Table of contents for Issue 311 - July 2021 in MiniMag

Imagine it is run by three little Ninjas with incredible powers! Welcome to Boomerang’s brand-new series, Ninja Express! Some delivery requests are tougher than others, but the three Ninjas, Kiro, Konpeki and Aka, are always ready for whatever comes their way. In order to crown a new king, Merlin summons the Ninjas to find a way to extricate a sword that's stuck in a boulder. Still, it takes a few tries until they realise that the solution is right before their eyes. The crew must deal with more strange requests like an order for a villain. Yikes! Will they be able to deliver? Tune in to Boomerang this July to find out! DStv channel 302 BOOMERANG AFRICA PREMIERE: Monday 26 July 2021 TUNE IN: Monday to Friday @ 16:35…

Since 1996, Scifest Africa has been educating and enlightening its audiences, offering a crucial doorway into the world of Science, Technology, Innovation, Engineering and Mathematics for young people. Scifest Africa identifies and designs unique interactive events and educational resources with scientific integrity to advance science, facilitate learning in an informal and non-threatening way, and provide learners with an opportunity to discover science outside the classroom! DID YOU KNOW? The reason the ocean has waves and has tides that switch from high to low is that the gravitational pull from the moon and the sun keep changing. Earth is the only planet in our solar system known to support life. Elephants stay pregnant for 22 months; this is the longest period of gestation in any land mammal. Cucumbers are actually a…

It was quite expensive to use horses or oxen to transport mail in this region. To transport the mail between Zwartmodder and Mier, the Post Office was eventually obliged to purchase camels, the proverbial ship of the desert. In June 1899, four camel cows were obtained from the Uitvlucht forest station. Two camels were used to complete the voyage taking four days in both directions. One camel carried the mail and the other one the postman. The postmaster acknowledged these members of the personnel with much appreciation in his annual reports. In 1899, he reported that the camel mail had not been late a single day. Their travelling time was also much shorter than that of ox wagons. However, the camels also caused a small problem – they ate the…

Why should you help clean up the environment? Plastics is the most durable and amazing material – not a single industry can do without it – just think about the importance of plastics during this pandemic, it would be impossible to vaccinate the world without this innovative material, BUT because it is so durable, we need to take responsibility of how to reduce, reuse and recycle plastics. We all want to live in a clean and beautiful environment. It is everyone’s responsibility to work together. Picking up waste should become a habit! Never walk past litter without stopping to pick it up. It takes a second to pick up, but many years to decompose! Every piece of litter has been created by humans. It’s time to change – and the…

Breathing in water As sharks swim, the flow of water in through the mouth and over the gills provides oxygen for the shark to survive. Nurse sharks spend lots of time resting on the seabed, so to get oxygen, they use their cheek muscles to suck in water. Do sharks have ears? You can’t see ears on a shark, but they do have ears inside their heads. Tiny openings in the shark’s head, near its brain, pick up sounds that travel through the water. They can even tell which direction the noise is coming from. I smell you Sharks have a much better sense of smell than we do. As a shark swims along, water flows into its nostrils. If there’s a fishy smell in the water, the shark will…

Nine billion mouths to feed by 2050 The world’s food production needs to increase by 70% by 2050. This large demand for food is not only due to population growth. As people move to cities and become richer, they eat more meat, which uses lots of grain crops. There isn’t much land left to expand farming, so everyone is looking to solutions like vertical farming and increasing farm productivity. If this fails, food prices will soar as it becomes a scarce resource. Running out of limited resources • Only 3% of Earth’s water is freshwater. With more people who need to share this limited amount, 1.8 billion people will be living in water-scarce areas by 2025.• It’s difficult to say when fossil fuels will start running out, but there’s probably…

Cut out your tokens below and with a die start moving your token on the path! Hi friends! It’s me Captain Crisp. Can you help me count all the cute fish in this picture? International Day of Friendship takes place on 30 July! This gives you plenty of time to prepare something special for you and your friends. Tear out this board game or get an adult to make a photocopy and get ready for a day of fun with your friends. Don’t forget to ask Mom to prepare some delicious fish fingers for you all to enjoy while playing this fun game! Winner Quick Meals Category. Survey of 1 500 households by Answered Insight. @SeaHarvestSA @FishnTips_SH…

In order to see any object, light coming from the object must enter your eyes. The light first goes through a thin, clear covering called the cornea. It then goes through an opening called the pupil. The pupil looks like a black round spot in the very front of your eye. If you look at your eyes up close in a mirror, you should be able to see your pupils. People with dark eyes will have to look very closely. Close your eyes for a few seconds and then open them. You should be able to see the size of your pupil change with the different amount of light. The coloured part of your eye, surrounding the pupil, is called the iris. The iris is made of muscles that contract…

In 2009, Mandela’s birthday (18 July) was declared as "Nelson Mandela International Day" to promote global peace and to celebrate his legacy. The annual event is aimed at encouraging citizens worldwide to give back the way that Mandela has done throughout his lifetime. Mandela gave 67 years of his life fighting for the rights of humanity. On Mandela Day everyone is asked to give 67 minutes of their time, whether it is supporting a chosen charity or serving a local community.…

MUST WATCH! BRAND-NEW SHOW MY CARTOON FRIEND Keep calm … your best friend is here! Cartoons are cool, and friends are essential, so having a cartoon character as a friend should be super-cool, right? Errr … not always! After experimenting with some new and unknown animation software, a young African animator, Lwazi, mistakenly exports his animated character into the real world. With no knowledge of how to reverse the whole thing, Lwazi finds himself stuck with a new and unusual friend, Themba. Themba is witty, sharp with his tongue, quick on his feet, and almost certainly has an answer to everything - even if he's wildly inaccurate. The two have an entertaining and adventurous everyday life together as Themba tries to learn how to fit into the real world (but…