Parents’ Choice Awards Gold Medal Recipient
Brainspace INTERACTIVE MAGAZINE FOR KIDS 8-14
WHERE great minds go to grow
32+ pages of thought provoking content
MARINE HERO Dr. Sylvia Earle
DISCOVER:
COLOURFUL GEOMETRIC MULTIPLICATION
BRAIN MYTHS Exposing the truth
EN FRANÇAIS S.V.P LES VERBES ÊTRE ET AVOIR OCEAN VERTEBRATES AND THEIR HERO
AMY CASTELL Speaks out on traffic toxins
Was this a true dino? real jurassic dinosaurs according TO science publication agreement number 42642027 SUMMER 2015
CAN $7.95
1. GET THE FREE
CH WAT S COVER
2. LAUNCH
LAYAR app at
the iTunes store
or Google Play
this /tablet & scan
on your phone
28 PAGES OF ACADEMIC CONTENT for kids 8 - 14
cover.
brainspace
THI COME TO LIFE
3. TAP when
the video
go full is loaded to
screen.
DIAN ACTIVE CANA DIGITALLY INTER
WHERE KIDS GO TO LEARN EVEN MORE
80
POLYGONS ls Roman numera feed and how to your brain!
S ACAdEmIC PAGE fOR StudENtS 8 GRAdES 3 tO
atmosphere do a tthe winds form?
100% Canadian got Places you’ve to see!
INVASIVE SPECIES are Sea lampreys hard making life for our fishes
beings migrate from? b
CANAdIAN VOLCANOES And other natural this wonders in great country WINTER 2015
WATCH OUR
SEE MORE
AUGMENTED REALITY VIDEOS INSIDE THIS MAGAZINE!
This cover is interactive.
Scan this page
42642027
CAN $8.95
Discover interactive content
IT’s WHERE KIDs GO fOR
s
the 2015 Pan am &
@BrainspaceMag
ParaPan am Games
2
EINSTEIN’S E=mc Why we love him
PUBLICATION AGREEMENT
CAN $6.95
NUMBER 42642027
INTERACTIVE PRINT
Download the free Layar App
Scan this page
tomatoeS on marS? travellers Students garden for space
icebreaKer ScHoolSship
Discover interactive content
publication agreement SPRING 2015
brainspacemagazine.com
GREATER lEARNING
Learning aboard an Arctic
TO ACCESS AUGMENTED REALITY CONTENT IN BRAINSPACE FOLLOW THESE LAYAR DIRECTIONS
KIDS 8-14
51sport countries 41 7500athletes
BOO!
COME TO LIFE
Download the free Layar App
NE FOR INTERACTIVE MAGAZI
SCARY (& NOT-SO-SCARY) STUFF TO EXPLORE
TO ACCESS AUGMENTED REALITY CONTENT IN BRAINSPACE FOLLOW THESE LAYAR DIRECTIONS
CAN $7.95
• XRAY IT! The magic of crystallography • READ IT! Books for special days in the Fall • GROW IT! DIY crystal snowflakes
SNOWMAN
universe would we u be without gravity? b
PUBLICATION AGREEMENT NUMBER 42642027
2
INSIDE THIS ISSUE:
TOUCHY! Plants that react
WHERE did human W WHERE in the W
Trend Alert the Stay ahead of e curve with thes new gadgets
agreement number
SEE OUR SKELETON DISAPPEAR FOLLOW THE LAYAR DIRECTIONS AT THE BOTTOM OF THIS COVER
WHERE in the W
BONUS Invasive r species poste
WINTER 2014
HEY MAKE ME HIDE!
PROKARYOTE Naughty and nice
Parents’ ChoiCe awards
WITH iPADS
WARNING: THIS WILL CHANGE THE WAY YOU READ MAGAZINES . FOREVER.
FOR FIVE EQUALS VERY COOL FUN AND GREAT MATH!
Gold Medal recipient
Brainspace Brainspace ENT for kids 8 - 14
SMART STUFF FOR KIDS
SNOWBALLS
22
publication
20 PAGES OF ACADEMIC CONT
CANADIAN INTERACTIVE MAGAZINE FOR KIDS
KIDS MAGAZINE FOR
HAPPY ! ING SPRWATCH OUR
G DUCKlIN TO lIfE COME
This cover is interactive.
number 42642027
CAN $7.95
/BrainspaceMagazine /BrainspaceMagazine @BrainspaceMag
brainspace magazine summer
2015
3
biology
4
brainspacemagazine.com
@BrainspaceMag
/BrainspaceMagazine
brainspace magazine summer
2015
5
MERR Institute’s Rob Rector, suggests 8 things to do at home every day to make oceans a safer place:
1
know the number of your nearby stranding or animal rescue organization. Most coastal areas have organizations dedicated and trained to help sea turtles and other marine mammals when they appear on the beach, alive or dead.
2
SAFELY DISPOSE OF BALLOONS. Balloons are fun but they pose choking risks for young children and animals alike. Helium-filled mylar balloons tend to float off and often land on our waters and beaches. These shiney balloons are attractive and seem tasty to marine life.
3
Use cloth bags when shopping. Non-biodegradable plastic bags in the ocean can often be mistaken for food by sea turtles, getting lodged in their throats or stomachs. Using cloth bags can save six or more plastic bags a week and more than 300 bags each year.
4
DON’T LITTER Pick up trash. When you’re strolling along the beach, take a container to pick up any random debris you might find -- cups, bottles, balloons, fishing line -- as turtles may not only also mistake them for food, but could get tangled in them, resulting in injury or death.
such as paints and motor oil can be deadly to many plants and animals if you do not dispose properly of them. Use products that are environmentally safe and locate places near you that dispose of oil and paint properly.
5
Turn out the lights. If you live near or visiting a beach where sea turtles are nesting, make sure to keep all artificial lights off, as brightly lit beaches deter pregnant females from coming ashore to lay their eggs and hatchlings are guided by the moonlight to the ocean after they are born. Light pollution can distract the hatchlings from their course.
6
Reduce the amount of chemicals you use. Chemicals found in products for lawns, gardens and homes can run off into water supplies that feed into local oceans. Items
7
Plant a tree. Trees take in carbon dioxide during photosynthesis, and can counteract global warming. The more trees on our planet means the more carbon dioxide is absorbed.
8
Get Social. If you have a social media account, use it to spread the word about endangered sea turtles and ways we all can help. Post links and informational articles about sea turtles and the various threats they face. The more we all know, the more we can help improve the health of our oceans and all its creatures.
VISIT http://www.merrinstitute.org
Dylan Baist-Bliss
There are 3 species of sea turtle in Canadian waters: leatherback, loggerhead and green. Sea turtles do not nest on Canadian beaches.
6
brainspacemagazine.com
@BrainspaceMag
/BrainspaceMagazine
science
Maggie MacLellan of Let’s Talk Science shared why they’re helping students track their mileage in the name of math, science and for the benefit of our plantet.
V
ehicles are pretty useful. Besides getting you from point A to point B, they can carry stuff, they can carry other people, and they can go further more quickly than your own two feet. They are also quite good at other things that might not come as easily to mind, like contributing to smog and climate change. If you’ve ever been stuck in traffic behind a big heavy truck, you’ve no doubt smelled the noxious gases spewing out. Even when you can’t smell anything, vehicles emit all sorts of nasty stuff that can have less than positive effects on people and the planet. In Canada, transportation accounts for 30 per cent of our energy demand (second only to industry), which is about the same as all other businesses and homes combined. Over half of that demand is for passenger transportation. Energy use drives the Canadian economy, underpinning nearly all aspects of everyday life. Yet, despite its critical importance, energy systems are complex, making it difficult for students to understand how much energy they consume and how that energy is developed. Now, more than ever, young people need to think critically about their role as energy consumers so they can make informed choices about energy issues in the future.
What is the purpose of collecting travel data? Transportation uses a lot of energy! In Canada, transportation accounts for almost 30 per cent of our energy demand (second only to industry). In fact, Canadians on average spend more money on transportation than on food. Young people represent a large sector of transportation users and their transportation use is steadily increasing. To become aware of the types of transportation you use, the distances you travel, the reasons you use transportation and the energy consumption helps you become more intelligent about your own transportation use. Armed with an awareness of the impact that transportation choices have on our environment, will empower you to make changes to your daily routines to conserve energy.
Let’s Talk Science created an educational theme Spotlight on Energy, which explores all aspects of energy systems, including the sourcing, production, transmission, consumption and impact of energy. For one week, students collect data on their transportation usage. As citizen scientists, students are able to compare their data to that of their group (e.g., class, club) while groups can compare their data with other groups across Canada and observe the differences or similarities. Students can compare their data to Canadian celebrities like race car driver, Amy Castell and Canadian rock group, the Barenaked Ladies.
brainspace magazine summer
2015
7
What is the leading cause of greenhouse gases and how does it affect us?
Greenhouse gases (GHGs) are gases in the upper atmosphere that have heat-trapping properties. The problem we are facing today is that too many GHGs are being pumped into the atmosphere. This, in turn, causes the atmosphere to thicken, making the planet hotter and our weather more extreme. The United Nations (UN) has identified six main greenhouse gases. They are:
CO
CH
NO 2
HFC
PFC
SF
carbon dioxide
methane
nitrous oxide
hydrofluorocarbons
perfluorocarbons
sulphur hexafluoride
2
4
s
s
6
Fuel combustion in motor vehicles is the primary source of nitrous oxide (N2O); burning fossil fuels is the main source of carbon dioxide (CO2); and one of the main sources of methane (CH4) is the production and transportation of natural gas, oil and coal. Most scientists believe that one of the major factors contributing to global warming is the increase in carbon dioxide (CO2) levels in the atmosphere by the burning of fossil fuels. It’s clear that transportation is a major contributor to greenhouse gases.
Combustion We all know that most cars and trucks run on fuel. Although some vehicles now also run on electricity, more often than not, most run on fossil fuels, like gasoline or diesel which are burned inside an engine. That’s why it’s called an internal combustion engine – combustion is basically a specific term for burning. In a car’s engine, fuel is put into a small, enclosed space and then ignited. This ignition releases a large amount of energy in the form of rapidly expanding gases (i.e. an explosion). By setting off hundreds of these explosions every minute, a car’s engine is able to move pistons up and down, which in turn is converted into rotational motion by the crankshaft that moves the car. The gases, which we call exhaust, then leave the engine through the car’s exhaust pipe (tailpipe) and muffler. These vehicle exhaust emissions can affect air quality (a measure of the amount of pollutants in the air) both down near the Earth’s surface where we live and breathe as well as high in the atmosphere.
What are the options to using biofuels?
Biofuels are produced from organic material such as plants, municipal waste, agricultural waste and algae (collectively called biomass). Biofuels are renewable resources that burn cleaner than gasoline and diesel, and can reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Some biofuels (such as ethanol, biodiesel and biogas) are already being used to reduce dependence on fossil fuels. Biofuels are not new. Henry Ford originally planned to power his Model T cars using ethanol, but gasoline became the fuel of choice because it was cheap, plentiful and could produce more energy per litre. By understanding the science behind both biofuels and fossil fuels, students can make informed decisions for their futures. Conclusion: For a citizen science project on energy and transportation, join Let’s Talk Science’s free Energy4Travel action project online at CurioCity. To find out more and to register, visit: www.ExploreCurioCity.org/Energy4Travel.
8
brainspacemagazine.com
@BrainspaceMag
/BrainspaceMagazine
ACID RAIN Experiment What you need
What’s happening?
Chalk • Vinegar • Clear container • Measuring cup
When the chalk is added to an acid like vinegar, a chemical reaction occurs. It’s called a neutralization. This occurs when an acid and a base are combined. During the reaction a gas and a neutral solution are formed. The gas produced in this activity is carbon dioxide and can be seen as bubbles in the vinegar. Crushing the chalk before adding it to the vinegar speeds up the reaction. Keep adding more chalk and eventually the bubbles stop forming. This shows that all the acid in the vinegar has been used up. This reaction occurs in the environment when weak acids in rain react with limestone and other rocks. The result is erosion (the wearing away of rock). It occurs very gradually. Limestone and marble are made of the same material as chalk, and are used for constructing buildings and statues. Rain that is too acidic will “eat away” at these structures very quickly, the same way the vinegar ate away at the chalk.
Safety First!
Be careful not to rub your eyes when handling vinegar. Wash your hands immediately after finishing this experiment.
What to do
www.fuseschool.org
1 Break chalk into approximately 1/2 cm pieces. 2 Crush each 1/2 cm piece of chalk into smaller pieces, keeping each crushed 1/2 cm portion separate from each other. 3 Pour 100mL of vinegar into the clear container. 4 Add one crushed 1/2 cm piece of chalk to the container and observe the changes that take place. 5 Record what you see happening. 6 Add another piece of chalk to the container. Record what you see happening. 7 Continue to add chalk until you do not see any more changes taking place.
Why does it matter?
Acid rain erosion of limestone and marble can result in a loss of artwork (outdoor statues, monuments, plaques, etc) that cannot be recovered. This increases the cost of maintaining buildings. Ecosystems like lakes and rivers can become too acidic, which can kill fish and other water-dwelling creatures. This destruction results in a compromised food source for birds and other animals. On the positive side, regions where the bedrock or soil contain large amounts of limestone are less likely to have polluted water due to acid rain. The limestone (which is a base) is able to neutralize acid rain before it gets into the lakes and rivers, in the same way the chalk in our experiment neutralized the vinegar. This means that damage due to acid rain depends on both the pH (level of acidity) of the rain and the type of soil/bedrock.
Launch Blippar. Hold your device over this page to watch this video about acid rain. Huge thanks to www.fuseschool.org. Visit their site for more great science.
brainspace magazine summer
2015
9
en francais
Les verbes
avoir et être Most errors made in verb conjugation are due to direct translation from English. If you intend to say I am finished the direct translation “Je suis fini” is often impropery used.
to have = avoir pronom verbe
I have You have He has She has
J’ Tu Il Elle On
We have You have They have
Nous avons Vous avez Ils ont Elles ont
10
ai as a a a
brainspacemagazine.com
Correctly say “J’ai fini.” Which is literally, I have finished. Watch the video above to learn how to conjugate both of of these frequently used verbs in the present tense.
to be = être pronom verbe
fatigué (tired) malade (sick) honête (honest) drôle (funny) triste (sad)
faim (hunger) soif (thirst) mal (pain) peur (fear) courage (courage)
I am You are He is She is
Je Tu Il Elle On
raison (correct) un stylo (pen) des muscles (muscles) honte (shame)
We are You are They are
Nous sommes heureux (happy) jolies (pretty) Vous êtes foux (silly) Ils sont Elles sont
suis es est est est
@BrainspaceMag
/BrainspaceMagazine
chemistry THE SCIENCE OF SPECTACULAR
Fireworks “What causes the BOOM noise!” The sonic boom is caused by the sudden release of a large energy mass into the air. The air expands faster than the speed of sound and creates a shock wave. KABOOM! “What makes the colors happen?” It’s all about the metal salts. If you throw table salt on a campfire the flame will burn a bright yellow. The chart below explains which compounds are burned to generate blue, red, purple and other colours. The bright sparkles in fireworks come from burning small bits of iron (FE) filings. Iron is the fourth most
Li
Lithium
Sr
Strontium
common element in our planet earth’s crust. It’s also cool to know that iron in your blood is what makes your blood able to carry oxygen throughout your body. “Why are fireworks smoky and smelly?” Black powder is the activator in most types of firework. It is made of potassium nitrate, charcoal and sulfur. The white smoke that you see in the sky after the firework has exploded is made of water vapor. The combustion heats the water that is present in the air and it vaporizes around the black powder’s potassium and sulfur particulates. The sulfur is what smells likes eggs when it burns.
Lithium and Strontium salts colour flames red. Lithium is the lightest of metal and is used in medicine to stabilize mental health diseases. Strontium salts burn a bright red color to flames, and these salts are used in pyrotechnics and in the production of flares.
Ca
Calcium creates the orange colour in fireworks. Calcium phosphide is used in fireworks, rodenticide, torpedoes and flares. Calcium sulfate is used as blackboard chalk Approximately 99 percent of the body’s calcium is stored in bones and teeth.
Na
Sodium creates the yellow colour in fireworks. The sodium you get from salt is what allows nerves to send and receive electrical impulses. Salt-based water softeners help save energy, save money, and save the environment.
Cu
Copper creates the blue colour in fireworks. We get copper from foods such as grains, beans, potatoes and leafy greens. Copper kills bacteria and yeasts on contact, according to the journal Applied and Environmental Microbiology. Copper can even be woven into fabrics to make antimicrobial garments, like socks that fight foot fungus.
Ba
Barium creates the green colour in fireworks. Barium nitrate, which can sometimes be found in fireworks is toxic to animals. Barium sulfate is used in large quantities as a contrast agent for X-ray, as a bleaching agent for paper and as pigment in paint.
Calcium
Sodium
Copper
Barium
K
Potassium
Mg
Magnesium
Potassium and its salts colour flames violet. Potassium is also found in black powder. Potassium is the seventh most common element in the earth’s crust and also occurs in large quantities in seawater. Potassium is an essential nutrient for plants which is why it’s in fertilizer. If you get cramps in your muscles, you may need potassium in your diet. Bananas are rich in potassium. Magnesium is used in metallic form, often combined with aluminum to give white, flashing effects. Magnesium is oxidized during combustion to form magnesium oxide. Magnesium oxide is a harmless substance, used in medicine to neutralize stomach acid and acidic effects from other substances, for example aspirin. Magnesium is the eighth most common element in the earth’s crust. brainspace magazine summer
2015
11
ALL YOU NEED IS: graph paper n colouring pencil n colouring pencil n colouring pencil
mathematics
Artsy Times It’s a fun and accurate mathpuzzle that you create just by thinking of a multiplication question. Go Big! It’s easy. It won’t get you the answer as quickly as a calculator or the traditional way of multiplying but it is fun and easy. By deconstructing your multiplicand and your multiplier, colouring squares to represent them and finally adding them all up, the pattern of math is built before your eyes! Visualizing math, is a great way to understand it. So get your graph paper, colouring pencils (3 colours) and let’s create! HERE’S THE LOGIC TO THE ART: Assign a colour for each of your family of numbers. We chose: n for hundreds n for tens n for units We suggest staying with the same colours until you get very good at it. Then challenge yourself by choosing 3 other colours. Now deconstruct your numbers onto graph paper like this: multiplicand (# being repeated)
multiplier (# that tells how many repetitions)
32 x 25 is the same as (30 + 2) x (20 + 5 colour in: 3 tens and 2 units x 2 tens and 5 units
}
Challenge your parents and friends. You’ll be amazed at how quickly you’ll remember your multiplication tables with this work.
MAGIC ZERO When multiplying with numbers that end in zeroes, simply multiply the whole numbers for the answer and pencil in the number of zeroes at the end of it. Like this: 7 x 200 is 7 x 2 (14) with 2 xeroes on the end = 1400 5 x 10 is 5 x 1 (5) with 1 zero on the end = 50 30 x 40 is 3 x 4 (12) with 2 zeroes on the end = 1200 32 x 2000 is 32 x 4 (64) with 3 zeroes on the end = 64000
12
brainspacemagazine.com
each family has units, tens and hundreds, for example units of thousands, tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands or units of millions, tens of millions and hundreds of millions. Units, tens, hundreds over and over in that order to infinity! It’s what we call Base 10 math.
•
•
•
•
10
•
•
•
•
10
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
10
10
10
3
2 5
2)
x
(m u l t i pl i c an d
100
100
100
10
10
10
10
10
10
10
10
100 x 6 10 x 4 10 =4010 100 100 100 =600
10 x 15 1 x 10 =10 10 =150 10 10 10
10
10
10
10
10
3
2)
@BrainspaceMag
2
m u l t i p l i e r
STEP 1 Make up the quadrants for the area you’ll be colouring in by placing a coloured dot in each square. STEP 2 fill in the squares to produce the effect below. STEP 3 COUNT. Note that you are counting the base 10 value of the square (1 or 10 or 100 etc).
5
STEP 4 ADD. 600 + 40 + 150 + 10 = 800
x
Verify with your calculator
/BrainspaceMagazine
Watch this Brainspace video to see how it’s done! For more examples, visit brainspacemagazine.com
ON GRAPH PAPER Practice getting the hang of these with the help of the answers below: 632 x 41; 53 x 65; 3,432 x 35. Once you get the hang of it, you’ll want bigger questions. It’s that easy. And fun. B
A 1,000 100
10
100
D
10
E
F
6 3 632 x 41 is the same as A B C + D E F
C
600 x 40 > 30 x 40 > 2 x 40 > 600 x 1 > 30 x 1 > 2 x 1 >
ADD them all up: 24,000 1,200 80 600 30 2
2
4 1
or 24 x 1,000 or 12 x 100 or 8 x 10 or 6 x 100 or 3 x 10 or 2 x 1
3
100
10
5
3
5
53 x 65 is the same as A B + C D
50 x 60 > or 30 x 100 3 x 60 > or 18 x 10 50 x 5 > or 25 x 10 3 x 5 > or 15 x 1
ADD them all up: 3,000 180 250 15
5
6
10
3 4 3 3,452 x 35 is the same as 3,000 x 30 400 x 30 30 x 30 2 x 30 3,000 x 5 400 x 5 30 x 5 2x5
2
or 9 x 10,000 or 12 x 1,000 or 9 x 100 or 6 x 10 or 15 x 1,000 or 20 x 100 or 15 x 10 or 10 x 1
ADD them all up. Check with a calculator.
brainspace magazine summer
2015
13
history
Jurassic Parts
How is a dinosaur different from other creatures 120 million years ago? Paleontologists have studied their bones.
E
arlier on in this issue, you may have examined a chart with the classifications of vertebrates. Features that are particular to a group of animals, flowers, bacteria or fungi allow scientists to identify them based on their relationships and evolution. The same applies to dinosaurs. Millions of years ago, there were reptiles that gave birth to live young and animals that looked like fish but couldn’t breathe underwater. There were several types of flying creatures and some were the size of a horse. Yes, they were fascinating lifeforms but not all of them were dinosaurs. For years, our history books lumped all prehistoric animals together and called them the Greek word for terrible lizards; dinosaurs. Anything that was extinct, large and essentially looked like an oversized lizard was put into the same category. It has remained that way until paleontologists began to recognize distinct physcial characteristics to the true dino, particularly in their heads and legs. Science has defined what sets the dino apart from the rest and you may be surprised to discover that some of the animals you thought were dinos aren’t.
14
brainspacemagazine.com
@BrainspaceMag
/BrainspaceMagazine
Dinosaurs lived on all the continents,
including Antarctica. dinosaur Characteristics
Reptilian They lay eggs. Lived on Land If it swam or lived in water, it wasn’t a dino. Did Not Fly If it took to the skies, it wasn’t a dino. It Had Hips A dinosaur’s legs were under his body that allowed their legs to go directly up and down as opposed to modern day lizards whose legs are to the side with thigh bones that are parallel to the ground. Skulls with 2 holes behind the eye on each side of the head. It allowed the skulls to grow huge without getting too heavy. These are called diapsids (di two, apsids arched).
non dinosaurs
Pleisioraus, pliosaurs They were huge marine reptiles and were more like today’s lizards than to true dinosaurs. They could swim. Add to this the fact that they gave birth to live young and this animal is without question not a dinosaur. Dimetrodon They are more than 100 million years older than dinosaurs and are not true reptiles. They are more mammalian in that they only have one hole in their skulls making them synapsids - like us. Pterosaurs Named “Winged Lizards” they lived 230 to 66 million years ago. Pterodactyls and pterodons were later evolutions of the pterosaurs. The most awesome flying prehistoric creature was the Quetzalcoatlus with a wingspan of 10 metres. It was comparable in size to a giraffe. It could fly. Nuf said. ICHTYOSAURS Named “Fish Lizards.” Like fish, they had finlike flippers to propel themselves in water but they couldn’t breathe in water. They also gave birth to live young. No eggs. No dino. Mososaurs About 70 million years ago, around the time of the triceratops and sauropods, these “sea monsters” ruled the waters. They were most closely related to snakes as they had double-hinged jaws allowing them to swallow their prey whole. They ate everything in the water. Not on land so not a dino.
NEWLY DISCOVERED NON DINOSAUR ICHTYOSAUR A fossil found on Scotland’s Isle of Skye back in 1959 represents a new species of dolphinlike predator that belonged to a group of extinct marine reptiles called ichthyosaurs. The remains they examined were incomplete, but they believe the dolphin-like predator was about 14 feet (4.3 meters) long, making it one of the smaller, more primitive ichthyosaurs. The scientists have dubbed the new species of ichthyosaur Dearcmhara shawcrossi. Dearcmhara (pronounced “jark vara”) is a Scottish Gaelic word meaning “marine lizard.”
Cretaceous-Paleogene extinction event was the massive annihilation of three-quarters of plant and animal species on Earth 66 million years ago.
brainspace magazine summer
2015
15
Too much
gas OZONE GAS It’s a gas and it’s quite a rare one with about three molecules of ozone for every 10 million air molecules. It’s highly reactive and it’s both natural and man-made. Despite it’s small quantity in our atmosphere, ozone is crucial.
GREEHOUSE GASES THE GOOD Carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide aren’t bad gases if in the right quantity. They prevent our planet from freezing. They create a filter layer to retain some of the heat on Earth. That way, Earth can have temperatures that all lifeforms can thrive in. It’s like having an insular blanket that keeps our planet cozy enough to sustain life.
TOO MUCH ISN’T GOOD Factories, transportation, electricity consumption and deforestation are creating too much of the gases. Deforestation is eliminating our trees which naturally absorb carbon dioxide. In excess, this trio of gases can cause disruption in our atmosphere by forming a layer that traps the heat of the sun’s rays. When the heat is trapped back into our atmosphere by the thickening gas layer, the heat spreads everywhere warming our planet. This is commonly known as, Global Warming.
16
brainspacemagazine.com
@BrainspaceMag
/BrainspaceMagazine
WHERE ON EARTH IS THE OZONE? Ozone is mainly found in two regions of the Earth’s atmosphere; Much of the ozone (about 90%) is between 10 and 17 km (6 and 10 miles) above the Earth’s surface in our troposphere and goes up to about 50 km (30 miles) into our stratosphere. Stratospheric ozone is referred to as “good ozone” because it is busy absorbing most of the harmful ultraviolet sunlight (called UV-B), allowing a perfect amount to reach the Earth’s surface.
Water in the atmosphere also acts as a greenhouse gas. The atmosphere contains a lot of water. The water can be in the form of a gas, as water vapor. This is what causes humidity. Water is also in the form of a liquid when in clouds. Clouds are water vapor that has cooled and condensed back into tiny droplets of liquid water.
Don’t clouds shield us from heat? In the day, clouds reflect the Sun’s energy back to space, before it has a chance to heat Earth’s surface. But at night, clouds trap some of the heat from Earth’s surface stopping it from escaping back into space. So, do clouds keep our Earth cooler or warmer? The answer isn’t known. NASA missions are presently looking for clues to this riddle.
fold this under as shown below
Water as a greenhouse gas?
brainspace magazine summer
2015
17
Smooth Moves The affects of our ever-moving planet. Time Zones by Marnie Ferguson What time is it where you are? Do you have a grandmother in Goa? A cousin in California? A pal in Paris? Communicating throughout the world is easy. You can call, send a message by email or text or call on an internet phone service like Skype. But wherever you are, the time will be different as you move east and west around the world. For every degree in longitude, there is a change in time of four minutes. Long ago before countries traded with each other and before people traveled from one part of the world to another, there were different times wherever you went. Even if you traveled a short distance, the time in one town could be different from the time in a town only a few kilometres away. So, all countries worked together to develop UTC (Universal Time Coordinated). The Prime Meridian, 0° longitude, passes through Greenwich, England. So time is set around the world according to hours less than or more than the time it is in Greenwich, England. Each time zone is equal to 15° in longitude. There are 6 time zones across Canada; Newfoundland Time Zone, Atlantic Time Zone, Central Time Zone, Mountain Time Zone and Pacific Time Zone. Which time zone do you live in?
An hour to tomorrow? If you cross the Bering Strait from Alaska to Russia — only 85 km — on a Tuesday, it will be Wednesday when you arrive! That’s because the International Dateline runs through the Bering Strait. Our planet Earth spins one complete turn around its pole each day. That is why we have day and night. But why doesn’t every part of Earth’s surface receive the same amount of dark hours and light hours? Due to the Earth’s tilt, day and night are not evenly divided. As explained above in Changing
18
brainspacemagazine.com
@BrainspaceMag
/BrainspaceMagazine
Changing Seasons
Find the answer to this riddle. Kristen was born in December of 2005 yet her birthday always falls in the summer. How is this so? Go to brainspacemagazine. com to enter your answer for a chance to win a K’Nex prize package.
ENTER TO WIN!
Imagine that there is a pole going right through the center of Earth from top to the bottom. That pole is however, on a slight tilt. Scientists believe that at some point in it’s early formation, the Earth was hit hard and knocked slightly off it’s kilter. It was a lucky hit for us because as a result, Earth has seasons. Its axis doesn’t stand up straight. As Earth orbits the sun, its tilted axis always points in the same direction. Throughout the year, different parts of Earth get the sun’s direct rays. Why is the tilt of our planet such a game (or season) changer? Think of the difference between walking directly across your backyard or walking on an angle from one corner to the opposite corner. Which takes more time? The angled route, of course. Now apply that same logic to the sun’s rays. The angled rays take longer to reach the Earth’s surface so, the longer the time they have to *cool down*. The direct rays are hotter. The hemisphere receiving the direct rays of the sun has summer. The hemisphere tilted away from the sun gets angled sun rays and winter. As a result, the Northern and Southern hemispheres will always experience opposite seasons.
Orbit and rotation
• The Earth orbits the sun at 108,000 km/h. It takes 365.242199 days to complete one orbit. This varies for all planets, for example, Jupiter takes 10 of our years to complete its orbit. How old would you be on Jupiter? • The Earth rotates around its axis from west to east. It takes 24 hours to complete one rotation.
Seasons, one hemisphere is pointed slightly more towards the Sun, leaving the other pointed away. During this time, one hemisphere will be experiencing warmer temperatures and longer days while the other will experience colder temperatures and longer nights.
brainspace magazine summer
2015
19
Super
as
er ev
gon
w the Earth’s e belo crus
ne
h
About 300 million years ago, Earth had one massive supercontinent called Pangaea. Surrounded by a massive ocean called Panthalassa, the Earth cracked into underwater pieces and drifted apart and the rest is history. Sound crazy? That’s certainly what Alfred Wegener was thought of when he proposed this idea. It was his continental drift theory. Then one day, scientists realized maybe it wasn’t such a crazy idea. So, they came up with the explanation for Pangaea’s formation based on Wegener’s theory but made it what we now refer to as the theory of plate tectonics. In short, they propose that the Earth’s outer shell is broken up into several plates that slide over the Earth’s mantle.
t
No o
1
fold this under as shown below
2 3
4
1. Earth’s super-hot and super-dense inner core is mostly iron and nickel. The inner core is a solid sphere with a radius of 1,229 km. It’s about as hot as the sun’s surface! 2. The liquid outer core is about 2,250 km thick. It’s made of iron and nickel, too, but it’s a liquid. The currents in this liquid are what give the Earth its magnetic field. 3. The mantle is the huge layer of molten rock surrounding the outer core. It reaches a maximum thickness of about 3,000 km and varies in temperature, getting cooler and more brittle as it gets closer to the surface. 4. Earth’s crust is the thinnest layer, but’s the only one we ever see. There are two kinds: oceanic crust is denser, but it’s only 5 to 10 km thick. Continental crust, which is mostly granite, is 30 to 70 km thick.
20
brainspacemagazine.com
@BrainspaceMag
/BrainspaceMagazine
geology
Continent
Plate tectonics
In 1912, the German scientist Alfred Wegener suggested that the continents we know today were once crammed together in one “supercontinent� we now call Pangaea. His theory, known as continental drift, was first ridiculed by other scientists. For a fun look at this amazing story, watch the video on the facing page by The Amoeba People. For more performances by The Amoeba People, visit theamoebapeople.tumblr.com
The theory of Continental Drift
WATCH THIS VIDEO WITH BLIPPAR
brainspace magazine spring
2015
21
botany
Prehistoric
Gardens Have you ever wondered why dandelions sprout up everywhere in the lawn without being planted? Or how a forest becomes so full of trees when nobody is out there planting them? Plants have their own way of spreading their seeds or spores and creating their own food sources. They are survivors from very beginning of the Paleozoic Era. Scientists theorize that plants have descended from Green Algae. Bryophytes were the first recorded plant fossils. By the beginning of the Jurassic, plant life had evolved from Bryophytes, the low-growing mosses and liverworts that lacked vascular tissue to carry nutrients and were confined to swampy moist areas. What’s vascular tissue? Have you ever looked at a leaf and admired the lines that look like veins? Vascular tissue is what carries nutrients to the leaves of the plant. Ferns and gingkoes, complete with roots and vascular tissue to move water and nutrients and a spore system of reproduction, were the dominant plants of the early Jurassic. During the Jurassic, a new method of plant reproduction evolved. Gymnosperms, conebearing plants such as conifers, produced pollen that was carried by the wind. By the end of the Jurassic, the gymnosperms were widespread. True flowering plants, angiosperms, did not evolve until the Cretaceous period. They form the major group of today’s plants but they are relatively young having appeared approximately 130 to 140 million years ago according to recorded fossils. referenced from www.livescience.com/28739-jurassic-period.html
MOST of these prehistoric plant classifications still exist today. Use the chart to identify species of plants in your yard, park or local forest. You may enjoy your findings. Might you be a future botanist?
22
brainspacemagazine.com
@BrainspaceMag
/BrainspaceMagazine
ANGIOSPERMOPHYTA: These are abundant today with more than 230,000 species in existence. Early Cenozoic Era plants, they took over the plant world as their seed contains the embryo and nourishing foods. They are divided into plants with one seed leaf (monocotyledon) and 2 seed leaves (dicotyledon). GNETOPHYTA Today, there are only about 70 species. They are cone-bearing, like pine trees, but they look like flowering plants. They grow buried in sandy soil and grow 2 new leaves every 100 years. They can live to be 2,000 years old. Today, the Ephedra plant, part of this grouping, is used as medicine to treat hayfeaver and asthma. CONIFEROPHYTA These are tall trees with cones as seeds (like pine cones). The leaves of most conifers are needle shaped. Conifers today are a main source of lumber and paper. GINGKOPHYTA Ginko and Maidenhair trees are tall with distinctive leaves. The Ginko Biloba is the only living descendant of the Mesozoic Era. Ginko is used as a source of food and medicine. CYCADOPHYTA Cycads are small palmlike trees that look like pineapple plants. Some grow up to 3 meters high in tropical regions Filicinophyta They are mostly ferns growing in tropical regions. There are about 12,000 species known today. They reproduce by means of spores not seeds. SPHENOPHYTA These plants dominated the vegetation in the Carboniferous periods. Some were huge, woody, treelike plants. They had hollow jointed stems like modern day bamboo. lycopodiophyta: The first primitve land plants with leaves, stems and roots, these first appeared in the Silurian period. Dating back 410 million years, there are approximately 1,000 species living today as short herbaceous plants. Psilophyta: Psilophytes were fossil plants from the Upper Silurian and Devonian periods. They had no roots or leaves, but they had a vascular system. This classification is extinct and Whisk-ferns, are classified as Psilotaceae. Bryophyta: Fossilized bryophytes have been recorded dating back to the late Paleozoic Era. This group of plants grew in moist habitats, did not have stems, leaves or roots to transport water and nutrients. They reproduced by means of spores. There are 3 classes of bryophyte; moss, liverwort and hornworts. brainspace magazine summer
2015
23
Big Thinking
by Kanwal rafiq
Melissa BoyceBright
Have you ever had a great idea? An inspiration to make something really amazing? Whether for a science fair project or for fun, great ideas become great inventions. A passion, an idea, an inspiration is all it took for these kids to change the world with brilliant innovation. A little confidence and a lot of dedication did the rest. Here are a few kids that have made grown-ups take notice of their ideas. When Google notices, it’s got to be good.
]
“He likes to be on the phone while he’s driving, so I wanted to make sure that he’s not anymore.”
24
brainspacemagazine.com
Whitney Anderson (right)
Whitney Anderson, is a grade 10 student from Prince George,
BC. She is making an app that shuts down cell phones when people are driving. Anderson says she has always had an interest in technology. It was her love for her father that inspired her invention. His distracted driving was motivation for Whitney to put the brakes on his phone use in the car. Her app puts a screensaver blocker on the phone. The app reads incoming texts out loud so the driver doesn’t have to look at the phone. Texting and driving at the same time is illegal and highly dangerous. Many people die every year because of this. In many places in Canada, you have to pay a fine if you are caught. Whitney saw a problem and invented a solution. Her invention will likely prevent future accidents. @BrainspaceMag
/BrainspaceMagazine
Ann
Abdou
Sarr is a brilliant, young Canadian inventor. When he was 14 years old, he made an app called Celestial. This app uses different sounds to help people relax. The app also displays motion pictures that are relaxing to look at. Students at Abdou’s school were stressed because of their marks. They weren’t getting enough sleep and weren’t focusing on their homework. So Abdou started making this app to help them. Abdou travels a lot. He recorded some of these sounds himself while on trips. Some of the cool and unique ones are from his trip to Senegal in West Africa.
Makosinskiturly felt the need to make a difference. She is in Grade 12. She likes to dance, play the piano, and invent stuff. Very cool stuff. Ann’s friend from the Philippines told her that she failed a grade. “She didn’t have any electricity so she didn’t have any light to study with,” said Ann. That’s when Ann started making a new kind of flashlight. For her grade 10 science fair, she submitted a flashlight that works with body heat. That’s right! No batteries, just the natural heat of your hand. When Ann turned 15, she believed in her idea and submitted her newly invented flashlight to the Google Science Fair. It won. Ann thinks these types of inventions are important. They show how much potential we have. We can make electricity from our bodies. It’s totally possible and it’s cool!
brainspace magazine summer
2015
25
ONLY
Brain
10
Yack
Let’s talk about something really smart.
by tristan simpson
The writers at Brainspace thought it may be fitting that we discuss the brain. It is our namesake after all. The brain is the big boss of the body. If you don’t believe it, go ahead and move your left thumb. Even though your thumb did the work of moving, your brain neurons fired the *message* through your Central Nervous System (CNS) to tell your thumb to move. Your CNS is command central for a network of information highways throughout your body. A bit like the internet. Scientist have studied the brain for centuries. It is beautifully complicated and there’s still so much we don’t know about it. But there are many misconceptions about the brain. Let’s get smarter about a few of them.
There’s a myth that humans only use 10% of the brain. Legend has it that if we access the other 90% we may be able to use mind control or even telekinesis. You may have even seen this idea in science fiction movies like Star Trek or Dr. Who. The fact is every part of the brain is used. According to academic experts at Psychology Today and the Smithsonian Institute, using only 10% of your brain could result in atrophy. What’s atrophy? Simply put, your brain can *shrink* and to *think* becomes a problem. In fact, even thinking and resting makes use of more than 10% of your brain.
IT’S NOT A
MUSCLE Though scientists believe that challenging your thinking and keeping your mind active can help it grow - like a muscle none of the tissues in your brain are comparable to muscle tissue. Your brain is an organ.
brain ticklers 1. What does a
brain do when it sees a friend? Gives a brain wave.
26
2. Where does a brain go vacation? The hippocampus.
brainspacemagazine.com
3. What did the hippocampus say at his retirement? Thanks for the memories!
4. What do you call a fish that does brain surgery? A neurosturgeon.
@BrainspaceMag
5. Why do neurons love email? They like to send and receive messages.
/BrainspaceMagazine
The Cold Truth about Brain Freeze Have you ever eaten ice cream really fast? Has it felt like painfully cold temperatures shot straight to your head? Ouch! Brain freeze! Although it feels like your brain is in the Arctic it actually isn’t freezing. In fact, the sensation is because of a numbness that is actually in your forehead. When you eat ice cream really fast you get hit by brain freeze. When cold food touches the roof of your mouth the tissue freezes. Your body responds by swelling blood vessels to warm it back up.
Here’s where it gets weird.
Your trigeminal nerve sends the pain signals to your brain, but the funny thing is the trigeminal nerve is also responsible for sensing facial pain, so the brain thinks the pain is coming from the forehead and not your mouth. Which is why your forehead starts to hurt. Brain overload!
Iain A Wanless
OUR REPTILIAN BRAIN Another fun myth is that humans and reptiles have the same brain called a reptilian brain. So does that mean if we put a human and crocodile brain side by side the pair would look like long lost twin brothers? This sounds really cool, but we know it isn’t 100% true. Reptilian brain describes a small but very old portion of the brain that is responsible for breathing, heart beat and body temperature. This small part does look similar to a reptile’s brain, but the human brain is way bigger, and a whole lot smarter. brainspace magazine summer
2015
27
by Alexis Allison What happens when you take Drake’s hip hop sound and mix it with Ontario’s educational curriculum? You get Free Your Mind, a Hip Hop education STEMposium and two-day event geared at educating students and their teachers through 16 different workshops, all with a hip hop theme. It’s all part of using hip hop as a critical pedagogy (HHCP). Here, that just means using hip hop culture as an educational link to inspire students to learn about themselves, their communities and the world in a new and exiting way. It’s thinking outside the box and using hip hop to create a more fair and just world for us all. STEM is a method of teaching that stands for Science, Technology, Engineering and Math. But here, organizers of the Hip Hop STEMposium said they were most interested in using experiential, hands-on learning to encourage imagination, problem solving and collaboration.
In its first year, the program was attended by 450 students and 150 teachers participated! Students were able to learn everything from dance, to social justice, to musical engineering using hip hop music as the starting point. Even teachers got involved and had their own workshops. One workshop used hip hop lyrics to learn about some of the challenges their students may be facing in life. This event took place in Toronto, Ontario and the organizers have big plans to hold another Hip Hop STEMposium sometime soon. For information, visit www.hiphopstemposium.com
28
brainspacemagazine.com
@BrainspaceMag
/BrainspaceMagazine
Check out some of the workshops! Kanye & Us Ecological Exploration In this workshop, students listen to and analyze music performed by Kanye West. Kanye’s message is often about self-love and self-confidence. Students use their cell phones to engage with the workshop. They learn about hip hop culture and treating everyone with respect, even those who may seem different.
Open Beats In this workshop, students are able to build a simple beat machine. The machine is attached to small speakers and a button that controls frequency, rhythm and sound. Students can also learn how to code on computer software to produce their own musical beats. It’s the same software some professional music producers use!
99 Problems – But Life Ain’t One Do you recognize the phrase “99 Problems”? It’s from Jay-Z’s hit hip hop song! This workshop helps students to better cope with peer pressure and other life stresses they may be facing. It uses hip hop culture and its history to build character and promote conflict resolution to help students form healthy relationships with their friends and family.
Mighty Uplift Students get up and dance in this workshop about Krump, a kind of dancing that has roots in the hip hop community. Students will first learn about the history of Krump and its connection to social justice issues in equity, diversity and stereotyping. Then, they will get to learn the basics of Krump and actually dance it. It’s a form of street dancing that has expressive, exaggerated and energetic movements.
use blippar to watch this video on your mobile device brainspace magazine summer
2015
29
In movies, in stories and told for centuries, what is our fascination with creatures?
BY CHRISTINE CHUA
The Lake Okanagan in British Columbia is supposedly home to our country’s version of Scotland’s Loch Ness Monster. Today, it’s called Ogopogo, but when it was allegedly first seen, the local First Nations tribes called it Naitaka (pronounced N’ha-a-itk), which means Lake Demon. Like its Scottish cousin, Ogopogo is commonly described as a reptilian sea serpent measuring anywhere between 12 to 15 meters long.
30
brainspacemagazine.com
According to Brazilian folklore, the country’s forests are protected by the Curupira: a supernatural little boy with literally flaming hair, green teeth and, most noticeably, his feet turned backwards. The Curupira uses his backwards feet to create tracks that will confuse hunters and travellers that may cause his forest harm. While happily allowing those that hunt for survival, the Curupira confuses and sets traps for the people hunting for pleasure.
@BrainspaceMag
/BrainspaceMagazine
Stories of creatures have spanned time and cultures. They’ve served to warn of the dangers that lurked in the waters or forests. Fearing scary monsters, children would stay close to parents who protected them from drowing or wandering into forests with wild animals. There were benefits in using stories to make kids cautious. A bit of fear was considered a good thing. Have you read a Grimm Fairy Tale lately? Check your local library for some of their original scary stories.
The Bungisngis is a giant cyclops supposedly residing in the Philippine province of Bataan. It’s described as having large teeth with two long tusks on either side of its mouth, and has incredible hearing to make up for its one eye. Despite its monstrous appearance however, it is said that the Bungisngis is always laughing and smiling; its name is taken from the Tagalog word for giggling. In the tale The Monkey, The Dog and The Carabao, the giant is able to lift the carabao and throw it with such force that it ends knee-deep in the ground. However, despite its strength, the Bungisngis is easily outwitted and quickly panics. In the tale of the three friends, Monkey’s tricks led him to his death.
During thunder storms in Japan, the mythical Raiju creature is said to jump over trees and fields, sending lightning bolts striking in its wake. Typically described as a four-legged creature, often a fox or wolf wrapped in lightning, the Raiju’s roar sounds like thunder and it is able to fly around as a ball of lightning. Its name translates to ìthunder beastî and it is known to accompany its master Raijin, the Japanese god of storms.
brainspace magazine summer
2015
31
true?
Is it
Does your friend have a friend that had a cousin who had a sister that crossed her eyes and stayed that way? by Brittany Goldfield Rodrigues
PopRocks + Soda: Can they bust a gut?
MYTH: Although it’s been said for ages that a combination of PopRocks and soda could cause a stomach explosion, the official PopRocks website has put an end to the rumors by confirming that the two don’t make an explosive pair. Avoid PopRocks and soda for the bad taste and sugar rush - not the explosion.
Horned Helmets For
Vikings?
MYTH: The horned helmets we’ve seen on Vikings in television and movies may look cool, but they aren’t historically accurate. No found Viking helmets have poked anyone’s eyes out. According to The History Channel, the myth of horned helmets dates back to the 1800s when Scandinavian painters depicted Vikings in their art wearing the exaggerated headgear.
32
brainspacemagazine.com
@BrainspaceMag
/BrainspaceMagazine
https://www.youtube.com/user/scishow
Blipp this page to see the video. Subscribe to SciShow on youtube.
Bigfoot or Yeti? Science investigates
MYTH Is there a Yeti hiding in the Himalayas, or a Bigfoot hiding in forested areas? Bigfootologists around the world have tested the hair of unknown species to get to the bottom of the reported sightings of these large, sharp-toothed creatures. Tests suggest that these could-be monsters are really breeds of bears. We can now sleep better at night.
brainspace magazine summer
2015
33
is it Does Gum Stay In Your Stomach
Forever? MYTH: If you swallow gum it won’t stay in your stomach for seven years, but it’s definitely not good for you. Daily Mail reported that the fats, resins, emulsifiers, elastomers and waxes that are used in gum (among other things we can’t pronounce) make it hard for your stomach to break gum down the way it would other foods. You may want to opt for a cookie instead of a wad of Hubba Bubba.
Can your eyes stay that way? MYTH: Crossing your eyes will make you look a bit scary, but they won’t make your eyes stay that way. SIx muscles control your eyeballs. When you shift your eyes, these muscles help your eyes move. When you cross your eyes, you’re just asking your muscles to move your eyes towards one another.
Can You Get Sucked Out Of An
Airplane Toilet? MYTH: The likelihood of getting sucked out of an airplane toilet is slim to none. To get sucked out of an airplane toilet, your behind would need to fully cover the seat to act as a seal. If you flush while sitting on an airplane seat you will be extremely uncomfortable, but you will be able to return to your seat to tell the tale.
34
brainspacemagazine.com
@BrainspaceMag
/BrainspaceMagazine
A free family literacy program
Take the first step to learning together as a family. Téléchargez gratuitement des modules d’activités familiales à l’adresse AlphabetisationFamilialeDabord.ca.
访问 FamilyLiteracyFirst.ca
免费下载课程单元 （包括家庭活动）
Download learning modules in English, French and Simplified Chinese and start learning together at
FamilyLiteracyFirst.ca brainspace magazine summer
2015
35
36
brainspacemagazine.com
@BrainspaceMag
/BrainspaceMagazine