Science questions for kids | Which is longer, summer or winter?

Which is longer, summer or winter?

Mio Alasentie, 5

In Aeronautics the seasons are outlined using the so-called thermal seasons. Their definition is based on temperatures. Using thermal seasons is a precise way to define the seasons.

Winter is the time of the year when the daily temperature mostly stays below zero. When the average temperature rises permanently above zero, spring begins.

When the temperature mostly stays above 10 degrees, summer begins. Summer ends and turns into autumn, when the average temperature drops below 10 plus degrees again.

The answer to the question depends on where you are. For example, on the southern coast of Finland, summer lasts about 130 days and winter about 110 days. In Helsinki and Turku, for example, the summer is a little longer than the winter.

But as you go further north, the winter gets longer and the summer gets shorter. In Tampere they are approximately the same length. North of Tampere, i.e. in most of Finland, winter is longer than summer.

In the northern parts of Lapland, summer lasts less than three months and winter lasts half a year, so winter there is twice as long as summer.

Tiera Laitinen

investigator

weather Institute

What was it like to be a child in the Stone Age?

Hilja Tuovinen, 7

As a child being in the Stone Age was much different from today.

People got food by hunting, fishing and gathering edible vegetables and berries from nature. People traveled long distances in search of food, and children were most likely involved in foraging trips from the time they were babies.

There were no schools, but the children learned by doing the practical skills needed to survive in nature.

For example, you had to know how to build huts and make tools and other objects from stone, wood, bone and clay. Those skills were probably also learned under the guise of playing.

It is estimated that almost half of the people in the Stone Age were children. That’s why it’s funny that archaeologists haven’t been very successful in identifying signs of children in Stone Age finds.

One reason could be that a large part of the children’s objects were made of wood or bone, which have fallen to the ground and disappeared over the millennia. Another reason could be that archaeologists have misinterpreted the objects.

For example, many Stone Age human and animal figurines made of clay have been found in Finland. They have often been thought to represent various god figures, but it may also be the case that some of the small clay figures were toys made by children for themselves.

Andreas Koivisto

archaeologist

Vantaa City Museum

Is it possible to remove useless information from the brain at will?

Ursula Hacklin, 12

Although we are able to consciously help remember information, for example by means of memory rules or repetition, deleting the information stored in the memory is not possible in the same way.

The brain binds things to each other even without our will and thus effectively enables learning. Binding is based on the changes that occur between neurons in the brain and in neural networks.

Information is stored in the brain in different strengths. Rarely repeated and insignificant things fade from memory easily. Things related to strong emotions are often stored in the brain more permanently. Such memories are harder to forget.

The strong memory trace of things related to strong emotions is due to the fact that at that time the amygdala, which is related to emotions, is activated simultaneously with the hippocampus, which is related to memory.

In this case, reducing the weight of the memories takes place by dealing with the feelings in question. Gradually detaching the memory from the emotion associated with it helps to reduce its intensity.

However, it is likely that you will not be able to completely remove the unwanted memory. It is largely due to human history. Fear or even anger related to danger has helped people to stay alive and defend themselves, which is why emotional memories are still hard to forget.

Fortunately, however, the brain also removes unnecessary information itself and summarizes important information during sleep, for example. Getting enough sleep is a good way to make room for meaningful new knowledge and skills.

If the brain is not allowed to wash away unnecessary information at night, an overload state can arise, making information processing difficult, causing difficulty in decision-making, anxiety and fatigue.

Tuija Aro

assistant professor of clinical psychology

University of Jyväskylä

What happens if you eat an earthworm?

Elmo Kopra, 3

Earthworm and other worms called earthworms, such as field earthworms and forest earthworms, live in the surface parts of the earth or in tunnels they dig into the ground. Earthworm corridors can continue deep into the ground.

Earthworms eat leaves that have fallen to the ground, for example, and are themselves food for many birds and other animals. However, humans should not eat earthworms or other earthworms.

An earthworm’s body may contain bacteria from the ground that can cause a person to get sick if the earthworm eats it. Symptoms can include stomach pain, diarrhea or fever.

However, there are hardly any symptoms. Small children can put many things in their mouths outside, and luckily they still usually don’t get sick.

Elina Leinonen

specialist

Food Agency

Send the question, the questioner’s full name and age to [email protected]. The column is provided by Touko Kauppinen.