For a young child, every new thing in life that mesmerize him needs to have an explanations. Whether in school or at home, he will not stop bothering anybody just to satisfy his curiosity and to get an honest answer. Below is my answers to a list of 15 questions my children once have asked me. Who knows, one of these days, your kids may also ask the same questions
Why is the sky blue?
Blue, blue the sky is blue. Why? It is due to the process called Rayleigh scattering. As sunlight reaches the earth’s atmosphere, it hits molecules present in the air thus scattering them in every direction. Frequency determines the amount of light scattered, as a result, blue light which has a high frequency is scattered many times more than other color. Thus, as more amount of blue light is scattered, then we have a blue skies during clear days.
Why do leaves turn brown in autumn?
Have you ever heard about photosynthesis? By means of chlorophyll that gives leaves their green color, plants store energy in the form of light and transform it to chemical energy. As autumn nears, falling temperatures and shortening daylight hours make trees to prepare for winter. Trees grow a corky membrane between the branch and the leaf stem, which obstruct nutrients to flow smoothly into the leaf. This process turn green leaf to turn yellow caused by the decline in the production of chlorophyll.
Why do we have bad breath in the mornings?
I know for sure that most people wake up with a bad breath. And the reason for this– the flow of saliva slows down during sleep and the unpleasant smell comes from anaerobic bacteria living in your mouth. Supply of oxygen decreases as we sleep, thus it allows bacteria to feed on leftover foods enabling them to multiply at a fast rate. Do you know where the unpleasant smell comes from– blame it to sulphur, which is often a waste product of the process.
Why do we blush?
Kids often asked this question when they see that someone’s face turned red. When you’re caught ashamed, in an awkward position, or simply embarrassed your body reacts by releasing certain amount of adrenalin. In return, adrenalin, makes blood vessels in your face to open up or relax a little, allowing the flow of more blood to your cheeks. As a result, your face darkens or turns noticeably red. Scientifically, blushing starts with an emotion – usually one associated with self-consciousness while sociologically, blushing may be useful as a means of communication, as it can act as a wordless signal.
Why do onions make you cry?
Slicing an onion a few feet away from your eyes will cause a weepy reaction. Slicing it through triggers a series of chemical reactions within the onion’s cell thus releasing a gas called as you sliced it through. This reaction releases a gas (propanethiol S-oxide) in the air. The gas then reacts with the water in your eyes to form a mild sulphuric acid, which causes itchiness. Therefore, the brain tries to solve this problem by producing tears to counter-act the irritant, thus protecting your eyes.
Why do we shake hands with people?
Handshaking traces its origin during the Medieval period where strangers offer their right hand (normally use to draw sword) towards one another as a gesture of peace and declaring that they intent no harm. Up to now, “shaking of hands” symbolize one’s intention of peace and agreement. signing a treaty to settling a bet with friends, “shaking on it” remains a symbolic sign of agreement.
Why do geese fly in a “V” formation?
Have you noticed how geese fly in flock? Geese do the “V’ formation with each bird flying slightly higher than the one in front of it. Somehow these birds have knowledge about aerodynamics– since flying in a “V” shape minimizes wind resistance in turn enabling each bird at the back to glide with ease. This way, each bird is visible and easy to tract and at the same time, the flock can fly longer since each bird has the chance to fall to the back and a fresh leg to lead the flock.
Why are there seven days a week?
Put your accusing finger to the Babylonian on why we have our seven-day week. Their mathematicians arrived at the idea that it takes 27.25 days for a full lunar cycle to occurs. These Babylonian Math geniuses also realized that the number 28 is a perfect number —it is the sum of all the numbers that divide into it (1+2+4+7+14 = 28). So they decided to have a month as 28 days long, and finally arriving at a month with four cycle of seven days.
Why are wedding rings worn on the fourth finger?
A very good question! This custom of wearing a wedding ring on the fourth finger traces back its origin to an old belief. As the belief goes– vena amoris (vein of love) ran directly from the fourth finger of the left hand to the heart. Therefore, they deemed ideal that a wedding ring be worn on the fourth finger which also symbolized a union of love. However, medical science proved otherwise, the veins running from the fourth finger are no different from those of any other finger. Nevertheless, we stick it out with the tradition of assigning the fourth finger as the “ring finger”.
Why is Friday the 13th unlucky?
The number 13 has long been treated by many as a bad or unlucky number. On the other hand, numerologists think that 12 is a “complete” number. Consider these facts: the 12 disciples of Jesus, the 12 tribes of Israel,12 gods of Olympus, 12 Zodiac signs, and 12 months in a year. So these number experts consider exceeding 12 by 1 is associated with bad luck. The most apt explanation on why Friday the 13th unlucky will bring us back to the Crusades days where as history tell that then King Phillip of France with the connivance of the Pope, ordered the arrest and later on the persecution of the famous “the Knights Templar” on Friday October the 13th, 1307.
No wonder that many are engrossed with this unlucky Friday the 13th idea that many skyscrapers’ don’t have a 13th floor, many hospitals and hotels have no room number 13 and you will find it hard to locate 13th Street in many cities. Also, some people are being paranoid about the number 13 to the extend that some stay at home rather that going to work, others will refuse to have their flight on the 13th, some even cancelling buying a house!
wow we live on the 13th floor now here in malaysia! but they dont have 4th,14, 24, floors everything goes on 3A, 13A, 23A as they pronounce 4 in chinese as something i dont know how to spell that means Die. my daughter ask me why we need to shake hands before hehe
ReplyDeleteI also learned that number means death in Japanese!
DeleteSo far, my kids has asked two of those things on the list (wedding rings and onions).
My son has only asked me the first question. But before he could ask me some more, I already bought him a book called The Big Book of Why from Time Magazine. Now, it's me who gets to ask those why questions on him. Haha!
ReplyDeleteI cry all the time I slice union and I hate it. Sometimes, my daughter ask, why did you cry mom? hehehhe. Thanks for all the knowledge you share to us.
ReplyDeletehahaha naka relate ako sa photosynthesis at bakit nag ba blush- fave topic ko yan during skul bukol haysul days :)photosynthesis- dahil yan ang madalas laman ng science quiz bee question- blush every time na sasagot ka at nasa audience c puppy love hahaha (may connect ba papaleng ) hehehe
ReplyDeleteGuess what, these questions are not questions that only kids ask, even adults do. Very informative! Yes, some of my questions were answered in this post. :)
ReplyDeletewow, i did not know about the fear of the 13th, maybe, i'll try to search if san diego has 13th street :) haha.
ReplyDeleteayay, how fun! next time when my daughter ask me these questions, I'll get the answers from your blog papaleng...lol!
ReplyDeleteVery informative Papaleng. Every bit of information is just now in the tips of our hands. We can Google everything nowadays, but this compilation or summary makes it more fun useful as we readers can find a lot of trivia and facts in just one page :)
ReplyDeleteI have asked these questions myself but I find the liberty to answer them, thanks to books and of course Google :)
DeleteUp to this moment, I always ask "Why do onions make me cry?" No matter what I do, I always get teary eyed everytime I cook with onions. LOL Thanks for sharing this Papaleng!
ReplyDeleteThe technique daw is ibabad mo raw ang peeled onion sa tubig for a couple of minute
Deletebefore you cut it trough.
Ako di ko alam ang sagot sa mga tanong na yan... Hehehe
ReplyDeleteI love the answer on the ring finger question! My daughter has a lot more questions that I deal with every single day! Lol.
ReplyDeletemaybe i have mastered the art of slicing onion now that i no longer cry :) though tears are supposed to be good for our eyes
ReplyDeleteI have asked some of these questions myself and my parents did not really have good answers. Hehehe!
ReplyDeleteMy son is in the stage now where everything you say, he would fire back the question why. I told them to always clean their mouth when they woke up by gargling or brushing their teeth so when they talk, they won't have that overnight scent breath and as expected the asked me why so I had to explain.
ReplyDeleteI guess I have a lot of adrenalin coz I blush easily ever since elementary. Feeling tuloy ng ibang guys may gusto ako, kahit wala naman, bwahahaha. =)
ReplyDeleteI got 3 of the questions listed above but I got a lot more questions each day...and it goes on and on. :) thanks for sharing these questions and answering it, too. very informative and interesting as always. :)
ReplyDeletewow, those are very fascinating information Papaleng! my hubby was born on a friday the 13th hahaha, I was born on November 1...I think we are lucky we found each other hehe, I remember folks saying that when your eyes easily get teary when slicing onion, you are not in good terms with your mom in law hahaha, gee the many things we believe in...thanks for giving me the answers to tell kiddos who often ask these things :)
ReplyDeleteVery interesting post! Indeed children ask a lot of questions! In fact sometimes I get shocked the kind of questions my own daughter asks me! But I guess it's part of growing up!
ReplyDeleteOh yes I remember asking many of these questions when I was little. It's hard to understand as a kid about science and nature, but my parents did a great job explaining how things around us work. We also have a stack of encyclopedias which they read to me.
ReplyDeleteI always wonder why onion cuttings causes my eyes to water... got my answer today !
ReplyDeleteSome of my kids question i cannot answer also and they are adorable
ReplyDeleteI just need to say wow, you send me into my childhood days, i am missing those days and those foolish question
ReplyDeleteMy son asked a lot of w-h-y questions, too!
ReplyDeleteIt's a nice way of presenting your info Papaleng. I learned a lot here on the reasons for all the questions I also ask.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing this knowledge with us. Dear
ReplyDeleteThe slicing of onions. This really give me a hard time explaining to my youngest daughter. Every time I end my sentence she followed it with a "WHY" again and again. And to make the story short we end up crying while slicing the onions. Hahahahaha....
ReplyDeleteGreat questions and answers. My son is bit too your for asking those questions, but soon he probably will ask them
ReplyDeleteLots of whys and just now I know some points here. And why? Because I didn't know that most people have bad breaths after waking up.....LOL
ReplyDeleteI wish I'd had these responses for my daughter when she was younger!
ReplyDeleteMaybe you should add the question, "Where did I come from?" or "How do we make babies?" HAHA. I would love to see your answer to that.
ReplyDeleteYes, I have heard these questions, too. My daughter have asked me almost all of them, the difference is that to some of them I did not know the answer till now, lol! This post was educational to me as well, I admit it!
ReplyDeleteWow. Now I feel kind of stupid as I did not know most of these. Great informational post.
ReplyDeleteWhy does the sun shine? Why does the bird sing? Why do we may not buy something that important to us? Great post. Let me share it. Thanks
ReplyDeleteThose are such inquisitive minds questions! It was so much fun to read them and all the answers too.
ReplyDeleteGot to love the inquisitive nature of kids. These are all great questions and even better answers!
ReplyDeletethis is very informative! when i was kid i never asked these types of questions! glad of you to be prepared! >XD
ReplyDeleteExcellent list of questions and sometimes, we don't know the answers! Thankfully, there are resources we can pull up including Google search.
ReplyDeleteThanks for this post I can prepare myself when my kid will ask me these questions! I've been to some hotels where there is no 13th floor, they skip it because of it being "unlucky".
ReplyDeleteQuestions about the sky, onion and that unlucky day Friday the 13th are the most common I encounter with my daughter.
ReplyDeleteVery cool! I have yet to have cute kids of my own, but my adorable pamangkins just keep asking questions nonstop. I doubt I can explain the answers as scientifically as the entries in your post, though. I usually end up making a cutesy and fancy answer that they will understand hahaha:)
ReplyDelete