Winter? It’s for the birds
QUESTION
Can any wise ornithologist explain why the swallows nesting in my garage fly all the way from southern Africa to northern Europe to reproduce? Why don’t they wait for the southern hemisphere summer?
Migration patterns in birds are thought to have developed during the last ice age. ice sheets covered the north and east, so most bird species lived in southern Europe and africa, where it was warmer and food was more abundant.
about one million years ago, the ice began retreating, leaving a new landscape. this was characterised by a short, wet summer and long hours of daylight.
these conditions were perfect for insects, which you’ll know if you’ve ever camped out during midge season in Scotland. this encouraged swallows and other migratory birds to explore this habitat and develop new behaviour patterns.
as well as plenty of food, they found good places to breed, fewer predators and not much competition from other birds. But in winter the weather got cold again and the insects disappeared, so the birds headed back south, setting the patterns of migration we see today.
in the warm climate of africa, there is a seemingly endless supply of food to keep millions of swallows alive and healthy until the next breeding season.
However, there are some key advantages to migrating north. When it comes to breeding, there are far fewer birds competing for the same nest sites.
not only do our warm, wet summers give a bountiful supply of insect food, long summer days — when the sun sets much later than it does in africa — give parents more time to feed their growing chicks.
Life in the north is also safer. in africa, there are many more hungry predators. Moving from the best places for feeding to the best places for breeding helps birds to keep their young alive.
the downside is that migration is tiring and dangerous, and many birds fail to complete their journeys.
Migration is a calculation and, generally speaking, the safety of nesting in the UK and the plentiful food source is a price worth paying. there is also an evolutionary advantage. the casualties are often the sick or weak ones. their genes do not pass to the next generation, so the bird population is fitter and healthier.
Mike Weaver, Kidderminster, Worcs.
QUESTION An Olympic Games commentator described the shuttlecock as the fastest-moving projectile in sport (with the exception of bullets in shooting). Is this correct?
SURPRISINGLY, it seems the shuttlecock is sport’s fastest-moving projectile.
While testing new racket technology in 2013, Malaysia’s tan Boon Heong set a world record with a 306 mph smash.
according to guinness World records, the fastest- recorded hit during competition was by Malaysia’s Lee Chong Wei, who smashed a 259 mph shot during the 2017 Japan open.
another contender for the fastest projectile in sport are the arrows in archery. there are many factors to be taken into consideration, such as type of bow and length of pull, but 320 fps (feet per second) can be reached, which equates to 218 mph.
this is the speed at the point of release, as it will drop over distance.
David Albury, Edinburgh.
QUESTION What are the benefits of the Socratic method of teaching?
in ancient greece during the 5th century BC, teaching was dominated by the sophists, who used the tools of philosophy and rhetoric to entertain, impress or persuade an audience to accept the speaker’s point of view.
the classical greek scholar Socrates (470-399 BC) promoted an alternative method which came to be called the Socratic method: group learning through active dialogue, cross-examination, testing of hypotheses, refutation and scrutiny.
the Socratic method does not involve expository lecturing, blackboard or powerpoint-driven instruction, detailed lesson plans or rote memorisation. it is a form of discovery- based learning, involving a dialogue between teacher and students.
the teacher poses thought-provoking questions, the students ask questions of their own and
the class aims to find an agreed resolution. the teacher denies his or her own knowledge to lead the student to the correct idea or answer. the questioning is open-ended with no predetermined goal.
the Socratic method was best applied to the social sciences such as philosophy and sociology, as questioning and the debate format fits in with the nature of courses. it proved a useful tool when debating the soundness of case law.
that said, the Socratic method is rarely used today. Managing it in the classroom is difficult because of the diversity of responses. Unless handled with skill, such unstructured methods of teaching can result in chaos.
Eric Moore, Harrow, Middlesex.
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