How long does it take to grow apples and why is poo brown? Try our kids’ quiz

1. Lula, 5, asks: if I plant an apple seed, how long before I have apples?

   1. 8 weeks

   2. 8 months

   3. 8 years

   4. 80 years

2. Chester, 7, asks: why is poo brown?

   1. Most food is brown

   2. As you digest your food, it mixes with two yellowish fluids, bile and bilirubin

   3. When food gets old, as you digest it, it turns brown

   4. Poo isn’t brown – it’s pink!

3. Hetti, 12, asks: which muscle in the human body moves the fastest?

   1. The frontalis in your eyebrows

   2. The tibialis anterior in your foot

   3. The biceps in your arms

   4. The orbicularis oculi in your eyes

4. Gethin, 6, asks: why do possums play dead, and does it work?

   1. Possums play dead when they’re playing around

   2. To trick predators, so they don’t get eaten

   3. To trick their prey into thinking they’re harmless

   4. Male possums play dead to attract a female

5. Macie, 5, asks: why don’t humans have wool?

   1. Humans have never needed to be furry or woolly as our skin is thick

   2. Humans do have thick hairy coats! You’ll get woolly as you get older

   3. Ancient humans started to lose their hairy coats when they spent more time out in the sun hunting

   4. Our ancestors shaved off their hairy coats, until eventually humans were no longer born with fur

Solutions

1:C - It takes about eight years or even longer for an apple seed to grow into a tree that can make apples. , 2:B - Poo’s brown colour is because of the processes your food goes through in your gut. The colour pigments in your food are broken down, and two substances called bile and bilirubin also help give it its colour. When these are mixed with your digested food, it makes it brown., 3:D - The orbicularis oculi is the fastest reacting muscle in your body. It controls the closing of your eyelids. Humans have one in each eye, and it can snap your eye shut in 1/10th of a second! , 4:B - Possums play dead when they are threatened by a predator. They curl up and send stinky liquid out of their anal glands, hoping it will stop anything trying to eat them. Yes, it works!, 5:C - Our ancestors had thick, hairy coats, and scientists aren’t sure why we evolved to lose this fur. The most popular theory is that when humans began hunting on open, dry grasslands, thick coats would have been sweltering. Because of this, we adapted over a very long time to become less hairy.

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 weekly podcast answering children’s questions, out now as a book.

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