How do snails make their shells and which animal is fiercest? The kids’ quiz

1. Flora, 5, asks: how do snails make their shells?

   1. They recycle old shells they find lying around

   2. They knit very fine pieces of grass together

   3. An organ called a mantle secretes a special shell material

   4. They are born with them

2. Evie, 4, asks: why is urine yellow?

   1. It’s yellow due to a substance called urobilin

   2. It’s yellow as a warning, so we know we mustn’t drink it

   3. It’s yellow because of a substance called urinitron

   4. It only looks yellow because the toilet bowl is white

3. Tovah, 4, asks: what is faster (for humans) – flying, swimming or running?

   1. Swimming

   2. Running

   3. Flying

   4. Running on water

4. Josephine, 9, asks: who figured out there were 365 days in a year?

   1. Tristanius, a Renaissance mathematician

   2. Brainboxanes, an astrologer from ancient Egypt

   3. Cleverclogales, an ancient Greek philosopher and physicist

   4. Sosigenes, an ancient Greek astronomer

5. Ferdia, 7, asks: what is the fiercest animal in the world?

   1. The crocodile

   2. The honey badger

   3. The poodle

   4. The disgruntled house cat

Solutions

1:C - Snails (and other molluscs) build their shells naturally using an organ called the mantle. The mantle forms calcium carbonate in layers, slowly creating the shell shape., 2:A - When your body breaks down old red blood cells it creates bilirubin, which moves to your gut. A series of processes means it ends up as yellow urobilin in your kidneys, then your bladder, ready for when you wee!, 3:C - Usain Bolt has run at more than 27 miles an hour. The fastest humans can move unaided in water is roughly 5 miles an hour. In 1969 the crew of Apollo 10 reached just under 25,000 miles an hour while flying in the command module., 4:D - Before 45BC, there were 10 months in a year, but the Earth takes longer than this to orbit the sun. Sosigenes, Julius Caesar’s astronomer, suggested 12 months and 365 days, with 366 every fourth year as the orbit takes 365.25 days. (It actually takes 365.2425, so our modern calendar accounts for this.), 5:B - The honey badger stands its ground and fights almost any other species, including lions, hyenas, snakes and humans!

Scores

1. 5 and above.

2. 4 and above.

3. 3 and above.

4. 2 and above.

5. 0 and above.

6. 1 and above.

Molly Oldfield hosts Everything Under the Sun, a podcast answering children’s questions. Do check out her books, Everything Under the Sun and Everything Under the Sun: Quiz Book, as well as her new title, Everything Under the Sun: All Around the World.