Every fact in Dino Munch, in plain language — mapped to the CAPS Natural Sciences and Technology Grade 4-B learner's workbook.
These are the same 60 facts your child unlocks by catching fruit in the game, listed in full so you can read, revise or print them. The game runs in any browser on a phone, tablet or computer — no account and no download. It is free to play while it is in development.
Jump to: Energy & Life · Sound & Music · The Sun & Space · Planet Earth · Rocket Power · The Moon
The Moon does not really change shape — it orbits the Earth, and we only ever see the part of it that the Sun is lighting up. That changing lit portion is what we call the Moon's phases: a thin crescent, a half moon, a full moon, and back again. A growing Moon is called waxing and a shrinking Moon is called waning.
Because the Moon has no air. On Earth our blanket of air keeps the surface from getting too hot or too cold. With nothing to hold the heat, the Moon's ground goes from hotter than boiling water in sunlight to colder than ice in the shadow of a rock.
Noise pollution is any sound that goes on for a long time and is loud, unpleasant or harmful to your ears. It usually comes from construction sites, cars, trucks and aircraft. Loud sounds damage your hearing permanently, which is why people who work with very loud machinery can lose their hearing while they are still young.
Hot gases are produced inside the rocket and expand, which means they take up more space. They escape out of a hole at the back called the nozzle, and the rocket is pushed upwards in the opposite direction. The faster the gas shoots out downwards, the faster the rocket goes up.
Because of gravity. Gravity is a pulling force that reaches a very long way — about 150 million kilometres — and it is what holds the Earth moving around the Sun, year after year. It takes the Earth 365 days to complete one trip, which is one year.
The Earth is shaped like a ball, which is called a sphere. It only looks flat because it is so enormous and we are so small — like an ant standing on a football, which cannot see that the ball is round. Astronauts looking back from space can clearly see that the Earth is a sphere.
Almost all the energy on Earth comes from the Sun. Plants use sunlight, water and air to make food, and they store energy in their roots, leaves and fruit. Animals eat the plants, and we eat the plants and animals, so the Sun's energy passes along to us through a food chain.
Vibrations. Small vibrations make soft sounds and big vibrations make loud sounds. Speed controls pitch instead: fast vibrations make a high sound and slow vibrations make a low one. That is why a water bottle with more water makes a lower note when you tap it.
The Sun is a huge ball of very hot hydrogen gas that keeps turning into helium. That change releases energy, which keeps the Sun so hot that its surface can melt rocks. Blue-white stars are even hotter than the Sun, while orange-red stars are cooler.
No. Sound needs a medium — a solid, a liquid or a gas — to travel through, and space is a near-vacuum with almost nothing in it. That is why sound cannot travel through space.
Facts adapted from Natural Sciences and Technology Grade 4-B Learner's Workbook (Siyavula / Sasol Inzalo Foundation, for the Department of Basic Education, 2014, CC BY-ND 3.0). Dino Munch is not affiliated with or endorsed by those organisations. See Sources & attribution.