Education:Science Projects: Secret Note
Animals communicate in so many different ways. A meerkat standing guard can warn its group
of danger. With different sounds, it can alert the group if the trouble
comes from land or sky. Giant pandas have a scent gland near their tails
that they use to leave smells all over the bamboo forest. This is their
way of communicating with other pandas. Some animals use movement, some
make sounds, some use scents—these are secret "languages" that only animals of the same species
can understand. It is like a spy using a secret code that only fellow
spies can understand.
Here’s an easy communication experiment you can do to talk secretly to your fellow spies—your friends!
What you need
• Lemon juice
• A safety swab
• Paper
• Small cup
• Sunlight
• Tape
What you do
Put some lemon juice in the small cup. Dip the end of the safety swab in the lemon juice, then use the swab to write a message on the paper. Give the paper to your spy friend. You and your friend won’t be able to see what your wrote, but neither will your "enemies!"
Have your fellow spy tape the paper to a window where the sun can shine on it. The sun will turn the lemon juice brown and reveal your secret message!
Catch Dr. Zoolittle in an entertaining show in the San Diego Zoo's Children's Zoo daily during the summer and every weekend and school holiday.
