Articles - Page 192 of 537 - Young World Club

What’s the weather today?

Experts use different weather icons to showcase what our day is going to be like. Do you know what they are?

Look outside. What is the weather like? Sunny, cloudy, windy…?

If you would like to know what the weather is going to be like in the evening, what do you do? Tune in to the weather forecast. Experts will tell you what the weather is going to be like throughout the day, for the next few days, or even the week.

They use icons that will give you an idea of what the weather is going to be like at just a glance.

Like these, for example:

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Here’s a fun Picdoku puzzle with these icons, for you to solve. (It’s similar to a Sudoku, but uses pictures in place of numbers)

Sporting sobriquets

Next time you talk to someone about sports, throw in some of these nicknames and sound super savvy. Complete the interactive tasks to learn more.

Do you have a pet name? How about your friends? Did you know that many popular sporting teams around the world have nicknames as well? Whether official or not, these names are used so often that they are easily recognisable. That’s what this task is all about!

1. Let’s begin with cricket. Can you match the national cricket teams of these countries with their popular nicknames?

2. Now for some football. Do you know the nicknames of the national football teams of these countries?

3. Another football question, but this time with clubs that play in the English Premier League.

It’s all in the shape

(Part#10): Aerofoil, wing, inverted fish… what does all of this have to do with flying? Hanuman finds out.

The story so far: Megnath learns the secrets behind Lord Vishnu’s weapons.

While Megnath is mastering rocket technology, Hanuman is still a playful, curious kid. One day, he sees Ravana’s Pushpaka Vimana being flown by Kumbhakarna. He runs to his father, Kesari.

Hanuman: Dad, did you see that? A monster in the Pushpaka Vimana cockpit.

Kesari: That’s Ravana’s brother, Kumbhakarna.

Hanuman: But I hear that he’s always asleep.

Kesari: Well, he performed penances to please Brahma. But a scared Indra requested Saraswati to help. So, instead of asking of Nirdevatam (annihilation of devas), due to Saraswati’s spell, he asked for Nidravatam (sleep).

Hanuman: That isn’t fair!

Kesari: Sometimes, to win over evil, the gods have to intervene in such ways.

Hanuman: I don’t agree. Anyway, I want to know how the Pushpaka Vimana carries such a heavy load.

Kesari: First, you need to understand how an aircraft flies. Talk to your friend Nala. Aah! here he is. Nala, your friend wants to know how an aircraft carries a heavy load and still manages to fly.

Nala: Very simple, uncle. It is to do with: high-speed low-pressure, low-speed high-pressure.

Hanuman: Simple? I do not understand.

Nala: In Kali Yuga, they call it Bernoulli’s Principle. According to this, every aeroplane that flies in the troposphere uses pressure difference to generate lift. Being heavy or light doesn’t matter; if you are able create this pressure difference with a proper aerodynamic shape, you can generate lift.

Hanuman: This is also too technical. I still don’t get it.

Nala: Let me simplify it.

1. Take a hair dryer, aim it towards the ceiling and turn it on. It produces a vertical stream of air.

2. Now place a ping-pong ball directly over the nozzle, in the stream of air. The ball will appear to be floating in the air. Why

Here is another example.

1. Inflate two balloons and tie each end with a 30 cm-long string.

2. Tape the loose end of the two strings to the underside of a table, a window or to a door frame, such that the balloons dangle upside down. They should be around 5cm apart.

3. Take a straw and blow forcefully between the balloons.

Can you see what happens? The balloons will come together when you blow between them instead of moving away. This is because pressure between the balloons reduces due to high speed of air. And the relatively higher pressure around them push the balloons closer.

Hanuman: But an aeroplane is different from a ball or balloon.

Nala: Both these examples use spherical or oval objects. For aircrafts, we use a shape called Aerofoil.

Hanuman: What?

Nala: It is like an inverted fish with a curvy top and a flat bottom. Look at birds’ wings, or the wings of an aeroplane. The aerofoil shape forces air to move faster over the top. When speed increases, the pressure decreases, according to Bernoulli’s Principle. In the flat bottom part, the speed of air molecules is slower so pressure is higher. So the shape increases the lift for the aeroplane owing to the higher pressure at the bottom.

Hanuman: Now I get it! The aerodynamic shape is responsible for flight, and that mainly works on pressure difference.

Nala: Yes. Now, that’s enough science for today. Come, let’s practise with our gada (mace).

The author is founder and CEO, Vaayusastra Aerospace, an IIT-Madras incubated ed-tech startup that offers Air Science workshops for children between five and 14 years.

Now that you’ve read this, here’s an activity for you. Can you spot these words from the story in the grid?

Tiger tracks

Tigers are solitary creatures and prefer to hunt by ambushing their prey. This endangered species is in need of protection. Here is a selection of books that might help you choose what you can do.

Largest among the wildcats, a punch from a tiger can kill you. They are nocturnal and love to swim and play in the water. Did you know that a group of tigers were called an ambush or a streak?

Here are a few books that will tell you more about tigers and the dangers these powerful predators face.

My Monthly Planner: August 2021

Discover interesting facts about Root vegetables and download your own calendar to keep yourself organised.

Fruit salad

How well do you know your fruits? Play the crossword to find out…

Fruits are an important key to having a balanced diet. They are filled with nutrients and a great source of vitamins, minerals and anti-oxidants.

Play this crossword to see how well you know your fruits.

With a hop and a jump

What are the different stages of a frog’s life? Read on to find out…

Have you heard frogs croaking in the rain? Even in our built-up cities, you can find frogs if you have a small garden. Frogs belong to the category of animals known as amphibians. This means that they can live on land and in water.

Given that there are over 5000 frog species, it is not surprising their eating habits also vary. Frogs can be insectivores (insect-eaters) or carnivores (meat-eaters). The insects they consume include flies, mosquitoes, worms and grasshoppers. The bigger frogs can devour mice, small snakes, other frogs and even baby turtles. Here’s another interesting fact about frogs: they absorb water through the skin; so they don’t need to drink like we do.

A frog catches its prey with its tongue, which is one-third the length of its body. Doesn’t seem like much to us humans, but for frogs that’s huge. To make it more useful, the tongue is attached to the front of the mouth and is sticky at the front. So the frog can just flip its tongue out and pick up its meal, which will stick to the adhesive part.

Now let’s look at the life cycle of a frog. Life cycle means the various changes a living creature goes through during its lifetime. Since these stages repeat for every new generation of that species, it’s called a life cycle.

Female frogs lay close to 4000 fertilized eggs in a water body. These eggs stick together in a clump and are coated with a jelly-like substance. So it’s not easy to handle these with bare hands. It takes around three weeks for them to hatch into tadpoles, which look like little fish.

Tadpoles live in water for several weeks and eat plants and algae. To help it survive in an aquatic environment, it has gills. After several weeks, these tadpoles develop into froglets. The lungs develop so that it can breathe when it moves to the land. The hind legs (back legs) also appear during this time. It starts jumping around as well. But it still has a long long tail. Over time, the tail shortens and the front legs start to appear. It stores nutrients in its tail and uses that for its growth.

Once it’s tail is just a tiny stub, it comes out of the water and onto land. This is the young frog. And it’s pretty small in size. Finally, once the tail disappears and it begins to eat insects, the frog is officially an adult. Which then lays eggs, if it is a female, and the cycle begins again.

Many species of frogs are declining due to various factors: pollution of water bodies, loss of habitats, threats from diseases, invasive species and climate change and over-harvesting for pets and food. So what? What use are these, you might wonder. Here is why it’s important to save frogs:

When they eat algae and water plants as tadpoles, they are helping regulate the aquatic flora. They also help filter the water in the waterbodies.

As predators, given the large quantities of insects they eat, especially mosquitoes, they help prevent transmission of infectious diseases like malaria.

As prey, they are an important food source for a range of animals such as fish, monkeys, snakes and birds.

Thus the declining number of frogs affects the intricate food web and also the larger ecosystem. Now that you’ve read about frogs, here’s an activity. Below are images of the frog’s life cycle. Put them in the right order.

Brain teasers

Get your thinking cap on and figure out the answers to these teasers!

Brain teasers are more than just simple puzzles and riddles. Technically, a brain teaser is a type of puzzle or brain game, often involving lateral thinking.

Now that you know what we are talking about, let us see how many you get right. Hint: All the answers are numbers and are below 30.

Quiz whizz – July 26, 2021

Up your GK with this quiz.

How much do you know about your favourite books, animal behavior, and more? Well, time for a round of GK.