Articles - Page 129 of 538 - Young World Club

Live up to your liver’s potential

What do you know about the liver? Find out with this interactive task.

The liver is the largest solid organ in the human body. By the time we are fully grown up, it will be roughly the size of a football. The liver performs many functions, but the three big ones include cleansing the blood, producing an important digestive liquid called bile, and storing energy in the form of a sugar called glycogen. Ever wondered what makes this organ work? What does it look like inside?

The inferior vena cava carries deoxygenated blood from the liver and the lower half of the body to the heart’s right side from where the blood flows to your lungs.

The esophagus moves food from the back of your throat to your stomach, while the right lobe processes blood coming from the head of the pancreas, the pylorus and stomach’s antrum, and the midgut through the superior mesenteric vein.

The left lobe is smaller and more flattened than the right.

The gallbladder stores and releases bile into the duodenum to help digest fats in the food we eat.

The common bile duct connects the liver to the gallbladder and the gallbladder to the small intestine, while the pancreatic duct connects with the former.

The pancreas produces enzymes that are important for digestion. Insulin and glucagon, which help control the level of glucose in the blood, are made in the pancreas.

The hepatic portal vein carries blood from the intestines, gallbladder, pancreas and spleen and delivers it to the liver, and the duodenum produces hormones and receives secretions from the pancreas.

Based on what you have read so far, can you drag and drop the parts of the liver into the right boxes?

Play along

Identify these musical instruments from their sounds in this memory game.

Musical instruments create sounds that, when used with lyrics, create harmony. Play this memory game to see how many instruments you can identify from their sound.

Phrase it right!

Are you a smart cookie? Take this crossword challenge and prove it!

Don’t take these sentences at face value. They read one way but the meaning they convey is different! Using the clues given crack these idioms and phrases to complete the crossword.

The awesome Arctic

The Tundra ecosystems are treeless regions found in the Arctic and on the tops of mountains, where it is cold and windy, and rainfall is scant. Tundra lands are covered with snow for much of the year, but summer brings bursts of wildflowers.

Have you heard of biomes? What is it? The earth is divided into large areas of land classified by its distinct plants and animals. Each biome is characterised by its temperature and the amount of rain it receives. A biome is made up of many ecosystems–the interaction of living and non-living things in an environment.

There are eight major terrestrial biomes. They are Tropical Rainforest, Savannah, Grassland, Desert, Temperate deciduous forest, Boreal forest/Taiga and Tundra.

The characteristics of each biome are dependent on its climate, particularly temperature and the amount of precipitation the area receives.

Let’s take a look at the Arctic Tundra

This is the northernmost biome and covers the lands north of the Arctic Circle up to the polar ice cap. It reaches as far south as the Hudson Bay area of Canada and the northern part of Iceland. It covers approximately 11.5 million km2.

The Arctic Tundra is a vast, dry, rocky place that is noted for its lack of trees. One important characteristic is the permafrost, which starts within a metre of the soil surface. The permafrost prevents trees from growing. Despite the lack of trees, this biome is considered a major carbon sink as there are large amounts of organic matter found in deposits of peat and humus.

Due to its northern position, the Arctic Tundra has a very cold climate. Temperatures range from 15.5 °C in summer to -60 °C in winter and mean temperatures are below 0°C for six to 10 months of the year. Summers are also much shorter than winters.

Due to the cold climate and short growing season, most vegetation in the tundra tends to be herbaceous. This includes grasses, mosses such as reindeer moss, liverworts and lichens. The few woody plants which live in the tundra, such as dwarf willows, tend to be short and spread across the ground.

Many large mammals, such as caribou, polar bears, arctic foxes, and musk ox, are found in this biome. There are also several smaller mammals, such as lemmings and arctic hare which are prey to the larger mammals.

During the summer many migratory birds, such as loons, snow geese and terns, come to the tundra to breed. Although there is low insect biodiversity, the insects that live in the arctic tundra, such as mosquitoes, can have large populations.

Climate change has a large impact on this biome. Higher global temperatures are melting the sea ice and permafrost. This is altering and sometimes destroying the habitats of plants and animals.

Science for all

The only difference between men and women in Science should be in this ‘spot the difference’ puzzle. Don’t you agree?

Did you know that women make up only 28% of the workforce in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) careers? This inequality is visible in colleges too where more men graduate in STEM fields than women.

The major reasons for this gender gap are bias, lack of opportunities and poor treatment of women and girl children.

While this is changing, it is also our responsibility to demand equal opportunities and treatment because science is for everyone!

Below is a picture of what quality in science will look like – both men and women contributing equally to further scientific research and advancement.

Spot the differences

Can you spot the 6 differences between the two pictures? Click on the differences in the image on the right (Picture B).

Hit that health spurt

What makes your workout work out? Here are some lesser-known exercises to try out.

There are several exercises we do everyday, that usually involves some equipment of some sort from tiny dumbbells, or kettlebells, or even the medicine ball, we have used them all. If it is not the regular gym-routine fitness, we sweat it out by playing high-intensity games such as basketball, tennis, or badminton, to name a few.

Here are some lesser-known exercises where you need minimal or no equipment, and can still work up a good sweat and get that adrenaline rush. Adult supervision is required in a few of these.