Which is the fluffiest animal and why are bananas curved? Try our kids’ quiz

Molly Oldfield
·2-min read
<span>Illustration: Hennie Haworth/The Guardian</span>
Illustration: Hennie Haworth/The Guardian

  1. Clementine, 7, asks: what is the world’s fluffiest animal?

    1. American black bear

    2. Arctic fox

    3. Chinchilla

    4. Sea otter

  2. Monty, 8, asks: do caterpillars breathe through lungs like we do?

    1. Yes, caterpillars breathe through tiny lungs

    2. Yes, but a caterpillar has just one lung

    3. No, caterpillars breathe through little holes in their bodies

    4. No, caterpillars don’t need to breathe at all!

  3. Callum, 8, asks: why are bananas curved?

    1. To catch as much water as possible

    2. They grow against the pull of gravity and towards sunlight

    3. To provide some shade for the banana tree

    4. Bananas only become curved if they’ve gone off

  4. Abigail, 8, asks: what is the most endangered species of animal in the world?

    1. Leatherback sea turtle

    2. Vaquita

    3. White rhinoceros

    4. Red panda

  5. Dylan, 8, asks: how does your body make the ear wax in your ears?

    1. Our body makes ear wax out of our bogies

    2. Our body produces ear wax if we’ve been eating lots of honey

    3. Glands inside the ear produce a waxy oil, which protects it

    4. Ear wax is just a build-up of dirt inside our ears – they need cleaning regularly

Solutions

1:D - If we’re judging by sheer quantities of fur, the sea otter holds the crown, boasting an astonishing 100,000-160,000 hairs per square centimetre., 2:C - Caterpillars don’t have lungs, but they breathe through tiny openings in their sides called spiracles. Air is forced in and out of the body as they move., 3:B - Bananas are curved because they grow upwards against the force of gravity, aiming towards breaks of light in the rainforest canopy. This process of growing against the direction of gravitational pull is called negative geotropism., 4:B - The vaquita is a porpoise, a small dolphin-like sea mammal found in shallow waters in Mexico’s Gulf of California. They are critically endangered, and experts say that there may be only about 10 of these creatures left. , 5:C - Glands inside the ear canal release a waxy oil called cerumen, which protects the ear from germs and traps dust and dirt. It also helps prevent the ear canal’s delicate skin from being irritated by water.

Scores

  1. 5 and above.

  2. 4 and above.

  3. 3 and above.

  4. 2 and above.

  5. 0 and above.

  6. 1 and above.

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

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