Dear Max,
What is your favourite subject at school?
Signed,
Holly
May 30, 2011
Dear Holly,
My favorite subject is science! It will never, ever be math.
(Hey! I wonder if Holly's an international reader. She's using the British spelling of "favorite"! Cool!)
Max the Fox
Dear Max,
What is a 4D figure?
Signed,
WA
April 28, 2011
Dear WA,
A 4D figure is easily described like this: In the universe that we see and live in, all objects exist in the fourth dimension, which is time. Time is what causes everything to happen. If time was completely stopped, everything would be absolutely still. No birds flying, no cars honking, no one would breathe, nothing could happen. So it's the three dimensions of length, width and depth (or height), plus time.
Max the Fox
Dear Max,
How is silk made?
Signed,
Lierin
April 1, 2011
Dear Lierin,
Silk is made by carefully unravelling the thread that silkworms put out from around their jaws to make their cocoons. (So, basically, it's worm spit. No, really!) Then the silk is bleached, dyed and spun into the thicker silk thread we use.
Max the Fox
Dear Max,
What is paper made of?
Signed,
Lierin
March 22, 2011
Dear Lierin,
Paper is made from moist cellulose fibers (the cell wall of most green plants) from wood, rags or grasses. Usually wood, for our everyday paper.
Max the Fox
Dear Max,
I'm sad because my dad is gone for a business trip. What should I do?
Signed,
Leila
March 20, 2011
Dear Leila,
You should just do what you normally do. Even if your dad is gone, your mom is still there to help you out, right?
Max the Fox
Dear Max,
What is a gizzard?
Signed,
Mike
Dec. 23, 2010
Dear Mike,
A gizzard is a thick- walled pouch below the crop in many birds and reptiles for grinding food. The crop is another pouch in their throat where they hold food before digesting.
Max the Fox
Dear Max,
Can dogs get braces?
Signed,
Anonymous
Nov. 9, 2010
Dear Anonymous,
Actually, they can get braces, but it looks kind of silly. I tried to find a photo that was OK to borrow to post and show you but I couldn't find one. You'll just have to search for it yourself to see.
Max the Fox
Dear Max,
Which outside game do you think requires the most thinking and strategy?
Signed,
Ben
Nov. 5, 2010
Dear Ben,
I think Capture the Flag requires the most thinking and strategy because you have to distract the flag guard, run across to the other team's side, grab the flag, and make your way to the other side without getting tagged. If you are tagged, you have to return the flag, go to "jail" and can only get out if a teammate runs across, avoids the jail guard, and grabs your hand/wrist and you both run across. That's the only time the other team can't catch you. Oh, and you can't tag the guards unless they leave their posts. You win by tagging everybody or getting the flag to your own side.
Max the Fox
How far is the moon?
Signed,
Christopher
Nov. 4, 2010
Dear Christopher,
The moon is 283,357 miles away from Earth. I definitely cannot run that far.
Max the Fox
Dear Max,
If you're with a friend and they start being mean, what should you do? I am asking this question because my friend does that.
Signed,
Olivia
Oct. 26, 2010
Dear Olivia,
You should ask your friend why he or she is mean all of a sudden. If they say "Because!", say "Because why? Because isn't a reason." Your friend will probably give a stuttery answer because he or she won't have a real answer. But maybe he or she will pay more attention to being nice.
Max the Fox
Dear Max,
What's your favorite thing to do online?
Signed,
Anonymous
Oct. 25, 2010
Dear Anonymous,
My favorite thing to do online is probably... blogging, of course!
Max the Fox
Dear Max,
When was the biggest flood?
Signed,
Rhyan
Oct. 17, 2010
Dear Rhyan,
In recent history? The Chinese Yellow River flood in 1931 killed between one and four million people. I don't know many times the population of my hometown that would be. That's just crazy to think about.
Max the Fox
Dear Max,
My friends always expect me to get straight A's. When I get a B they treat me weirdly. I try to tell them but they don't listen. How can I explain to them that I won't always get A's?
Signed,
Over Expected
Sept. 11, 2010
Dear Over Expected,
Just tell your friends you're not perfect. Nobody is... not even me! I don't get straight A's either!
Max the Fox
Dear Max,
What would your favorite board game be of these choices: Monopoly, The Game of Life, Qwirkle, Operation Spongebob or Sorry Sliders?
Signed,
Rayme
Sept. 6, 2010
Dear Rayme,
Definitely Monopoly!
Max the Fox
Dear Max,
What is photosynthesis?
Signed,
Roo
July 19, 2010
Dear Roo,
Photosynthesis is the process of converting light energy to chemical energy. Basically, it's how plants eat and grow.
Max the Fox
Dear Max,
How do we make carbon dioxide?
Signed,
Nand
May 23, 2010
Dear Nand,
Carbon dioxide is made by organisms — including humans — that survive by breaking down sugars, fats and amino acids, along with oxygen. It's what's left over after our cells absorb what our bodies need out of all that other stuff.
Max the Fox
Dear Max,
Which is the largest library in the world?
Signed,
Faizan
May 11, 2010
Dear Faizan,
To tell the truth, I wasn't sure where the largest library in the world is. I had to do some research. According to the Guinness Book of World Records, the largest library in the world is the Library of Congress in Washington D.C. However, the British Library has more individual items, with 150 million items to the Library of Congress' 130 million. On the other hand, the Library of Congress has a larger collection based on used shelf space. The entire collection of the Library of Congress takes up about 530 miles of shelf space; the British Library has only about 388 miles of used space.
Max the Fox
Dear Max,
What makes airplanes fly?
Signed,
Annika
April 21, 2010
Annika,
What makes airplanes fly is fairly simple, but it is still surprising. Have you ever looked closely at an airplane wing? The underside is flat, and the top is curved. This design is called an airfoil. When air is rushing past, it is split by the wing. The air that goes under the wing can do so easily, because the underside is flat. The air that goes over the wing, however, meets resistance from the curve. It has more distance to travel to get from the front of the wing to the back, but air is pushing behind it at the same rate, so it has to go faster. The faster-moving air on top becomes less dense than the air underneath, because of the speed. The wing then is pushed away from the denser air underneath and towards the thinner air on top. Thus, it moves up, taking the rest of the plane with it.
If you want to try out the principle for yourself, turn on a hairdryer and point it straight up. place a ping-pong ball a few inches above the dryer. It will stay! I'll let you figure out how this trick works, based on what I described above.
Max the Fox
Dear Max,
Is Anita really an ''evil big sis''?!?
Signed,
Shaely
April 1, 2010
Shaely,
No, I'll admit, she isn't always as bad as I make her sound. We actually get along most of the time, or at least successfully ignore each other.
We do often pull pranks, but we are usually able to just laugh it off.
(With revenge, of course.)
Max the Fox
Dear Max,
Kids' Mensa is to easy and Mensa is too hard. Is there an intermediate Mensa?
Signed,
Levi
Feb. 23, 2010
Levi,
No, there is no "intermediate" Mensa. You say that kids' Mensa is too easy and regular Mensa is too hard. In reality, they are both the same thing. There really isn't a separate club for smart kids, so if you can be in one, you can be in both. The two Web sites are simply geared towards different ages. When I first joined, I was daunted by the official Mensa Web site. Now, though, I think it's not so bad. There are some sections geared toward really complex things, but not all of the things there are adults only.
Max the Fox
Dear Max,
Lately I have been depressed about everything. I have had a lot of pressure lately. I'm afraid I'm losing everything my friends, my family, everything. What should I do?
Signed,
Depressed Leah
Jan. 13, 2010
Dear Leah,
I have often felt like my life is falling apart. Some friends denounced me as unpopular and geeky and ignored me, or I find out that my great-grandmother is falling ill and is likely to die. Sometimes when something like this happens to me, I start to feel like there is no point in going on with life, and that nothing really matters anymore. But this has happened often enough for me to realize that no matter how unhappy I am, the feeling will fade. Life will continue as normal. So just take a breath and keep moving forward.
Max the Fox
Dear Max,
I got put in a school for gifted children and I miss all of my friends at my old school. It is a combined class with grades 3, 4, and 5. I'm the only 5th grade girl in my whole class, and I only get 50 minutes a day with other 5th graders. It's really hard and I miss my friends. Do you have any ideas?
Signed,
Gifted & Lonely
Nov. 5, 2009
Dear G&L,
Try making friends with some of the younger kids. I have friends who are a year or two or even three younger than me. Find something in common with them and continue from there.
And the friends from your old school? Try inviting them to your house on weekends, any time you are able. And this also makes chance meetings at the store even more special. I once met my school principal at a Portillo's!
Max the Fox