Why do sharks have nostrils and how does a cat always land on its feet? Try our kids’ quiz

Illustration: Hennie Haworth/The Guardian

1. Mae, 6, asks: why do sharks have nostrils if they breathe through their gills?

   1. They’re left from when they were land animals

   2. So they can smell

   3. They’re actually ears

   4. The water gets to their gills through their nostrils

2. Billy, 8, asks: why does gravity exist?

   1. Because everything has to go down

   2. Because of the energy from the sun

   3. Because of the atmosphere

   4. Because of Earth’s mass

3. Payden, 8, asks: why does your voice change when you reach puberty?

   1. Because of the hormones that change your body

   2. Because you grow taller and that changes your voice

   3. Because your nose gets bigger and lets in more air

   4. So that you can sing like your favourite singers

4. Eloise, 7, asks: how does a cat always land on its feet?

   1. That’s a myth, they just don’t get hurt because they have nine lives

   2. They have amazing balance and flexibility

   3. Their paws are heavy and get pulled down if they fall

   4. Their paws are magnetic and attract to the centre of the Earth

5. Esther, 8, asks: what’s the difference between a moose and an elk?

   1. They’re the same animal but they’re called moose in British English and elk in American English

   2. Moose moo and elk bray

   3. Elk are much friendlier and will let you ride them

   4. Moose are larger and have different antler shapes

Solutions

1:B - Sharks’ nostrils are used for smelling and they’re very good at it, too! Some can smell blood a quarter of a mile away and this helps them detect predators, prey or a mate. Great white sharks can smell a single drop of blood floating in 10 billion drops of water!, 2:D - Gravity is a force of attraction between all things with mass. As the Earth has a very, very large mass, it has a strong gravitational pull that keeps everything down on Earth., 3:A - Voices change, especially in male bodies during puberty, because of all the new hormones that change the voice box, making it larger. This means that voices “drop”, or get deeper, during puberty., 4:B - A cat’s amazing sense of balance lets it know which direction it needs to be turning in during a fall and its flexible spine allows it to turn in midair so it lands on its feet. This ability is called a righting reflex., 5:D - Moose and elk are quite different. Although they are both species of deer, moose are much larger and have a darker colour, flatter antlers and more elongated faces than elk.

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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