – the male cuckoo lures the host bird out of the nest so his mate can lay her eggs once the coast is clear.

Run, cuckoo, run!

Masters of deception To get away with leaving their eggs in other birds’ nests, cuckoos have evolved some cunning tricks, including laying eggs that look very similar to the host’s eggs, and chicks that hatch early and grow quickly. This allows the cuckoo chicks to push out the host bird’s own eggs or hatchlings, so they get all the food the host bird brings back to the nest.

Most cuckoo species live in forests and woodland, but some inhabit more extreme environments, such as deserts. The greater roadrunner, from North America, is a type of cuckoo that loves running and can reach speeds of over 30 km/h as it chases insects, spiders, lizards and snakes.

Did you know…

Cuck-chews Unlike most birds, cuckoos chew their food before swallowing it, crushing it with special bony plates at the backs of their mouths. They also bash their prey against sticks to make it tender, and to help them deal with poisonous caterpillars that other birds avoid.

Cuckoos produce a white foam called ‘cuckoo spit’ that hangs from branches

The name cuckoo is onomatopoeic (say o-nuh-ma-tuh-pee-ick), which means it is taken from the sound of the bird’s call. Only the male birds make the distinctive cuckoo call.

Family friends

I'm hatching a plan!

For most hosts having cuckoos in their nests is bad news, but recent research suggests that for some species, such as crows, rearing baby cuckoos alongside their own young can be beneficial. This is because baby cuckoos produce a foul-smelling black sludge when disturbed, which is thought to deter predators from approaching the nest – this helps protect the cuckoo and its adoptive siblings!

These birds have all laid eggs in their nests – the number they have laid is written next to them. One of their nests has an imposter! Circle the bird whose nest contains the cuckoo egg. Check your answer on page 34. b) Robin

a) Dunnock

5 eggs

4 eggs

c) Meadow pipit 6 eggs

d) Pied wagtail 6 eggs

e) Reed warbler 5 eggs

e and which Can you work out which of these are tru ! are false? This quiz might really bug you

F ac t o r fa k e ? 2 Fleas can be trained to do tricks, including ride tiny bicycles and pull carts.

TRUE

FALSE

1 A microscopic parasite can

control mice so that they are more likely to be eaten by cats.

TRUE

FALSE

3 The word 'lousy' comes from being infected with headlice.

TRUE

FALSE

Lots of parasites are named after fictional characters. Draw a line to match each parasite’s name to the character it was named after. Check your answer on page 34.

Microgaster godzilla

Dementors from the Harry Potter books

Tinkerbell and Nana from Peter Pan

Legolasia dinotiscoides Ampulex dementor

Albunione yoda

Darth Vader from Star Wars

Dracula from the novel by Bram Stoker

Tinkerbella nana

Godzilla, Japanese movie monster

Ricinus vaderi

Yoda from Star Wars

Deinocroton draculi

Legolas from The Lord of the Rings

4 There is a parasite named after the social media website Twitter.

A parasitic flatworm makes snails’ eye stalks bulge and pulsate.

TRUE

FALSE

A parasitic fungus can split ants’ heads open.

TRUE

FALSE

bites infect more than 200 7 Mosquito million people with malaria every year.

TRUE

FALSE

is caused by a 8 Sleepwalking parasitic worm.

TRUE

FALSE

SNORE!

How many parasites can you name? 250 lice, and that’s just off the top of my head!

ANSWERS

1. TRUE. Mice infected with the parasitic microbe Toxoplasma gondii lose their instinctive fear of cats. Some even seem to become attracted to their scent, making them more likely to be eaten, allowing the parasite to infect the cat. 2. FALSE. Fleas can’t be trained to do tricks, but in the 1820s, the ‘flea circus’ was invented. Fleas were fixed in place with gold wire or glue, leaving their strong back legs free. The fleas’ legs would then move objects, pulling carts or rotating wheels. Other flea circuses were created that didn’t use real fleas – they had electrical, magnetic and mechanical devices to give the illusion things were being moved by tiny fleas. 3. TRUE. In extreme cases, headlice can make you feel unwell with flu-like symptoms, hence: “I’m feeling lousy.” 4. TRUE. Professor Ana Sofia Roboleira named a new species of parasitic fungus Troglomyces twitteri after the social media website Twitter, on which she discovered it. She spotted it in a photo of an infected millipede.

5. TRUE. Snails eat bird droppings containing the eggs of Leucochloridium paradoxum. The brood sacs of larvae fill the snails' eye-stalks and then pulsate, making them look like caterpillars. This attracts birds to eat the snails and the larvae develop into adults in the birds' digestive systems. 6. TRUE. A fungus called Ophiocordyceps unilateralis infects an ant and gradually hijacks its behaviour, until finally the ant climbs onto a leaf just above the ground and waits to die. The fungus feeds on the dead ant’s insides for a few days and then grows its fruiting body (like a mushroom) out through the ant’s head to release its spores. 7. TRUE. In 2019, there were 229 million cases, according to The World Health Organization, and 409,000 deaths. Since humans first evolved, mosquitoes have killed more people than all wars and natural disasters combined. 8. FALSE. Scientists aren’t sure what causes sleepwalking, but it seems to happen more often when people are stressed or unwell with an infection.

whizzpopbang.com 15

b... clu O C E

Emmi's

COLLECT SEEDS AND GROW FOOD! Save food miles by growing your own tomato plants from... a tomato!

You will need:

• 2-3 cherry tomatoes • Chopping board • Serrated knife • Teaspoon • Sieve • Egg box with lid cut off • Compost

Ask an adult to cut the tomatoes into quarters and use a teaspoon to scoop out the seeds. Rinse the seeds in a sieve, rubbing them with your fingers to get rid of the jelly surrounding each one.

Fill each section of the egg box with compost and add 2-3 seeds to each one. Don’t worry if you add more – separating them is quite tricky! Put the egg box on a tray on a sunny windowsill and water every few days. When the seedlings have two sets of leaves pick out the smaller ones, leaving one strong seedling in each section.

3 4

Ask an adult to help you make holes in the bottom of the plastic containers using a drill, or by making small holes with a metal skewer or nai l, then gently pushing a pencil through to make them wider. Cut them to size using a saw, bread knife or scissors if necessary, covering any sharp edges with strong tape.

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• A selection of clean • A pen cil plastic containers • Strong tape (e.g. large yoghur t • A selectio n of pots, soup pots, acr ylic paints, plastic bottles) permanent • A drill, metal markers, paint skewer or nail pens, coloured • Saw, bread knife tape or stickers or scissors

Decorate the pots – acrylic paint, permanent markers, paint pens, colourful tape and stickers are good ways to jazz up plastic.

Continued on page 21 ➜

PULLOUT PARASITES PARASITE BATTLE CARDS

Anopheles gambiae

Sarcoptes scabiei AKA The irritator

DANGER TO HOST: Mosquitoes also bite livestock

11 20

DANGER TO HUMANS: Mosquito bites cause

YUCK FACTOR:

SIZE: 2.8-4.4 mm

and other animals, causing disease.

millions of cases of malaria and hundreds of thousands of deaths every year.

Tongue-eating louse

DANGER TO HUMANS: None YUCK FACTOR:

only humans (see below).

DANGER TO HUMANS: Scabies causes severe itchiness and a bumpy, red rash that can get infected. It can be treated easily.

5 18

6. Players take it in turns to start a round.

7. The winner is the first to claim all of the cards!

YUCK FACTOR:

The louse rears its babies in the fish’s mouth!

DANGER TO HOST: The host fish is injured

and some are underweight.

DANGER TO HOST: This species affects

AKA Ant attaker

SIZE: 8-29 mm

5. The player with the highest number wins the round, takes both cards and adds them to the bottom of their pile. If the numbers are the same, the first player chooses another category from the same card.

SIZE: 0.16 to 0.44 mm

Phengaris arion

AKA Mouth monster

0 99

SIZE (LARVA): 3-14.8 mm DANGER TO HOST: They eat the

host’s babies!

DANGER TO HUMANS: None YUCK FACTOR:

Dog flea Ctenocephalides canis

They make chemicals that smell like ant larvae!

They can jump more than 30 cm!

AKA Itchy hitchhiker

Fleas feed on their host’s blood. They can cause infections, allergic reactions and infect their host with tapeworms

The caterpillars trick ants into carrying them into their nests. They then eat the real ant larvae, starting with the biggest first!

21 40

2. Deal the cards equally between two players.

4. The second player picks the top card from their pile and reads the same category aloud.

Large Blue butterfly

Cymothoa exigua

This marine louse enters a fish through its gills, eats its tongue and then acts as its new tongue. Some also feed on their host’s blood.

These mites use their mouthparts and special cutting surfaces on their front legs to dig tunnels under the skin.

Scabies is a condition caused by microscopic arthropods. The females burrow into the skin, where they lay their eggs.

This malaria-carrying mosquito is found in many tropical parts of the world. It can cause a number of diseases in humans.

1. Cut out the 12 cards on pages 17 and 19.

3. The youngest player starts by picking the card from the top of their pile (they may only look at the top card). They read aloud a category (size, danger to host, danger to humans or yuck factor) and the number next to it. The idea is to choose the category you think is most likely to beat your opponent’s card.

AKA Malaria machine

Scabies

Malaria can be prevented and treated with medicines.

How to play:

MOSQUITO

Cut out these cards and then pit your pack of invertebrate parasites against your opponent’s!

PULL OUT PAGES 17-20 AND GET MAKING!

15 70 0 10

SIZE: 1-2 mm DANGER TO HOST: Extreme infestations can cause anaemia and even kill very weak dogs. DANGER TO HUMANS: They can bite humans

and occasionally infect them with tapeworms.

YUCK FACTOR:

10 38 12 40

whizzpopbang.com 17

Riddles Check your answers on page 34.

1. A cuckoo clock is running too slowly by 10 minutes every hour. If the clock starts at the correct time at noon on Tuesday, when will it next be exactly on time? 2. We lay lots of eggs, yet we each have six legs. We rhyme with rice, but we’re not very nice. We’re only titchy, but we make you itchy! What are we? 3. This is found inside your body, from your feet up to your head. Leeches like to suck it up, without it you are dead. What is it?

18 whizzpopbang.com

Find the ant that’s the odd one out! Circle your answer and check it on page 34.

AKA Slimy sucker © Shu tter sto ck

This common intestinal parasite is a nematode (roundworm). It lives in the guts of humans, where it feeds on poo.

15 10

DANGER TO HOST:

(human host only, see below). DANGER TO HUMANS: They can cause itching and occasionally lead to stomach ache and loss of appetite.

10 80

YUCK FACTOR:

12 60 35

SIZE (EXTERNAL): 25 mm DANGER TO HOST: It prevents the crab growing and having its own babies!

10 11

SIZE: 2.5-3 mm DANGER TO HOST:

Human host only (see below).

DANGER TO HUMANS: They make the host’s head itchy. Scratching may cause sores that get infected.

YUCK FACTOR:

Physocephala tibialis

Its sting is said to be so painful that all you can do is ‘lie down and scream’!

AKA The zombie maker

SIZE: Up to 110 mm long DANGER TO HOST: The tarantula has no hope

– even if the larva didn’t hatch, the paralysed spider would eventually die.

54 100

DANGER TO HUMANS: This wasp has one of the

YUCK FACTOR:

Whale louse Cyamus boopis

0 40

as soon as the fly lays its egg!

YUCK FACTOR:

AKA Buzzkill

16 100 0 56

DANGER TO HUMANS: None

Varroa destructor

©Hans Hillewaert, Wikimedia Commons

SIZE: Up to 11.5 mm DANGER TO HOST: Can cause minor skin damage

but they may also be helpful by removing dead tissue around injuries. DANGER TO HUMANS: None YUCK FACTOR:

SIZE: 5-15 mm

Honeybee mite

A single whale can have more than 7,500 lice.

20 78

This crustacean feeds on algae on the whale’s body and also on flaking skin. They live mainly around body openings and in folds of the skin.

It makes its victim dig its own grave!

The mites can spread several viruses to the bees.

AKA Humpback hitchhiker

This fly will attack a bee (usually a bumblebee) and lay an egg inside it. When the larva hatches, it forces the bee to burrow into the ground and then eats it alive.

DANGER TO HOST: The bumblebee is doomed

tock

Although it’s a type of barnacle, it looks nothing like the ones you see stuck to rocks!

The larva attaches to a crab and injects itself into its body. It spreads and starts controlling the crab’s behaviour. The part left outside the crab contains its eggs, which the crab looks after as if they were its own.

YUCK FACTOR:

most painful stings on the planet.

YUCK FACTOR:

DANGER TO HUMANS: None

DANGER TO HUMANS: Very rarely, a leech bite may cause bacterial infections, such as pneumonia, septicaemia, and gastroenteritis in humans.

DANGER TO HUMANS: In the UK, ticks can cause an infection called Lyme disease. In other countries, some species cause illnesses that can be fatal.

AKA Crab hacker

smaller species.

AKA Pain maker

infections caused by bacteria, viruses and protozoa.

Sacculina carcini

99 75

DANGER TO HOST: Leeches can be fatal to

A female wasp stings a tarantula to paralyse it. It lays a single egg on the spider and when the larva hatches, it burrows into its abdomen and eats it from the inside.

DANGER TO HOST: Ticks can pass on a variety of

Crab barnacle

Headlice are wingless insects that live in human hair and bite their host to feed on their blood.

SIZE: Up to 200 mm

Pepsis heros

These arachnids attach to a host that brushes past them. They pierce the skin and then feed on their host’s blood for a few days before dropping off. SIZE: 3-5 mm

A female louse can lay 6-10 eggs per day!

Tarantula hawk wasp Thick-headed fly

Ticks can affect mammals (including humans), birds and reptiles.

AKA Bloated bloodsucker

AKA Headscratcher

They have three jaws and around 100 teeth that they use to attach to their host! They feed on the blood of a range of animals, including frogs, fish, birds and mammals.

SIZE: Up to 13 mm

TICK

Pediculus humanus capitis

Hirudo medicinalis

AKA Gut muncher

In Medieval times, leeches were used to treat all sorts of ailments, and farmed leeches are still used in medicine.

Enterobius vermicularis

Headlice

Medicinal leech

Threadworm eggs have been found in human poo that is 10,000 years old.

Threadworms

14 4 0 18

The mite feeds on a honeybee and lays its eggs on bee larva inside the hive. The developing mites feed on the bee larva.

SIZE: Up to 2 mm DANGER TO HOST: A mite infestation can cause whole honeybee colonies to collapse. DANGER TO HUMANS: None YUCK FACTOR:

9 85 0 12

whizzpopbang.com 19

20 whizzpopbang.com

In late May, plant your tomato plants into a flower bed, grow bag or a 30 cm pot, inside or outside. Find out more about how to care for them here: bit.ly/2NEFR53

When the seedlings are about 2-3 cm tall, they’re ready to pot up. Half-fill a decorated pot with compost, then cut off a section of egg carton and place the whole thing into the pot. Carefully fill the pot to the top with compost.

I’d love to see your tomato plants! Take a photo and email it to Y@whizzpopbang.com

ECO

ideas...

Lots of the fruit and vegetables we eat are grown a very long way from home, sometimes travelling thousands of miles r before they reach ou own plates! Growing our on food avoids the carb by ed uc emissions prod – these long journeys and it’s loads of fun, too!

Continued from page 16

It’s up to us to save the planet. Lots of small actions can make a BIG difference! ction of Cut off the bottom se ace in a a spring onion and pl In a few days, container of water. ain! Snip off it will start to grow ag use as usual! the new growth and lemon pips Plant apple seeds or Pop them on in pots of compost. d keep the a sunny windowsill an o wet. If any soil moist, but not to ow, move them seedlings start to gr u look after into larger pots. If yo might grow them patiently, you ars! some fruit in a few ye

whizzpopbang.com 21

➜

Interview with a SCIENCE HERO

In my job I get to... use body odour to prevent disease

James is the Head of the Department of Disease Control at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and a TV presenter for science and natural history documentaries. If you have any questions of your own for him, you can contact him on arctec@lshtm.ac.uk

t Managem

“

ent

Body odour gets a pretty bad reputation, but it may hold the key to solving some of the world’s biggest killers...

”

We’ve recently discovered that mosquitoes can detect the smell of malaria-infected humans! They find this scent significantly more attractive than uninfected human odour and use it as a signal to have a meal, which spreads the parasite further and faster. The problem is, our noses aren’t sensitive enough to pick out the key chemical signatures and the machines in our laboratory can’t do it either. Super-sniffing animals have an incredible sense of smell which is far superior to ours – and they can learn smells, too!

“

Dream big and believe in yourself!

”

If you want to be a scientist, you need to work hard, read lots and be curious about things. I’ve always been really interested in all kinds of animals – I started a wildlife club at school when I was seven and I enjoyed biology throughout school. Keep going with what interests you and your hard work will pay off!

22 whizzpopbang.com

”

Arthropods (such as mosquitoes) are some of the most dangerous animals on the planet, spreading diseases including malaria, dengue and zika. My job is to think of new ways to control the spread of such diseases in the places that need it most. I find funding to get the work off the ground and then oversee these amazing projects. I travel the world to do my research and work with really bright, fascinating people on each project. I tell lots of people about what I do and get them excited about science.

l Hospital

Professor James Disease Control Logan Specialist

“

The ultimate aim of my work is to improve health and save lives.

Dr C laire Guest James and fellow researcher them with the thank NHS staff for helping ject. Medical Detection Dogs pro

Interview with a SCIENCE HERO

“

James's team are investigating animals that can smell diseases (including malaria, which is transmitted by mosquitoes).

“

I infected myself with hookworms as an experiment!

”

I wanted to find out how hookworms can cure allergies. I have a food allergy, but when I gave myself worms, the allergy disappeared. This is because the worms produce a substance which ‘dampens’ your immune system, to stop your body reacting to them. This also affects other things your body would normally react to, so people who have these worms usually have fewer allergies, like asthma and eczema. The worms entered my body through my skin and made their way to my stomach. I then swallowed a pill which had a mini camera in it so I could see the worms in my stomach, sucking on my blood. After the experiment, I took some medicine which got rid of them. It was a weird feeling knowing I had worms, but it was exciting to find out what effect they Asher would have. © MDD/Bex Arts

Animals can learn to detect the smell of malaria with impressive accuracy.

”

We’re developing novel tools to detect key ‘odour signatures’ in humans when they are infected with a variety of diseases, based on the chemicals detected by animals. Imagine being able to capture the power of animals’ sense of smell in a wristband or smartwatch which would detect volatile chemicals in your sweat as soon as you were infected with a disease! By combining mobile phone technologies with artificial intelligence a world-changing, real-time disease surveillance system could be a reality.

“

COVID-19-sniffing get dogs could help us to ‘back to normal’

”

ncer at dogs can detect ca We already know th n ca ey th ing to see if and now we are work ed smell. They can be us detect COVID-19 by e are lots of people, in places where ther n smell 250 people an like airports. Dogs ca results if someone hour and give instant out about the dogs has COVID-19. Find d as Medical currently being traine : bit.ly/2KK6KDy Detection Dogs here

VID-19.

learning how to recognise the smell of CO

whizzpopbang.com 23

HOW STUFF

WORKS

Water Treatment

Plants

Clean drinking water is a vital resource for everyone, but turning murky river water into crystal clear drinking water is a complicated process. Here’s how the water from your taps is made safe by water treatment plants…

Water flows into the treatment plant from a water source such as a lake, reservoir, river or well.

This bowl can hold 1 litre of water. If each drip is 5 ml, how many drips will it take to fill the bowl? Tip: 1 litre = 1,000 ml. Write your answer on the bowl and check it on page 34.

Clean, safe water is kept in

storage tanks before being pumped out of the treatment plant and along water pipes into people’s homes.

As the water enters the plant, chemicals called coagulants are added. These chemicals, such as aluminium sulphate, make particles of dirt like sand and clay clump together (coagulate). This happens because the coagulant chemicals have an opposite electrical charge to most of the particles in the water, and so they attract each other and stick together.

The water now pours into the flocculation chamber, where the coagulated clumps of muck sink to the bottom, leaving cleaner water at the top of the tank.

Water treatment plants are not new – basic filtration systems using sand or plants have been used for thousands of years to make water safer. Some of them used technology remarkably similar to modern systems. Scientists have recently discovered a filtration system in the ancient Maya city of Tikal in Guatemala that used zeolite, a porous volcanic mineral that is still used as a coagulant in many modern water filtration processes.

The cleaner water flows over a weir and into the next chamber.

A thick sludge forms at the bottom of the flocculation chamber, made up of the dirt from the water and the coagulant chemicals. This is cleaned out and disposed of, often to landfill sites.

6 7

The next process is called

filtration and is designed

The final stage is disinfection where any remaining bacteria are killed or disabled to make the water completely safe to drink. There are three main ways in which the water is disinfected – chlorination, ultraviolet light treatment, and ozone treatment.

to remove any remaining dirt and bacteria. The water is pumped through a large tank of sand, which traps the unwanted particles.

whizzpopbang.com 25

g... in z a m A ly e m o s e w A 0 1

A G N I T S U B E T I S A R PA bay is so important Keeping parasites at olved all kinds of that animals have ev defences. weird and wonderful

Herons and egrets have evolved natural nit combs on their feet! They use these specialised claws to groom themselves and remove lice from the feathers they can’t reach with their beaks.

Egret Great blue heron

3 4

Dogs evolved their habit of eating grass and other plants they can’t digest from their wild ancestors. Scientists think this helped their ancestors to get rid of intestinal parasites.

The woolly bear caterpillar deliberately eats toxic plants. Scientists think this either poisons their parasites or boosts their immune systems to help them fight the infection.

When infected with parasites, chimps eat spiky leaves which they’d usually avoid. The leaves seem to scrape the parasites out of their intestines.

Forget guard dogs. Screech owls have guard snakes! The small blind snakes live in the owls’ nests and eat any parasitic insect larvae. Nests with reptile roommates produce healthier baby owls.

26 whizzpopbang.com

S N O I T A T P A G AD

Green wood hoopoes produce a foul-smelling substance that they smear on their feathers. Studies have shown it contains 17 different antimicrobial compounds that could protect the birds from lice and other parasites.

Kangaroos’ feet have two toes fused together. The nails act like the teeth of a nit comb – perfect for removing unwanted parasites when they’re grooming their fur.

Birds often rub ants on their feathers to cover themselves in the acids that the ants produce. Scientists think these chemicals could keep microscopic parasites at bay.

In Ethiopia, monkeys have been seen eating the leaves of a plant that kills parasitic flatworms.

Starlings build their nests using strong-smelling plants with antibiotic and insect-killing properties to reduce the number of unwelcome parasitic lice.

© 1. Karen McDonald (right) and Juri A Miyamae and the Yale Peabody Museum (left), 2. fukume / Shutterstock.com, 3. Bella Vita Images / Shutterstock.com, 4. Zach / Creative Commons, 5. LMPphoto / Shutterstock.com, 6. demamiel62 / Shutterstock.com, 7. Charles James Sharp / Creative Commons, 8. Forestowlet / Creative Commons, 9. Giedriius / Shutterstock.com, 10. Ondrej Prosicky / Shutterstock.com.

Sensational Scientists

alice ball

By the age of just 23, Alice Ball had developed a successful treatment for leprosy. But she was nearly erased from history. Claire Cock-Starkey learns how it happened… Alice’s parents were both photographers. Back then, photography involved mixing your own chemicals to develop pictures, so Alice grew up watching these processes. Perhaps this sparked her interest in chemistry. After studying chemistry and pharmacy at the University of Washington, Alice decided to move to Honolulu in Hawaii. There, she worked on uncovering the active components of the kava root and became not only the first woman but also the first African-American to achieve a master’s degree in chemistry from the College (now University) of Hawaii.

Alice’s work on kava root caught the eye of Dr Harry T. Hollmann, an assistant surgeon at Kalihi Hospital, who was working on treatments for leprosy. One of the most promising treatments was chaulmoogra oil, which came from the seeds of a tropical tree. However, injecting pure chaulmoogra oil caused painful lumps under the skin. Oil and water don’t mix, and our bodies are mostly made up of water. The oil couldn’t be absorbed, making the treatment less effective.

Try pouring a little oil into a glass of water – however much you mix them together, they will always separate because oils aren’t soluble (dissolvable) in water.

28 whizzpopbang.com

Alice Augusta Ball was born in 1892 in Seattle, USA

What is leprosy? Leprosy, also known as Hansen’s disease, is one of the world’s oldest human-specific parasitic infections. It’s caused by bacteria and damages nerves, skin and eyes, which can result in disfiguring sores. Today, leprosy is curable, but in the past, there weren’t any successful treatments so sufferers were often banished to live together in isolated ‘leper colonies’ away from their families.

Harry recruited Alice to work on isolating the active components of chaulmoogra oil and turning them into a form that was soluble in water. Alice was now a chemistry professor at the College of Hawaii, but she devoted all her free time to researching the oil. After a year of hard work, Alice finally had a breakthrough and came up with a reliable way to turn chaulmoogra oil into a water-soluble medicine that could be injected and absorbed by the body.

Alice’s discovery led to a new safe way of treating leprosy, which meant many people were discharged from hospital or could finally leave leper colonies and return home. Sadly, Alice never managed to publish her work as she became ill and returned home to Seattle where she died aged just 24.

President of Hawaii College, Arthur L. Dean continued Alice’s work. But instead of telling the world what Alice had achieved, he claimed the credit for himself, leaving her name out of all the scientific publications.

I would like to present my treatment for leprosy, The Dean Method.

Arthur L. Dean President Hawaii College

I think you’ll find it should be known as The Ball Method!

Harry T. Hollmann Assistant Surgeon Kalihi Hospital

Alice’s achievements might have been completely lost were it not for her colleague Harry T. Hollmann. In 1922, he published an article in which he described Alice’s research and named the technique to isolate the active ingredients of chaulmoogra oil The Ball Method. In recent years, Alice has finally been given the recognition she deserved for her pioneering work. A plaque commemorates her under a chaulmoogra tree planted at the University of Hawaii and a scholarship was created in her name to help other talented students to study sciences at the University of Hawaii.

The 29th of February has been named Alice Ball Day in her memory.

Email me at Y@whizzpopbang.com

der Club! Welcome to Y’s Won to share your This page is for you with our adventures in science hizz Pop Bang robot, Y, and other W atured on readers! Everyone fe an this page will receive e! enamel pin badg

D E A R Y, Why

do the leaves change colour in autumn?

William, aged 9

F oR

CURIoUS K I DS

Fire snakes from Issue 64...

Plants use green chlorophyll to turn the energy from sunlight into food (a process called photosynthes is). There are other pigments (colou red molecules) which help, but the ir colours are usually masked by all that chlorophyll. As the weath er turns darker and colder in aut umn, deciduous plants (which lose their leaves) stop making chlorophy ll to save energy. As the green pigment fades, we can see the yellow, orange , brown, red and purple of the other pig ments which have been there all sum mer. The reds and purples get even brig hter if there are cool nights and sunny days.

Whizz Pop Bang’s Remarkable Reefs edition (Issue 60) has visited the Great Barrier Reef, thanks to Whizz Pop Bang reader Louis!

Bob, aged 7, and his little sister did the fire snake experiment (Issue 64). Their snakes smelt of caramel and Bob enjoyed poking the carbon left behind.

Jesse, aged 6, and Quinn, aged 4.

Eleanor, aged 6, and Rowan, aged 5, got a two-headed snake!

Y’s Wonder Club Badges Collectable enamel badges for you to earn!

Help local wildlife to earn your Wildlife Watcher badge.

oks Read any good science bo ol co recently? Done any experiments? Write to Y@whizzpopbang.com to tell us all about them!

Investigate scientific questions to earn your Super Scientist badge.

Help save the planet to earn your Eco Hero badge.

Loads of you have been having fun with your fire-breathing dragon puppets from issue 64... Lois,

aged 8

What would happen to the Sun if there was air in space?

H I!

Grayson, aged 10

Oscar, aged 6

I loved it when the tissue paper came flying out of the dragon’s mouth!

STAR LETTER

You’ve won a binder!

What a fascinating question, Grayson! The quick answer is tha t the universe would be a very diff erent place! If space was suddenly full of air, sunligh t would have to travel through a layer of gas over 300 ,000 times thicker than our atmosphere, scattering the light and making Earth very dark. Since sound trav els better through air, we’d be able to hear the fiery exp losions on the Sun. Unfortunately, the moving pla nets and moons would meet air resistance, leave their orbits, then turn into fireballs as they hurtled into the Sun! There are actually already clouds of ‘air’ (gases) in space – their own gravity causes them to clump together, eventually collapsing to form stars. It’s how our Sun wa s made. In a universe full of air, the same thing would hap pen on a much bigger scale. Many, many new stars wo uld form and stars like our Sun would grow bigger , eventually becoming massive black holes. The whole universe could even collapse! So, we’re much better off as we are!

Evie, aged 8

AS K Y, When pe ople

cut our hair, why can’ t we feel it?

We’re loving all your fiery lanterns from issue 64... Aymen, aged 6

Martha, aged 8

Hair grows from tiny pockets in your skin called follicles. Each follicle has a blood supply (to bring hair-building materials), an oil supply (to keep hair soft and shiny) and some special hair-building cells. Your skin is covered in nerve endings which send messages to your brain. This means you feel the force of someone tugging your hair and you feel pain if you pull a hair out. But hair itself does not contain any nerve endings, so you don’t even feel the scissors touch it. I think if hair had nerves, humans would be a very hairy, beardy species indeed!

Alex, aged 7, and Suzie, aged 36 Reece Gwynn-Jones, aged 8

E! NEW BAD G

This month, we’re launching our new Epic Engineer badge! Think like an engineer – identify a problem, design a solution, get building, then test and improve your design and you could earn an awesome Whizz Pop Bang Epic Engineer badge. To find out how to earn your badges, go to whizzpopbang.com/wonder-club Schools can get involved too! Find out how here: bit.ly/39xNQqV

Send your experiments, ideas, photos, reviews and questions to Y@whizzpopbang.com or Y, Whizz Pop Bang, Unit 7, Global Business Park, 14 Wilkinson Road, Cirencester, GL7 1YZ. Don’t forget to include your name, age and address. We can’t return any post, sorry.

whizzpopbang.com 31

um/Dad/ Test your M to dog’s fleas to

How much can you remember from this issue?

see what they know!

Test your knowledge with our super-duper quiz. Just tick the answers you think are correct, mark them using the answers on page 34 and then add up your score. If you need some help, check out the hints at the bottom of the page.

What do kangaroos use their two fused toes for?

smelling minty fresh

b) To protect them

b) As a shelter for parasites

from dogs

c) As a musical instrument

ean a) Arthur L. D b)

c) To protect them

from mosquitoes

gra Dr. Chaulmoo

What do cuckoo chicks sometimes do to other eggs and hatchlings in the nests they live in?

a) Parasitic worms

c) A type of sausage

Where would you find a flocculation chamber? a) Inside a copepod

a) Push them out of the nest

b) Inside a leech

b) Share their food with them

c) In a water treatment plant

c) Teach them to say ‘cuckoo’

What are ocelli? b) Light-sensitive eyes

llmann c) Harry T. Ho

Why have cats evolved to love catnip? a) To keep their fur

a) To remove parasites from their fur

take Who tried to ce Ball’s credit for Ali rch? leprosy resea

Which one is a real parasite? a) A thin-headed flea b) A tongue-eating louse c) A tock

I have no idea how I got fleas. It’s a real headscratcher!

Where does Thurber’s stemsucker grow? a) Underground b) Underwater c) Inside other plants

Need a hint? Find the answers by reading these pages… 1) Page 27 2) Page 4 3) Page 29 4) Page 35 5) Page 13 6) Page 25 7) Page 17 8) Page 11

Answers on page 34.

I scored: .......... 1-3: You’re a wonderfully wiggly worm! 4-6: You’re a clever, cheeky cuckoo! 7-8: You’re a totally terrific tick!

Itchy critter! Colour in the picture to find out what animal has got a troublesome itch! Send us your answer to be in with a chance of winning two fantastic science books.

! IN

The number of noses that Riley has

The number of toes on one of Gakk’s feet

The number of ears that Emmi has

The number of toes that Riley has on one foot (the same as you!)

The number of hands that Emmi and Riley have added together

The number of legs that Emmi, Riley and Gakk have added together

Science books

Five lucky winners will each receive these two beautiful books published by laurenceking.com

In ‘That’s Life’, by Mike Barfield, join Sherlock Ohms and his companions on a brilliant biological adventure, seeking out all kinds of life – in jungles, deserts, seas, plains, fields and forests, and even hidden inside you!

In ‘Charles Darwin’s On the Origin of Species’, by Anna Brett, discover how Darwin changed our understanding of the human race and our place within the animal kingdom forever. This guide to his groundbreaking work charts Darwin’s voyage on the HMS Beagle and introduces his theory of evolution.

Send your answer to win@whizzpopbang.com with ‘Parasites competition’ as the subject of your email. Alternatively, post your entry to Parasites competition, Whizz Pop Bang, Unit 7, Global Business Park, 14 Wilkinson Road, Cirencester, GL7 1YZ. Please don’t forget to include your name, age and address. Deadline: April 8th 2021. UK residents only. Full terms and conditions available at whizzpopbang.com. Henry Alldread, aged 9

Issue 66 competition winners Thank you to everyone who sent in entries to our photography competition. Your pictures were outstanding and we had a really hard time choosing our favourites. These three lucky winners will each receive an Artie 3000TM drawing robot from learningresources.co.uk

Amelie Kilford, aged 9

WINNERS

Lucy Howarth, aged 9

whizzpopbang.com 33

What bugged the dinosaurs? Dino-mites!

JOKES

Why are ying? mosquitoes anno et Because they g under your skin!

What do you call a worm with no teeth? A gummy worm!

Why do bees stay in their nests in winter? Swarm!

I would tell you a joke about a leech, but it sucks!

Answers

Page 6 – True/Untrue TRUE: Phorid fly larvae eat fire ants’ brains. The head falls off and the larva lives in it during its pupal stage. Page 7 – True/Untrue

16/11/2020 14:10

World Book Day is a registered charity funded by publishers and booksellers in the UK & Ireland.

Changing lives through a love of books and shared reading.

For full terms & conditions see worldbookday.com/books/terms

Use your token to get ONE of the £1 range of books featured below for FREE or £1 OFF a book or audiobook costing £2.99 or more, at your nearest participating bookseller.

18 Feb - 28 March 2021

TRUE: Wolbachia, a parasitic microbe does this. Page 9 – Wordsearch

U N D W O

R M E

H A

F N K

G U B

B U M H

E N

P N F

E M C W A D

K A V K D A

M I

K H

E W O

O W O W E J

O H

D H R

R M E M M

Page 10 – Flea life cycle

Page 11 – True/Untrue

Page 18 – Riddles 1. The clock will have to lose 12 hours (720 minutes) before it is back on time. Losing 10 minutes every hour, the clock will take 72 hours (720 ÷ 10) to lose 12 hours. 72 hours (3 days) from noon on Tuesday is noon on Friday. 2. Lice. 3. Blood. Page 18 – Ants puzzle

TRUE: Rafflesia lives on vines and steals their food. The flowers can be a metre across and stink of rotten meat. Page 13 - True/Untrue UNTRUE: Cuckoo spit is white, frothy liquid secreted by the nymphs of sap-sucking bugs known as froghoppers. Page 13 – Animal antics

magazine token _ UK.indd 1

VA LID F ROM

This is your