Witty Wednesday- Tipster Style

I have recently gotten together with a great group of bloggers to bring you different tips, recipes and other little things that we can come up with daily. Summertime generally  slows down for everyone in the computer world because we are spending more time outside, kids are outta school, BBQ’s, etc., so this is our way of bringing something different and fun when things slow down.

Today’s topic is Witty Wednesday. Yes, I know I already have Witty Wednesday posts but we thought it would be fun to include other blogger’s ideas today. Here are a few fun facts you can share with your kids when they ask you these common questions.

Why do my fingers and toes get wrinkly in the bathtub?

During long baths, your fingers and toes soak up water like a sponge. Water makes them swell because the top layer of skin is good at absorbing water. They get wrinkly because of the way the layers of skin are joined to each other.

When the top layer absorbs water, it swells and becomes larger than the lower layers it is attached to. The skin doesn’t detach from our fingers, so the only thing it can do is wrinkle up to accommodate the increase in surface area.

Once you are done with your bath, the water absorbed in your skin evaporates and your skin returns to its normal form.

Try this experiment: Take a dry sponge and hold it flat on its narrow side. Trace its outline on a piece of paper. Place the sponge into the tub or a bowl of water and watch it absorb the water. Tell your child that the sponge is like our fingers and toes and is absorbing the water.

After the sponge swells up, wring it out just enough so it is not dripping and have your child try to fit it back inside the outline on the paper. Explain to your child that just like the skin on our fingers and toes, the only way the sponge will fit in that shape is if it squishes up and creates wrinkles. Explain that is what our fingers and toes are doing when they have all that water absorbed in them. They are trying to make room for all of that expansion from the water by wrinkling up so it still fits.

Why do people think the moon is made of cheese?

Most people don’t think the moon is made of cheese, but sometimes it certainly looks like a wheel of cheese that’s blue with mold. It looks full of holes, like Swiss cheese, and it sometimes has a greenish/bluish color, like Gorgonzola cheese. The holes are actually craters caused by asteroids, which are big chunks of rock and ice that fly through space. The greenish/bluish color is caused by the Earth’s shadow across the moon’s surface.

Thank you Clair’s Freebies!


Have you ever been “stuck” trying to answer one of your child’s questions?

This entry was posted in Witty Wednesday. Bookmark the permalink.

Leave a Reply
