Do aliens exist and what sound do turtles make? Try our kids’ quiz

Illustration: Hennie Haworth/The Guardian

1. Do aliens exist?

   1. Yes they were once seen in a field in Idaho in 1973

   2. No they’re totally made up

   3. We don’t know, but it’s very possible

   4. We know there are aliens living on four planets in the known universe but we haven’t been able to contact them

2. Why do fish swim?

   1. Fish will die if they stop swimming

   2. Because if they didn’t they would sink

   3. Swimming is like walking for fish: it’s how they get around

   4. Fish fins never stop moving so fish have to constantly swim

3. What sounds do turtles make?

   1. They sing long, deep songs that can travel for miles through the oceans

   2. The only sound we hear from them is heavy breathing

   3. They make a sound like humming but only at night

   4. Turtles blow bubbles that make a bubbling sound

4. Why is blue cheese stinky?

   1. Because the milk used to make it is made by a special kind of blue cow that is particularly stinky

   2. Only children think it is stinky because their noses are very sensitive

   3. Because it has gone off

   4. Because it is full of mould

5. Why does an octopus shoot out ink?

   1. To escape from and scare away predators

   2. Because they are very creative and like making patterns

   3. As a way of attacking

   4. When they are tired to make the sea go darker

Solutions

1:C - So far no one has ever seen an alien but scientists are always looking for life on other planets. It is very likely there is alien life out there. As Carl Sagan said: “If it’s just us, seems like an awful waste of space.”, 2:C - Fish live in the water and they don’t have legs, so they need to swim. Birds fly, humans walk and run, and fish swim! But they do stop for rests and even sleep when they are tired, just like we do., 3:B - Turtles are relatively voiceless, so we don’t hear much from them. The one thing we do hear is heavy breathing - when they are nesting you’ll hear a turtle making big SIGH-ing sounds breathing in and out, 4:D - Blue cheeses get their smell (and colour) from a type of mould called penicillium. They aren’t covered in mould because they have gone off; cheesemakers put it there because some people love the flavour. They inject the mould into the cheese and it’s the mould that makes the cheese stinky., 5:A - An octopus shoots out ink to escape from, confuse and scare away predators. Ink is ejected from a sac inside the octopus’s body and is mixed with mucous before being funnelled into the water in the shape of clouds, trails and sometimes even into octopus shapes called pseudomorphs

Scores

1. 5 and above.

   1

2. 4 and above.

   1

3. 3 and above.

   1

4. 2 and above.

   1

5. 1 and above.

   1

6. 0 and above.

   1

Molly Oldfield hosts Everything Under the Sun, a weekly podcast answering children’s questions, out now as a book.

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