Why are lollipops called lollipops and why does beetroot stain? The kids’ quiz

1. Marco, 7, asks: why are lollipops called lollipops?

   1. “Lolly” means money, “pops” means sweets

   2. “Lolly” means tongue, “pop” means slap, as it “slaps” against your tongue

   3. It means “dream food”

   4. No one knows, but it comes from the Bible

2. Auguste, 9, asks: why aren’t there ever any new colours?

   1. Scientists say they found a new one in 2025!

   2. Animals can see new ones

   3. Colours were fixed millions of years ago

   4. Scientists are focusing on discovering other things

3. Emerson-Grace, 9, asks: I would like to be a marine biologist so I can take care of the beluga whales – what do they eat?

   1. Octopus

   2. Squid

   3. Crab

   4. All the above and more!

4. Logan, 9, asks: how many species of dinosaur have been identified?

   1. None – dinosaurs are mythical creatures

   2. Just 10 – all the others are fictional

   3. Between 700 and 1,000

   4. About 53,000 – the same as the number of spider species in the world today

5. Orla, 10, asks: why do beetroots stain?

   1. They contain a chemical called betanin, which has an intense colour

   2. They’re grown in the ocean, so the salt helps them penetrate surfaces

   3. They don’t stain!

   4. Beetroots stain because they share genetic similarities with our skin

Solutions

1:B - The origins of the word are hard to pinpoint, but it’s likely to come from the old English term “lolly” (meaning tongue) and “pop” (strike or slap). A US candy maker named his sweet on a stick “Lolly Pop” after a race horse, in 1908, but the British word lollipop was around before that., 2:A - In 2025 scientists from the University of California, Berkeley, stimulated cells in a human eye and found a colour humans wouldn’t usually be able to see. It’s described as blue-green and called “olo”, though there is debate about whether it counts as a new colour., 3:D - Beluga whales eat a very wide range of marine life, including: octopus, squid, crab, sea snail, cod, herring, capelin and many more fish!, 4:C - The American Museum of Natural History says about 700 species of extinct, flightless dinosaurs have been identified, though other sources say it might be closer to 1,000., 5:A - A beetroot’s colour comes from the pigment betanin, used as a dye for hundreds of years as it produces an intense colour on cotton and wool – but also (temporarily!) on skin.

Scores

1. 5 and above.

2. 4 and above.

3. 3 and above.

4. 2 and above.

5. 0 and above.

6. 1 and above.