Whizz Pop Bang Science Magazine for Kids! Issue 117: The Sugar Lab

Make a rainbow density column

ISSN 2399 -2840

THE AWESOME SCIENCE MAGAZINE FOR KIDS!

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Dissolve sugar cube towers

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SUGAR LAB G

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EXPERIMENTS PUZZLES AMAZING FACTS SCIENCE NEWS

WELCOME!

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This supe r-swee t edition of Whizz Pop Bang is jam-packe d wit h exciting expe riments and de licious discove rie s! Find out where sugar come s from, how it af fe cts our bodie s and how it turns candy floss. Le arn how to gr ow a fire snak e from burning into sugar then have fun building – and dis the se ason’s first butt er flies solving – sugar cube towe rs. Give a fe eder and ge t creative wit tasty treat wit h our ec o-friendly h so also be me eting science pres me cut-out East er crafts. We’ll ente r ex traordinaire Maddie Moate!

Ge t re ady for some high-en ergy science fun!

EXPERT SCIENCE ADVISERS

I’ve made an awesome rainbow density column out of sugar!

Where you see this symbol, use a QR code reader on a phone or tablet to visit a relevant web page.

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Welcome to WHIZZ POP BANG – the magazine bursting with enticing articles, mind-boggling facts and hands-on experiments to get your child hooked on science! Whizz Pop Bang is a gender-neutral magazine with plenty of inspirational male and female scientists and content that appeals to all children.

The magazine is ideal for home educators and it’s linked to the National Curriculum too, for use in schools. Whizz Pop Bang will help with literacy development as well. Transform science teaching in your school with our hands-on science and reading resources. Our downloadable lesson packs link fun science experiments and reading with key curriculum topics for years 2-6. Subscribe at whizzpopbang.com/schools

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All experiments have been tried and tested by our team.

The activities should be done under close adult supervision and are done at your own risk. Launchpad Publishing Ltd cannot accept liability for damage done.

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As well as our writers, we also have a team of science advisers who help to ensure that our content is accurate, up-to-date and relevant. Our advisers include: palaeontologist Steve Brusatte; molecular microbiologist Matt Hutchings; robotics engineer Abbie Hutty; mechanical engineer Aimee Morgans; GP Dr Cathy Scott; astronomer Mark Thompson; physicist Dr Jess Wade; child psychologist Dr Naira Wilson.

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Editor-in-Chief: Jenny Inglis Editor: Tammy Osborne Designer: Rachael Fisher Illustrator: Clive Goodyer Contributors: Nick Arnold, Joe Inglis, Tara Pardo, Isabel Thomas and Joanna Tubbs

ISSN 239 9-28 40

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WHIZZ POP BANG is made by:

CONTENTS m co

ANIMAL ANTICS

to c hu tte rs

10

Our vet Joe meets some sweet, fluffy kittens.

©S hu tte rs

m co k.

©S

Dissolve sugar cube towers, grow a fire snake and make a rainbow density column.

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c

Beaches on Mars, a coral reef on a shipwreck and how you can help save Britain’s bumblebees.

SWEET SCIENCE

6 k.

AWESOME NEWS AND AMAZING FACTS

4

© Shutterstock.com

14 16 17 Atom

24

SPOTLIGHT

Is the world running out of chocolate, and can science help?

EMMI’S ECO CLUB

Make a banana feeder to tempt beautiful butterflies into your garden.

PULLOUT

Crafty Easter science fun – make a cheeky-chick bookmark and an Easter basket spinner!

22

INTERVIEW

The wonderful Maddie Moate shares her love of science. Plus, a chance to win her latest book!

HOW STUFF WORKS

Dip into a candy floss machine and discover how these super-sweet pillows of spun sugar are made.

sweet surprises.

Scorpion lolly, anyone?

26

er ark © JD

TEN AWESOMELY AMAZING…

MY AMAZING LIFE

The story of how Antoine Lavoisier shaped the future of modern chemistry.

28

©S k oc rst tte hu

I’d love to see pictures of your experiments! Send them to Y@whizzpopbang.com and ask an adult to tag us on social media @whizzpopbangmag

35

Y’S WONDER CLUB

30

.c om

SPECTACULAR SCIENCE

Ask our robot, Y, your burning science questions and share all of your adventures in science with the club.

32 34

With its wings beating at over 50 times a second, a hummingbird sips some sweet nectar.

QUIZ POP BANG AND COMPETITION

Test your knowledge with our super-duper science quiz and win an awesome facts book!

JOKES AND ANSWERS

Laugh out loud at some awesome jokes and find the answers to all of our quizzes, puzzles and riddles.

FIND THE SCIENCE EQUIPMENT Hidden on each double page is a piece of science equipment. Tick each one to find the complete kit!

s Awesome New cts and Amazing Fa MARTIAN SEASIDE

© Shutterstock.com

Scientists have filmed mice giving ‘first aid’ to their friends when they find them unconscious. Researchers put a mouse into a deep sleep using anaesthetics then placed it back in its cage and watched how the others reacted. The awake mice tried to help it by grooming and licking its face, opening its mouth and even pulling its tongue aside to help it breathe.

Mice that received this care woke up and recovered faster than those that didn’t. This behaviour suggests that caregiving might be more common among animals than scientists thought.

Bigger animals like apes, dolphins and elephants have been seen helping injured friends, but this is the first time such behaviour has been seen in mice.

A mouse helps its sleeping friend! © Ivar Leidus / Wikimedia Commons

Mars might not be the first place you’d think of for a seaside holiday, but scientists have found evidence suggesting it once had sandy beaches and oceans like Earth. Data from China’s Zhurong rover show buried shorelines, suggesting waves and tides once shaped the planet’s surface. These findings support the idea that Mars had a large, ice-free ocean billions of years ago. The beaches probably formed in the same way as those on Earth, with water moving sand over time. This discovery is important because beaches are places where life may have once existed. Scientists hope future missions will explore these ancient shores to search for signs of past Martian life.

MOUSE-TO-MOUSE RESUSCITATION

© Sun W et al.

From wreck to reef © Wikimedia Commons

Bumblebee populations in the UK fell to the lowest levels on record last year, according to new data from the Bumblebee Conservation Trust. Like many insects, bumblebees are struggling to cope with changes to their environment caused by building towns and farms on wild green spaces, pesticide use and climate change.

Last spring’s wet and cold weather is thought to have made 2024 a particularly bad year.

© Ivar Leidus / Wikimedia Commons

© Sun W et al.

You can help bumblebees by planting flowers in your garden or in a window box or hanging basket, leaving areas of your garden to grow wild and avoiding weed killers or insect sprays that could harm them.

LONDON’S SUPER SEWER © THAMES TIDEWAY TUNNEL

SAVE OUR BUMBLEBEES!

© Shutterstock.com

The SS United States was once the largest passenger ship in America. In the 1950s and 1960s, it carried passengers across the Atlantic Ocean at record speed. Now long retired, it has spent the past 30 years rusting in a boatyard.

But now it has a new purpose. The ship is currently being towed to the Gulf of Mexico where it will be stripped of dangerous materials like oil and paint before being deliberately sunk. In its new home at the bottom of the ocean, the ship will become the world’s largest artificial coral reef, creating a thriving habitat for marine life.

After 10 years of building work, London’s new super sewer, The Thames T ideway Tunnel, is fully connected. The city’s previous sewage system was built in Victorian times for four million people, but there are now nine million people using it. The new sewer will protect the River Thames from the tonnes of raw sewage that used to flow into it after heavy rain.

The 25 kilometres of underground tunnels are 7.2 metres wide and buried between 30 and 60 metres below street level. The new sewer has already prevented 5,500,000 m³ of sewage from entering the river – that’s the equivalent of 2,200 Olympic-sized swimming pools full of pooey water!

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SWEET SCIENCE Sugar is sweet and delicious, but what happens to your body when you eat it?

Let’s explore the science behind the sweetness.

WHAT IS SUGAR?

A molecule is a group of atoms.

Some larger molecules – like sucrose – are made of smaller molecules joined together.

There’s more to sugar than the white stuff you use to make cakes and cookies.

This kind of sugar is called sucrose.

But there are other sugars too…

Plant cells assemble carbon, hydrogen and oxygen atoms into sugar molecules called fructose and glucose.

Fructose is fruit sugar and flower nectar sugar. Bees use fructose from flower nectar to make honey.

Plant cells make sucrose by joining fructose molecules and glucose molecules together.

+

Glucose Fructose

How much does this sweet cost?

Sucrose

The sucrose you normally eat comes from sugar cane or sugar beet. Both plants are rich in sucrose. Sugar-rich juice from sugar cane or sugar beet is boiled to remove water. It becomes a syrup. Sugar crystals form. The crystals are dried to make table sugar.

sugar beet

Check your answer on page 34.

sugar cane

The tallest sugar cube tower ever built was made by Camille Courgeon in 2013.

It was over two metres high and contained 2,669 sugar cubes!

SUGAR CUBE TOWERS How does temperatu re affect how fast sugar dissolves in water?

Yo u will need

ugar cubes S Two high-sided plates, dishes or trays Red and blue food colouring Hot and cold water Two jugs

W h a t y o u do

1. Build two identical sugar cube towers on the plates.

2. Put some hot (but not boiling) water in one jug and some cold water in the other. Add red colouring to the hot water and blue to the cold water.

3. Gently pour the red and blue waters onto the two plates at the same time. Which tower collapses first?

A crystal is a solid with its atoms or molecules arranged in a regular pattern. Sugar crystals can be dissolved in water or melted by heat.

Yo u should find

When you pour water around the base of the towers, it is absorbed into the bottom cubes and travels up the tower through the tiny channels between the sugar grains. This is called capillary action – the same process helps plants draw water up from their roots!

The red (warmer) water should dissolve the sugar faster than the blue (cold) water, causing the red tower to collapse first. This is because heat speeds up the movement of water molecules, helping them to break apart the sugar more quickly.

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WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU EAT SUGAR? And why do you always want MORE?

7.

1.

You eat a sugary sweet.

Your taste buds detect sweetness and the sugar dissolves in your mouth.

As glucose levels drop, your brain tells you you’re hungry.

You want to eat more sweets!

6.

Your brain releases a chemical called dopamine. This makes you feel happy.

5.

Glucose powers your brain and nerve cells, helping you think, move and stay active.

2.

In your gut, sugar breaks down into smaller molecules of glucose and fructose, which pass into your blood.

4.

3.

Your pancreas releases a chemical called insulin. This helps move glucose into your body’s cells, where it’s used to make energy.

Your liver processes fructose. Some of it gets stored as energy for later.

lly Why did the je ool? bean go to sch nted Because it wa ! to be a smartie

FIRE SNAKE

SURPRISING SUGAR SECRETS

Sugar contains hydr ogen and carbon, and it burns well. As k an adult to help you make a fire snak e using a tiny amount of burning su gar.

Do this activity outs

a root Sugar beet is to crop, related d sugar beetroot, an e of cane is a typ a bit giant grass, . like bamboo

ide!

Yo u will need

Sugar cane was first made into sugar in ancient India thousands of years ago.

firelighter block A Caster sugar Bicarbonate of soda W ater Sand in a heatproof container Water bucket (for safety)

W h a t y o u do

The Romans used sugar as a medicine, rather than a food.

ntain more Lemons co s, strawberrie sugar than r ste sou but they ta tain ey also con because th citric acid.

1. Mix 1 teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda with 5 teaspoons of sugar. Mix in a few drops of water.

2. Form a marble-sized ball out of some of the sugar mixture.

3. Ask an adult helper to place a barbecue lighter block on top of the sand. Place your sugar ball on top of the block.

4. Stand well back and ask your adult helper to light the firelighter block. Watch from a safe distance until the fire goes out.

Sugar can kill bacter ia. Sugar and honey have both been used to disinfect wo unds.

d n burn an Sugar ca 08, de! In 20 lo p x e n e ev air st in the sugar du w up e and ble r fi t h g u ca ctory. a sugar fa

Some p eople make m odel rocket fuel from su gar and oth er chemic als.

Yo u should find

At first, the hydrogen (H) and carbon (C) in burning sugar combine with oxygen (O) from the air to produce carbon dioxide (CO2) and water (H2O). Because you formed the sugar paste into a ball, it doesn’t have enough oxygen to burn completely. As well as carbon dioxide, some pure, black, solid carbon is formed too. Meanwhile, WARNING! extra carbon dioxide gas is produced as the ely Fire is extrem t ge n bicarbonate of soda is heated. Bubbles of ca d dangerous an y. kl ic qu ry ve carbon dioxide gas and water vapour l out of contro re you stand su e ak get trapped inside the carbon as it m s Alway k an adult to as d an ck forms, causing a carbon ‘snake’ to well ba activity. y fire-based er supervise an grow out of the fire! at w bucket of

u have a Make sure yo ncy. of an emerge ready, in case

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WHAT'S WRONG WITH SUGAR? Nothing! Your body needs sugar to stay alive.

The problem is that most people eat far too much. You can get all the sugars you need from vegetables, meat and grains. People eat sugary food because it tastes good and because they often don’t know they’re eating it.

SUGAR-SPOTTER QUIZ

Guess which of these foods contain added sugar, then check the label to see if you’re right (sugar might be listed as sucrose, fructose or glucose).

Baked beans Raw carrots

Ready-made tomato sauce Low-fat yogurt

Breakfast cereal or granola

Bread

Tinned soup

Chances are EVERYTHING has sugar added – apart from the carrots! Food manufacturers add sugar to food to preserve it or to make it taste better.

Nutrition is the way in which your body uses food. Like all animals, humans need the right amounts and types of food to stay healthy.

BE SUGAR SMART

Sugar gives you energy, but too much isn’t good for you. The best way to enjoy sweet treats is as part of a balanced diet.

Fuel up wisely! If you eat more sugar than your body needs, it stores any extra as fat. Fat is a useful energy store, but too much isn’t good for you.

Instead of sugary cakes and cookies, choose other energy-rich foods like fruit, nuts, cheese and brown bread to snack on.

Take care of your teeth! Sticky, sugary foods cling to your teeth. Bacteria feast on them, producing acids, which can dissolve your tooth enamel.

Brushing your teeth well helps to keep your teeth healthy.

Keep your energy steady! Sugary foods give you a quick burst of energy, but then you feel tired and hungry again soon after. Eating foods with protein and fibre helps you stay full for longer and gives you lasting energy!

This food pyramid shows a healthy balanced diet.

Sugar-rich foods should only be a small part of our diet.

RAINBOW IN A GLASS When sugar dissolves in water, it makes it denser (heavier). The more sugar you dissolve, the denser it becomes. In this spectacular density column, the denser layers (containing more sugar) sink below the less dense layers (containing less sugar), forming a rainbow!

Yo u will need 5 mugs Notepaper Caster sugar Food colourings

Boiling water 1 tall glass A spoon A jug

W h a t y o u do

1. Place your mugs on pieces of notepaper labelled 1 to 5 and add the following quantities of sugar into each mug: • Mug 1 (bottom layer): 6 tbsp • Mug 2: 4 ½ tbsp • Mug 3: 3 tbsp • Mug 4: 1 ½ tbsp • Mug 5 (top layer): no sugar 2. Put a few drops of food colouring into each mug.

You can choose the colours you’d like for each layer.

Yo u should find

The more sugar you dissolve into the water, the denser (heavier) it becomes. The less dense layers float on the denser ones below, forming a rainbow of coloured liquids!

3. Ask an adult to pour 100 ml of boiling water into each mug.

Stir well until all the sugar has dissolved. Leave to cool.

4. Pour the contents of mug 1 into the tall glass until you have a good-sized layer. Tip the contents of mug 2 into a jug. Tilt the glass and hold a spoon against the inside of it, just above the surface of the liquid. Slowly dribble the liquid from mug 2 down the back of the curved part of the spoon, continually moving the spoon so that it stays just above the surface. Repeat with the other coloured liquids.

Can you find this arrangement of jelly beans?

Check your answer on page 34.

I’d love to see a photo of your density column!

Send it to Y@whizzpopbang.com and ask an adult to tag us on social media @whizzpopbangmag

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AL ANIM S TIC

AN

kittens

There’s nothing quite as sweet as a kitten – but, as our vet Joe Inglis has been finding out, there’s a lot more to these little balls of fluff than just soft fur and big blue eyes…

newbornS There are usually around three to five kittens in each litter. Newborn kittens are tiny and weigh about the same as an apple!

19

blue-eyed babies The most kittens ever recorded in one litter!

When they are born, all kittens have blue eyes. Their eyes start to change colour when they are about eight weeks old, although some cats do keep their blue eyes as adults.

paw-some sense of smell A group of kittens is called a cuteness Answer on page 34

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Kittens are completely deaf and blind when they are born, so they have to rely on their amazing sense of smell to sniff out their mother’s milk. Their eyes and ears start to work properly when they are around two weeks old.

I won't pounce on your toes, honest!

Why so cute?

The reason why we find young animals, like kittens, so sweet is because their large heads and big eyes remind us of human babies. We’ve evolved an instinct to care for and protect our babies, so when we see a kitten, this same instinct makes us feel all loving and protective!

mummy's magic milk Kittens will feed on their mother’s milk for the first few weeks of their lives. The milk is not just a complete source of all the nutrients that growing kittens need, it also contains antibodies that help to protect the kittens from infections before their own immune systems are up and running.

purr-fect play When they’re not sleeping or eating, kittens spend a lot of time playing. They love chasing their brothers and sisters, climbing, pouncing and generally causing trouble.

Although it looks like just a lot of fun, this play behaviour is how kittens learn the skills they will need as adult cats, including hunting and how to socialise with other cats.

kitten kip Young kittens sleep for an incredible 18 hours a day.

This is to conserve energy so they can grow as quickly as possible. Their bodies also release a special chemical that makes them grow when they’re asleep, so although they may look lazy, their bodies are working super hard to grow while they nap.

leaving home Unless they are staying in the same home, kittens usually leave their mothers to go to their new home when they are three months old. Kittens are fully grown up by the time they are one year old.

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All photographs © Shutterstock.com

Kittens can be right or left pawed. Just like people are right or left handed, some kittens prefer to use their right paw to investigate new things and others their left paw.

SPOTLIGHT

e t a l o c o Ch

n w o d t l e m

d bunnies of chocolate eggs an ns io ill m of ds re nd hu ading Every Easter, climate change is le t Bu . ld or w e th er ing to run are consumed all ov ans. Is the world go be a co co of ge ta or t it? to a global sh hing we can do abou yt an e er th is d An out of chocolate?

What does climate change have to do with chocolate?

Chocolate is made from cocoa beans. Cocoa crops are easily affected by changes in the weather, as well as diseases and insect pests. Even temporary changes in the climate can cause crops to fail and chocolate prices to rise. Four West African countries – Ivory Coast, Ghana, Nigeria and Cameroon – produce more than 70% of our cocoa. In the long term, global warming could make these countries too hot to produce the crop.

A chocolate-free future?

Cocoa is the main source of income for more than 5 million farmers around the world. If climate change makes it harder to make money from growing cocoa, farmers might switch to growing other crops instead.

This would mean there were fewer cocoa beans available. They would become more expensive to buy, and the price of chocolate would go up even more!

It takes more than 150 cocoa beans to make one 180 g chocolate bar!

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Shrinking

chocolates Some chocolate makers have responded by shrinking their chocolate bars, rounding the corners to shave off a few grams, or replacing some of the cocoa with less expensive ingredients.

If your Easter egg looks more chicken than ostrich this year, you’ll know why!

Chocolate scientists to the rescue!

The University of Reading’s International Cocoa Quarantine Centre was set up to enable cocoa-growing countries to receive new cocoa varieties without introducing new pests and diseases. Plants are chosen for their useful characteristics, such as high yields and pest resistance. They are grown in clean, safe conditions for two years, before being sent to cocoa-producing countries. They are bred with local cocoa plants to create new varieties with desirable characteristics.

We are researching whether some varieties of cocoa can better withstand changes to the climate, such as warmer temperatures and drought.

We are interested in the characteristics of more climate-tolerant cocoa.

How you can help Choose chocolate from brands that use sustainable cocoa.

This means cocoa grown in a way that protects the environment and helps farmers earn a fair income. Look for certifications like Fairtrade or Rainforest Alliance.

Dr Andrew D

aymond Co-ordinator of the Intern ational Cocoa Quar antine Cent re

Spot the 10 differences between these two chocolate boxes. Check your answers on page 34.

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b... clu O C E

Emmi’s

BUTTERFLY FEEDER Spring is the season when we start to see butterflies in our parks and gardens. Make this easy butterfly feeder to tempt butterflies to your garden!

Yo u will need

crap cardboard S A pencil Scissors String or garden twine An overripe banana Brown sugar Water A paintbrush

This project gets messy, 4 so do steps e! and 5 outsid

1 Butterflies’ favourite food is nectar, which is made by flowers. It’s packed full of sugar which gives them the energy they need. But in early spring, before the weather warms up, nectar can be in short supply.

Ripe bananas are full of natural sugars, like fructose, glucose and sucrose.

2

Mash the banana together with a coup le of spoons of sugar and a little water.

Draw a spiral on the card then cut it out.

Use the point of a pencil to poke a hole right at the centre.

Thread the string through the hole and tie a knot.

3

When it is nice and sticky, paint it all over one side of the card.

16 whizzpopbang.com

Continued on page 21 ➜

I’d love to see your butterfly feeders! Take a photo and ask an adult to tag us on social media @whizzpopbangmag and email it to Y@whizzpopbang.com

4

spiral Lift the string so the m a tree opens up. Hang it fro tion is a or bush. The best loca rs. sunny spot near flowe

Most of Britain’s 59 species of butterflies spend winter as caterpillars or chrysalises. Only five species spend winter as adults. These overwintering butterflies are dormant (in a resting state, a bit like hibernation) over winter, but wake up in early spring as the weather warms up. These are often the first butterflies we see.

More

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ideas...

r things you There are lots of othe local butterflies: can do to help your

like their eggs on weeds any butterflies lay M wild dandelions. Create a stinging nettles and . that’s lef t unmown area of your garden s. s up walls and fence Grow climbing plant in em th er underneath Butterflies can shelt ey the Sun comes out, th rainy weather. When s. bricks or large stone like to bask on bare e butterflies (and Make a log pile, wher te in winter. moths!) can hiberna

Continued from page 16

We can all help to save the planet. Lots of small actions can make a BIG difference! beautiful Butterflies aren’t just important to look at. They’re an n. part of the food chai

and bats rely Many species of birds od. Over the past on caterpillars for fo 80% of butterfly few decades, around ve become less species in the UK ha d in fewer places. common or are foun der threat from Their habitats are un Climate change changes in farming. impact on can also have a big s, so they need butterfly population ever! our help more than

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➜

EASTER SUDOKU Colour in the white eggs so that each row, each column and each 2x2 block contains one egg of each colour. No colour should repeat in any row, column or block. Check your answer on page 34.

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We’d love to see a photo of your chick bookmark and Easter spinner! Send it to Y@whizzpopbang.com and ask an adult to tag us on social media @whizzpopbangmag

PULL OUT pages 17-20 and get making!

EASTER CHICK BOOKMARK Never lose your place in a book again with this fun bookmark!

Yo u will need Scissors Glue stick

What yo u do

1. Cut around the circular template.

2. Cut along the lines, as indicated, to remove the white quarter and set aside.

3. Fold along the dotted lines and glue one flap over the other to make the back of the chick’s head.

4. Cut out the beak and tuft. Attach to the face with glue and leave to dry.

5. You can now slip your Easter chick over the corner of a page to mark your place in a book.

Find a printable version of the pullout here: bit.ly/41cd3mv

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Riddles

Check your answers on page 34.

rainbow.

1) I’m colourful, but I’m not a animal.

I’m hunted for, but I’m not an ab.

I have a shell, but I’m not a cr not hung on a wall.

I’m t bu , ed int pa es tim me so I’m What am I?

2) What has no beginning, middle or end?

buns to share 3) If you get some hot cross e away half of with your friends and you giv e whole bun on them plus half of one and have start with? to left, how many did you have

Ostriches lay the biggest eggs (15 cm long).

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Hummingbirds lay the smallest eggs ( just 7 mm long).

The biggest chocolate Easter egg ever made weighed more than an elephant (7,200 kg).

EASTER BASKET SPINNER Trick your own eyes with this Easter spinner.

Yo u will need

Scissors Glue A pencil or chopstick

What yo u do

1. Cut out the two circles and cover the backs in glue.

2. Place a pencil or chopstick in the middle and sandwich them together, making sure that both the basket and the eggs are the right way up.

3. Spin the pencil between the palms of your hands and watch the eggs appear in the basket!

What’s happening?

The spinner rotates so quickly that your brain can’t process the two separate images. They appear as one image merged together!

Why not design your own spinner on some blank paper? You could merge a bunny into a magician's hat or an explosion into a test tube!

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Interview with a SCIENCE HERO

In my job I get to... share my love of science!

Maddie Moate hosts children’s TV shows, including the hit CBeebies series ‘Maddie’s Do You Know?’. She also makes fun science videos for her YouTube channel and brings science to the stage in live theatre shows.

She has written three science books (one of which is up for grabs below!).

Maddie Moate

TV presenter, YouTuber and author © JDarker

“

”

I have always been super curious.

© Alex Bate

I would often wander off in search of answers to satisfy my curiosity. One time in the Lake District, I got myself and some friends stuc k in the mud as I wanted to see how deep it was . Another time, I accidentally came face to face with a wild baboon because I wondered if I cou ld beckon it over like a cat. Turns out you can (but this is not something I recommend doing!). © Mark Senior

Filming at a glass factory

“

At school, I loved both science and drama, so I found it really tricky to choose which to study.

22 whizzpopbang.com © worldclassphoto / Shuttersrock.com

”

Maddie presenting a live

science show

I couldn’t imagine what a job in science would look like for me, so I chose to study drama. But after university, I realised how much I missed science, so I used my entertainment skills to start making YouTube videos about things I love, like science and tech. The videos did really well, and soon I was presenting TV shows!

Interview with a SCIENCE HERO

“

I love sharing my interest in science with other people.

”

You don’t have to spend years and years studying science to enjoy it. I’m not an expert. I’m just someone who loves learning about the world and helping others feel the same, and I’m proud of that!

“

A lot of my most memorable job experiences have involved animals.

”

g I once got to help move a nine-foot-lon d dive , ffes gira fed American alligator! I’ve my put ily into coral reefs and even voluntar arm into a tank of mosquitoes!

© Ben Hughes

Maddie sharing her love of nature

“

Being a scientist can mean lots of different things.

”

Not all scientists wear lab coa ts. Some climb trees to research wildlife and others take microscopic photographs of things that are too tiny for us to see.

Some make YouTube videos talking about their passions and others search the night skies looking for black holes. Even if you don’t think a future in science is for you, look again. You might be surprised!

Did you know that Cleopatra lived closer in time to the creation of the first iPhone than to the building of the pyramids?

Scuba diving in Indonesia

“

ng I was constantly fiddli to find and taking stuff apart out how it worked!

”

n we see every day ca Sometimes, the stuff e g and surprising. Som be the most interestin but the dishwasher daily people put dishes in s he dis e th to think how have never stopped e es it’s fun to find th actually get clean – es y new book, How do things out! I wrote m appreciation for the it work?, to share my . yday stuff around us workings of the ever

Tell us your favourite fact to be in with a chance of winning a copy of Maddie’s new book, How does it work? We’ve got three copies to give away. Send your fact to win@whizzpopbang.com with ‘How does it work?’ as the subject of your email. Deadline: May 8th 2025.

Full terms and conditions available at whizzpopbang.com

whizzpopbang.com 23

HOW STUFF

WORKS

candy floss machineS

These marvellous machines make melt-in-the-mouth pillows of spun sugar. You might have tried this super-sweet treat at the fair, but have you ever wondered how candy floss machines turn granulated sugar into fluffy pink clouds?

1

Coloured sugar is poured into a bowl inside a spinning head. A large candy floss machine can hold enough sugar for 46 sticks of candy floss!

2

An electric heater inside the spinning head heats the sugar to 150 °C. The sugar melts and turns into a hot, sticky syrup.

3

24 whizzpopbang.com

The spinning head spins around 3,450 times per minute.

Centrifugal force pushes the molten sugar out through tiny holes in the head, creating thin threads.

Candy floss machines were invented by a dentist Answer on page 34

4

On contact with air, the threads of hot sugar instantly solidify. The pan, shaped like an oversized metal doughnut, catches the cobwebs of spun sugar.

5

The strands of spun sugar are about as thin as a hair on your head. White is the natural colour of candy floss, but colouring is added to make it look more exciting.

In the UK, we call it candy floss, but it’s cotton candy to the Americans and fairy floss to the Australians.

In Italy, they call it zucchero filato, or sugar thread; in France, it’s la barbe à papa, or Papa’s beard!

whizzpopbang.com 25

.

g.. in z a m A ly e m o s e w A 0 1

R P R U S T E E W S

und in rising ingredients fo rp su e es th t ou k ec Ch tempted g this, you might be sweets. After readin ts! nny to bring you carro bu er st Ea e th k as to

1

What’s your favourite chocolate bar flavour? Mint? Caramel? Tastes vary widely around the world. In Japan, flavours we associate with savoury foods, like wasabi and green tea, are just as popular.

2

Would you dare to lick

scorpion lollies? Insects

sneak their way into quite a few of our snacks – but they’re usually better disguised!

3

Castoreum extract is a natural flavouring made from the, ahem, strongly scented bottom glands of beavers! It’s used to make sweets and other treats smell and taste like raspberry or vanilla.

26 whizzpopbang.com

4

5

Radioactive radium

is famous for killing the scientists who discovered it. Before people realised how deadly it was, products like radium chocolate bars were advertised as ‘health’ foods.

If you spot carmine or E120 on your sweet wrapper, you can thank tiny cochineal bugs. The females are sun-dried and crushed to extract the natural red food colouring.

7 S E S P RI 6

9

The shiny coating on hard-shelled sweets is often made from beetle poo!

Shellac is secreted by female lac beetles as they slurp sugary sap.

The shiny glaze stops sweets getting sticky in your hands.

Tartrazine (E102) and allura red (E129) are artificial food colourings made from

coal tar and petroleum.

They are used in some orange, yellow, green and red sweets.

They can make children hyperactive, so wrappers must carry a warning!

Scheele’s Green was one of the most popular green dyes in the 18th century, used in everything from wallpaper to sweets. The downside? It was a deadly compound of copper and arsenic!

8

Gelatine is the ingredient that makes most jelly sweets and marshmallows chewy. It’s made by boiling animal bones, cartilage or skin to extract the springy protein inside.

10

Ambergris, a waxy

substance vomited up or pooed out by sperm whales, was a popular flavouring for posh 17th century sweets! It protects the whales’ intestines from getting scratched by the beaks of the squid they eat and is still used in some perfumes.

© 1. Maya-anaïs yataghène, 2. Guillaume capron, 4. Shutterstock.com, 5. Shutterstock.com, 6. Shutterstock.com, 8. Shutterstock.com, 9. Shutterstock.com, 10. Shutterstock.com

whizzpopbang.com 27

My AmaZ ing Life

Antoine Lavoisier

I later became involved in a tax collecting company and married the daughter of one of the senior members of the company, Marie-Anne Pierrette Paulze. Marie-Anne joined me in the laboratory, helping me with my work, recording my findings and drawing illustrations of my experiments.

© Wellcome Collection / Wikim

I started to become interested in the topic of

combustion, which is what happens when

ns

things burn. The accepted theory of the time proposed that when things burn they release a mysterious substance called phlogiston.

/ Wikimedia Commo

When I left school, I followed in my father’s footsteps and studied law, but I quickly realised that science was my real passion.

I started attending scientific lectures and working on my first scientific projects, winning recognition from the French Academy of Sciences and even a gold medal from the King of France!

ANTOINE LAVOI SIER WAS BORN IN PARIS IN 1743.

tration of s lu il ’s e n n A Marie experiment. the phlogiston

© Hidrogenexp2.gif

I was born into a wealthy aristocratic family in Paris in 1743. I started school at the age of 11 and studied chemistry, botany, mathematics and astronomy.

These new sciences were flourishing, as it was the beginning of the modern scientific age, known in France as the French Enlightenment.

edia Commons

Known as ‘the father of modern chemistry’, Antoine Lavoisier was a French chemist and one of the leading figures in the scientific revolution in the 18th century.

A crucial feature of my experiments was the way I measured and controlled them. Most scientists at the time paid little attention to the exact amounts of substances in their experiments. I realised the importance of exact measurements and also of controlling what could get into and escape from an experiment.

My most important early work was to show that, when elements like phosphorus and sulphur burn, they gain weight. This was at odds with the phlogiston theory.

My experiments suggested that, instead of releasing the mystical phlogiston, combustion actually took something out of the air, which made the burnt phosphorus and sulphur heavier.

The Lavoisiers conducting a respiration experiment

At this time, nobody knew that the air was made up of different elements, but experiments by other scientists, including my English colleague Joseph Priestley, showed that air was in fact made up of at least two different substances.

My work on combustion finally demonstrated that there was no such thing as phlogiston! Instead, when substances burned in air, they combined with oxygen. This work also led to another important /Lavoisier.html / Wikimedia Commons © http://mattson.creighton.edu/History_Gas_Chemistry discovery – that water was not a single, indivisible element as had been I became interested in the process of previously thought. I showed that in fact respiration (breathing) in living creatures. water is made up of oxygen and another My work proved that respiration was element that had recently been discovered, really just a slow version of burning. called hydrogen.

The body ‘burns’ food with oxygen to produce energy.

My work on combustion demonstrated that when substances burned in air, they combined with oxygen.

Antoine conducting a combustion experim ent

© Science History Institute / Wikim

edia Commons

Sadly though, with my scientific career in full swing, things took a terrible turn in the early 1790s. The French poor people rose up against the rich and powerful people, and a bloody revolution swept across the country. As a rich scientist who had also had a career as a tax collector, I became a target. This brought my career to an early end, but the work I had accomplished helped to pave the way for modern chemistry.

Antoine Lavoisier was imprisoned and executed during the French Revolution in 1794. A year and a half after his death, the French government wrote a note to his widow exonerating him and returning his personal possessions.

whizzpopbang.com 29

Email me at Y@whizzpopbang.com

der Club!

Welcome to Y’s Won to share your This page is for you with our robot, adventures in science p Bang readers!

Y, and other Whizz Po ce question Everyone whose scien is page gets answered on th ng wins a Whizz Pop Ba , ok Science Joke Bo ome available in our awes at op online science sh whizzpopbang.com/shop

F oR

Hello Y! I have been wondering how water is clear, but snow and ice are white!

CURIoUS K I DS Hi Y, What is the difference between a slotted and unslotted feather in a bird?

Ojas, aged 7

The long feathers at the tips of a bird’s wing can be slotted or unslotted. Slotted feathers have small gaps at the tips, like spread-out fingers.

Birds like eagles and hawks have evolved these feathers so they can soar high in the sky, riding warm air currents without flapping their wings much. The gaps help control airflow over the wings, making it easier for them to stay up. But slotted wings make fast flight less efficient.

Unslotted feathers have no gaps – they’re packed closely together. Falcons have evolved these to fly fast, using powerful wing beats to chase after prey.

Caissa, aged 9

What a great question, Caissa! Water, snow and ice are all made of the same thing, but they look different to us because of how they interact with light. Water looks clear because light is able to pass through it without being reflected much. This allows us to see straight through it. But snow and ice are made up of tiny ice crystals that scatter light in many directions. Light bounces off all the surfaces inside the crystals, making them appear white. Snow looks whiter than ice because air pockets between the crystals cause even more scattering.

Sophie, aged 8, had great fun testing her rocket shooters from the Festive Science Fun edition (Issue 113). She found the rockets with the small fins were the fastest. Great research, Sophie!

enamel badges Y’s Wonder Club Badges Collectable for you to earn!

Help local wildlife to earn your Wildlife Watcher badge.

Investigate scientific questions to earn your Super Scientist badge.

Help save the planet to earn your Eco Hero badge.

E

Lots of you have been busy cutting out and crafting your own paper gemstones (from the Issue 114 pullout section)!

Iris, aged 7, loved making the sparkling gems. Underground Adventures was her first ever Whizz Pop Bang magazine! Welcome to the Wonder Club, Iris!

Leo, aged 8, made his paper gems on a snow day when his school was closed!

Yaqoub, aged 7, made two gemstones.

Dear Y, I really want to know what gas giants are made of. I really like Whizz Pop Bang!

From Seb, aged 9

As their name suggests, gas giants like Jupiter and Saturn, the biggest planets in our solar system, are mostly made of gases – mainly hydrogen and helium, the same gases that make up the Sun. But that’s not all. Because the gravity of these massive planets is so strong, the gases are pulled inwards, increasing the pressure inside them so much that hydrogen turns into a liquid. Although we don’t know for sure, scientists think that gas giants have dense cores at their centres, possibly made of rock or ice. Uranus and Neptune contain more water, methane and ammonia, making them look blue. We call them ice giants.

Get problem solving to earn your Epic Engineer badge.

Write a report or a review to earn your Science Reporter badge.

Luke, aged 6, had fun making the eco gift bows from the Festive Science Fun edition (Issue 113) to decorate some presents.

Send your experiments, ideas, photos, reviews and questions to Y@whizzpopbang.com or Y, Whizz Pop Bang, Unit 7, Global Business Park, 14 Wilkinson Road, Cirencester, GL7 1YZ. Don’t forget to include your name, age and address. We can’t return any post, sorry.

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whizzpopbang.com 31

Test your mum/ dad/dentis t to

How much can you remember from this issue?

Test your knowledge with our super-duper quiz. Just tick the answers you think are correct, mark them using the answers on page 34 and then add up your score. If you need some help, check out the hints at the bottom of the page.

see what they know !

1

What colour eyes are all kittens born with?

3 5

7

a) Brown b) Blue c) Green

2 4

been What has recently s? discovered on Mar a) Evidence of s ancient beache

What ingredient is made from beetle poo? a) Wasabi b) Gelatine c) Shellac

a) 72 kg b) 720 kg c) 7,200 kg

b) As a medicine c) To clean their teeth

What force helps push strands of candy floss out of a machine? a) Centrifugal force b) Gravity

people

c) Friction

6 8

How heavy was the biggest Easter egg ever made?

a) As a food

cts

b) Fossilised inse c) Small green

What did the Romans use sugar for?

Jokes about white sugar are rare, but jokes about brown sugar... demerara!

Where is most of the world’s cocoa produced? a) Africa b) Asia c) Swindon

What is Antoine Lavoisier known as? a) The father of modern dentistry

I scored...

b) The father of modern chemistry c) Father Christmas

Need a hint? Find the answers by reading these pages…

1) Page 12 2) Page 9 3) Page 4 4) Page 24 5) Page 27 6) Page 14 7) Page 20 8) Page 28

1-3: Sugar sprinkles 4-6: Candy-coated 7-8: Sweet success

!

IN

Candy floss competition

W Untangle the sticky candy floss trails by following the strands of sugar. Who is eating the strand that leads to the toothpaste? Send us your answer to be in with a chance of winning one of five awesome facts books from National Geographic Kids!

ay of A Fact for Every D to ts the Year: 365 fac W! make you say WO

w tounded w ith a ne as d an ed az am Be day of the year. fact every single ing facts on With 365 fascinat re an imals and natu everything from e. or the world and m to science, space, ect mix of random You’ll find a perf is day’ facts, plus trivia and ‘on th n photos to entertai tons of colourful all year round.

WINNER

Issue 115 competition winners Thank you to everyone who entered our Sound competition.

The answer to the riddle was ‘An Echo’. These three lucky winners will each receive a copy of Make Some Noise by Taskmaster’s Alex Horne.

Eleanor, aged 6 Dai Stanway, aged 9 Lola Rogers, aged 8

Send your entry to win@whizzpopbang.com with ‘Candy floss competition’ as the subject of your email. Alternatively, post it to Candy floss competition, Whizz Pop Bang, Unit 7, Global Business Park, 14 Wilkinson Road, Cirencester, GL7 1YZ. Please don’t forget to include your name, age and address. Deadline: May 8th 2025.

UK residents only. Full terms and conditions available at whizzpopbang.com. Sorry we are unable to return any post.

whizzpopbang.com 33

S E K O J

tine’s Day When does Valen ter? come after Eas !

In the dictionary

Does February March?

No, but April May! What do yo u a lamb cove call red chocolate? in A chocolat e baaa!

Page 6 – Sweets maths puzzle We know that two purple sweets cost 8p, so one must cost 4p. 7p-4p = 3p giving us the cost of the red sweet. So 5p-3p gives us the cost of the orange sweet: 2p

What do you ca ll a book full of chicken facts?

A hen-cycloped ia!

zees When do chimpan ? fall from the sky howers!

During Ape-ril s

Page 15 – Chocolate box puzzle

Answers Page 20 – Riddles

Page 11 – Jelly bean puzzle

1) An Easter egg 2) A doughnut 3) Three hot cross buns

The jelly beans are here

Page 25 – True/Untrue Page 18 – Easter sudoku

TRUE! The candy floss machine was invented

by Dr William Morrison, a dentist from Nashville, Tennessee, and a confectioner named John C Wharton in 1897.

Page 32 – Quiz 1) b 2) b 3) a 4) a 5) c 6) a 7) c 8) b

Page 12 – True/Untrue UNTRUE: The collective noun for a group of kittens is a kindle or litter and for cats it’s a clowder.

SUGAR RUSH This female ruby-throated hummingbird is drinking nectar from a flower, which is a wonderful source of natural sugar, providing her with lots of energy. Hummingbirds need to visit hundreds of flowers each day to keep their wings beating fast enough to hover. Some species of hummingbird flap their wings around 50 times per second!

R A L U C A T C E SP

e c n e i c s

This incredible cave in Mexico contains some of the biggest crystals ever found – the largest is about 12 m long, 4 m across and weighs 55 tons! The cave is 300 metres below the ground in an area called Naica, which lies on an ancient fault in the Earth’s crust and above an underground magma chamber. The giant selenite crystals formed over about 500,000 years because of a reaction between hot groundwater containing sulphide and cool surface water.

As well as hovering, hummingbirds can also fly forwards and backwards – and even upside down!

© Patrick Jennings / Shutterstock.com

GIANT CRYSTAL CAVE

Make your own ra i n b o w

COMING SO O

N

...

Join us nex t month for our awe some Ra i n b ow S cience edition!

Awesome optical illusions

Meet some colourful animals

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