Why are dogs colour-blind and why do cats have pouches? Try our kids’ quiz

1. Phoebe, 7, asks: why are dogs colour-blind?

   1. The colour receptors in their eyes mean they can only see in combinations of blue and yellow

   2. Dogs aren’t colour-blind!

   3. Scientists don’t know whether they’re colour-blind or not

   4. We don’t know why, but it means they don’t get annoyed when their owners wear embarrassing clothes

2. Kit, 5, asks: why do cats have pouches?

   1. To protect their insides

   2. For extra flexibility

   3. To store food

   4. All the above

3. Toby, 7, asks: why is a baby’s first poo black and sticky?

   1. It’s full of Marmite

   2. Because their mum has eaten so much chocolate

   3. It’s a special kind of poo made up of things the baby ate inside their mum

   4. It’s not! A baby’s first poo is totally normal

4. Charlie, 5, asks: how old was the oldest dinosaur?

   1. We think the oldest dinosaurs were 80 years old

   2. Dinosaurs lived for hundreds of years, and the oldest was 335 years old

   3. Dinosaurs only lived for a few years but grew quickly

   4. The oldest dinosaur ever lived to 150 years old

5. Gus, 6, asks: how big is the moon?

   1. About the size of a 50p piece

   2. Close to one-third the width of the Earth

   3. Fifty times bigger than the Earth

   4. It’s too far away to measure it

Solutions

1:A - Dogs are colour-blind because of the colour receptors in their eyes, “cones”. Humans have three types of cones, so we can see combinations of red, blue and green. Dogs have two types and can only see blue and yellow – so instead of bright red roses, dogs might see yellowish-brown petals., 2:D - Cats have a “primordial pouch” – loose skin and fur over their belly (tigers and lions have them, too). This helps protect cats’ insides, and means they can stretch out when they jump. If they eat a big meal, the pouch expands to hold the food., 3:C - A baby’s first poo is made up of meconium. It builds up through the baby swallowing amniotic fluid, which contains other things like bile and mucus, as well as fine hairs that the baby sheds before birth., 4:A - Dinosaur experts believe the big herbivores like brachiosaurs and diplodocus would have lived about 70–80 years, whereas a T rex might only have lived for up to 30 years., 5:B - According to Nasa, the moon is between a quarter and a third the width of the Earth. It’s the brightest object in our night sky.

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 podcast answering children’s questions. Do check out her books, Everything Under the Sun and the new Everything Under the Sun: Quiz Book.