Science Year launch

quiz head

Cow-pawed? Cack handed? Scoochy?!

These are all names that left-handers have had to put up with in the past. Unbelievably, and not so very long ago, you weren’t really allowed to be left handed – it was considered a big drawback! So school children struggled on ‘til they could use their right hand as well as their left. Now it’s all the rage! Even Prince William's a bit sinister. (Don’t worry, that means left in latin!) Have a crack at these questions whether you’re left handed or right handed. You could win a selection of left-handed stuff for you or your favourite spuddy-handed south paw!

By the left

Quick march! 


01

Which of these famous left-handers was a scientist?

Nicole Kidman

Marie Curie

Prince William
Reveal Answer


02

About what percentage of the world’s population is thought to be left-handed?

15%

50%

80%

Reveal Answer


03

Which blood-pumping organ lies 2/3 the left side on the body and only 1/3 on the right?

Heart

Eyes

Stomach
Reveal Answer


04

Fleming’s Left Hand Rule can be found in which science subject?

Geology

Botany

Physics
Reveal Answer


05

So why are some people left-handed…?

One theory of left-handedness suggests that it runs in families.  Scientifically this would mean being left-handed is…

Sinister

Awkward

Genetic
Reveal Answer


06

Another theory suggests that changes can occur to one certain human organ during birth and this can make someone left-handed.  Which movement-controlling organ is this?

Spleen

Brain

Liver
Reveal Answer


07

Medieval architects designed spiral stairs which turned clockwise when viewed from the bottom.  Why was this?

Right-handed defenders at the top could fight more easily than attackers coming up the stairs.

They believed that climbing stairs any other way would make people dizzy.

Medieval ladies were all forced to be left-handed and this made it easier to climb the stairs with their huge dresses.
Reveal Answer


08

It is a myth that all polar bears are left-handed, but you would still never see one attack a penguin with its right paw.  Why?

Penguins are more agile when moving from right to left.

Penguins live south of the equator and polar bears live far north of the equator.

Penguins fly away at the first sight of a polar bear.
Reveal Answer


09

Most species of snails’ shells coil in a right-handed way, but very occasionally an error occurs in an embryo snail and its shell comes out left-handed.  These lefty snails are highly valued.  What class of animals are snails in?

Mammalia

Reptilia

Gastropoda
Reveal Answer


10

Molecules can be left-handed or right-handed: mirror images of each other. The molecule that gives caraway its aroma is the mirror image of what other smelly molecule?

Spearmint

Toffees

Cheese
Reveal Answer

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