Whizz Pop Bang Science Magazine for Kids! Issue 74: SAVE OUR PLANET by Whizz Pop Bang

SAVE OUR PLANET!

ISSN 2399 -2840

THE AWESOME SCIENCE MAGAZINE FOR KIDS!

Test the greenhouse effect... with chocolate!

MAKE A FLYING PUFFIN

HOW TO HELP

FIX THE CLIM

Find out about wonderful wind power

MEET SOME BUSY BEAVERS

ATE CRISIS WHIZZPOPBANG.COM ISSUE 74

EXPERIMENTS PUZZLES AMAZING FACTS SCIENCE NEWS

WELCOME!

We’re working hard to slow climate change!

Climate change can sometim es se that’s out of our control. Howe em like an overwhelming problem that governments need to ma ver, alongside the bigger decisions ke, there are lots of things we ca help save the planet. Inside th is issue, you can calculate yo n do to ur carbon footprint and create your ow n climate action pledge. Ther e’s also lots of fun and experimenting too! Test the greenhouse eff ect using chocolate (yum!), investigate expanding sea water, cut out and fly a swooping puffin and liven up clothes with some awesome mo worn-out nster patches!

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

Riley

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THE AWESOME SCIEN CE MAGAZINE FOR KIDS!

Craft a flying butterfly

Peek inside a driverless ch Whicar insect are

Meet a space robot designer

you? Tak!e our quiz

Engineer a robotic arm

INCREDIB

SEC TS! INROBOTS backyardy in your omel e bugs awes eird and Meet th 10 in gw cts Make a sock insect

ROCK!

se amaz derful in won Welcome to the robo-revolution

Craft a springy-arme d Y!

Make a DoodleBot

Chat with a

dung beetle expert E 72 OM ISSU PBANG.C WHIZZPO

EX PE RIM

ZZL ES EN TS PU

AM AZ IN

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, Claire Cock-Starkey, Joe Inglis and Isabel Thomas

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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

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M ISSUE 71 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!

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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

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.

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© 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

AWESOME NEWS AND AMAZING FACTS

Black holes, robot hands, fossilised starfish – and some good news about giant pandas.

THE CLIMATE CRISIS

Investigate rising sea levels, test the greenhouse effect with chocolate and discover how we can all help our planet.

ANIMAL ANTICS

hu tte r

sto

ck.c om

Meet some busy beavers – the super-rodents whose homes can help to prevent forest fires, floods and more!

M xim dy Ann and Ma

Atom

SILLY SCIENCE

Put your eco knowledge to the test in this planet-friendly quiz.

EMMI’S ECO CLUB

Don’t put ripped trousers in the bin – make monster patches to give them a new life!

PULLOUT

Follow the flow chart to find ways that you can help solve the climate crisis, plus make a flying puffin!

INTERVIEW WITH A SCIENCE HERO

Joanne Chory is researching a revolutionary way to help plants capture and store more carbon in their roots.

HOW STUFF WORKS

Find out about wonderful wind power as we learn how wind turbines work.

TEN AWESOMELY AMAZING…

Young climate activists. These inspiring folks are proof that you’re never too young to make a difference!

SENSATIONAL SCIENTISTS

Discover how David Attenborough became one of the best-loved natural history storytellers on our screens.

Y’S WONDER CLUB

Be au ti

sa fu l ws New lne s Sa (@beautifu

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 and ask an adult to tag us on social media @whizzpopbangmag

st ag ra m)

QUIZ POP BANG AND COMPETITION

Test your knowledge with our super-duper science quiz and win a solar-powered rover kit!

JOKES AND ANSWERS

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

SPECTACULAR SCIENCE

Find out how conservation efforts are helping the majestic manatee.

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 ROBOT HAND PLAYS NINTENDO GAME

GIANT PANDAS NO LONGER ENDANGERED

Thanks to conservation efforts, there are now 1,800 giant pandas in the wild, prompting China to reclassify them as ‘vulnerable’ instead of ‘endangered’. Conservation workers have expanded giant pandas’ habitats by replanting bamboo forests. Bamboo makes up 99% of a giant panda’s diet. Zoos have also helped by breeding pandas in captivity to be released into the wild. While this is great news, pandas still face ongoing threats from climate change. The International Union for Conservation of Nature estimates that climate change could destroy more than 35% of bamboo habitats over the next 80 years.

A 3D-printed robotic hand has successfully completed the first level of the computer game Super Mario BrosTM. The hand is a ‘soft’ robot that is powered by pressurised air or water. Controlling the fluids that make soft robots move had previously been difficult, but researchers at the University of Maryland in the US came up with a way of 3D printing fully assembled soft robots with integrated fluid circuits in a single step. How the robot hand moves depends on the strength of air or water pressure, so a low pressure makes the first finger press the Nintendo controller to make Mario walk, while a high pressure will make him jump. By varying the pressure, the researchers could make the hand complete the first level of the game in under 90 seconds.

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Light seen behind a black hole

JURASSIC TREASURE TROVE

For the first time ever, astronomers have detected the light behind a supermassive black hole. Black holes are areas of space where matter has collapsed in on itself. Their gravity is so strong that even light cannot escape. Supermassive black holes are found at the centres of galaxies. Using specialised space telescopes at Stanford University in California, astrophysicist Dan Wilkins was watching bright X-ray flares bursting from a supermassive black hole at the centre of a galaxy 800 million light-years away.

These flares are produced as gas falls into the black hole. He then spotted a series of smaller, different coloured X-ray flashes. He concluded that these ‘light echoes’ were the same X-ray flares, reflected from the far side of the black hole. “Any light that goes into that black hole doesn’t come out, so we shouldn’t be able to see anything that’s behind the black hole,” said Dr Wilkins. “The reason we can see that is because that black hole is warping space, bending light and twisting magnetic fields around itself.” This discovery confirms a prediction of Einstein’s theory of general relativity – that the enormously strong gravity of black holes can actually bend light around a black hole, bringing it back into our line of sight.

Thousands of fossilised Jurassic sea creatures have been discovered at a secret location in the Cotswolds. The site was discovered in a disused quarry by hobby fossil hunters during lockdown. The fossils are now being excavated and studied by a team from London’s Natural History Museum. The fossils are echinoderms, including starfish, brittle stars, sea urchins, feather stars, sea cucumbers and sea lilies – some of which are completely new to science. 167 million years ago, the area was a warm, shallow sea. An underwater mudslide is thought to have buried it suddenly, perfectly preserving almost an entire ecosystem. Like the victims of Pompeii, some of the sea creatures are in a ‘death pose’, trying to shield themselves with their arms. Experts say this is one of the most important Jurassic fossil sites ever found in the UK.

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THE CLIMATE CRISIS I’m confused. Aren’t weather and climate different things?

The weather is wild today. I blame climate change!

el Thom ab

By I s

What is it? What can we do about it?

Weather and climate are different, but closely linked! Let’s take a closer look…

How are weather and climate linked? Have you ever started the day dressed for rain, but abandoned your coat because the Sun came out? Weather changes often, but each place in the world has a typical pattern of weather through the year. In the UK, we expect more warm, sunny days in summer, and more cold, icy days in winter. The typical pattern of weather in a place is called its climate.

What controls Earth’s climate? Our planet has some very cold places and some very warm places, but the average temperature around the world is about 15° C. Earth is 150 million km away from the Sun, so what’s keeping it so warm?

What is climate change? Thousands of scientists have found evidence that average temperatures around the world are rising. In fact, most places are already at least 1° C warmer than they were 200 years ago. Although the world has warmed up naturally before (like after the last Ice Age), it has never happened this quickly. It is causing Earth’s climate to change quickly, too.

It’s all thanks to our atmosphere – the thin blanket of air around our planet. Air is a mixture of different gases. Some of these gases – such as water vapour and carbon dioxide – do the same job as the glass in a greenhouse. Glass lets sunlight energy in, which warms up everything inside in the greenhouse. But heat energy can’t escape through the glass. The air inside the greenhouse becomes so warm that it creates a different climate. Greenhouse gases in our atmosphere trap heat energy too, stopping it from escaping back into space. Without this greenhouse effect, Earth would be too cold for living things.

Never leave a dog on a cold planet!

On a sunny day, use a thermometer to measure the temperature inside a car that is parked in the sunshine. Compare it with the temperature outside. What do you notice?

Never leave a dog in a hot car!

So why do people say greenhouse gases are bad? Around 200 years ago, humans began burning large amounts of fossil fuels, such as coal, oil and gas. We still use fossil fuels today – to generate heat and electricity, and to power transport and machines. They are useful sources of energy but burning them releases lots of extra greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. Today, Earth’s atmosphere contains far more greenhouse gases than it did 200 years ago. These extra greenhouse gases are trapping more of the Sun’s energy than normal, causing global warming.

Climate change has already happened

Mars hardly has any atmosphere, so most of the Sun’s energy escapes back into space.

Test the greenhouse effect You will need: • Two identical plates and two pieces of black paper (or just use dark coloured plates) • Two chocolate buttons • Clean glass jar with thin walls • A sunny day!

What you do: 1. Put the two plates side by side in a sunny place, protected from wind. 2. Place a piece of paper, then a chocolate button on each plate. 3. Cover one button with the upside-down jar. 4. Check the buttons every few minutes. Record what you see.

You should find:

How does global warming cause climate change? A 1° C temperature rise does not sound like much, but heat energy is what powers Earth’s water cycle and winds. As the world gets warmer, weather patterns are changing too. This affects where plants and animals can live. It also affects how and where people live, and what kinds of farming they can do.

The button under the jar should have melted faster. This is due to the greenhouse effect! Like Earth’s atmosphere, the glass lets sunlight energy in but stops heat energy from escaping. Gradually, the air in the jar becomes warmer than the air outside.

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Ok glacier

Before

It’s not just melting land ice that is causing sea levels to rise. Seawater takes up more space as it warms up. Try this activity to see this for yourself.

You will need: • The clear tube from a Biro (ballpoint pen). You can put it back together afterwards. • A small glass bottle with a narrow neck • Modelling clay

• • • • • •

Water Jug Marker pen Food colouring (optional) Container (e.g. a bowl or pan) Ruler

What you do: 1. Add a few drops of food colouring to the bottle and fill to the brim with water. 2. Holding the end of the pen tube in the water, carefully use the clay to seal it into the bottle. Your seal needs to be completely watertight. 3. Place the bottle into the container. Use a marker pen to mark the position of the water in the pen tube. 4. Ask an adult to add hot tap water to the container. Stop when it’s about three-quarters of the way up the sides of the bottle. 5. Every 30 seconds, check the position of the water in the tube. If it has changed, make a new mark, and measure and record the distance from the first mark.

Time (seconds)

Distance from original mark

0 mm

30 60 90 120 150

You should find: As heat is transferred from the water outside the bottle to the water inside the bottle, the water inside the bottle warms up. It expands and rises further up the tube. Similarly, as seawater warms, it expands, causing sea levels to rise.

In 2019, Iceland said goodbye to the Ok glacier, which has been completely melted by climate change.

After

Investigate rising sea levels

The effects of climate change are different around the world. In the northern half of the world, there is more rain than there was 70 years ago. Glaciers and ice sheets around the world are melting, and the water is running into the ocean. The average sea level has risen by almost 20 cm in the last 100 years. This causes wetter weather and more floods and erosion. In other areas of the world, extreme weather events, such as heatwaves, tropical storms and wildfires, are becoming more common.

What is changing?

The United Nations predicts that a million types of animals are at risk of becoming extinct due to climate change.

Hawksbill turtle

Ringed seal

Adélie penguin

FINISH

Will the climate keep changing? Humans have not stopped burning fossil fuels. In fact, we are releasing more greenhouse gases than ever – so Earth’s average temperature is still rising. Climate scientists use computer programs to help predict what Earth will be like in the future. They have found out that if we keep releasing extra greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, global warming will continue. The effects of climate change will get worse.

START Help the penguins find a safe route through the sea to their friends, avoiding the predators. Check your answer on page 34.

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Is it too late to tackle the climate crisis? No! Warnings in the news can be worrying, but scientists don’t just tell us what has gone wrong. They are also learning what we can do to make things better. It’s actually very simple: we must reduce the amount of extra greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.

There are two ways to do this: 1) Release fewer greenhouse gases (e.g. by burning less fossil fuel). 2) Try to recapture greenhouse gases from the atmosphere (e.g. by planting more trees, which use carbon dioxide from the air to make food).

U B M P

D H Y Y

K W R

D N W Z

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D M H

W F M C M X

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A V

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B M M U V

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P M S

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V Y

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R N A W L

Q N L

R N X

N O

E N H O

D N O

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Find these words in the grid. Circle any that you find and check your answers on page 34. CLIMATE CRISIS GLOBAL WARMING GREENHOUSE GASES CARBON FOOTPRINT FOSSIL FUELS

CARBON DIOXIDE METHANE NITROUS OXIDE DEFORESTATION FLUORINATED GASES

What is a carbon footprint? Your carbon footprint is a rough measure of how much greenhouse gases are put into the atmosphere each year because of the things you do. It includes greenhouse gases released by burning fossil fuel at home, as well as those released far from your home, for example, • by power stations that produce the electricity you use, • by factories that make the stuff you buy, • by farms that produce the food you eat.

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In fact, almost everything you do releases greenhouse gases at some point. This doesn’t mean you have to limit your hobbies to long walks and sitting in the dark! Calculating your carbon footprint is a great way to work out which changes will make the most difference.

Use one of these carbon footprint calculators, which do the maths for you. bit.ly/2RZWzhW bit.ly/3vwmbR8

What are governments doing? In 2016, almost every country in the world signed an action plan known as the Paris Agreement. They agreed to take action to limit global warming to 2° C above the temperature it was before the Industrial Revolution, and help the world avoid the worst effects of climate change. They promised to reduce greenhouse gases in a way that is fair to everyone around the world. However, by 2018, the United Nations warned that countries weren’t making the big changes needed. Young people around the world began demanding change. They also began taking steps to reduce their carbon footprints – and you can do this too!

What can I do? You might not be old enough to vote or make rules about the way we live, but you are never too young to speak up and influence those in power. There are many ways to do this – and you don’t have to do them all! Use the pullout flow chart on page 17 to find an idea that suits you!

THERE IS NO PLANET B

Be hopeful! News about climate change can sometimes leave us feeling scared or powerless. By sharing stories about changes you make at home or at school, you can help other people feel hopeful and empowered to take action too!

Watch the animated story What Happened When We All Stopped. bit.ly/3q44ZS4

In a few years, you will be old enough to vote. You may be a scientist, leader or run a business yourself ! You and your friends will be the ones making decisions that affect the planet. What would you do to make our planet a cleaner, fairer, healthier place to live?

AL ANIM S TIC

Beavers

This month our vet Joe Inglis has been busy beavering away to find out about a species of awesome eco-warriors.

Beavers are rodents, related to rats and mice (as well as those other super-sized gnawers, capybaras – the largest rodents in the world). About the size of a bulldog, beavers weigh between 11 and 30 kg. They live in many areas of the northern hemisphere, including most of North America and many areas of Europe. Since 2009, small populations have been reintroduced into the UK.

1 million The number of beavers estimated to live in Europe in 2020.

Munch for lunch Beavers live in family groups in and around freshwater rivers, pools and streams. They are vegetarians and munch on all sorts of plants, from water lilies and leaves to tree bark and roots. To help them survive through the winter, they sometimes store food underwater, where it is safe from other grazing animals. © Jody Ann and MaximMGP / Shutterstock.com

Beavers mainly use their tails to propel them through the water.

4 hours

How long it takes a beaver to fell a large tree by gnawing through its trunk. They then use the smaller, higher branches for food and building materials.

Long in the tooth Much of a beaver’s life is spent chewing, so they have evolved amazingly powerful jaws and super-strong skulls. Their front teeth, called incisors, are chisel-shaped and keep growing throughout their lives so they always stay sharp.

Nice gnawing you!

Beavers use swimming goggles. © SGeneralov / Shutter

stock.com

Beavering away

Epic earthworks The world’s largest known beaver dam, in Canada, is a whopping 850 metres long and contains thousands of trees and tonnes of rock and mud. It’s so big, it can even be seen from space! Scientists think that several families of beavers have been building it for over 30 years.

Luxurious lodges As well as building dams, beavers are also skilled housebuilders. Their homes are called lodges and are either dug into the riverbank or built on platforms of sticks in the middle of their ponds. Lodges in lakes have underwater entrances and special rooms for beavers to dry off in before getting into the main living space!

When living in streams and rivers, beavers build dams to create a pool of slow-flowing water where they can live and feed. These dams are made of wood, stones and mud and can be hundreds of metres long.

Eco-beavers Building dams is not just good for beavers, it can also be good for the planet. Their dams have been shown to help prevent floods, droughts and forest fires, preserve fish populations and conserve sources of freshwater – all of which can help to combat the effects of climate change.

Along the length of a Canadian river, there are six pairs of adult beavers. There are three times as many baby beavers (called kits or cubs) as adult beavers. How many beavers are there in total? Write your answer here and check it on page 34.

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Are you an ? t r e p x e o ec Test your knowledge with this climate quiz! How does melting sea ice

1 affect polar bears?

a) It makes it easier for them to spot seals in the water

b) It makes it harder for them to reach their prey c) It means they have plenty of fresh water to drink

2 What causes coral bleaching? a) Bleach being washed into the sea b) People trying to clean pollution off coral reefs c) Rising sea temperatures

3 What is your carbon footprint? a) T he tiny particles left behind

by your shoes when you walk

b) T he amount of greenhouse gases put

into the atmosphere each year because of the things you do

4 What is the urban heat island effect?

a) When a city is built on an island b) W hen a city is hotter than the

countryside due to building materials holding onto heat

c) I t’s a big rush to a holiday

destination when it’s sunny!

c) W hat you get if you walk on hot coals

I need to hotfoot it out of here!

5 There is a massive area of plastic

debris floating in the North Pacific Ocean. What is it called?

a) The Great Pacific Garbage Patch b) The Great Ocean Conveyor Belt c) The Great Floating Rubbish Raft

6 How much of the Earth’s deserts

would we need to cover with solar panels to meet the world’s energy needs? a) About 4% b) About 20% c) About 80%

An swers

1. b) Polar bears prey mostly on seals, which need sea ice to rest on and raise their pups. Less sea ice means fewer seals where polar bears can reach them. Arctic sea ice is thought to be melting by 9% per decade. 2. c) Corals are animals that attach themselves to rocks. They are hosts to colourful algae, which make food using sunlight (photosynthesis) and share it with the coral. The algae cannot do this if the water gets too hot. They either die or the coral ejects them, turning it white. Coral bleaching weakens the coral and can even cause it to die. 3. b) Some of the things that cause greenhouse gas emissions are using fossil fuels, buying things made in factories and farming to produce food. Working out your carbon footprint is a great way to find out which changes will make the most difference.

7 How do cows emit most of

the methane they produce?

a) By burping b) By farting c) By popping balloons

How is palm oil farming bad for orangutans?

4. b) Streets, buildings and car parks are usually made of dark materials, such as cement, asphalt and brick, which don’t reflect as much of the Sun’s energy as lighter surfaces. It is bad for the environment because it means we use more energy to cool buildings with air conditioners and fans. Some cities are ‘lightening’ streets, which means using more reflective coatings and painting buildings and roofs white. 5. a) The plastic rubbish collects in specific areas due to ocean currents. Some parts of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch are up to 10 metres deep, while other areas have only small particles of plastic floating at the surface. Scientists estimate that about 8 million tonnes of plastic reaches the oceans every year.

a) They can’t digest the seeds b) T he oil makes them slip when they are climbing

c) T heir forest homes are being

cleared to plant oil palm trees

6. a) Solar panels are made up of photovoltaic cells. When sunlight hits them, the photons cause electrons in the cells to move, generating electricity. Large solar plants can power hundreds of thousands of homes without producing harmful emissions. 7. a) The gas is produced by bacteria in the cows’ stomachs which help them digest grass. Worldwide, cattle release around 80 million tonnes of methane every year. 8. c) Natural forests are cleared to make way for oil palms, which produce oil-rich seeds. The oil is used in many items found on supermarket shelves, including shampoo and breakfast cereals. It’s estimated that 10% of all manmade greenhouse gas emissions are caused by the destruction of forests.

Your score

PROV ER

1-3: E C O I M IZZ 4-6: E C O W H AMPION 7-8: E C O C H

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b... clu O C E

Emmi's

Give worn-out clothes new life with this monstrous repair idea!

SEW MONSTER REPAIR PATCHES You will need: • Worn-out clothes (we used torn jogging bottoms) • Sharp scissors • Scraps of washable, colourful fabric (wash felt first if using) • Fabric glue

• Pinking shears (optional) • Sewing needle • Colourful thread (we used three strands of embroidery thread) • Buttons (optional)

1 Use sharp scissors to cut a neat edge around any torn or worn-out areas on the item of clothing.

Cut out patches of fabric that are about 1.5 cm larger than the holes you have cut. Pinking shears create a zig-zag edge that stops fabric from fraying, but normal scissors will work, too.

Turn the item of clothing inside out. Cut out some teeth shapes from fabric. Put fabric glue around the edge of the hole, spr eading it right to the edge of the hole to help pre vent fraying. Stick the teeth shapes to the edg e of the hole.

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Cover the back of the teeth the shapes with fabric glue. Place ide e-s fac e, hol fabric patch over the . dry down, and leave to

Continued on page 21 ➜

he s

PULLOUT ECO ACTION

There are lots of ways you can help solve the climate crisis – and you don’t have to do them all. Use this flow chart to find ideas that suit you, then turn them into a pledge over the page.

BE A CLIMATE ACTION HERO!

YES

Do you eat meat?

NO Do you like shopping for clothes and toys?

Eat less meat

Farming animals for meat (and dairy) uses lots of energy from burning fossil fuels and releases greenhouse gases in other ways too. Giving up meat and cheese for just one day a week can make a big difference.

YES

Buy less stuff! Do you always buy new?

Do you already know lots about climate change?

NO Young activists like Greta Thunberg and Xiuhtezcatl Martinez first learned about environmental issues by watching nature films and documentaries.

YES

Do you like writing letters?

Greta Thunberg believes that most people would try much harder to tackle the climate emergency if they knew more about it. You could write a story or poem, draw a picture or create a collage to tell others about climate science in a creative way.

YES Think local

Write to people in power

NO Do you know other people who would like to take action?

Find the name of your local MP or councillor and write a letter explaining what worries you about climate change and what action you would like them to take.

YES

Do you already take steps to cut your carbon footprint at home? Climate change isn’t just happening in faraway places like the Arctic. You can help local wildlife cope with the effects of climate change by rewilding a garden or part of your school grounds.

Everything you buy, watch, eat and wear has taken energy to produce. Most of the world’s energy still comes from burning fossil fuels, which releases greenhouse gases. You can make a difference by buying fewer things, reusing what you can, and recycling your waste.

YES

Do you like art and craft?

Spread the word

YES

Well done! Take it to the next level by organising a swishing (clothes swapping) party.

YES

Arm yourself with knowledge

PULL OUT PAGES 17-20 AND GET MAKING!

Start your own eco club

Ask your teacher or group leader if you and your friends can give a talk to share your eco ideas and inspire others to help save the world. You could campaign for your school to be greener or even sign up as an Eco-School at eco-schools.org.uk

Use less energy

Pay attention to the different ways your family uses energy from fossil fuels. Suggest ideas to cut down on short car journeys (such as walking or cycling to school), and reduce your gas, oil or electricity use (e.g. switching off lights, computers and consoles, or swapping screen time for something else). This will save money too!

Now you have some ideas, turn them into a pledge! This is a written promise of the changes you will make. Decorate your pledge, stick it up on your wall and it will motivate you to keep going and make a difference! You might plan to do a regular litter pick, change your diet, use less energy, support local wildlife or spread the word about the climate crisis.

Find a printable version of the pullout here: bit.ly/3i4jK3t

A E C T A T ION M I L C Name

e g d e l p

Age

l il w I s g in th e th e r a e es h T ! et n la p y m e v a s p el h to o d

FLYING PUFFIN!

As well as being fantastic swimmers, Atlantic puffins can fly at up to 88 km/h! Rising sea temperatures due to climate change are a threat to puffin colonies, because many of the fish they eat are migrating north to cooler waters. 1. C arefully cut out the puffin and fold along line 1, as shown below.

2. Fold over the top section.

3. Fold in half and then reopen.

4. Fold both top edges into the centre.

whizzpopbang.com 19

5. Refold the centre fold, then fold down each wing symmetrically along line 5.

6. Gently launch your finished puffin. Experiment with changing the angle of the wings and curving the wing tips upwards so that your puffin glides and swoops. Can you spot 10 differences between these two puffin pictures? Circle any that you find and check your answers on page 34.

Riddles

20 whizzpopbang.com

Check your answers on page 34.

1. You find an injured bird stuck in a little hole between some rocks. The hole is too deep and too narrow for you to reach in and rescue it. There is no vegetation around, just stones and sand. How can you get the bird out of the hole without injuring it? 2. I’m the part of a puffin that’s not in the sky. I can glide on the ocean and yet remain dry. What am I?

Turn the item of clothing the right way out, then sew around the edge of the patch. Sewing will make the repair stronger and last longer, as well as looking nice and colourful.

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

ECO

ideas...

clothes is Extending the life of nt way an easy and importa of to reduce the impact n, fashion productio which can be really onment. Pack damaging to the envir grown out up clothes you have to of and pass them on ’ll ey th – ds younger frien o! to it, be happy about

Continued from page 16

Cut out two circles to make eyes, or use two buttons instead. Stick them above the patch with fabric glue, then leave to dry. Sew around the eyes.

It’s up to us to save the planet. Lots of small actions can make a BIG difference! excluder by cutting Make a doggy draft old tights. Stuff it one leg off a pair of filling from an old (you could used the d clothing cut into pillow or scraps of ol e a knot in the end. Us small pieces) then tie e ec pi a tie es and ears, and fabric glue to add ey toe to make a of thread around the pup at the nose shape. Pop this orways bottom of drafty do to keep cosy on cold days without turning up the heating!

whizzpopbang.com 21

➜

Interview with a SCIENCE HERO

In my job I get to... use supercharged plants to slow global heating Joanne researches how plants can be optimised to store more carbon in their roots. If you have any questions of your own for Joanne, you can contact her on chory@salk.edu

I recently realised that I could play a role in solving the problem of climate change.

”

rs and every I had been working for 30 yea e in my lab experiment that had been don I’m a biologist, had been leading to this point. solution to the so that’s why I’m proposing a lly involves climate change problem that rea th to do it – Ear the best evolved organisms on do it? plants. So how are we going to Biology comes to the rescue.

“

Did you know that plants can draw down enough carbon to solve the climate crisis?

”

...but I didn’t get interested in science until I learned about genetics in college and I’ve never even taken a botany course! That makes me a ‘late bloomer’ in science. Now I am a plant geneticist and I have come to appreciate plants as amazing machines whose job is to suck up carbon dioxide (CO2). They’ve been doing it for over 500 million years, and they’re really good at it!

CO2 is not stored stably and is released.

ore Read m ow about h levels ed increas nhouse e of gre ect our ff gases a te on a clim . page 6

Normal Plants

Plants and microbes use photosynthesis to concentrate CO2 (the most common greenhouse gas) and convert it into food and other materials. Every year, photosynthetic organisms (including plants) capture 20 times as much CO2 as humans release from burning fossil fuels! But there’s a catch: all that captured carbon gets released right back into the atmosphere as CO2 when leaves get older and plants and animals die and decompose.

22 whizzpopbang.com

Plant absorbs CO2 during photosynthesis.

“

Professor Joann Plant biologist a e Chory, nd geneticist

As a child, I was curious about the world around me...

Larger roots store carbon deep in the soil.

Salk Ideal Plants ™

Roots are better at making suberin, which stores carbon, so it remains in the soil for much longer.

Interview with a SCIENCE HERO

“

Plants are a little like Olympic athletes.

”

They have the natural ability to take up CO , 2 concentrate it, and turn it into biomass (e.g. wood, leaves etc.). But to win a gold medal, we need to coach them in how to store it. We will do this by engineering plants to make more of a material called suberin that stably stores carbon for the long term.

ed the Pearl In 2020, Joanne was award recognises ich Meister Greengard Prize, wh tists. outstanding women scien

“

I am confident that we can do this science!

”

h roots that Our aim is to create a plant wit , grow deeply do three things: grow plentifully p roots are and make plenty of suberin. Dee bury carbon nts pla t important as they mean tha it to stay ect exp way down in the soil, where we r, t yea we have stable for a long time. In the pas r each of these identified single genes that alte is. traits in a plant called Arabidops

“

Next, we need to get farmers to grow these plants.

”

s to crop plants We want to transfer these abilitie wheat). If we can (starting with corn, soybean and widely across the create crops that will be grown act on reduction imp planet, we can have a global crops that farmers of CO2. Our goal is to produce d to make sure want to grow. We’re working har p out farmers (by our versions of these crops hel g the planet, but pin storing more carbon and hel pests and disease, also by being more resistant to ing lots of food) improving soil health and produc grow them. so that lots of people want to

Joanne and one of her team working in the Chory lab at the Salk Institute.

“

Arabidopsis thaliana is also known as thale a small mustard plant cress. It's often used in experiments. © Shutters tock

Find your passion…

”

…and dedicate yourself to working on something that you think is important. I want to give my two children a better world than I inherited from my parents and I believe that, with the help of science, plants could be part of the solution.

whizzpopbang.com 23

Wind Turbines

HOW STUFF

WORKS

Generating electricity from renewable sources, like wind, is crucial if we are to reduce our carbon emissions. Wind turbines are one of the main green power technologies. Here’s how they work…

Energy from the Sun creates wind by heating some areas of the planet more than others, which creates differences in air pressure and makes air move around.

The world’s largest wind turbine design is an offshore giant with blades over 100 metres long! Each turbine can generate up to 14 MW of electricity, which is enough to power 18,000 homes.

14 13

Power from the generator is transmitted through cables and into the national electricity system or grid.

A yaw motor turns the nacelle and rotor around so that it is always facing into the wind.

The nacelle sits at the top of the tower, which is usually made from long tubes of steel and can be over 100 metres in height.

24 whizzpopbang.com

The blades of the wind turbine are shaped like the wings of an aeroplane. As wind flows across them, it creates lift, which drives the blades around.

The pitch system tilts the blades to increase or decrease the amount of energy they capture, depending on how strong the wind is.

Most wind turbines have three blades connected together at a central hub. This assembly of blades and hub is known as the rotor.

5 6

When the rotor spins, it turns the low-speed shaft about once every 1 to 2 seconds.

The gearbox increases the speed of rotation 20 to 30 times to make it fast enough to generate electricity efficiently.

7 8

The generator converts the rotational energy into electricity.

The high-speed shaft from the gearbox transfers the power to the generator.

A wind

vane and anemometer measure the direction and speed of the wind.

Signals from the anemometer are sent to the controller, which activates the pitch system and brake to control the speed of the turbine. Most wind turbines can operate in wind speeds of between around 3.5 and 24.5 metres per second (8 and 55 mph).

11 12

If the wind is too strong, which could damage the turbine, a brake is used to stop the rotor from spinning.

The gearbox, generator and controller sit inside a structure called the nacelle, which is made from composite materials or metal and protects the components from wind and rain.

In 2020, wind turbines produced nearly 25% of the energy used in the UK.

whizzpopbang.com 25

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

A E T A M I L YOUNG C g ate crisis, from pick in im cl e th t ns ai ag n king ac tio credible kids… , young people are ta iration from these in sp in All around the world ke Ta t. ur co to vernments up lit ter to taking go

Yola Mgogwana has seen the effects of pollution in her home in Cape Town. She gives talks to other kids in her community and believes that every school should make environmental education part of their curriculum.

I’m marching, singing, and shouting for my right to a liveable future.

South Africa

Scotland

Sisters Melati and Isabel Wijsen founded ‘Bye Bye Plastic Bags’ when they were 12 and 10 and succeeded in getting plastic bags, straws and Styrofoam banned on their home island of Bali.

Indonesia

Together we will change this world for the better.

USA

4 Lesein Mutunkei combines his passions for football and nature by planting 11 trees for every goal he scores. So far, he’s planted over 1,850 trees! If you want to get involved, ask your school or football club to contact Lesein on social media @Trees4Goals

Shark Ambassador Finlay Pringle is passionate about protecting the marine environment. He has travelled to the Scottish and European Parliaments to discuss climate justice with politicians and campaigns relentlessly to raise awareness about sharks.

The climate crisis is the fight of my generation, and it needs to be addressed urgently.

Isra Hirsi helped organise more than 100,000 young people to strike for climate justice in the US Youth Climate Strike of 2019.

You

are never too small or too young to make an impact in the world. Kenya

S T S I V I T E AC

Mya-Rose Craig (AKA Birdgirl) is a passionate birdwatcher. She has been campaigning to protect species from extinction and fight against environmental damage since she was eight years old.

England

8 9

The Netherlands

With her ‘Lilly’s Plastic Pickup’ campaign, 13-year old Lilly Platt has helped to raise awareness about plastic pollution, as well as picking up nearly 200,000 pieces of rubbish!

Xiuhtezcatl on how young people can make a difference: bit.ly/3yVvOek

It’s our future, our planet, our community.

With 20 other kids, Xiuhtezcatl Martinez took the US government to court for continuing to emit greenhouse gases, even though they’ve known for more than 50 years that this would create catastrophic climate impacts.

Uganda

Instead of having a party, Leah Namugerwa celebrated her 15th birthday by planting 200 trees. She went on to launch the ‘Birthday Trees’ project to encourage others to do the same.

USA

India

At the age of nine, Ridhima Pandey filed a lawsuit against the Indian government for failing to act against climate change. In 2019, she joined other young activists in petitioning the United Nations on the Rights of the Child.

© 1. Beautiful News Sa (@beautifulnewssa on Instagram), 2. Finlay Pringle, 3. Melati and Isabel Wijsen, 4. Fibonacci Blue from Minnesota, USA / Wikimedia Commons, 5. Kinyanjui Chege, 6. Oliver Edwards Photography, 7. Lilly Platt, 8. Kathy Hutchins / Shutterstock.com, 9. Leah Namugerwa, 10. Dinesh Pandey

whizzpopbang.com 27

Sensational Scientists

DAVID ATTENBOROUGH © lev radin / Shutterstock.com

Sir David Attenborough has inspired millions of people to fall in love with nature by bringing the natural world into our homes. DAVID ATTENBOROUGH WAS BORN IN 1926 IN LONDON, ENGLAND.

When David was a young boy, he loved collecting fossils and bird eggs. During the Second World War, David’s family looked after two Jewish girls who had escaped from Nazi Germany. When David was 12, one of them gave him a piece of amber containing insects that lived millions of years ago. David was entranced by this ‘time machine’. This fascination with nature never left him and he went on to study zoology and geology at Cambridge University. Even though he didn’t own a TV, David joined a training scheme at the BBC after he left university. His interest in natural history soon grew into a passion for educational television programmes, through which he could share his interest with others.

The first TV show David made was called Zoo Quest, which filmed animals in zoos and in the wild. Zoo Quest became the first show to capture footage of the Komodo dragon in the wild. The show was very popular and proved to the BBC that nature programmes could be successful.

In 1965, David became the controller of a brand-new channel called BBC Two. He brought lots of different types of shows to the BBC, from award-winning documentaries to cult comedy shows like Monty Python’s Flying Circus. He even oversaw the first ever colour television programmes in Europe.

By Claire Cock-Starkey

David made lots of award-winning natural history programmes, such as Life on Earth, in which the cameras followed the lives of all kinds of animals in great detail. David wrote the scripts himself and narrated each episode, his unique storytelling proving a real hit with audiences.

David was not just interested in the natural world, but also the humans who lived in it. In some of his early television series, he trekked to remote corners of the globe to film and live among isolated tribes, some of whom had never met a European before.

As far as we know, the Earth is the only place in the universe where there is life. Its continued survival now rests in our hands.

For his Blue Planet series, David filmed marine creatures which had never been caught on camera, such as the Dumbo octopus. In 2015, he used a submersible to descend more than 1,000 feet to film sections of the Great Barrier Reef off the Australian coast – deeper than anyone had gone before.

As David saw the damage that humans were doing to the natural habitats and animals he was filming, he became increasingly concerned. In his documentaries about the climate crisis, David has shown millions of people how important it is that we care for our planet.

In recognition of David’s work inspiring future naturalists, lots of plants and animals have been named after him, including a giant carnivorous plant, a smiley-faced spider and a long-necked dinosaur.

Attenborosaurus

Nepenthes attenboroughii

Spintharus davidattenboroughi

David has won many television awards, including BAFTAs, Peabody Awards and Emmys, and was knighted in 1985, becoming Sir David Attenborough. In 2018, the UK’s new polar research ship was named RRS Sir David Attenborough in his honour.

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, Y ! Is there at least one tree for every person in the world?

Yes, Toby, there is! There are abo ut 3 trillion trees on Earth. We can divide that number by the world’s cur rent human population (7.9 billion ) to reveal that there are about 380 trees per person. This value change s over time, mainly because the world’ s population is growing, but the number of trees changes too. Clearing for agriculture and building me ans that we currently have around half the number of trees that existe d before humans started to cha nge their environment. Hopefully, tree populations are about to rise again, as countries start to reforest and plant trees to combat climate change .

Toby, aged 12

F oR

CURIoUS K I DS

Check out these abso-tooth-ly awesome mouth models from Issue 70 – they certainly made us smile! I really enjoyed making these enormous teeth! My little brother helped me.

I brushed the teeth! William, aged 7

is Check out th ap m e interactiv the in e er h w showing ee tr s world all the ere there are – and wh more: en could be ev nA bit.ly/3y61M

Robin, aged 7

Josiah, aged 6, has had lots of fun learning abou teeth! He mad t e the tooth tracker from Issue 70 all by himself.

Abigail, aged 7

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 recently? Done any cool experiments? Write to Y@whizzpopbang.com to tell us all about them! Investigate scientific questions to earn your Super Scientist badge.

Look at the awesome elephant’s toothpaste from Issue 70 that Meg, aged 10, and Rory, aged 6, made!

Help save the planet to earn your Eco Hero badge.

AS K Y, If you’re on a

I made garden furniture out of twigs, string and lolly sticks!

motorway in the rain, wh does the water go up y the window rather than do wn?

Priscilla, d aged 6, enjoye er h g in mak miniature garden.

Rahel, aged 9

I made tooth stone steps, a little pond and some bunting. I added little plants from around my garden.

What an interesting observation, Rahel! As a car moves through the air, the air is forced over, under and around the car. The study of how this works is called aerodynamics. The air which travels over the car is pushed up the windscreen and over the roof. This pushes any raindrops upwards too. The pattern on the side windows is more complex. As the air travels around the side of the car, it becomes turbulent (travelling in lots of directions), which means that some raindrops stay still, some form rivers and others make their own path!

Esther, aged 6, made this awesome tooth fairy garden.

, Last u D E A RticeY ch night I no d the Pika s on my Pokémon py jama llow was red instead of ye when my red and blue nightlight was on. Why does this happen?

S TA R R L ET T E

ve You’ a won er! bind

Well done Chloe, aged 7, who made a poster to convince her school to become an Eco-School. She’s also starting an eco club at school.

Find out how your school can become an Eco-School! bit.ly/3jkL3ce

Elliot, aged 8

Colours of light behave very differently to colours of paint when you mix them. When you look at Pikachu in white light (which is a mix of all the colours in a rainbow), most of the colours are absorbed (soaked up) by the yellow dye, and only the yellow light is reflected, so that’s the colour that you see. However, yellow light is actually a mix of red and green light. When you shine a red light on Pikachu, there’s no longer any green light to be reflected back so only the red is reflected and Pikachu looks red. If you look at Pikachu with a blue light, which has no red or green light, Pikachu should absorb all of the light and look completely black!

Y’s Wonder Club BADGES!

This month, we’re launching our new Science Reporter badge!

Get problem solving to earn your Epic Engineer badge.

To find out what you need to do to earn your badge, 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.

How much can you remember from this issue?

um/Dad/ Test your M der to eco club lea

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!

Beavers are about the size of...

a) Sea cows

small frog b) A

b) Sea bears

c) A hedgehog

c) Sea sloths

a) Only red and

green light

When David Atten borough was a child, he colle cted... a) Fossils

b) Televisions

s of

ll the colour b) A the rainbow

c) Smartphones

c) No colours

How did Leah Namugerwa celebrate her 15th birthday? a) She picked up 100,000

b) At a solar farm

b) S he released 15 helium balloons into the sky

c) S he planted 200 trees

How far is Earth from the Sun? a) 15 million km

W here can you or, find a yaw mot an anemometer and a nacelle? a) At a wind fa

pieces of rubbish

What is another name for manatees?

a) A bulldog

e What does whit light contain?

I went to a wind farm this week. It blew me away!

c) Down a coal

mine

Answers on page 34.

Which of the following is a n animal at risk of exti nction? a) Ringo seal

50 million km b) 1

b) Arctic peng

50 trillion km c) 1

c) Hawksbill tu

uin rtle

Need a hint? Find the answers by reading these pages… 1) Page 12 2) Page 35 3) Page 31 4) Page 28 5) Page 27 6) Pages 24-25 7) Page 6 8) Page 9

I scored: .......... 1-3: Activist-in-training 4-6: P lanet protector 7-8: Eco superhero

W ! IN

Solar power number search!

Solar panels are an important source of renewable energy. Complete the grid to be in with a chance of winning one of five super solar-powered rover kits. Find and circle these numbers in the grid. They may be written horizontally, vertically, forwards or backwards. Write down the leftover numbers and letters here.

This is the approximate area of solar panels that could supply all of the world’s electricity needs.

265 – the average power output in watts of a single photovoltaic solar panel on a house 1,400 – approximate number

1839 – when Alexandre Edmond Becquerel first observed the photovoltaic effect

1954 – when the first practical solar cell was invented by Bell Laboratories in the US

km2

of hours per year that a 2 kW solar array in the UK could power a 1 kW hairdryer

1967 – when Soyuz 1 became the first manned spacecraft to be powered by solar cells

1978 – the year the first solar-powered calculators were produced

Solar-powered rovers kit With this fantastic kit from brightminds.co.uk, you can build five fun solar-powered models. Construct three types of cars, a solar fan and a solar robot, which move using electricity generated directly from sunlight. Experiment with the solar cell, electric motor, gears and ultralight materials. Send the number that is left over to win@whizzpopbang.com with ‘Eco competition’ as the subject of your email. Alternatively, post your entry to Eco 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: October 8th 2021. UK residents only. Full terms and conditions available at whizzpopbang.com

WINNERS

Issue 72 competition winners Thank you to all of you who sent in your awesome insect art. We were so impressed we had trouble choosing these five lucky winners, so well done to everyone! These five winners will each receive an Insect Lore Butterfly Garden from insectlore.co.uk

Dhyaana Haria, 8 Joe Chamberlain, 6 Charlotte Liepa, 9 Thomas Foot, 7

Heather Davidson, 10

whizzpopbang.com 33

JOKES What’s the best day to collect solar power? Sun-day!

I made 16,000 kWh of power yesterday… it was a breeze!

turbine What did the wind nel? say to the solar pa ” “Hey! I’m a big fan!

ee Why did the tr ? nels install solar pa t! e a power plan b o t d e t n a w It

How do solar panels like their eggs? Sunny side up! Page 10 – Word search

Page 7 – True/Untrue TRUE: Global warming has been happening for more than 150 years and is already having effects on our climate in the UK: Heatwaves are more likely, there are fewer frosty days and there is more rainfall each year. Page 9 – Penguin puzzle

FINISH

U B M P

D H Y

K W R

D N W Z

G U

R N B B

X N L

D M H

W F M C M X

Z W S

A V

N R

H O

V W A

E W L

R N L

E A

Z W F

B M M U V

R K

P M S

O H

T H T

R N A W L

Q N L

X K

R N X

D N O

R A

E N

N O

E N H O

O N H K

A N

Answers Page 13 – Beavers puzzle There are 12 adult beavers and 36 babies (12 x 3), so there are 48 beavers in total. Page 20 – Spot the difference

Page 12 – True/Untrue

START

UNTRUE: Beavers’ tails have lots more uses – they act as a steadying rudder, a fat store and they help to regulate the beaver’s body temperature. They also slap their tails on the surface of the water to warn of danger! Page 13 – True/Untrue TRUE(ish!): Beavers have transparent eyelids which enable them to see clearly underwater in the same way that goggles help us to see when we’re swimming.

Page 20 – Riddles 1. Pour sand into the hole, a little at a time. The bird will keep standing on the new sand, gradually rising up out of the hole. 2. Its shadow. Page 32 – Quiz 1) a 2) a 3) b 4) a 5) c 6) a 7) b 8) c

This is a mother manatee and her calf. Also known as sea cows, manatees are aquatic mammals that need to rise to the surface regularly to breathe. This subspecies, the Florida manatee, lives in shallow water along the coasts and in the rivers of south-eastern USA. They graze on sea grass and other water plants, helping to maintain a healthy ecosystem. Manatees are gentle and don’t have any natural predators, but they are at risk from hunting, pollution and being struck by boats. Thanks to conservation efforts, their numbers have increased but they are still at risk due to habitat loss caused by pollution and climate change.

R A L U C A T C E SP

e c n e i c s

Mythical beauties Early explorers are reported to have mistaken manatees for mermaids! Christopher Columbus, one of the first Europeans to sail to the Americas, wrote about seeing three mermaids in the West Indies in 1493.

Sea cows

7 5 IS S U E !

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