How many breeds of dogs do you know? One of them is the collie breed. As you can see in this video, the Border Collie comes from an intelligent breed. It is widely considered to be one of the most intelligent dogs.
The Border Collie is a working stock dog. It requires quite a lot of daily physical exercise and mental development. It makes a very demanding, energetic pet that is better off in a household that can provide it with plenty of play and exercise with humans or other dogs. It chews holes in walls and digs holes when it is bored.
It can be motion-sensitive and it may chase a moving vehicle. The natural life span of the Border Collie is between 10 and 17 years, with an average life span of 12 years.
Test Your Science
1. What type of environment would be suitable for the Border Collie?
Get to understand dogs in the Young Scientists Issue 111 Level 1.
Sunday, September 18, 2011
The King of the Fruits
Is your favourite fruit durian? Well, some love it while others can't stand the smell of it.
The durian has not only nutritional value but medicinal value as well. The fruit contains a high amount of sugar, vitamin C and potassium. It is a good source of carbohydrates, proteins and fats. It is recommended as a good source of raw fats by several raw food advisors.
In Malaysia, the durian leaves and roots are boiled and used as a remedy for fevers. The juice from the leaf is applied on the head of a patient with high fever. The most complete description of the medicinal use of the durian as remedies for fevers is a Malay prescription collected by Burkill and Haniff in 1930. It instructs the reader to boil the roots of hibiscus with the roots of durian and take it as a drink or apply it on the forehead.
Durians were marketed as a health food supplement by a company in New York City in the 1920s.
The tall durian tree.
The durian flowers.
The durian fruit.
Test Your Science
1. What medicinal value does the durian have as believed by some people?
Find out more about the King of Fruits in the Young Scientists Issue 111 Level 2.
The durian has not only nutritional value but medicinal value as well. The fruit contains a high amount of sugar, vitamin C and potassium. It is a good source of carbohydrates, proteins and fats. It is recommended as a good source of raw fats by several raw food advisors.
In Malaysia, the durian leaves and roots are boiled and used as a remedy for fevers. The juice from the leaf is applied on the head of a patient with high fever. The most complete description of the medicinal use of the durian as remedies for fevers is a Malay prescription collected by Burkill and Haniff in 1930. It instructs the reader to boil the roots of hibiscus with the roots of durian and take it as a drink or apply it on the forehead.
Durians were marketed as a health food supplement by a company in New York City in the 1920s.
The tall durian tree.
The durian flowers.
The durian fruit.
Test Your Science
1. What medicinal value does the durian have as believed by some people?
Find out more about the King of Fruits in the Young Scientists Issue 111 Level 2.
The Mobility Scooter
Have you seen a mobility scooter? It is often referred to as a power-operated scooter or electric scooter. It has a seat over three, four or now five wheels, a flat area or plate for the feet and handlebars in front to turn one, two or three steerable wheels. The seat may swivel to allow a person to get onto it when the front is blocked by the handlebars. The scooter is usually battery powered. A battery or two is stored on board the scooter and is charged by an onboard or separate battery charger unit from standard electric power. Petrol-powered scooters are also available in some countries, though they are rapidly being replaced by electric models.
The handle is the steering column which is centrally located at the front of the scooter. It has controls for forward/reverse directions and speed.The directions can be controlled by thumb paddles, finger controls or a switch.
Test Your Science
1. What power does the mobility scooter run on?
Refer to the Young Scientists Issue 111 Level 3 on the world's smallest caravan towed by an electric scooter.
The handle is the steering column which is centrally located at the front of the scooter. It has controls for forward/reverse directions and speed.The directions can be controlled by thumb paddles, finger controls or a switch.
Test Your Science
1. What power does the mobility scooter run on?
Refer to the Young Scientists Issue 111 Level 3 on the world's smallest caravan towed by an electric scooter.
Thursday, September 1, 2011
Kites
Do you know that man first flew being tied to a kite? In China, criminals sentenced to death were used as test pilots for man-bearing kites by the emperor Wen Hsuan Ti in 559 A.D.
In the 12th century, the samurai Minamoto no Tametamo who was banished to an island off Japan is believed to have used a kite as a means of escape for his son. He is said to have tied his son to a kite and flown him to the mainland.
Today we have kites of various sizes and designs ranging from the tetrahedral kite of 3-D structure to the smallest kite measuring only 5 mm long.
Test Your Science
1. What do you think was invented as a result of the development of the kite?
Learn the skills required to fly a kite in the Young Scientists Issue 110 Level 3.
In the 12th century, the samurai Minamoto no Tametamo who was banished to an island off Japan is believed to have used a kite as a means of escape for his son. He is said to have tied his son to a kite and flown him to the mainland.
Today we have kites of various sizes and designs ranging from the tetrahedral kite of 3-D structure to the smallest kite measuring only 5 mm long.
Test Your Science
1. What do you think was invented as a result of the development of the kite?
Learn the skills required to fly a kite in the Young Scientists Issue 110 Level 3.
Recycling Plastic Bags
Can we recycle plastic bags? Definitely yes. Discarded plastic bags need not go to waste.These old plastic bags are getting a new lease of life in a recycling factory in Malaysia. They are transformed into recycled plastic pellets which are used to make stretch films for packaging purposes.
Here's how plastic bag waste is recycled:
Step 1: Plastic bag waste is sorted out according to type as different plastics melt at different temperature. Foreign materials such as paper labels are removed.
Step 2: The plastic bags go through a crusher to be cut into tiny bits. Shredded plastic is conveyed to the washing tank.
Step 3: There are two cycles of washing in water containing detergent and soda. The waste water is filtered, treated and reused so as to conserve water. Remaining residues are sent for disposal.
Step 4: Dried shredded plastic rains down from the 150m-long drying pipe, which has warm air flowing through.
Step 5: The plastic bits are conveyed to a machine to be melted. Molten plastic is of a grey shade due to oxidation.
Step 6: The molten plastic is moulded into noodle-like strings. As they pass through a water bath, the plastic noodles harden.
Step 7: A machine cuts the plastic noodles into tiny pellets of recycled plastic resin.
Test Your Science
1. What can we use in place of plastic bags when we do our shopping?
Discover the difference between the plastic bag and the environmental-friendly bag in the Young Scientists Issue 110 Level 2.
The Emperor Penguin
Let's get to know this flightless bird. It is the tallest and heaviest of all living penguin species. It is found in the Antarctica. The male and female are similar in size, reaching 122 cm in height and weighing between 22 and 45 kg. As you can see here, it has a streamlined body and wings flattened into flippers for a marine habitat.
The Emperor Penguin is best known for the long journeys the adults make each year in order to mate and feed their young. It is the only penguin species that breeds during winter. It treks 50-120 km over the ice to breeding colonies which may include thousands of penguins. The female lays a single egg which is incubated by the male while the female returns to sea to feed. The parents then take turns to look for food and care for their chick in the colony. Its lifespan is normally 20 years in the wild but some of them may live up to 50 years.
View the following video from BBC Earth.
Test Your Science
1. Why do you think the penguin cannot fly?
Find out why birds are toothless in the Young Scientists Issue 110 Level 1.
The Emperor Penguin is best known for the long journeys the adults make each year in order to mate and feed their young. It is the only penguin species that breeds during winter. It treks 50-120 km over the ice to breeding colonies which may include thousands of penguins. The female lays a single egg which is incubated by the male while the female returns to sea to feed. The parents then take turns to look for food and care for their chick in the colony. Its lifespan is normally 20 years in the wild but some of them may live up to 50 years.
View the following video from BBC Earth.
Test Your Science
1. Why do you think the penguin cannot fly?
Find out why birds are toothless in the Young Scientists Issue 110 Level 1.
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