Whizz Pop Bang Science Magazine for Kids! Issue 72: INCREDIBLE INSECTS by Whizz Pop Bang

Craft a flying butterfly

ISSN 2399 -2840

THE AWESOME SCIENCE MAGAZINE FOR KIDS!

Make an insect collector Which insect are you? Take our quiz!

INCREDIBLE

INSECTS!

Meet the bugs in your backyard ely 10 awesoem ird and Make a sock insect

amazing w insects wonderful

Chat with a

dung beetle expert WHIZZPOPBANG.COM ISSUE 72

EXPERIMENTS PUZZLES AMAZING FACTS SCIENCE NEWS

WELCOME!

Welcome to the incredible world of insects!

Did you know that scientists have identified over a million ins species, and they think ther e may be millions more still to ect find? These tiny animals are vital for supporting life on Earth, but their numbers are in decline so it’s really important that we learn about their habits and try to protect them. Inside this iss ue you’ll find lots of ideas for ob serving bugs without harming them – maybe you’ll find a new sp ecies! You can also get busy making fluttering butterflies, flapping moths and cuddly sock insects!

Riley

facebook.com/whizzpopbangmag

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

Create a Moon phase guide

twitter.com/whizzpopbangmag pinterest.com/whizzpopbangmag instagram.com/whizzpopbangmag

a di p w i t h

Find out how scuba c gear works en

Moon map poster

Laun

na ch into lu

Exp

lor

e c o

c r s

HE SAY W

whizzpopbang.com

THE AWESOME SCIEN CE MAGAZINE FOR KIDS!

Ta k e

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: Sarah Bearchell, Jess Bradley, Anna Claybourne Claire Cock-Starkey and Joe Inglis

EXPERT SCIENCE ADVISERS

SUBSCRIBE!

Meet a Moon mission astronaut

LL OT L- O

hello@whizzpopbang.com

! R KIDS ZINE FO

GA CE MA

E SCIEN

ESOM THE AW

ISSN 2399-2840

GET IN TOUCH

ee f s !

ol c ora

Gakk

WHIZZ POP BANG is made by:

As well as our writers, we also have a team of science advisers who help to ensure that our content is accurate, up-to-date and relevant. Our advisers include: palaeontologist Steve Brusatte; molecular microbiologist Matt Hutchings; robotics engineer Abbie Hutty; mechanical engineer Amiee Morgans; GP Dr Cathy Scott; astronomer Mark Thompson; physicist Dr Jess Wade; child psychologist Dr Naira Wilson. To find out more, go to whizzpopbang.com/about

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

Emmi

ls an es d crazy c r e atur

Meet a reef-saving researcher LOUS ARVEL ERS T AKE M

M ON CRA MO

MAKE A

E 62 OM ISSU PBANG.C WHIZZPO

Craft your ownAZ IN G FACT S

ES AM PU ZZL erwater EN TS und EX PE RIM world

REE ALWS COR NE SCI EN CEIN A JAR

WHIZZPOPBANG.CO

M ISSUE 60 EXPER IMENT S PUZZL ES AMAZ ING FACTS SCIEN CE NEWS

WHIZZ POP BANG is only available by subscription. If you haven’t subscribed yet, simply go to whizzpopbang.com and sign up for as little as £3.33 per magazine, including UK delivery. Back issues are available to purchase at whizzpopbang.com/shop With the help of Whizz Pop Bang magazine, just imagine what your child might one day discover!

GROWN-UPS

EDUCATORS

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

All experiments have been tried and tested by our team. The activities should be done under close adult supervision and are done at your own risk. Launchpad Publishing Ltd cannot accept liability for damage done.

Indicates content linked to the National Curriculum

Unit 7, Global Business Park, 14 Wilkinson Road, Cirencester, GL7 1YZ Printed in the UK by The Magazine Printing Company using only paper from FSC/PEFC suppliers www.magprint.co.uk

© 2021 Launchpad Publishing Ltd. All rights reserved. Reproduction of the whole or any part of the contents of WHIZZ POP BANG without written permission is prohibited. Illustrations: © 2021 Clive Goodyer

CONTENTS 6 12 14

AWESOME NEWS AND AMAZING FACTS

How AI could help us ‘talk’ to animals, out-of-this-world volcanoes and an insect invasion!

INCREDIBLE INSECTS

Discover the tiny creatures that make a big impact! Learn how to make an insect collector to investigate the bugs in your own backyard.

ANIMAL ANTICS

Get to know the insects that work together in colonies, live almost everywhere on Earth and use antennae to talk to each other – f-ant-astic ants!

SILLY SCIENCE

Which insect are you? Take our quiz to find out if you’re a bee-rilliant bee, a plucky pond skater or something else entirely...

Atom

EMMI’S ECO CLUB

Make a sock insect and save old and odd socks from landfill.

Craft a flying butterfly and make a flapping moth, then solve some puzzles and riddles.

INTERVIEW WITH A SCIENCE HERO Chat with a dung beetle expert who identifies bugs he finds in cow pats!

HOW STUFF WORKS

Discover the science of how simple cogs can control the power exerted through machines as we find out how bike gears work.

TEN AWESOMELY AMAZING…

26 28 30

Weird and wonderful insects! Meet the mini creatures with the strangest skills.

SENSATIONAL SCIENTISTS

Terrific termite expert Margaret S. Collins was the first African-American female entomologist.

_Vector / Shutterst

.c ock

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

m .co ock chkin / Shutterst

PULLOUT

©A

QUIZ POP BANG AND COMPETITION

Test your knowledge with our super-duper science quiz and win live butterfly growing kits!

JOKES AND ANSWERS

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

SPECTACULAR SCIENCE

Check out an impressive cocoon woven by an Amazonian caterpillar.

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

Translating animal-talk

UNDERWATER VOLCANOES ON EUROPA © NASA/JPL-Caltech

4 whizzpopbang.com

NASA is sending a spacecraft to Europa in 2024 to investigate whether it could harbour extra-terrestrial life.

Jupiter’s moon Europa has a vast ocean hidden beneath its icy crust. It is thought to be one of the best places in the solar system to look for extra-terrestrial life. Now computer modelling has suggested that the rocky layer beneath the ocean could be hot enough to melt, creating volcanoes on the ocean floor. The researchers think Europa’s internal heat could be caused by the massive gravitational pull of Jupiter. This would make Europa’s interior move, creating heat in the same way that repeatedly bending a paperclip makes it feel hot. Underwater volcanoes could mean there are hydrothermal vents on the seafloor, like the ones on Earth where life is thought to have started.

Move over Dr Dolittle! Scientists are using AI to decode communication between animals. Being able to understand other animals might make us treat them with the respect they deserve. However, some scientists think that even if we could translate what animals are saying to each other, we could never communicate with them because our minds work in such different ways. AI systems using the same technology as Google Translate could enable researchers to translate animal communication without having to understand the way they think. So, although you probably won’t be able to chat with your dog in the near future, humans might soon be able to communicate with other highly intelligent species like apes. What would you ask them?

Brood X: class of 2021

Scientists still don’t understand how periodic cicadas know when it’s time to come out.

erging An adult cicada em eton. el from its old exosk

ock.com

Scientists at the British Ecological Society are investigating natural ways to reduce carbon dioxide in the air following the UK government’s pledge to cut carbon emissions. In addition to planting trees, they think that restoring damaged peat bogs could have a big impact. Peat is a kind of soil that forms over millions of years from partially rotted plants. It is estimated that peat bogs contain three times as much carbon as forests. But when peat is dug up and burnt or used in gardens, that carbon is released into the atmosphere. Preserving peat bogs and keeping them wet could dramatically reduce carbon emissions.

Sharks use ‘magnetic maps’ to navigate

Some shark species travel thousands of kilometres and return to specific locations each year. New research has shown that, like turtles, they seem to be using Earth’s magnetic field to find their way across the ocean. Scientists at Florida State University tested how wild sharks in a tank behaved when exposed to magnetic fields mimicking specific locations. They found that the sharks swam in the direction of their homes, suggesting that they were using the magnetic field like a map. “It’s nature’s GPS,” said project leader Bryan Keller. “How cool is it that a shark can swim a 20,000 km round trip in a three-dimensional ocean and get back to the same site? It really is mind blowing.”

whizzpopbang.com 5

COULD PEAT BOGS HELP SAVE THE WORLD?

This spring, eastern US states were invaded by billions of creatures from underground. ‘Brood X’ is a group of periodic cicadas with a 17-year life cycle. These insects spend 17 years underground feeding on plant roots before resurfacing. Once the nymphs have emerged from their tunnels, they shed their skin, dry off, then set about looking for a mate. To attract a female, the males produce an ear-splitting mating call that can reach 100 dB – loud enough to damage your ears! By the middle of July, they will all have died. But the millions of eggs they have hidden in trees will soon hatch and the newborn nymphs will burrow underground for another 17 years. How old will you be when they next see daylight?

By A

INSECTS

Clayb rne ou

INCREDIBLE

a nn

Book lice live in old books!

Insects may be small, but there are a LOT of them – and they live almost everywhere. You’ll find them in parks and gardens, forests, deserts, under the ground and sharing our homes.

Some people are scared of insects, or don’t like them. And it’s true that a few can bite or sting. But insects are amazing – beautiful, interesting, weird and wonderful. And incredibly important too.

You don’t

like US???? WHY?

Is it an insect?

Not all creepy-crawlies are insects. So, can you tell what is?

Insects have three main body sections: Head

Thorax (middle section) Abdomen

Read this and maybe you’ll change your mind!

Honey bee

What’s the cleverest insect? A spelling bee!

Most insects have two antennae (or feelers) Six legs Some have wings – but not all!

6 whizzpopbang.com

Make your own pooter!

Spineless Insects belong to the invertebrates, a group of animals that don’t have vertebrae (backbones). In fact, they don’t have bones at all. They have a tough outer skin or shell instead, called an exoskeleton. Besides insects, invertebrates include spiders, centipedes, worms, slugs and snails.

What’s a pooter? It’s a handy device for collecting insects, so that you can look at them without touching or harming them.

You will need: • A clear plastic tub with a lid, such as a clean, dry hummus pot • Sticky tape • A ballpoint pen • Modelling clay or sticky tack

• Scissors • A paper straw (the wider the better), or make one by rolling up and taping thin card • Some old, thin tights or muslin

What you do: 1. Make a hole in each side of the tub by pushing the pen through the plastic into a large lump of modelling clay or sticky tack. 2. Cut the straw in half and push one half into one of the holes, holding it in place with sticky tack if necessary. 3. Cut 2-3 cm off the other half of the straw, put to one side and cut a 2-cm-long slit down one side of the piece that’s left. Push this through the other hole in the tub (slit end first).

Insect sorter Only four of these creepy-crawlies are insects. The others crept onto the page when we weren’t looking! Can you spot all four insects? Put a tick by their names. Check your answers on page 34. 1. Dragonfly

5. Earwig

2. Butterfly

6. Earthworm

3. Woodlouse

7. Stick insect

4. Scorpion

8. Spider

4. Cut out a small piece of fabric from the tights or muslin, about 3 cm x 3 cm. Cover the slit end of the straw with the fabric, then push the 2 cm section over it to hold it on (the slit should make this section narrower, so that it fits inside). Replace the lid.

All photography © Shutterstock.com

5. To catch small insects, point the uncovered straw at the insect and suck gently on the other straw to pull it into the tub.

Remember to set us free after you’ve had a good look!

The pooter is named after American entomologist (insect scientist) Dr William Poos! He invented it in the 1920s.

whizzpopbang.com 7

Insect shapes and sizes

Dragonflies and damselflies

Did you know that there are over a MILLION different species (types) of insects? Here are just some of the main insect groups…

Long wings and tail

Beetles

Cranefly

Hard wing-covers

Bees, wasps, ants and termites

Halteres help to stabilise flight

Butterflies and moths

Stick insects Look like twigs or leaves

Large colourful or patterned wings

Grasshoppers Strong back legs for hopping

Lice

Mantids Big front legs

Bugs

And there could be millions more insect species we haven’t even discovered yet!

Flies

Up in the air Many insects have wings and can fly, like bees, wasps, moths, locusts and ladybirds. And, of course, flies! Insect wings are very thin and light, but they have a network of veins that give them strength. The buzzing sound some insects make comes from their wings beating fast. Some insects, like bees and butterflies, have two pairs of wings. Butterflies and moths have tiny scales on their wings, which give them their colours and patterns. Others only have one pair of wings. Flies, like this cranefly, have two wings and two little sticks called halteres, which help them keep their balance when they’re flying.

8 whizzpopbang.com

Bugs on a tray

The clue’s in the name!

Try this quick and easy way to have a look at some insects. Put a piece of white paper on a baking tray and hold it under a bush or low tree branch. Ask someone else to give the bush or branch a shake, and some creepy-crawlies should fall out! See if you can spot which ones are insects. (Tip them back onto the branch or bush afterwards.)

No wings needed! Some insects can’t fly at all, and get around in other ways. Instead of wings, fleas have big, strong back legs to help them make giant leaps!

How do you start an insect race? One, two, flea, go!

you n ce? o, o!

What do you call a fly with no wings? A walk!

Like other living things, insects have babies – but baby insects can look very unlike their parents. Many types of insects go through a metamorphosis, or change of shape, as part of their life cycle.

Ladybird

Eggs

Larva

Adult

All photography © Shutterstock.com

Life cycles Tree bark bugs Many insects live under tree bark. Try tying a piece of cardboard (about 30 cm x 45 cm) to a big tree in the evening and see if there’s anything underneath it the next morning. Before you untie your trap, hold your bug tray underneath to catch any that might fall. You could compare the insects you collect from different kinds of tree. Wiping a bit of peanut butter or honey on the ‘tree side’ of the cardboard might help to attract more insects.

Pupa

After feeding and growing, the larva becomes a hard pupa. Inside, it changes into an adult (metamorphosis).

Some midges (tiny flies) can beat their wings more than 1,000 times a second.

The larva isn’t much smaller than an adult ladybird, but it looks very different!

Whose baby? Can you match these insects to their babies? Check your answers on page 34.

Mini me However, some baby insects do look like their parents – earwigs, for example, lay eggs and tiny mini earwigs (called nymphs) hatch out!

Wait for me mum!

Insect movie stars Making a slow-motion video is a brilliant way to get a better look at an insect in your pooter, or on a bug tray. Ask to borrow a smartphone from an adult and select the slo-mo video option in the camera settings. Zoom in on your insect and record a short video. Then you can play it back and see much more clearly how the insect moves.

Ready for my close-up!

WE NEED INSECTS! Insects are a vital part of nature and do many important and useful things.

What is an insect’s favourite subject? Mothematics!

They are food! The billions of insects all over our planet are an important food source for other animals. Spiders, birds, bats, lizards, fish, bears and many other animals – even other insects – all depend on having insect prey to catch and eat.

They pollinate plants! When honeybees fly from one flower to another, feeding on nectar, they spread pollen between flowers too. Flowering plants need to share pollen to help them make seeds. In fact, many other insects do this too, including some types of flies, butterflies, moths and beetles.

They’re great recyclers!

Make your own sweep net! Entomologists use sweep nets to collect insects from long grass. You can make your own using an old pillowcase, a bamboo cane and a coat hanger.

Many types of insects are decomposers. This means they feed on dead plants and animals, or on animal poo. It ends up as insect poo, which becomes part of the soil, making it healthy and fertile so that new plants can grow. Dung beetles feed on animal dung

What you do: 1. Pull a coat hanger into a circle shape and straighten out the hook. You may need an adult to help you. 2. Pass the open end of a pillowcase through the circle and fold the edges over it. 3. Fix the two layers of fabric together with a stapler or strong tape.

Come out and say hi! Insects love to hide in soil and leaf litter (old, dead leaves). You can get them to come out, without squashing or harming them, using a Berlese funnel.

You will need: 4. Push the straightened hook into the bamboo cane if it’s hollow, or lay it alongside it if not. Use strong tape to secure the handle in place. 5. Walk through long grass on a warm day, sweeping the net from side to side, and see how many insects you can catch! Release them back into the grass afterwards.

• A large plastic bottle or milk carton, washed out and dried • Soil or leaf litter (or a bit of both)

• A trowel or spade • A bright desk lamp or warm, sunny windowsill • Scissors

All photography © Shutterstock.com

de mp

Find 12 ladybirds on these two pages. Circle them and check your answer on page 34.

No bugs on my crops!

Food chains

Insects in trouble

All living things need energy to live. Food chains show the flow of energy from one living thing to another. Plants make their food using energy from the Sun. Animals eat plants and other animals eat them! Insects play an important role in many food chains. Without them, many bigger animals would starve.

Sadly, the number of insects is falling, and some species are dying out. Bees, butterflies and moths are especially at risk. Turning wild areas into cities and farmland removes insect habitats, so they have nowhere to live. Using pesticides (bug-killing chemicals) to kill insects is another cause.

Rosebush Producer

Aphid Primary consumer (Prey)

Ladybird Secondary consumer (Predator)

What you do: 1. Ask an adult to help you cut the bottle or carton in half, like this.

Robin Tertiary consumer (Predator)

What can you do? Luckily, there are ways you can help insects…

2. Turn the top half over to make a funnel, and fit it into the bottom half.

• If you have a garden, let part of it grow wild to give insects a place to live.

3. Use the spade to collect soil or leaf litter, or a mixture, and put some into the funnel so it’s about 5 cm deep.

• Don’t use insect-killing sprays.

4. Put the funnel on a very sunny windowsill or stand it under a bright desk lamp that feels warm when it’s switched on. 5. The heat and light will make insects burrow deeper down, until they drop out into the container at the bottom. After a few hours, remove the top part of the funnel so you can have a look. Make sure you put the insects and soil back where you found them afterwards, and wash your hands.

• Choose organic food if you can, as it’s grown without using dangerous pesticides.

Thanks!

whizzpopbang.com 11

AL ANIM S TIC

Ants

Ants are a massive group of insect species that are related to wasps and bees. There are up to 22,000 different species that live all over the planet, except Antarctica and a few isolated islands.

This month, with magnifying glass in hand, our vet Joe Inglis is peering into the micro-sized world of the ultimate social insect.

Ants breathe through their skin.

Super social Although each individual ant is small, often just a few millimetres in length, their families can be super-sized. Ants live in groups called colonies, which can range from 30 or 40 individuals right up to many millions living together. These colonies are known as super-organisms because they work together almost like a single creature for the good of the whole colony.

Colossal colonies Some ant colonies can be mind-bogglingly big – the largest found so far is an amazing 3,700 miles wide! It is a connected super-colony in southern Europe made up of millions of nests and billions of ants of a species called Argentine ants.

6 cm

Fungi farmers Some species of ants live in sophisticated farming colonies. These ants collect leaves and feed them to specialised fungi that they carefully cultivate in underground chambers. Ants started farming around 60 million years ago – way before humans thought up the idea!

Work, work, work! Several different types of ant live inside an ant colony. The biggest group are workers, which are usually females that can’t breed and spend their lives finding and fetching food for the colony. Fertile male ants are called drones, and there are usually one or more fertile queen ants (who mainly eat food and lay eggs).

The length of queen driver ants, which are the largest ants in the world

Like all insects, ants have their skeletons on the outside of their bodies, not the inside. These tough outer layers are called exoskeletons, and they support and protect their internal organs.

Eye spy To find their way around, ants have eyes made up of lots of tiny lenses joined together. These are called compound eyes and they‘re good for spotting movement, but not so good for studying things in fine detail. (That’s why you’ve never seen an ant read a book!)

I saw a fantastic film about a very large insect. It was XL ant!

Armour plated

Touchy feely Ants have two long feelers, or antennae, which sense for chemicals in the air and feel air currents and vibrations. They also use their feelers to talk to each other, passing on messages by touching feelers together. © Achkin / Shutterstock.com

Bite the bullet! Despite their tiny size, ants can be ferocious creatures. Many species have super-powerful bites and toxic stings, which they use for killing prey and for defence. The bullet ant of Central and South America is thought to have the most painful sting of any insect in the world!

Can you think of five other animals with the word ant in their names? Here’s one example: cormorant. Write any you think of here and check them on page 34.

tterstock.com

324 km/h

The speed at which the Dracula ant can snap its jaws. They press the tips of their mandibles together, spring-loading them. Then one mandible slides across the other, similar to a person clicking their fingers. They are the fastest jaws in the whole animal kingdom!

whizzpopbang.com 13

glorious glow worm or a Are you an awesome ant, a e questions to find out! thes magnificent moth? Answer

S TA RT

First, answer questions 1-3 and tot up your score.

sociable and a I’m love a sweet treat!

playful and b I’m always on the go

W h ic h I N S EC T are you? of these meals 1 Which would you prefer? SCORE l Fast food on the go

l An all-you-can-eat buffet

l A takeaway to eat at home

l I like to nibble all day long

do you like 2 How to dress?

SCORE

l I love to be colourful

l I like to change my style

l I wear mostly dark colours

l I don’t like to stand out in a crowd

always c I’m hungry! do you like 3 What to do for fun? l I love a good party

like to be the life and d Isoul of the party!

SCORE

l Hang out with family and friends

l Paddle about in some water

l Play or listen to some music

YOU R SCO RE:

If you scored 3-7, choose which one of these statements (a-d) most applies to you.

How do fireflies start a race? Ready, steady, glow!

If you scored 8-12, choose which one of these statements (e-h) most applies to you.

Find a way through the dragonfly wing maze. Check your answer on page 34.

friendly and love e I’m to be part of a team

ANSWERS

a) Always buzzing about, you’re a brilliant bee. The garden bumblebee’s tongue can be as long as its own body! At up to 2 cm, it is the longest tongue of all UK bumblebees. b) Cool and self-reliant, you’re a dynamic dragonfly.

I’m independent and patient

Dragonflies catch their insect prey in mid-air, grabbing it with their legs. They often eat it while still in flight. Adult dragonflies can see some colours that we can’t, such as ultraviolet. c) Always popular, you’re a loveable ladybird. Ladybirds are awesome predators. A single ladybird can eat an average of 5,000 aphids during its lifetime. d) A real bright spark, you’re a glow worm. Female glow worms climb up onto plants and emit a greeny-orange light from their rear ends to attract males. Glow worm larvae and eggs can also emit light.

I’m creative and resourceful

e) Everyone’s best friend, you’re an awesome ant. Ants love sweet treats but are omnivorous, meaning they will eat anything from fruit to other ants. Ants don’t have ears – they ‘hear’ by feeling vibrations through their feet. f) Quick and decisive, you’re a plucky pond skater.

I love to make h some noise!

Common pond skaters have water-repellent hairs on the bottom of their feet, which allow them to walk on the surface film of water. They hunt smaller insects by detecting vibrations in the film and then stab their prey with their sharp mouthparts. g) A master of disguise, you’re a majestic moth. Many moths have extraordinary camouflage skills, while others can be brightly coloured. Some moths can make high-pitched, ultrasonic squeaks to jam the sonar of bats which hunt them. h) You’re a groovy grasshopper. Male meadow grasshoppers make chirping sounds by rubbing little ‘pegs’ on their legs across their forewings. They are the UK’s only flightless grasshopper, as they have no hindwings.

whizzpopbang.com 15

b... clu O C E

Emmi's

MAKE A SOCK INSECT Save an old sock from landfill by turning it into a cuddly insect! Your insect should have a head, thorax, abdomen and six legs.

You will need: • An old sock • 5 pipe cleaners or • Stuffing – use the 20- cm lengths of inside of an old pillow, coated garden wire cotton wool, or cut • Scissors ripped or stained Optional: clothes into thin strips • But tons for eyes • 3 small elastic bands • Fabric glue or 20- cm lengths of • Felt or other scraps yarn or thread of fabric

Push a few handfuls of stuffing into the toe of the sock until you make a lump about the size of a tennis ball.

3 Repeat steps one and two twice to make a thorax and an abdomen. Tie the sock into a tight knot after you’ve added the last lot of stuffing.

16 whizzpopbang.com

Wrap an elastic band around the base of the ball of stuffing, or tie it tightly with yarn or thread. This is your insect’s head.

a pipe Make a pair of legs by bending pping it wra and f cleaner or piece of wire in hal thorax. and d around the join between the hea s between the Now add two more pairs of leg same way. thorax and the abdomen in the

Continued on page 21 ➜

PULLOUT INSECTS

PULL OUT PAGES 17-20 AND GET MAKING!

FLUTTERING BUTTERFLIES! You will need:

What you do:

• • • • •

The butterfly wings templates • A paperclip (3 cm long) • A small elastic band, Scissors such as a loom band or Sticky tape mini rubber hairband Pliers A safety pin (about 4 cm long)

1. Cut out the wing templates. 2. Ask an adult to bend the bottom part of a safety pin 90 degrees using pliers.

3. Open out the paperclip. Ask an adult to bend it around a paintbrush handle or skewer to make a small loop in the middle. Check the loop is small enough to fit through the round hole at the bottom of the safety pin.

4. Thread the rubber band onto the wire loop, then push the other end of the band through the hole at the bottom of the safety pin.

5. Hook the other end of the rubber band over the catch of the safety pin.

6. Attach the paper templates to the wire and safety pin with sticky tape as shown in the photo at the top of the page. 7. Spin the wire and wings (about 20 times) to twist the rubber band, hold it up and then let go!

Colour in these wings with your own design!

You should find: The butterfly flies away! As you wind up the rubber band, you store energy. As the rubber band unwinds, this energy is released, spinning the wings. As they spin, the wings push against the surrounding air, creating thrust and lift. The faster they spin, the more thrust and lift they get.Test your butterfly’s flying abilities. See what happens if you change the number of times you twist the rubber band. You could also try changing the angle of the front wings by bending the paperclip more or less.

Find a printable version of the pullout here: bit.ly/3vLbzig

Riddles

Check your answers on page 34.

1. Three ants are in a line, walking in the sam e direction. The ant leading the way has two ants behind her, the second ant has one in front and one behind, and the third ant has one in fro nt and one behind too. How is this possible?

You

could wind up your rubber band butterfly and then place it inside a gift card. Hold the card tightly closed and put it into an envelope. When someone opens the card, the butterfly will fly out!

2. From small in size To big as whoppers, We hop in the grass So we’re called…

FLAPPING MOTH! Make this magnificent moth!

You will need: • • • • •

The moth template Scissors Hot glue gun or strong glue Clothes peg Piece of card

What you do: 1. Cut out the template. 2. Fold the wings up slightly as shown.

3. Cut two strips of card, measuring about 4 cm x 1 cm. Attach the strips to the wings as shown.

4. Ask an adult to use a hot glue gun or strong glue to stick the moth to the top of the peg and the strips to the lower part of the peg.

5. When the glue is dry, open and close the peg to make the moth flap its wings!

The atlas moth is the biggest moth in the world, with a wingspan of up to 27 cm – that’s wider than an adult’s hand! Their caterpillars eat huge quantities of leaves but once they have transformed into an adult moth, they do not feed at all and live for only a week or two.

whizzpopbang.com 19

Cross out all of the shapes in the list below, then write out the letters on the remaining shapes to find the name of a sweet treat.

CIRCLES PINK SHAPES STARS BLUE SHAPES CROSSES CRESCENTS RED SHAPES SQUARES GREEN SHAPES TRIANGLES

20 whizzpopbang.com

6 To make each antenna, twist one end of another pipe cleaner or piece of wire under the middle of the front legs. Curl the other end of it into a spiral.

I’d love to see your sock insect! Take a photo and ask an adult to tag us on social media @whizzpopbangmag or email it to Y@whizzpopbang.com

ECO

ideas...

s you can Here are more thing socks! do with odd and old er Make a sock scrubb of rs ba d Put scraps of ol and ck soap into a clean so e tie it in a knot. Wet th e sock then use it to giv b! ru sc yourself a good

Continued from page 16

Now add some extras of your choice! You could cut out two sets of wings from felt and glue them on or make compound eyes and ocelli (small, simple eyes) from buttons or googly eyes.

It’s up to us to save the planet. Lots of small actions can make a BIG difference! ll Sew a hacky sack ba m the toe and fro up Cut about 10 cm of handfuls of fill it up with a couple own-up to help you lentils or rice. Ask a gr sed tightly. sew the opening clo holey (or If your socks are too them in a stinky!) to save, pop Find your textiles recycling bin. 0NDiE closest here: bit.ly/3b

whizzpopbang.com 21

➜

Interview with a SCIENCE HERO

In my job I get to... dig in poo to find dung beetles!

Darren is a dung beetle expert who looks after a huge collection of insects. If you have any questions of your own for Darren, you can contact him on darren.mann@oum.ox.ac.uk

“

I knew I wanted to be a museum entomologist when I was at school.

“

My teacher let me play with the cockroaches and newts that were kept in my classroom.

”

I’ve always loved the natural world, and preferred sitting in a field to a classroom. When I was younger, all I did was read about cockroaches – I had dozens of cages of live cockroaches from across the world. My older sister still hasn’t forgiven me for when she found a hissing cockroach inside her boot! Sadly, there are few wild cockroaches in Britain. I soon got bored of hunting for them as I never found any! I switched to looking for pest species, and once got thrown out of a shop for catching German cockroaches. The owner was unhappy with me, jar in hand, chasing cockroaches around his shop, especially in front of the other customers.

”

My teachers didn’t support my dream – I was even told there was no such job! Many of my friends did work experience in factories, but I managed to get a two-week placement in a museum’s natural history department. I had to copy out information about hoverflies. Even though I didn’t enjoy English or handwriting, and I couldn’t say the scientific names, copying out these fly facts was fascinating. I continued to volunteer after school and during the holidays. I learned how to use a microscope, how to preserve insects and moved a beetle collection from old store boxes to a new cabinet. It was so satisfying!

Darren Mann, S Oxford Universit enior Collections Manager, y Museum of Na tural History

Dung beetles lay eggs inside balls of poo.

22 whizzpopbang.com

s in cowpats! Darren hunts for dung beetle

“

Interview with a SCIENCE HERO

When I was very young, I loved skidding through wet cow pats in my wellies!

”

I saw beetles fleeing and years later, as my beetle interest grew, I wanted to know what those species were. I collected a few, took them to the museum and identified them. I spent hours searching dung, finding beetles, and identifying them – including some quite rare ones. Later, I started working at Oxford University Museum of Natural History and became interested in dung beetles from exotic places. There are dung beetles that eat meat, vegan dung beetles, and some that hunt millipedes. There are rollers, tunnellers and dwellers. They improve soil health, plant seeds as they bury dung and are important recyclers in many ecosystems. I will never run out of beetles to look at!

Dung beetles come in all shapes, colours and sizes, including this monster, Coprophananeus lancifer.

“

I’m so lucky that my childhood hobby has become my career.

”

The entrance to a dung beetle

“

nest.

I’ve crawled through every single part of the Oxford Museum looking for pests.

”

My work isn’t just about looking after museum collections – I’ve searched from the basement to the attic looking for insects that can harm or even destroy a collection surprisingly fast. We’re working on a major project at the moment: moving over one million insects into new storerooms in shiny new pest-proof cabinets. First, we spent many hours working on funding applications to raise money for staff and equipment. Then we counted, catalogued, photographed and moved the insects. My job is to sort part of the beetle collection. Moving a specimen from an old cork-lined drawer, labelling it, and transferring it to the new tray takes a steady hand. Some of our insects are over 100 years old so require cleaning or repair. When the specimen is labelled and in its species tray, it looks fabulous!

Even though I didn’t work so well at school, I was dedicated to entomology and spent all my spare time studying, reading, collecting and identifying insects – and it paid off. Qualifications are important, but enthusiasm, knowledge and experience in your chosen field are equally as important. Volunteering gained me lots of experience both working with collections and insect identification, most of which isn’t taught at school or university. I doubt I would be where I am today if I had not been given that opportunity to volunteer all those years ago. Read some more about Darren’s incredible work here: bit.ly/2QyWb9n

trays labelled out about xxxxxx in newly s more ecimen Beetle spFind © Ox ford Unive

rsity Museum of

Natural His tor y

whizzpopbang.com 23

Gears

HOW STUFF

WORKS 8

Gears are used in many technologies, from clocks to racing cars. They allow us to massively increase and control the power we can exert through machines. Bikes use gears – and here’s how they work…

The rear derailleur also has two small gears called the idler and jockey gears. These are held in place by a powerful spring. They keep the chain tight whatever combination of gears the rider selects.

There are up to 11 different gears on the rear cassette, and they work in the opposite way to the front gears. Moving from a large gear with lots of teeth to a smaller one makes the bike go faster because for every pedal stroke the chain will turn a small gear more times than a larger one.

At the back wheel, the chain runs through the rear derailleur. Like the front mechanism, this also allows the rider to shift between gears and change how far the bicycle will move for every pedal stroke.

For many years, scientists thought that gears were a completely human invention, but a recent discovery has shown that evolution got there first. A 3-mm-long hopping insect named Issus coleoptratus has cog-like strips of intermeshing teeth built into its back leg joints. These rotate like mechanical gears to ensure both back legs move at exactly the same time when the insect jumps.

Before the invention of derailleur bicycle gears around 100 years ago, racing bikes only had two gears, one on each side of the back wheel. To change gear riders had to stop, remove the back wheel, turn it around and put it back on!

Gear shifters are the controls

the rider uses to shift gears. They are usually located on the handlebars with cables inside the bike’s frame that connect them to the derailleurs.

By moving from a big chain ring, which has lots of teeth, to a small chain ring which has fewer, the rider will move the chain less distance with each pedal stroke. This means the bicycle moves more slowly, but with more power. This helps riders climb up steep hills.

Pedals, which are connected to a central bearing by a crank arm, convert the rider’s leg power into rotational movement.

The crank arms connect the pedals to one or more large gears called chain rings.

On bikes with more than one chain ring, a device called the front derailleur allows the rider to move the chain between the chain rings – either via a mechanical cable or using an electronic shifter.

The teeth of the chain ring gear lock into the chain, which transfers the pedal power to the back wheel.

whizzpopbang.com 25

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

D N O W D W E I RD AN stranger than fic tion… Sometimes nature is

The incredible golden tortoise beetle looks like, well, a tiny golden tortoise! It is actually a leaf beetle that can rapidly change colour when disturbed, looking more like a ladybird. The larvae protect themselves by attaching a ‘faecal shield’ (a pile of poo) to their backs.

It’s hard to tell which is the front end of the bizarre-looking saddleback caterpillar! These slug moth larvae are found in North America and Mexico and are covered in venomous hairs.

This might look like a thorny branch, but it’s actually a load of thorn bugs! These treehopper insects disguise themselves as thorns to stop birds from eating them.

It’s easy to guess how giraffe-necked weevils got their name. These Madagascan insects use their long necks for fighting. They also help the weevils to build protective egg cases from leaves.

This scary-looking individual is a spiny devil katydid. It’s a herbivore that lives in the rainforests of North and South America. Its spines evolved to make it harder for predators to eat it.

Watch them in action here: bbc.in/3n0WS7n

S T C E S N I L U F R E D N

This planthopper nymph might look like its bottom is exploding, but these are actually waxy filaments produced by the insect. Scientists aren’t sure why they do this, but it could be to distract predators.

8 10

7 9

The huge Atlas moth has wing tips that look like a cobra about to strike. It uses these to scare away predators.

Strike a pose! The devil’s flower mantis mimics an orchid flower to lure prey. When threatened, it adopts this defensive position. Female mantises often eat the males after mating!

Glow worms are actually the larvae of some species of beetles and gnats that glow at night because of bioluminescent enzymes produced in their abdomens. They use the light to attract mates.

The puss moth caterpillar is enough to give children nightmares! Its horror-movie face is actually a trick – its real head is hidden inside the gaping ‘mouth’. And if that doesn’t work, it can also spray acid from its rear end.

© 1. yusuf kurnia, inset image khlungcenter / Shutterstock.com, 2. Gerald J. Lenhard, Louiana State University / Wikimedia Commons, 3. Marshal Hedin / Wikimedia Commons, 4. Ana Dracaena / Shutterstock.com, 5. HHelene / Shutterstock.com, 6. JK_Vector / Shutterstock.com, 7. Mathisa / Shutterstock.com, inset image tb-photography / Shutterstock.com, 8. SERGEI BYKOVSKII / Shutterstock.com, 9. Wofl~commonswiki, 10. jps / Shutterstock.com

whizzpopbang.com 27

Sensational Scientists

MARGARET S. COLLINS By Claire Cock-Starkey

Nicknamed the ‘Termite Lady’, Margaret S. Collins was the first female African-American entomologist (insect scientist) and an important campaigner for civil rights.

L I NS S . C OL , A R ET G TUTE I R T A M I N I NS USA N R O WA S B V I RGI N I A , W E ST 2. I N 192

Margaret grew up in West Virginia, a southern US state where the racist laws of the time kept black people and white people segregated. This meant that there were separate public facilities, such as buses, schools, universities and drinking fountains, for black people.

Her father was a professor of agriculture at West Virginia State College, a university set up to provide education for African-Americans. The college had a thriving intellectual community, which encouraged Margaret to pursue her academic dreams.

From a very young age, Margaret had an extremely inquisitive nature and she was considered a child prodigy. As a result, she was given access to the college library from the age of six. She progressed so quickly that she was allowed to attend the college as a student aged just 14.

During work on her PhD, Margaret met termite expert Alfred Emerson. He helped to guide her research, but he discouraged her from working in the field. Instead, she focused her research on the world’s largest collection of termites kept at Emerson’s lab.

Women are too troublesome to go on field trips.

As her career progre ssed, Margaret was finally free to go on field trips, which she relished. Sh e observed termites in the wild in places such as the Sonoran Desert in Arizona, Mexico, Belize, Guyana and th e Caribbean.

Margaret published over 40 scientific articles on her research, adding a huge amount to our understanding of termites, from how they survive in hot, dry climates to how to use termite waste to strengthen building materials.

How many termites can you spot in this scene? Check your answer on page 34. Alongside her academic work, Margaret championed the fight for equalit y as part of the civil rights movement. In 195 6, two black students called for a boycott of the buses in Tallahassee after they were arrested for refusing to sit in the seats at the back of the bus reserved for black peo ple. Margaret joined the protest and volunteer ed to drive a bus to get black students and academics involved in the protest to colleg e.

Margaret taught as a professor at three different universities and was also named President of the Entomological Society. She was an inspiring teacher and continued to support her students even after they’d graduated, helping others to excel in the field.

Her love of science and her commitment to the civil rights movement were combined when Margaret organised a prestigious symposium for the American Association for the Advancement of Science on Science and the Question of Human Equality.

Margaret’s academic achievements would be extremely impressive today, but to have achieved all she did during an era of widespread sexism and racism makes her accomplishments even more remarkable. To honour her huge contribution to the field, the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History named a collection of termites after her.

whizzpopbang.com 29

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

H I! I was

wondering whether you can control your dreams by thinking.

James, aged 9

F oR

CURIoUS K I DS

We’ve loved seeing all the awesome water filters you made! Ben, aged 9, and Eva, aged 11

We used soil and sand from my garden and some coffee.

My sister and I made a water filter like the one from Issue 68!

It filtered muddy pond water really well!

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

Help local wildlife to earn your Wildlife Watcher badge.

In the 1860s, chemist August Kekulé was puzzling over the shape of a benzene molecule. He knew it couldn’t be a straight line because the chemistry just didn’t work. He dreamed about a snake swallowing its tail, woke up, did some calculations and discovered the molecule could only exist as a circle!

Beth, aged 8, has been investigating how changing the amount of water in a glass affects the pitch. Great experiment, Beth!

Kush, aged 8

Ruben, aged 6, made his water filter using gravel, sand and cotton wool.

Yes, you can! You need to be we ll rested, so you have more of the REM sleep where dreams mostly happen (see Issu e 63 for more on this!). To solve a proble m, you should picture it in your mind as you are falling asleep, then think about it as soon as you wake up. The answer mig ht just come to you! Less than 1% of dreams are lucid dreams – when you dream that you are dreaming and can control your actions. Amazingly, you can train yourself to have these more oft en. It is even possible to answer yes/no questions and solve sim ple maths problems during a lucid dream.

I found a pattern: as more water was added, the pitch became lower. And I had great fun making some tunes too! Investigate scientific questions to earn your Super Scientist badge.

Help save the planet to earn your Eco Hero badge.

AS K Y, I love to watch

Check out these amazing flea catapults from Issue 68!

the robin that visits my It looks so bright with garden. its feathers. Why do some red bi different coloured feat rds have hers? Nata

I used marshmallows!

lie, aged 6

The orangey-red on your robin is made by a group of pigments (colour molecules) called melanins. These also give human skin and hair its different colours. Birds evolve colourful feathers for lots of different reasons, from camouflage to attracting a mate. Robins are very territorial, and their red breasts are a sign of their strength and survival skills. Every year, male robins’ red breasts get a bit bigger, warning younger robins not to challenge them and signalling to females that they have good genes and would make a good mate.

Daniel, aged 10

Finley, aged 6

Rosie, aged 9

William, aged 8

Some talented artists among you have sent in some brilliant drawings of me, Gakk, Emmi and Riley!

Anna, aged 11

Rowan, aged 9

Eva, aged 9

Why do , Y R A E D te over time? balloons defla

ed 10 Phoenix, ag

S TA R R L ET T E

ve You’ a won er! bind

Surprisingly, balloons are not airtight. The high pressure inside a balloon pushes air out of microscopic holes in the walls and knot, so it gradually deflates. Helium is smaller than air molecules, so it escapes more quickly. Shiny mylar balloons are more airtight and not under high pressure… but helium can still escape through really tiny holes. Once the pressure is equal inside and out, there is two-way travel of gases through the holes and the balloon stays the same size. If you can keep your balloons cool, the gas molecules have less energy to help them escape!

Get problem solving to earn your Epic Engineer badge.

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

, was Clem, aged 10 story s ew reading the n okie o C e about th e (in Issue Monster agat alised re 68) when she geode a ad h e sh at th it! e k li just 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.

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 More badges will be launched soon... watch this space!

whizzpopbang.com 31

How much can you remember from this issue?

um/Dad/ Test your M ect to pet stick ins

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.

see what they know!

What is a drone ant?

a) An ant that hovers above its colony

c) A peat bog

T Which one is NO a real insect?

mantis

b) Sp

b) The Termite Lady

weevil

What three body parts do ALL insects have?

a) Head, wings and pincers

c) The Grasshoppe

r Girl

The Urod idae caterpillar builds its nest in the shape of... a) A basket

b) H eart, thumbs

b) A banana

and ankles

banjo c) A

c) Head, thorax

Margaret S. Collins was also known as ... a) The Worm Wom

iny devil katydid

c) Devil-necked

a) A group of periodic cicadas volcano

c) A queen ant

a) Devil’s flower

What is Brood X?

b) An underwater

b) A fertile male ant

What’s the biggest type of moth? A mammoth!

and abdomen

g beetle Where does dun ann work? expert Darren M Dung a) The National Beetle Centre

eum

us b) The Science M

m University Museu

c) Oxford ry of Natural Histo

Answers on page 34.

A ladybird eg g hatches into.. . a) A pupa

b) A larva c) An adult

Need a hint? Find the answers by reading these pages… 1) Page 12 2) Page 5 3) Pages 26-27 4) Page 28 5) Page 6 6) Page 35 7) Page 22 8) Page 9

I scored: .......... 1-3: Bee-rilli-ant effort! 4-6: High fly-er! 7-8: You’re buzzing!

We have five fantastic butterfly kits to give away! To be in with a chance of winning one, we’d like you to create a picture of an insect – it could be a drawing, painting, collage, or whatever you choose, and can be of any insect you like. Please include your name and age with your entry.

ons

tock.com

rstock.c

media Comm

rrouste / Wiki

! IN

Insect art!

Commons

Insect Lore Butterfly Garden Raise your very own butterflies and then release them into the wild! This awesome kit from insectlore.co.uk contains a voucher for 3-5 caterpillars and all of the nutritious food they need to grow and transform. Watch their amazing metamorphosis into chrysalides, before they emerge as beautiful painted lady butterflies. Once you have released your butterflies, you can raise more by ordering a refill cup of caterpillars.

WINNERS

Issue 70 competition winners Thank you to everyone who sent in their entries to our two competitions in issue 70. The correct answer to our ‘cogs competition’ on page 33 was that Emmi needed to turn the handle anticlockwise to lift the bucket. These four lucky winners each receive a Turing Tumble Architectural Engineering kit from turingtumble.com. Jessica Wallace, 9 Atharva Sahay, 11 Amelia Boxall-Tullett, 10 Theo MacGillivray, 8 The answer to our ‘narwhal competition’ on page 23 was that Martin Nweeia is a dentist. The winner of a signed copy of Martin’s book, Transformed By A Tusk, is Kobi McKenzie, 8

Send a photo of your picture to win@whizzpopbang.com with ‘Insect competition’ as the subject of your email. Alternatively, post your picture to Insect 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: August 8th 2021. UK residents only. Full terms and conditions available at whizzpopbang.com. We are not able to return any post, sorry.

whizzpopbang.com 33

JOKES

What do you call a musical insect? A humbug!

What’s an insect’s favourite sport? Cricket!

What do you c the end of a all bee? Its bee-hind! et What do you g when you eat caterpillars? Butterflies in your stomach!

What kind of fly has a frog in its throat? A hoarse fly!

Page 7 – Insect sorter

Page 12 – True/Untrue

These ones are insects – butterfly, stick insect, earwig, dragonfly.

TRUE! Ants don’t have lungs – instead gases such as oxygen and carbon dioxide pass through tiny holes in their exoskeletons called spiracles.

These are not – spider, scorpion, earthworm, woodlouse. Page 9 – True/Untrue This amazing fact is TRUE! Page 9 – Whose baby? 1) E 2) C 3) F 4) A 5) D 6) B Pages 10-11 – Ladybird puzzle

Page 13 – Animal names puzzle Here are some we thought of: anteater, antelope, coelacanth, cormorant, elephant, elephant shrew, giant panda, giant tortoise, manta ray, panther, pheasant, Sumatran tiger.

Answers Page 20 – Shape puzzle The letters on the remaining 5 yellow hexagons spell HONEY. Pages 28-29 – Termite puzzle There are 19 termites in the scene.

Page 15 – Dragonfly wing maze

Page 18 – Riddles 1) The ants are in a circle! 2) Grasshoppers.

Page 32 – Quiz 1) b 2) a 3) c 4) b 5) c 6) a 7) c 8) b

R A L U C A T C E SP Cocoon with a view!

e c n e i c s

This amazing cocoon belongs to a type of moth called Urodidae that lives mostly in wet climates, such as the Amazon rainforest. The caterpillar weaves the basket-like cocoon and then pupates inside. The open mesh design allows rain to pass through and helps to prevent fungi from growing. The cocoon hangs from a leaf on a long thread of silk, keeping the pupa safe from rainforest ants. There is an opening at the bottom, through which the newly emerged moth will climb out.

! R KIDS ZINE FO

Roar!

MOON!

Create a Moon phase guide

Lau

nch into lunar

sci

SAY

ISSN 2399-2 840

SCIENCE

H O W O LV W

Exp

MAKE YOUR OWN FOSSIL DIG KIT

EX PE RIM

EN TS

AM AZ ING PU ZZL ES

Craft a

RIME NTS EXPE E 65

OM ISSU PBANG.C WHIZZPO

FACT S

SCI EN CE

Find out how scuba gear works

cora

ls a es nd c razy c r e atur

Meet a reef-saving researcher

Back issueS ELLOUS KE MARV S

ROARSOME walking dinosaur

FOR KIDS!

R ea r ka b l e ef s !

lor

monsters historic PLUS pre sea and air of the

Which dinosaur are you? Take our quiz!

MAGAZINE

t u r tl e s

Re m I

Gian

OVER THE

DINtOs!

Moon map poster

OT L- O

Meet biggest dinosaur ever known

THE AWESO ME

Ta k e a d i p w i t h

Moon mission r ri f i c astronaut t e

3D T. rex ILLUSION

! AZINE FOR KIDS E SCIENCE MAG THE AWESOM Meet a

GA CE MA the

E SCIEN

ESOM THE AW

Create a

ISSN 2399-2840

SHOP ONLINE

We’ve got some awesome products in our online shop!

MA ATER MOON CR

Craft your ow

underwatn world er

MAKE A CORAL REEF IN A JAR

MAGAZINE BINDER

ISSUE 62 OPBANG.COM

WHIZZP EXP ERIM ENT WHIZZPOPBA NG.COM ISSUE S 60 SCIEN CE NEW S PUZ ZLE S AMA ZING ZING FACT S FAC TS SCIE PUZZ LES AMA NCE NEW S

NE WS

LAB COAT

BOOKS SUBSCRIBE NOW whizzpopbang.com/subscribe