What is a colour wheel? A colour wheel is often used by interior designers. This is done to choose colours which are in harmony with each other. If the intention is to create a more striking effect, contrasting colours are chosen. The colour wheel has...
How come spiders don’t get trapped in their own webs? A spider web has sticky threads to trap prey. But the spider avoids the threads while weaving the web. Some spiders like the orb spider use both dry and sticky threads for the web, using...
What is conservation? Conservation is the effort to preserve the earth’s natural resources so as to prevent them from being depleted. Natural resources include both renewable and non-renewable resources. Renewable resources are water, forests, farmland, and grazing land. Non-renewable resources are minerals like coal, oil...
Who was the first astronaut? In 1903, K. E. Tsiolkovsky was the first to suggest that rockets could be used for space research. He also suggested liquid propellants. It was the Soviets who sent the first orbital satellite, Sputnik I into space and in 1961,...
How does asparagus grow? Asparagus was considered a table delicacy even by ancient Greeks and Romans. It is a member of the lily family. Asparagus is grown from seeds or roots which are planted in a shallow trench. The tender shoots are used as food....
Why do camels have humps? Long journeys without food and water are unimaginable for us. But for the camel it is no big deal. The reason lies in its hump which acts as a storehouse of food and water. Before beginning a long journey a...
Are there mountains under the sea? Mountains can be found under the sea too. They cover the land beneath the sea. While the flat areas are called plains, the deep valleys are called trenches. Huge underwater volcanoes called seamounts can also be found under the...
How deep can a turtle dive? Leatherback turtles are the biggest sea turtles. They can make very deep dives, in fact the deepest for a turtle. They dive up to 1200 m for their food. Their food consists mainly of jellyfish, crabs, lobsters and starfish.
What is a metal? In physical terms, a metal is something which has a bright lustre and is a good conductor of heat and electricity. Different metals have different degrees of hardness, density, malleability and ductility. Metals can be used to make alloys. Some metals...
Why do trees have rings on them? The amount of wood formed by a tree in a year or growing season is expressed as alternating bands of light and dark wood seen when a tree is cut and the cross-section examined. The two bands form...
