DadTalk

Science questions leave parents clueless - read Prof Brian Cox's tips

One in four parents are left baffled by questions about science from their children, a survey reveals today.

Many mums and dads get a daily grilling from curious boys and girls about maths and the universe – and a fifth admit making up answers or saying nobody knows.

Some believe the thirst for knowledge is fuelled by educational TV programmes such as Professor Brian Cox’s Wonders of the Universe, according to the nationwide survey of 2,000 parents.

The study for the Big Bang UK Young Scientists & Engineers Fair found a quarter of parents think their children know more than they do. Prof Cox, spokesman for The Big Bang, said: “The best thing parents can do is work with their children to find the answers – not only can it be fun, but you’ll both learn something new along the way.”

Prof Cox gives answers, below, to 5 questions parents struggle with.

Top ten list of questions parents struggle to answer:

1. “Why is the moon sometimes out in the day?”
2. “Why is the Sky Blue?”
3.  “How much does the earth weigh?”
4.  “Why is water wet?”
5.  “Where to birds / bees go in winter?”

 Answers by Prof. Cox:-

1. Basically it’s visible because it’s just another object being lit by the sun. So when it’s in the right place we can see it. The moon is orbiting the Earth around once every 28 days.
2.  If you’re stuck on this one, then you’re in good company – it even stumped Aristotle and Isaac Newton. White sunlight is really a lot of different colours of light mixed together. Light passing through the sky bounces off particles in the air and some colours of light travel through air and dust better than others. The blue light gets bounced around the most, so whatever direction you look at you see a blue colour.
3. The earth weights 1,000 trillion metric tons. That’s the equivalent of 570,000,000,000,000 adult Indian elephants!
4. Wetness is just a feeling. It’s something that our brains tell us about what we’re touching. If we put our hands in water and swirl them around, we can feel the pressure of the water. This pressure changes and way it moves around our hands is a quality of water that makes us feel wetness. It is a combination of temperature, pressure and the way it moves which tells our brains that water is wet.
5. Honey bees cease flying when temperatures drop below 10 degrees Celsius. In winter flowers are rarely in bloom and therefore no pollen or nectar available. Instead, they gather around the queen in a sort of vibrating ball or cluster. This movement keeps the queen and colony warm enough to survive throughout the winter. During this time, the bees consume honey stores in order to live and generate heat. It may seem that our British birds disappear in the winter, but they are alive and well. Instead of being evenly spread out, lots of common species tend to stick together to improve their chances of survival by conserving body heat and locating food. So we tend to see none or an entire flock.

 3The Big Bang Fair will take place at The NEC, Birmingham, from March 15-17, and will host the finals of the National Science & Engineering Competition. Admission is free.

Get some more answers to another 5 questions at the Mirror website.