Why do witches have black cats in stories? Try our kids’ quiz

1. Inés, 8, asks: why in stories do witches have black cats?

   1. To match their black coats, black hats and black shoes

   2. Because humans have been superstitious about black cats for hundreds of years, so they make ideal spooky companions

   3. Because black cats are particularly good at balancing on broomsticks

   4. Black is witches’ and wizards’ favourite colour

2. Max, 10, asks: how do chameleons change colour?

   1. They have mysterious magical powers

   2. They are see-through

   3. They relax and excite special cells under their skin that contain pigments and crystals

   4. They make colourful paint out of plants, then paint themselves with it

3. Huck, 6, asks: what is the biggest star in the universe?

   1. AH Scorpii

   2. VY Canis Majoris

   3. CM Velorum

   4. UY Scuti

4. Elise, 8, asks: why is the reticulated python so long?

   1. They grow to a great length to scare off humans and predators

   2. Their huge length means they can kill and eat large prey by coiling around them

   3. They use their powerful long bodies to swim down to riverbeds

   4. They need long bodies for their long intestines

5. Varry, 7, asks: what was the first continent?

   1. Africa

   2. Arctica

   3. Pangea

   4. Ur

Solutions

1:B - In the middle ages, black cats were often seen as bad omens and some early Christians thought that black cats were connected to the devil, so storytellers saw them as suitable companions for witches., 2:C - Chameleons have a layer of special cells underneath their skin called iridophores. These contain pigments and thousands of tiny guanine crystals, which show different colours when they expand or contract., 3:D - There is still a lot of debate about which is the biggest star in the universe because they are very hard to measure from so far away! But it's thought the biggest we have discovered so far is UY Scuti. It’s about 1,700 times wider than our Sun, with a radius of 1.2 billion kilometres., 4:B - Reticulated pythons use their incredibly long bodies to squash their prey through constriction. Their great length means that they can eat larger animals, such as wild boar – and human beings!, 5:D - Scientists believe that the world’s first continent was Ur, a landmass that formed out of Earth’s crustal plates about 3 billion years ago.

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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