Brainspace - Winter 2020 & 2021

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GIFTING & SCIENCE PROJECTS

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MIND TRICKS

MENTAL MATH CALCULATIONS

TALE OF A WHALE EVIDENCE SHOWS THAT WHALES ONCE WALKED

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EDITING HOLLY BENNETT COPY EDITING COLLETTE YVONNE CONTRIBUTING WRITERS HOLLY BENNETT PASCALE BIDER JOHN HOFFMAN BEN MAYCOCK NICOLE MYERS GALADRIEL WATSON FACT CHECKING JENNIFER ALEXANDER ART DIRECTION AND DESIGN GALEXY STUDIO VIDEO AND ORIGINAL MUSIC SCORES ALEX MIDDLETON PUBLISHER Brainspace Publishing Inc. PRESIDENT Nicole Middleton WEB / SEO Herbert Lemus ACCOUNTING SERVICES Leah Witherspoon LEGAL SERVICES Zaldin and Fine LLP

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Brainspace magazine is published four times a year by Brainspace Publishing Inc., 394 Ontario Street, Newmarket, ON L3Y 2K4 PHONE (905) 830-4314 Toll-free (844) 330-4314 EMAIL [email protected]

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ISSN 2291-8930

If you would like to contribute to Brainspace magazine, please email [email protected]

MISSION Brainspace magazine endeavours to produce intelligent and engaging articles for students ages 8 to 14 in a format that bridges the gap between print and digital technology to expand literacy and promote optimal learning. NOTE The opinions expressed herein are those of the respective authors and not necessarily those of Brainspace magazine or of Brainspace Publishing Inc. Brainspace magazine and Brainspace Publishing Inc. will not be liable for any damages or losses, howsoever sustained, as a result of the reliance on or use by a reader or any other person of any of the information, opinions or products expressed, advertised or otherwise contained herein. Where appropriate, professional advice should be sought.

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MATH Mental calculation of percentages

AIR AND WATER 6 8 12

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CLIMATE The troposphere creates weather GEOGRAPHY Air thermals and flight SCIENCE TALLULAH Water facts

ADAPTATION AND EVOLUTION 16 26

EVOLUTION The tale of walking whales ANATOMY An interview with dunk king, Jordan Kilganon

TECHNOLOGY 18 20 21

SPACE A hot Jupiter rains glass SPACE OSIRIS-REx accomplishes its mission TECHNOLOGY Video game design

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SCIENCE 10 14 24 28 30 38

BIOLOGY Extremophiles survive in harsh conditions BIOLOGY What we’ve recently learned about puffins BIOLOGY The mystery of spider flight CHEMISTRY How vaccines are created BIOLOGY Facts about the arctic fox BIOLOGY Lichens are all around us

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MAKER SPECIAL SECTION 31 32 33 34 35 36

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CRAFT Fantastic Ferrofluids FOOD Écorce de Nöel GAME Toupie (Dreidel) PLAY Polymer Ball and Table-Top Basketball BAKE Dog Cookies SEW Tiny Bear Sachet

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math

‘Tis the season of

PERCENTAGES You’re shopping for a gift. A sign says 30% off the regular price. You could use the calculator function on a cell phone, but why not get the satisfaction of mentally calculating it yourself? Here are quick tricks for calculating percentages.

THE BASICS If you can learn to calculate 10% and 50% of any number, the rest is easy. So let’s start with the basics.

% 10% 0 5 to FF! O 4

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10% To calculate 10%, you must divide a number by 10. Or, the same result is obtained by moving the decimal point one spot to the left. For example, if an item costs $100.00, simply move the decimal one spot to the left (100.00): $10.00 is 10% of $100.00. Take away $10.00 from $100.00, or 100 10. The sale price is $90.00. 50% Divide by 2 or halve any number to obtain 50%. For example, if something costs $49.99, round up to $50.00. Half of 50, or 50 ÷ 2, is 25. Take away 25 from 50 or 50 - 25. The difference is 25, therefore the sale price is $25.

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ROUND IT UP!

When calculating percentages on an amount ending with .99¢ always round to the dollar. For example, 28.99 should be rounded to $29.00. Similarly, an amount with .49¢ should be rounded to .50¢.

25% = 50% ÷ 2

In operations, 25 is half of 50. Therefore, the most efficient way to calculate 25% of a price is to determine 50% or half the price, and halve that result to determine how much 25% is. For example, if your favourite book is priced at $29.99 and it is being discounted at 25% of the price, round up to $30 and divide by 2. $15 is 50% of the price. Now halve $15 to $7.50 to obtain 25% discount.

% 5 2

15% 15% = 10% + half of 10%

In operations, 15 is 10 + 5. Therefore 15% of a price is 10% + 5%. Five percent is simply half of 10 percent. So if you are calculating a 15% tip, and the total bill is $28.36, move the decimal to the left and arrive at $2.83 for 10% of the total. Halve $2.83 to calculate 5% at 1.42. Add $2.83 (10%) + 1.42 (5%) and you will arrive to $4.25, which is 15% of $28.36.

40% = 50% - 10%

In operations, 40 is 10 less than 50. Therefore 50% of a price minus 10% of the price is what 40% will be. For example, $64.99 shoes are on sale at 40% off. Round $64.99 up to $65. Fifty percent 65 ÷ 2 or 32.50. 10% of 65.00 is $6.50. So, 32.50 (50%) - 6.50 (10%) is 26.50. Therefore, 40% or 26.50 will be taken away from the regular price. You will pay $65.00 - $26.50 = $38.50. Deal!

% 40

75% = 50% + 25%

75%

In operations, 75 is 50 + 25. Therefore, the most efficient way to calculate 75% of a price is to determine 50% and add half of that result to 50%. For example, if the price is $14.00, divide it by 2 to get 50% of the price, or $7.00. Divide $7.00 by 2 again for the 25% value of $3.50. Add $3.50 (25%) to $7.00 (50%) and $10.50 is the discount on the price. $14.00 - $10.50 = $3.50. You will pay $3.50. Big savings!

Other combinations: 5% = 10% ÷ 20% = 10% x 30% = 10% x 60% = 50% + 90% = 100% -

Use Zappar to watch the video below as we resolve the following percentage problems: 25% of $88.00 15% of $65.00 75% of $92.00 30% of $120.00

2 2 3 10% 10% BRAINSPACE WINTER 2020/21

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climate

Exosphere

-90°C to 80°C

SUNNY ONE MINUTE? POURING THE NEXT? THAT’S THE

TROPOSPHERE!

Thermosphere

THE ATMOSPHERE’S LOWEST LAYER IS KNOWN FOR ITS TENDENCY TO CHANGE

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0°C to -90°C -60°C to 0°C

Mesosphere

Stratosphere

15°C to -60°C

FRENCH METEOROLOGIST, LÉON PHILIPPE TEISSERENC DE BORT

Léon Philippe Teisserenc de Bort was excited about his experiment. The French meteorologist had attached a wicker basket to a hydrogen-filled paper balloon that had lifted the basket up past the clouds. Later, the basket dropped back to Earth, where someone found it and returned it to him. It was the early 1900s in France, and Teisserenc de Bort’s basket held an instrument called a meteorograph that can read temperature, air pressure and humidity. This experiment, along with over 200 others, would help Teisserenc de Bort figure out what was going on in the sky. What he discovered was exciting. Temperatures kept dropping the higher these balloons went – but only to a certain height. Above that, temperatures remained relatively steady. There must be two layers, he deduced. He called the upper one the stratosphere, which comes from the Greek for “sphere of layers.” Because of its fluctuating temperatures, he named the lower one “sphere of change”: the troposphere. Now, scientists know there are actually five layers in Earth’s atmosphere, which is the area that contains the gases that surround our planet. In order, they’re the troposphere, stratosphere, mesosphere, thermosphere and exosphere.

AVERAGE TEMPERATURES

BY GALADRIEL WATSON

Troposphere

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A GREAT BUT TEMPERAMENTAL PLACE TO LIVE The troposphere is where we humans live. That’s great for us, since it contains lots of the gas we breathe: oxygen. About 21 percent of the gas in the troposphere is oxygen; the rest is mostly nitrogen. This layer – which can vary from about eight to 18 kilometres high – is also where almost all our weather happens, from breezes to thunderstorms. K8P0V4L

USE THE ZAPPAR APP TO SCAN THIS IMAGE AND WATCH THIS AMAZING TIMELAPSE FILM OF WEATHER CHANGES IN OUR TROPOSPHERE FILMED BY MARK DE BRUIN.

Take rain or snow. As the sun warms the water in our planet’s oceans, lakes and rivers, some of this water rises as vapour into the air. Because temperatures get colder higher in the troposphere, this rising vapour starts to condense into water droplets or freeze into ice crystals, forming clouds. Once these droplets and crystals get too big and heavy, they fall toward the ground as precipitation, such as rain or snow.

Now think about wind. Again, the sun heats the Earth, but not evenly. Some places get warmer, which means that the atoms and molecules in the air start to move about and float up. As this air lifts, it leaves behind areas of low air pressure. Other places stay cooler, with atoms and molecules moving slowly and sinking; these create areas of high air pressure. But areas of high and low pressure don’t sit quietly side by side. Rather, the air in the high pressure areas blows toward the low-pressure areas. Whoosh! This creates wind.

Unfortunately, weather patterns are changing. There’s only a tiny bit of the gas carbon dioxide in the troposphere, but it can have a huge effect. Like a greenhouse warms the air trapped inside it, too much carbon dioxide can trap heat above our planet, raising temperatures, altering weather patterns and changing our long-term climate. To lessen the damage this might cause, lots of people are working to reduce the amount of carbon dioxide and other “greenhouse gases” being released into the air. The troposphere is our home, so it’s vital we take care of it! BRAINSPACE WINTER 2020/21

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geography

On a windy day, a flag may whip air right above this ground. Just as the about, leaves may rustle and your helium inside the balloon is less dense hair may blow into your eyes. On than the air outside the balloon, the a calm day, these things don’t warmed air above a hot parking BY happen, but that doesn’t mean lot is less dense than the cooler GALADRIEL WATSON the air isn’t doing anything. air around the lot. The balloon Look to the sky, where birds rises – and so does the heated air can show you that quiet air above the lot. still has powerful forces. Normally, we can’t see thermals. Some birds flap their wings But consider a paved road on a hot to fly from place to place. But summer day: sometimes you can others mostly rely on “thermal see a shimmer above the pavement updrafts.” Picture a helium balloon – that’s the hot air rising. While the that rises into the sky; columns of air updraft is too weak to lift us humans, can rise into the sky, too. This happens creatures that are much lighter than us can be above places like parking lots, farm fields lifted by the column of rising air. They might or rocky outcrops, where the sun heats also use the updraft to save energy: why flap patches of ground. This then heats the when you can soar? 8

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CONDOR IMAGE BY NNAAKK FROM PIXABAY.COM

HOW THERMAL UPDRAFTS HELP BIRDS AND OTHERS SOAR

On the search Vultures, for example, spend lots of time searching for carcasses to feed on, using these columns of warm air to stay aloft without flapping. In Argentina, a recent study looked at one type of vulture, the Andean condor. It showed that these birds – one of the heaviest flying birds in the world – fly on average about three hours a day, but flap for less than two minutes of this. One condor managed to travel 172 kilometres over more than five hours without a single flap! The birds in this study did about 75 percent of their flapping simply to take off and get going in the first place. They also had to flap a bit to travel from one thermal column to another. That’s because the warm air in these thermals eventually starts to cool off, becoming the same temperature as the air around them. When this happens, the air stops rising and the bird can’t use it to keep aloft anymore – it has to glide or flap to another thermal.

HANG GLIDER IMAGE BY PIXABAY.COM/USERS/272447-272447

Getting places Monarch butterflies are another animal that uses thermal updrafts. Especially when migrating thousands of kilometres to avoid winter in cold places like Canada and spend it in hot places like Mexico. And people can also take advantage – as long as we have contraptions. For example, thermals are the main way glider airplanes stay in the sky, and hang gliders use them, too. If it’s a cool day, however, and there aren’t any thermals, people and monarchs have to use other techniques if they intend to keep flying. As for vultures, that’s a great time to take a break and hang out on cliffs or in treetops instead.

BRAINSPACE WINTER 2020/21

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biology R

LE ASCA P Y B

deep m o r f ndra, is covered u t n froze net Earth o t s t s a these l fore eserts, pl f a c o i p h c d ro es. Ea ges to the ching rom t p r a o c c s s to ht, len and ocean ariety of l nique chal like droug uge v present u onditions icult for h a y b such diff nts m. C e t e e i v h m e t a n k h n o envir that live i on can ma the world e for f bl luti als arts o m impossi et the anim ld and pol p e co see . Som ! Me y a w heat, to survive at it may a th finds net Earth’s ls s a e n f i m o l i i t t an in pla condi here… bu e e v i m l extre live t tures that o t g in ea anyth philes: cr ces! a o l p m e e l extr pitab s o h n i most

BIDE

Thermophile Bacteria

Acidophiles

F

Halophiles Brine shrimp

Psychrotrophic bacteria - Lichen

Amazing Acidophiles

Hokkaido Island

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On the island of Hokkaido, in northern Japan, there is a region of volcanic hot springs known as the “Hell Valley.” As its name might suggest, these springs are not the most comfortable place to live. The spring water is over 50°C in some places, and extremely acidic in others. Exposure to these conditions for long would damage the bodies of most animals. This is not the case for two microbes, called Picrophilus oshimae and Picrophilus torridus. Both these organisms have made their home in the mud and water of the Hell Valley springs. The soil in which they live is even more acidic than battery acid! Because of this, scientists call these microbes “hyperacidophiles,” meaning extreme acid lovers.

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brain bomb zappar code here

Surprising Psychrophiles Lake Whillans 800m

Antarctica

Lake Whillans

Buried deep under the ice in Antarctica, there are pockets of liquid water called subglacial lakes. These frigid waters are home to a surprising variety of life forms! The creatures that live in them are called psychrophiles, meaning they thrive in the extreme cold. One such subglacial lake is Lake Whillans. It lies 800 metres under the ice and has a temperature of -0.5°C. Despite these challenging conditions, the waters of Lake Whillans are teeming with life! In 2013, scientists drilled through the ice and collected a sample of water from the lake. They discovered that the frigid, salty water was inhabited by at least ten different types of microbes! The Great Salt Lake, U.S. State ofUtah

Hearty Halophiles As its name suggests, the Great Salt Lake in Utah, USA, is extremely salty. In some places, the lake is almost 30 percent salt. That’s ten times saltier than the ocean! For most animals, living in such a salty environment would upset the delicate chemical balance of their bodies. However, the Great Salt Lake is home to many salt-loving species called halophiles. These halophiles include brine shrimp and salt flies, as well as algae and microbes. One of these algae, called Dunaliella salina, produces chemicals that sometimes makes the Great Salt Lake look bright pink!

Thriving Thermophiles

Champagne Vent, Northwest Eifuku volcano, Marianas Trench

Deep down on the ocean floor, the world’s hottest spots are called hydrothermal vents. These cracks in the crust of the earth spew out incredibly hot jets of water. Some of them have a temperature of 400°C! The microbes that live in these vents must withstand not only scalding heat, but also unbearable pressure and total darkness. Very few are up to the challenge! Among them is Pyrolobus fumarii, a microbe discovered at a hydrothermal vent 3.6 kilometres below the surface of the ocean. This microbe can live in temperatures up to 113°C! Pyrolobus and all heat-loving microbes are known as thermophiles.

BRAINSPACE WINTER 2020/21

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science

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BRAINSPACE WINTER 2020/21

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biology

PUFFIN PUZZLE THE MYSTERIOUS MIGRATORY PATTERNS OF THE PUFFIN HAD BIRD BIOLOGISTS BAFFLED – UNTIL NOW. BY BEN MAYCOCK

From May to August the Atlantic puffin leads a bold and highly visible life. Summer breeding grounds, like Machias Seal Island in the Bay of Fundy, attract tourists, naturalists and photographers who enjoy up close and entertaining encounters with the “parrot of the sea.” But as summer fades the puffin disappears from land, a phenomenon that up until recently has been a mystery. Scientists have long puzzled over where puffins go during their winter migration. Now, thanks to advances in technology, they are able to get a more accurate picture of where these sea birds spend two-thirds of the year.

Despite being more comfortable in the water than the air, puffins can still fly quite fast, flapping their wings about 400 times a minute and reaching speeds of about 80 km/hr. 14

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Satellite tags are one of the best ways to track migrating birds, but they can be expensive and weigh quite a bit. At roughly 20 centimetres tall and weighing similar to a can of soda, the puffin presents taggers with a particular challenge. Heather Major, a seabird biologist at the University of New Brunswick, says they do not want to attach anything to a bird that weighs more than one percent of its body mass. Anything heavier than that impacts their ability to fly. Luckily, advancements in tracking technology have allowed instruments such as geo-location tags to become smaller and lighter, while at the same time able to make more measurements and store more data. And they can be just small enough to attach to a puffin without the animal being bothered by it. In 2017, Major’s UNB team attached 29 geo-location tags to puffins. The following year they were able to retrieve 20 of them. Each day the tags had recorded such data as light levels and water temperatures. “We found that they were leaving Machias Seal Island and spending time in the Gulf of Maine and Cape Cod, and then going as far south as Cape Hatteras in the winter,” says Major. “And then they start to make their way back up to the island in March.”

So why had no one seen them during those winter months? Surprisingly, the puffins were spending about eight months of the year out on the open ocean, where they are perfectly at home. Puffins are better swimmers than fliers, so it makes the most sense for them to be close to their food source, expending the least amount of energy to do so. When not feeding on schools of small fish, they can rest and sleep on the waves. They can even drink salt water. In fact, breeding is the only reason puffins go on land. Young puffins spend at least the first two years of their lives on water without ever stepping a webbed foot on land!

Puffin couples often reunite every year at the same nest site.

BRAINSPACE WINTER 2020/21

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evolution

The Tale of

Walking Whales BY PASCALE BIDER

Whales are truly some of planet Earth’s most astounding creatures. Blue whales are the largest animals to ever have existed. Sperm whales have the biggest brain of any living animal. Narwhals can grow tusks up to three metres long! Together with dolphins and porpoises, whales make up the group Cetacea. Today, all cetaceans live in oceans or in freshwater rivers, but this has not always been the case. Millions of years ago, the ancestors of whales actually walked on land! Grab your snorkel, put on your flippers and let’s take a deep dive into the history of whales.

The Proof Is in the Poo Untangling whale history is no easy feat, and scientists sometimes use unconventional methods to work out this puzzle. Researchers in Canada are trying to learn more about whale evolution... by studying their poo! They collect samples of whale poo they find floating on the Atlantic Ocean. Then, they can analyze their samples to find microbes inside. These microbes help them understand how the whale stomach works now, and also how it worked in the past. So far, the team has learned that although whales today eat mostly meat, their ancestors ate a lot more plants. Now that must be some stinky science! 16

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The first cetaceans The oldest known cetaceans were a group of whales called Pakicetids. They lived in what is now Pakistan approximately 50 million years ago. Similar in size to a wolf, Pakicetids walked on four legs, and had long snouts and tails. Their eyes were close to the top of their head, like those of crocodiles today. By studying ancient Pakicetid bones and the rocks around them, scientists learned that these ancient animals once lived on land, but spent most of their time wading in shallow lakes and streams. If they lived on land, why on earth are Pakicetids called cetaceans? To understand this, we first have to know how scientists define cetaceans in general. All whales, dolphins and porpoises have a distinctly shaped bone in their inner ear. Pakicetid skulls also share this unique feature, which makes them part of the group.

Pakicetidae

Ambulocetus

Remingtonocetus

Starting to swim

Protocetus

Basilosaurus

Dorudon

Mysticeti (baleen whales)

Odontoceti (toothed whales)

Over millions of years, the bodies of ancient cetaceans changed drastically as they became more aquatic. After Pakicetids, the ancestors of whales developed shorter limbs and flippers. For example, the ancient whale Ambulocetus had short legs and swam in rivers like a very large otter. Over time, cetaceans moved closer and closer to the ocean. The next whale ancestors, called Remingtonocetids, lived at the mouth of rivers along the ocean’s coast. The Basilosaurids were among the first cetaceans to live entirely in salt water. They were also the first to develop the iconic whale tail that we know so well. Today’s whales, dolphins and porpoises spend their entire lives swimming in water. However, their skeletons show tell-tale signs of their terrestrial past. All cetaceans still have tiny bones in their tail where their ancestors’ hind legs once were!

Curious cousins By studying the whale family tree, scientists made an astounding discovery. They discovered that out of all animal species alive today, the one most closely related to whales is the hippo! Millions of years ago, whales and hippos shared a common ancestor, making these two species distantly connected cousins. BRAINSPACE WINTER 2020/21

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space

aycock By Ben M

Scientists believe: The azure colour of this hot Jupiter, HD 189733b, is the product of hot molten glass that rains sideways on the planet!

Fast fact: Gravity on hot Jupiters can cause tidal forces to stretch them into unusual shapes. One of them, WASP-12b, is 20 times the size of Earth and shaped like an egg.

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This “blue marble,” called HD 189733b, is just one of the everincreasing numbers of “hot Jupiters” being discovered by scientists as they search the universe for habitable planets.

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3-6-1-6-6-7-5-1-3

Hot Jupiters get their name because they are large and made of gas like planet Jupiter. They orbit their sun-like stars very closely, which raises their surface temperature to an extremely high level.

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light years from Earth, a planet that looks like a big blue marble is being watched closely by astronomers. While the Atmospheric Water colour blue is often associated with feelings of calmness Possibly Hidden Observable and stability, this particular world is anything but peaceful. This “blue marble,” called HD 189733b, is just one of the ever-increasing numbers of “hot Jupiters” being discovered by scientists as they search the universe for habitable planets. On this planet, daytime temperatures reach almost 1,000°C, and 7,000-kilometres-per-hour winds howl across its surface. And researchers are pretty sure the gentle blue colour is a product of the hot molten glass that rains sideways on the planet! Planets in our solar system differ in numerous ways but there are two basic properties, size and orbit, that can tell us a lot. A planet’s size determines if it has an atmosphere that can support life. A planet’s orbit, or how it circles its star, affects the temperature on its surface and the probability of water there. A planet that could support life has to be just the right size. Too small (less than 80 percent of Earth’s diameter) and it doesn’t have the gravity to hold onto a life-sustaining atmosphere; too big (over twice Earth’s size) and it turns into a gas giant like Jupiter and Saturn. Jupiter, for example, is ten times bigger than Earth and 300 times heavier! Hot Jupiters are tidally locked, which means that the same side always faces the sun. This means that on one side of the planet it is always a sunny day while the other exists in a permanently dark night. Hot Jupiters orbit their suns at a much faster rate than Earth does its sun, completing the circuit in a few days or weeks as opposed to the year it takes Earth. A year on such a planet would only be a few days here. While we can’t see a hot Jupiter with the naked eye, there are super telescopes that can see them indirectly. Telescopes on spacecrafts have also been able to feed scientists information on these fascinating worlds. So far NASA has confirmed the existence of over Kepler-7B is a hot Jupiter that is 50 percent larger 4,000 exoplanets (planets outside our solar system), than Jupiter but half the mass, which means its and around ten percent of them are considered hot density is similar to Styrofoam. It would likely float Jupiters.

Fast fact:

on water!

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On October 20, 2020, NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft attempted to take a sample from the asteroid Bennu. It successfully stowed the sample on October 27. Tim Haltigin of the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) speaks with Brainspace.

space

MISSION ACCOMPLISHED

Watch with Zappar:

S

ince our first Brainspace article about its launch in 2016, OSIRIS-REx has been quite busy. It has circled the Bennu asteroid twice, taken pictures with its laser altimeter device (OLA), produced the largest and most accurate 3D model of a space object to have ever returned to Earth, and it has gone back to Bennu again to complete its mission: to collect and stow a pristine asteroid sample for its return to Earth. An OLA scan that was taken over 5.5 minutes and contains 3,342,748 measurements. Shadows are in areas that were not visible from the perspective of OLA. (Credit: NASA/University of Arizona/Canadian Space Agency/York University/MDA)

With Osiris-REx’s collected images and data, scientists studied Bennu’s shape and craters, slopes, distribution of boulders, and other surface features to determine the ideal spot to collect a sample from. OSIRIS-REx’s team have programmed the robot with artifical intelligence, enabling it to make its own decisions when landing on Bennu. Assessing the safety of the targeted landing site is one of the many choices OSIRIS-REx makes when it goes out into space. OSIRIS-REx is doing a wonderful job thanks to its amazing creators here on Earth. Why is Bennu the chosen asteroid?

There are millions of asteroids that circle in proximity to Earth. Bennu comes close to Earth every six years. Its massive 510-metre diameter is largely why Bennu was chosen as the target of OSIRIS-REx’s mission. A small asteroid spins rather fast, which would make landing on it tricky. Larger asteroids,

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like Bennu, circle slower and have greater surface area to land on. Originally, scientists had hoped for a 60-metre landing area. OSIRIS-REx’s photos showed that the selected landing site – Nightingale – is eight to ten metres wide. That’s less than two car spaces in a parking lot. Why do we want to collect a sample of the asteroid?

Analyzing the pristine sample returned by OSIRIS-REx could revolutionize our understanding of the solar system’s history, how our planet formed, and possibly the origin of water and life on Earth. The great news is that since Canada provided OLA, the device that photographed Bennu’s landscape, Canada gets to keep four percent of the sample that will be collected. How much is that? OSIRIS-REx will bring back a minimum of 60 grams to a maximum of two kilograms of sample. For Canada, the share may only be a teaspoon’s worth of matter from Bennu, but a single grain can unlock an incredible amount of information. Haven’t meteorite samples been studied before?

For decades, scientists have studied meteorite fragments recovered on Canadian soil and elsewhere. But when meteors enter our atmosphere, they are exposed to extreme temperatures that bake away some of the clues scientists have long searched for. According to Tim Haltigin, Bennu will provide us with the freshest four-billion-year-old sample. OSIRIS-REx is expected to return to Earth with the sample in September, 2023!

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technology

Video Game Design Written by Nicole Myers of STEM Minds

How do the video games you love to play get designed? Let’s learn by creating a video game. Go to MakeCode Arcade by Microsoft at arcade.makecode.com, click “New Project,” and let’s get started!

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We are going to make a very simple chase game called “Taco Tuesday.” You will have two “sprites” (aka characters): your main player, and the taco you are trying to catch! In the blue Sprites menu, drag the “set my sprite” block into the “on start” block already on your workspace to create your player character. Click the grey oval to open up the sprite editor and select “gallery” to find a player sprite you like! Click “done” and your main character should appear in the middle of your screen.

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technology

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In the orange Controller menu, drag in a “move mySprite with buttons” block and place it after the first block we created. This will allow us to move our player! Go back to the Blue sprites menu and drag in another “set my sprite” block so that it comes after the orange move block. Click on “of kind player” and change it to “food.” This will be the taco we are trying to catch! Click on the grey oval to open up the sprite editor and select “gallery” to find the taco sprite.

Go back to the blue Sprites menu; this time click and drag in an “on sprite overlaps other sprite” block. This should go OUTSIDE of your green on start block. Keep the first sprite kind as “player” and change the second sprite kind to “food.”

Head into the pink “Info” menu and drag a “change score by 1” into this block. Now, when your player “catches” the taco, their score will go up by 1!

We don’t want our taco to be in the same place all the time; that would make the game too easy! We can tell our taco to move to a random position on our screen by going into the blue Sprites menu and dragging out a “set position to x y” block AFTER our “change score” block. Be sure to change this block to say mySprite2 so it is applying to your taco sprite. brainspacemagazine.com

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Then, open the purple Math menu and drag out two “pick random” blocks. Drop one block into the white space for the x coordinate that currently says 0, and another into the y coordinate. Change the numbers for the x coordinate to be between 10 and 160. Change the numbers for the y coordinate to be between 10 and 120.

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Last but not least, let’s add a timer to our game to make it a bit more challenging! In the pink Info menu, drag out a “start countdown:” block and add it after you set your sprite’s position. The shorter the time, the harder the game! Around 5 seconds is a good starting place. Awesome work! You can use the game simulator on the left of your screen to test your game. Use the arrow keys on your keyboard to control your player. If you run out of time before you collect your taco, you’ll get a game over screen that shows your high score.

LAUNCH ZAPPAR then watch this step-by-step video demonstration by STEM minds. BRAINSPACE WINTER 2020/21

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biology

THE MYSTERY OF

SPIDER FLIGHT BY HOLLY BENNETT

Birds fly. Bats fly. Spiders… fly? Spiders don’t exactly fly, but they can still travel through the air for hundreds of miles, even across an ocean. They do this by a behaviour called “ballooning.” To balloon into the air, a spider climbs to the tip of a stalk or leaf, does a kind of handstand to stick its bum in the air, lets out some silk – and then waits for take off.

WHEN SPIDERS SENSE AN ELECTRIC FIELD, THEY STICK THEIR SPINNERETS INTO THE AIR AND RELEASE SILK. CALLED “TIPTOEING,” THIS MEANS SPIDERS ARE READY FOR TAKE-OFF. PHOTO BY MICHAEL HUTCHINSON

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Fun Fact: We think of spiders as solitary, but some migrate in mass ballooning events, when thousands take off at once. Because they are top insect predators, these events can affect insect populations wherever they land.

Until recently, scientists assumed that spiders use wind currents to get airborne. But that’s not a completely satisfying explanation. For one thing, many ballooning events happen when the air is quite still. It turns out that back in the 1800s Charles Darwin figured out the key to the puzzle. After watching hundreds of spiders touch down on his ship, the Beagle, on a calm day, he wondered whether “electrostatics” had something to do with their flight. But that theory was not taken seriously – until a few years ago. Using Earth’s electric field The atmospheric potential gradient (APG) is an electromagnetic circuit between the Earth (which holds a negative charge) and the ionosphere (which holds a positive charge). It is always there, but its strength can vary. Storms, for example, charge up the electric field and increase its voltage. This electromagnetic current can lift the spiders high into the air. Two researchers at the University of Bristol, Erica Morley and Daniel Robert, used a clever experiment to prove that spiders can detect an electromagnetic current and use it for ballooning. They built a clear plastic box the size of a mini fridge that was sheltered from both air currents and electric fields. They installed electrodes on the top and bottom of the box so they could mimic the electric field of Earth. They also added a vertical cardboard strip to simulate a branch that spiders might launch from. When they introduced spiders into the box, there was no ballooning

behaviour when the charge was turned off. But when they turned on the charge, the spiders began climbing the cardboard strip and tiptoeing like they do before take-off. Some even began to fly right in the box! When the spiders were airborne, the scientists could make them move up and down by turning the electrical field on and off. What’s more, they were able to show through laser light that a certain kind of sensory hair on the spiders’ bodies moved when the current came on. Their other hairs (spiders are quite hairy!) didn’t move. So spiders can sense an electric charge, and they can use it to fly! LAUNCH ZAPPAR to watch

VIDEO COURTESY UNIVERSITY OF BRISTOL HTTPS://WWW.YOUTUBE.COM BRAINSPACE WINTER 2020/21

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anatomy

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@THEGOLDENBEAR ON INSTAGRAM

The first time Jordan Kilganon dunked a basketball, he was only two years old and playing with a Fisher-Price hoop. He has been obsessed ever since. Kilganon, a world champion dunker, is famous for his creative style. From wearing his jeans in an NBA-televised dunking contest to his jaw-dropping aerial stunts, Kilganon does things his way.

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Without expertise from mentors, trainers or the use of specialized equipment to help perfect his skills, Kilganon’s rise to the top was due to sheer determination. “If you really want to do it, you’ll find a way. I was stacking things on top of each other to make my jumps.” His exceptional ability is the product of a child-like curiosity, a willingness to learn and a love of dunking. “Dunking wasn’t a thing when I was ten. There wasn’t any research around it. So I read and did my own work. Really, I learned how to learn.” And he learned a lot. He read about how muscles in his body worked. Then he applied his research to jumps. He read about how frogs jump, then practised generating power from his hips. He jumped for likely more hours than anyone ever has. And he continued to do it until he could soar through the air, palming a basketbball in one hand, while jumping over a car, into a reverse position to complete a seemingly impossible slam dunk. Asked how it feels to be the world champ, he simply said, “It’s weird to describe. Being recognized for something I didn’t think was possible is just... I didn’t aim to become the best. Dunking is just something I love to do. It’s fun to feel like you’re floating.” Kilganon developed the unique power to explode off the floor, and achieve the kind of height that isn’t expected from a 6’1” athlete. NBA players like Shaquille O’Neal are blown away by Kilganon’s dunks. It’s obvious that praise isn’t why Kilganon keeps pushing dunking as a sport. He doesn’t aim to gain favour with NBA pros. Besides, he doesn’t fit the stereotype of a basketball player. Kilganon explains, “I’m not super tall and I have small hands but I made that my advantage.” Mastering the technique required to palm a basketball wasn’t a natural skill for Kilganon. He explains that, in fact, the technique required for dunking is what sets it apart from the sport of basketball. Kilganon has done a lot for the sport of dunking and he hopes to inspire younger generations to love it too. As with gymnastics, ski jumping and many Olympic events, dunking highlights the training and determination required to reach maximum human potential. Jordan Kilganon is proving that dunking isn’t just for tall basketball players. Jordan Kilganon – aka Mythkiller – has killed every myth about what it takes. “I never felt like I couldn’t do it.”

DUNK KING

Use Zappar to watch the amazing video of Kilganon’s dunks.

Looking to increase your vertical? Want to be able to dunk for the first time, or can you already dunk but want to add to your repertoire? Get free vertical jump tips from world-class dunker Jordan Kilganon. Visit bouncekit.com

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chemistry

HowVACCINES ARE CREATED By Holly Bennett

A

re you looking forward to your next “booster shot?” Probably not – nobody loves getting needles! And we might not always appreciate the protection vaccines give us, if we’ve never seen just how bad the diseases they fight can be. But COVID-19 has made us appreciate the value of vaccines. Wouldn’t it be great to all be immune, and get back to normal life? Scientists around the world are working full-out to develop a vaccine so we can do just that. So just how do they go about creating a new vaccine? Antonia Di Castri is a research associate at the Canadian Center for Vaccinology in Halifax, NS, who also studies Community Health and Epidemiology at Dalhousie University. She talked to Brainspace to answer our questions about vaccines.

FastFact Epidemiology is the study of all the factors that determine the spread of diseases in a population. Epidemiologists study how many people have a disease, if those numbers are changing, which populations are most (or least) affected, and how we can control the spread of the disease. They are often thought of as “disease detectives”!

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Brainspace: How do vaccines work?

A: When you get sick with a virus (for example), the virus makes a lot of copies of itself inside your body. That alerts your body to mobilize special cells that attack and try to destroy those virions (or viral particles), but by then the virus has had a head start and may have spread enough to make you really sick. But as these special cells destroy the virions, some information about that virus is stored: what it looks like, and the best way to get rid of it. So if you ever run into that virus again, your body will recognize it right away and will fight it off before it can make you sick. You’ve become immune. A vaccine trains your body to recognize and fight a virus by injecting something that is like the virus. It could be a tiny part of the virus, or a version that is really weak. It’s kind of like a fire drill for your body. So even though the vaccine is not the real virus and it can’t make you sick (just like a fire drill is not a real fire and can’t burn you), your body responds as if it was and makes that memory. Now if you are exposed to the real virus, you’ll be able to kill it before it can make you sick.

Brainspace: How is a vaccine developed and how long does it take?

A: It’s a process that usually takes many years. It took four years to create the mumps vaccine, and that’s the fastest so far. It sometimes takes 20 years or more! First, scientists in labs have to work with the virus and figure out what parts of the virus they might be able to use in a vaccine and how to isolate those bits. They have to find something that will trigger an immune response, but that won’t cause any harm. When they have something they think might work, the vaccine is tested on animals. They check blood samples to see whether immune cells are being mobilized and the animals

have developed antibodies to the virus. And they watch for side-effects: does the vaccine make the animals sick? Next they test the vaccine carefully on humans in a series of “clinical trials,” which involve three steps. In Phase 1, the vaccine is given to a small group of 20-100 volunteers. There are many safety measures they have to follow, and they watch the volunteers very carefully for any kind of bad symptoms. If the vaccine seems to work and be safe, they move on to Phase 2, where they test it on a few hundred people. Again they are watching for safety, side effects, and whether the volunteers are making antibodies to the virus. Phase 3 involves many more people – thousands or tens of thousands – who are followed for much longer. These studies look at how well the vaccine protects people from the disease. If at any point in these trials something happens – even if it seems unrelated, like one of the volunteers is in a car accident – the trial stops until that case is investigated and they are satisfied that it wasn’t caused by the vaccine. And THEN, once the vaccine is fully tested, it has to be approved by a group of experts at Health Canada. They must be convinced that the benefits of the vaccine outweigh the risks. So that’s why it takes a long time to make a vaccine. We need to be sure that it is safe before it’s given to the public.

Brainspace:

Will it take 4+ years to get a COVID-19

vaccine? A: The difference is there are so many people working on it around the world. There’s never been such a concerted international effort – there are something like 200 vaccines being developed and tested! Some are already in Phase 3. We hope that we will end up with several effective vaccines that can all be manufactured and used. Scientists and pharmaceutical companies are sharing information so that we can learn from each other and have the best chance of succeeding. It’s actually very exciting. So, some things can be sped up. All these potential vaccines have been created really quickly because of the intensive effort. And I’m sure different governments are also looking at safe ways to speed up the approval process, because we all feel the urgency to protect people from this disease. But we still have to go through all the safety checks properly.

Brainspace: Do you feel hopeful that we will find a vaccine?

A: I do! We have so many brilliant minds think-tanking together toward the same outcome, and everyone is working so hard.

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HABITAT Arctic foxes live in arctic and alpine tundra in the northernmost regions of Europe, Asia, North America, Greenland and Iceland.

biology

BIG FAMILIES An average litter size is 11 whelps. That is the largest recorded litter of any wild mammal.

SLY AS A

FOX

SOUND HUNTERS Arctic foxes nosedive into the snow when hunting. Excellent hearing allows them to detect lemmings moving underneath the snow. When the lemmings get close, the fox pounces!

“Sly as a fox” is a simile we use to suggest that a person is sneaky, tricky or dishonest. But is a fox really sly? It is believed that Aesop’s fables – like The Fox and the Crow – gave this adorable animal a bit of a bad reputation. While foxes are often seen sneaking around the tundra attempting to steal goose eggs to eat, it’s for survival – it’s not about being tricky or dishonest. Here are a few fun facts about the Arctic fox: FEAST FOR A FOX Arctic foxes eat voles, mice, lemmings, rabbits and other small animals throughout the fall and winter. In the spring, they supplement their diet with nesting birds and eggs. 30

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FOX BATTLES Angry foxes stick their tails straight into the air and shove each other with their bums. It’s believed that they are using their scent glands to establish dominance and mark their territory. COLOUR CHANGE The Arctic fox is the only member of the Canidae family whose coat changes colour. Whelps, or pups, are born with a grey pelt.

GREAT ARCHITECTS Arctic fox dens can be over 300 years old and have as many as 100 entrances.

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MAKER spEciAl sEction CRAFT LAUNCH ZAPPAR to watch a demo on this gift

FANTASTIC FERROFLUIDS

YOU WILL NEED rubbing alcohol water a small glass bottle with a cap ferrofluid (inexpensive and easy to order) magnet measuring cup eye dropper plastic gloves towel/paper/plastic to protect work surface apron funnel

A glossy black fluid that moves magnetically into angular shapes is a hypnotic and satisfying thing to watch. Ferromagnetic fluid was invented by a NASA researcher who was attempting to formulate an agent that would draw fuel up into a pump when a rocket is in zero gravity. The fluid is attracted to magnetic poles and is used in computers, speakers, automotive parts and in medical imaging technology. It’s also very satisfying to watch.

1. Protect your work surface, and put on an apron and gloves. Ferrofluid isn’t toxic or dangerous, but it permanently stains anything it touches. 2. Use a funnel to fill the decorative bottle of your choice with half water and half alcohol. 3. Use the eye dropper to put a few drops of ferrofluid into the water and alcohol to cover the bottom of the bottle. 4. Seal the bottle shut with a cap. 5. Rub the magnet over the outside to create fun patterns. BRAINSPACE WINTER 2020/21

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MAKER spEciAl sEction FOOD

ÉCORCE DE NÖEL

LAUNCH ZAPPAR to watch a demo on this recipe

Ce qu’il vous faut 1 paquet de pépittes de chocolat mi-sucré 1 paquet de pépittes de chocolat blanc 1 tasse de cannes de Nöel broyées, divisée

You will need 1 package semisweet chocolate chips 1 package white chocolate chips 1 cup crushed candy canes, divided

ÉTAPE 1 Chauffer le chocolat mi-sucré dans un bol microondable, à intensité MOYENNE, de 1 à 2 min ou jusqu’à ce qu’il ait presque fondu; remuer jusqu’à ce qu’il ait complètement fondu. ÉTAPE 2 Répéter les opérations dans un bol séparé pour le chocolat blanc. ÉTAPE 3 Incorporer ½ des cannes de Nöel broyées au chocolat mi-sucré et l’autre moitié au chocolat blanc. ÉTAPE 4 Déposer en alternance des cuillerées combles des mélanges de chocolat sur une plaque à pâtisserie tapissée de papier ciré. ÉTAPE 5 Marbrer délicatement avec la pointe d’un couteau. ÉTAPE 6 Réfrigérer 1 h ou jusqu’à fermeté. Briser en morceaux.

STEP 1 Heat the brown chocolate chips in a microwave-safe bowl at MEDIUM power for 1 minute or until they are partially melted; stir until completely melted. STEP 2 In a separate bowl, repeat the same steps for the white chocolate. STEP 3 Stir ½ the crushed candy canes into the brown chocolate and the other half into the white chocolate. STEP 4 Alternate spoonfuls of white and brown chocolate onto a cookie sheet that is lined with wax paper. STEP 5 Delicately swirl both chocolates into each other with the tip of a butterknife. STEP 6 Refrigerate for one hour or until it is firm. Break it into pieces.

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MAKER spEciAl sEction GAME

TOUPIE (DREIDEL) Pour fabriquer la toupie tu as besoin:

To make the dreidel you will need:

• du modèle sur cette page • d’une paire de ciseaux (à bouts ronds de préférence) • d’un peu de colle ou ruban gommé • d’un crayon ou bâton pour mettre au centre de la toupie Pour fabriquer la toupie, vous devez: Découper le patron, plier sur les lignes, et coller les côtés ensemble pour que ça ressemble l’image à la droite. Mettre le crayon au centre de la toupie. Pour jouer à la toupie vous avez besoin: • toupie (dreidel) • 10 bonbons par joueur Pour commencer le jeux, chaque joueur doit mettre un bonbon au centre. Le gagnant est celui qui a réussi à avoir tous les bonbons!

• the template on this page • a pair of scissors • a bit of glue or tape • a pencil or stick to put in the centre of the dreidel Make the dreidel: Cut out the template, fold it along the lines into the shape in the picture and glue down the flaps. Put the pencil in the centre of the dreidel. To play the dreidel game you will need: • a dreidel • 10 candies per player To begin, each player puts one candy in the centre. The player who wins all of the candy is the winner.

This template can be downloaded: brainspacemagazine.com

LAUNCH ZAPPAR to watch an English demo on making this dreidel and rules of play.

Si la toupie tombe sur ce symbol (Shin), le joueur doit mettre deux de ses bonbons au centre.

Si la toupie tombe sur ce symbol (Gimel), le joueur prend tous les bonbons qui sont au centre et chaque joueur doit remettre un bonbon pour le tour suivant

Si la toupie tombe ce symbol (Hay), le joueur prend la moitié des bonbons qui sont au milieu. S’ils sont en nombre impair il prend un nombre impair de bonbons (par exemple s’il en reste 5, il en prendra 3). S’il ne reste plus qu’un seul bonbon au milieu après qu’il se soit servi, tous les joueurs doivent remettre un bonbon au centre pour le tour suivant.

Si la toupie tombe sur ce symbol (Nun), le joueur ne fait rien.

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MAKER spEciAl sEction PLAY LAUNCH ZAPPAR to watch a demo on this polymer ball and table-top game

BOUNCY BALLS

YoU Will nEED borax cornstarch food colouring warm water white glue stir stick small glass bowls

in tHE FiRst BoWl ADD 2 tbsp 1/2 tsp 5-7 drops

warm water borax to warm water, stir to dissolve food colouring

sEconD BoWl 1 tbsp 1/2 tsp

white glue first cup mixture – add but don’t mix; let sit for 10 seconds on the glue 1 tbsp cornstarch on top of the glue. Use the stick to stir the mixture until it becomes very firm. Use the palms of your hands to roll the mixture into a round and smooth ball. Bounce! Store in a small airtight container.

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TABLE-TOP BASKETBALL GAME 3 paper cups large sheet construction paper medium-sized box marker glue or glue gun

1. Cut the bottom out of each paper cup – these are your baskets. Option: decorate them with the marker to create mesh patterns.

2. Using construction paper, cut out 3 semi-circles larger than your paper cups, for the backboards of your game. Draw a different score value on each of the backboards, e.g. 1, 2, 3. 3. Cut the top flaps off the box. Cut the widest side of the box open. Only one side. On the two narrow sides, cut in a diagonal line from the bottom of the open side to the opposite corner at the top of the box. 4. Glue the “backboard” pieces curve-side up onto the back inside of your box. 5. Then glue the basket at the bottom line of the halfcircle backboard. 6. Package the box with the polymer bouncy balls, and gift it to someone who likes to play games or sports.

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MAKER spEciAl sEction BAKE

DOG cookies

Make an ideal gift for someone’s pet. These little bite-size treats are quite crunchy, which helps remove plaque from a dog’s teeth. When properly stored in an airtight container, the cookies can be kept for approximately two weeks. This recipe makes about two dozen treats.

Ingredients 2 1/4 cups 1/2 cup 1/2 cup 1 tsp 1/2 cup 1/2 cup

LAUNCH ZAPPAR to watch a demo on this recipe

2 tsp 2 3 tbsp

whole wheat flour cornmeal rolled oats baking powder water unsweetened applesauce* vanilla extract eggs, beaten low-sodium peanut butter*

* NOTE: Aspartame is toxic for dogs. Please do not use ingredients containing artificial sweeteners.

Preheat an oven to 400°F (200°C). Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper. In a large mixing bowl, combine the dry ingredients: whole wheat flour, cornmeal, rolled oats and baking powder. In a smaller bowl, combine the wet ingredients: water, applesauce and vanilla extract. Mix the wet ingredients into the large dry ingredients bowl. Stir the eggs and peanut butter into the mixture.

On a floured surface, form the dough into a ball. With your hands, knead it until it isn’t sticky. Watch the video for kneading technique. Use a rolling pin to flatten the dough to ¼ inch thickness. Use cookie cutters to cut into small bite-sized shapes. Bake for 15 minutes. Turn the oven off. Leave the treats in the oven to cool for 30 minutes. With adult supervision, remove the treats from the oven. Let them cool on the baking sheets for 10 minutes.

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MAKER spEciAl sEction SEW

LAUNCH ZAPPAR to watch a demo on making this bear

TINY BEAR SACHET This adorable tiny bear has a pocket to tuck bits of aromatic herbs into. Lavender is praised for its calming fragrance, which is why some people place this it inside pillow cases. Rosemary is also a nice herb to use in a sachet. Gift this little bear to comfort someone you love.

YOU’LL NEED 3-4 squares of felt (a large square of one colour for the body and 3 small squares of other colours for the other parts)

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1. Trace the pattern pieces onto the felt. Cut. 2. Sew the nose onto the face. Then sew the flower onto the pocket. OPTIONAL: sew a button onto the pocket flower.

scissors small button sewing needle spool of white thread fabric marker or Sharpie

3. Take one BEAR BODY piece and with a threaded needle, sew the pocket and the face into place.

STUFFING cotton balls or shredded paper

5. Leave an opening between the ears for stuffing. Stuff it gently with cotton balls. Use a pencil to push the stuffing into the arms, and legs. Once stuffed, sew it shut.

OPTIONAL nice smelling dried herbs such as lavender or rosemary

6. Draw eyes and a mouth with fabric markers or a pen.

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4. Match the 2nd BEAR BODY piece to the first and sew them together. Keep the stitches close together. We recommend the back stitch for the body and the applied stitch for the rest.

7. Stuff a bit of lavender into the pocket. Your bear is ready to give away or tuck under your pillow!

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BACK STITCH

BEAR BODY: Trace this pattern twice on main colour. Cut. APPLIED STITCH

RUNNING STITCH

FACE: Trace once on colour 3. Cut

FLOWER

NOSE

POCKET

WHIP STITCH

This template can be downloaded: brainspacemagazine.com

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biology

A POWERFUL PARTNERSHIP by Pascale Bider

W

hether they are colourful splotches on a rock or dangly threads hanging from a tree, lichens are found all around us. These curious creatures are neither fully mushroom, nor fully plant, nor fully anything else, in fact. Though they may look like one single organism, every lichen is made up of a “fungus” part as well as an “algae” or “cyanobacteria” part. The algae and cyanobacteria make food using water, air and sunlight that they share with the fungus. In turn, the fungus can provide protected structure and habitat. These different parts work so closely together that it is impossible to tell them apart without using a microscope! Because of the special abilities each part brings together, lichens are incredibly strong and resistant to extreme conditions. Lichens thrive everywhere from scorching deserts to freezing tundra. Lichens can take hold on bare rock where no other organisms can live. With this ability, they play a vital role in the creation of new habitat for other living things. Lichens produce chemicals that degrade the rocks under them. When they die and decompose, their remains and the small pieces of broken-up rock form a nutritious first layer of soil where other plants can take root.

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Hello, my name is… Lichens are so strong they can even survive in outer space! In 2005, researchers at the European Space Agency sent two lichen species into outer space for 14 days, where they were exposed to total vacuum, extreme temperatures, and cosmic radiation before returning to earth entirely alive and well!

There are tens of thousands of different species of lichens. Lichens are found all around the world, and they come in all sorts of shapes and sizes. Lichen species often have… creative names. Here are a few examples:

Smoker’s Lung

Expose facility. Credit: ESA Seaside Centipede

We like lichens! Many animals feed on lichens, from deer and caribou in Northern Canada to snub-nosed monkeys in China. A caribou can eat up to five kilograms of lichens in a day! Lichens are also important habitat: many insects use lichens as shelter, and some birds use lichens to build their nests. Lichens are useful to us humans as well. Some lichens are considered delicious delicacies. Others produce many useful chemicals that scientists can use to make medicine. In fashion, lichens can be used to make colorful fabric dyes. Lichens have one weakness: because they take up water and nutrients from the air, they suffer when the air is contaminated with toxic chemicals. This is bad for lichens, but good for people: we can use lichens to detect toxic chemicals in the air! Some scientists are researching ways to use lichens to test air quality in places like schools.

Lichen Celebration In March 2020, a vote organized by the Canadian Museum of Nature declared the startipped reindeer lichen to be the national lichen of Canada. The startipped reindeer lichen is found in every province and territory and is a favourite food for caribou!

Batwing Vinyl

Cryptic Paw

Elegant Sunburst

Pixie Cup

Fairy Puke (Also known as Candy Lichen)

British Soldier

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Make this butterfly come to life. Download the free Blippar app. on your mobile device. Scan this cover. Watch the butterfly fly around the page.

WHAT MAKES THIS BEAUTY AND BEAST DUO UNLIKELY FRIENDS?

MILKY WAY

FUN WITH TAXES

A look at our galaxy. And dairy farms!

Play the board game and learn why they’re so important to your health and safety.

OLYMPIC MATH Measures of great success.

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FRANÇAIS La chanson des Jeux Olympiques : J’IMAGINE

pages of fun learning and experiments including math, science, music, zoology, french, tech, geography, history, paleontology, astronomy and much more

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