Science

Christmas Quiz
 Rudolph’s Red Nose
Rudolph the red nosed reindeer’s two sisters,
Donner and Blitzen, and his brother, Dasher,
all have black noses.
If red noses are recessive, and black are
dominant, what are the genotypes of their
parents, and why?

Photo courtesy of Petras Gagilas (@flickr.com) - granted under creative commons licence - attribution
 Fast Reindeer
Santa chooses the fastest reindeer to pull
his sleigh.
What equation would he use to measure
which is the fastest?

Photo courtesy of M Sew (@flickr.com) - granted under creative commons licence - attribution
 Poorly Santa
After Christmas last year, Santa became ill.
He went to the doctor and it turned out he had
a bad cold.
The doctor told him to rest and keep hydrated
but did not give him antibiotics. Why not?

Photo courtesy of Al Pavangkanan (@flickr.com) - granted under creative commons licence - attribution
 Precious Metal
In the story of Christmas, when the three Kings
visit the baby Jesus, they bring him three gifts
– gold, frankincense and myrrh.
What is the chemical symbol for gold?
 Naughty Children
It is said that children on the naughty list do not
get presents from Santa, but coal instead.
What is the main element found in coal?
 Santa’s Sleigh
When it is airborne, what forces act on
Santa’s sleigh?

Photo courtesy of Gabbo T (@flickr.com) - granted under creative commons licence - attribution
 How Long?
If there are 24 hours in a day, how does Santa
manage to deliver all the presents on the night
of Christmas Eve, before children are awake?
 Faster Than a Speeding Bullet?
Santa travels approximately 342 510 000km in a
32-hour period (24 hours plus 8 for children
sleeping).
How fast does he travel?

Photo courtesy of tweber1 (@flickr.com) - granted under creative commons licence - attribution
 Answers

Swap your papers and mark each other’s

How much do you know about Christmas?
 Rudolph’s Red Nose

Using R for black and r for red - Rudolph’s genotype must be rr if red is
recessive.
His siblings must be either RR or Rr genotypes.
In order for the genotype rr (red nose) to be possible, the parents must both
have a dominant and a recessive gene; therefore, each must have the
genotype Rr and the phenotype of a black nose.
 Fast Reindeer

The equation for speed is:

speed = distance ÷ time
 Poorly Santa

A cold (no matter how bad) is a viral infection.

Antibiotics are used to treat bacterial infections; therefore, the
doctor won’t prescribe them for a cold – his body will fight it
off naturally.
 Precious Metal

The chemical symbol for gold is Au.

 Naughty Children

The main element found in coal is carbon.

 Santa’s Sleigh
The forces acting on Santa’s sleigh are:
Lift

Drag

Thrust

Weight
 How Long?

Time zones enable Santa to get all round the world in one
night.
Samoa and Kiribati are among the first places in the world to
celebrate Christmas, and Baker Island in the US is among the
last.
Faster Than a Speeding Bullet?

If speed = distance ÷ time

342 510 000km ÷ 32h
Speed = 10 703 437.5km/h

That’s pretty fast!