Breaking it down – a quick quiz

#1. Vermicomposting uses what animal to break down food scraps and other organic waste?

Mice

Worms

Wasps

Woodpeckers

Vermicomposting is also called ‘worm farming’ and it uses lots of worms to speed up composting.

#2. Which of the following plastics is the best at breaking down?

Oxo-degradable

Biodegradable

Bioplastic

Compostable

Compostable plastics are the only plastics that will break down properly in a home compost heap.

#3. If you use electricity to break water molecules apart, what chemicals do you end up with?

Hydrogen and oxygen

Methane and hydrogen

Oxygen and carbon dioxide

Methane and carbon dioxide

Water is made of hydrogen and oxygen atoms, and if you break it apart with electricity, you get oxygen gas and hydrogen gas.

#4. When you divide one number by another, what is the name for the bit left over that doesn’t divide evenly?

Residue

Remainder

Quotient

Scrap

The bit left over after a division is called the remainder.

#5. Bacteria reproduce by splitting into two cells, but what happens to their DNA?

Young bacteria merge together to make up the missing DNA

Over their lifespan, bacteria integrate new DNA from the things they eat

Before splitting, bacteria make copies of their DNA so both halves get a set

Bacteria don’t have DNA

The first step of a bacteria splitting happens when its DNA copies itself. The two copies stick to different sections of the cell wall, and then the cell splits so each part has a copy of the DNA!

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