Why does whipped cream melt back into liquid? The kids’ quiz

1. Martha, 5, asks: why does whipped cream melt back into liquid?

   1. The bubbles of air leak out, as the fat holding them in softens

   2. The cream gets too hot and boils

   3. The sugar inside it disappears

   4. The whisking effect wears off immediately

2. Aneirin, 10, asks: what board game was made first?

   1. Snakes and Ladders

   2. The Royal Game of Ur

   3. Chess

   4. Draughts

3. Connie, 5, asks: where do electric bikes get their electricity from?

   1. They are solar powered

   2. From tiny wind turbines

   3. They run on a battery that needs to be charged up, just like a phone

   4. They are powered magnetically and can only be ridden on metal floors

4. Lizzie, 10, asks: how do we know what inside the Earth looks like?

   1. Scientists have dug down to the Earth’s inner core

   2. We put cameras on moles to see what it’s like

   3. We put loads of long sticks into the ground as far as they’ll go

   4. We use earthquakes and vibrations to know what’s inside the Earth

5. Orla, 10, asks: is there life on Mars?

   1. Not as we know it, but the planet has signs that there might have been in the past

   2. Yes, aliens live there

   3. No, unless you count the astronauts there

   4. No, because Mars isn’t a real planet

Solutions

1:A - Whipped cream melts because the bubbles of air inside collapse. The fat that was holding them softens, especially if the cream warms up, and the foam structure falls apart, leaving liquid cream again., 2:B - The Royal Game of Ur is the oldest playable board game in the world. Pieces have been found, along with instructions on how to play, from 4,600 years ago in ancient Mesopotamia. Board games have been found from before then, but the Royal Game is the only one we know how to play., 3:C - Electric bikes have batteries that you plug into a power source and charge, just like a phone or a laptop. When the battery runs out you have to recharge it., 4:D - Scientists use “seismic tomography” – studying seismic waves (big waves of energy from earthquakes) – to create a 3D image of what’s underground., 5:A - Nasa, a space agency in the US, has found what scientists believe are tiny patterns of minerals in rocks on Mars. They call them “leopard spot” patterns that could be the signs of past life in the form of microbes. We still don’t know …

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.