Hi my goss is on the octopus. The name octopus comes from the Greek word eight, which is octo because they have eight arms and they thought it looked like a cat so they called it an Octopus (Pats theory)! There are actually 3 plurals to octopus, octopuses, octopi and octopodes and over 300 known species.

Their life span is about 6 months to 5 years depending on the species. The male dies after mating and the female dies after laying eggs, huh who would want kids! The octopus has no internal skeleton so that’s why they are so flexible and can squeeze through small gaps. They also have 3 hearts, one to pump blood around their body and 2 to pump blood over each of the 2 big gills at the side of their head. Most octopuses can change colour, either yellow, orange, red, brown or black depending on the species. This enables them to camouflage themselves to get away from predators. They can also detach their arms to confuse the enemy, this is also used in mating (who cares you are going to die soon anyway!) The Mimic octopus combines all these characteristics to look similar to a more venomous creature, they have even been known to change their texture. And one last fact, the cartoons don’t lie, the octopus can squirt thick blackish ink to escape from their preditors. Yer go me!!!

Click on the link below and have a listen to Pat’s goss’ live in the classroom!

Listen to Pat’s goss!

A tie or necktie is a piece of cloth worn around a man’s neck. They are worn for many different reasons: Working in a office, formal stuff i.e. Funerals, Graduation, just any sort of formal things. The history of Ties goes way back to 1618! In Croatia, their kings used to wear a fabric sort of almost napkin sort of thing, and it was all the craze! In Europe Men & Women both wore them, wearing them for most of the day. But those “napkin looking things” took ages to get on. In roughly about late 1890’s the British sort of got the tie we see today except it was a bit smaller and wider. Then in 1913 the tie that we see today had arrived. It was made because it would last an entire working day, and not get that dirty. I don’t know why they say that, maybe because some people thought the fabric one was A napkin and dribbled, I don’t know, just speculating. On the ties before this, the knots were complicated. But with the new one it wasn’t, it was called the “Four in hand” because it resembled the reins of the four horse carriage which was used by the rich English. Over the years, there have been minor changes but the one in 1913 is still being based on today. Ties also have meanings, like for clubs or memberships. Like, the CEO’s of Footy club’s wear their clubs colours to a press conference. There are also the famous bow-tie’s. Also there have been 4 different types of ties over the years.Info from, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NecktieNapkin Looking TieUser:Louis le Grand

 By Ginger Me

Why do people laugh when being tickled - Some evidence suggests that laughing associated with tickling is a nervous reaction that can be triggered. Indeed, very ticklish people often start laughing before actually bein g tickled. Men and women are just as “ticklish”. But a few studies suggest that, if either, men may be slightly more ticklish than women.  85 per cent of adults in some way or another enjoy being tickled, tickling others, or watching others being tickled. An odd tickle!! One of the oldest and strangest ways of fishing (called trickling) is still used today by an old New Zealand Tribe.  The fishermen wade out into the waters of streams or lakes, making sure that they move quietly so the water doesn’t ripple. The fish in these waters dart in and out of rocks or clumps of coral, and sometimes hide there for quick naps.  The fishermen sneak up behind the fish, reach down, and tickle the fish’s sides. As the fish tries to wriggle away, the fisherman grabs it with his bare hands and holds tightly to his slippery supper. You can also tickle people by using a feather. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tickling

emilymc_tickling.mp3

Jellyfish are found in every ocean in the world. Jellyfish lack basic organs like a brain,  but their nervous system allows them to react to light and odor, and respond quickly .The body of an adult is made up of 96%  water, 3% protein, and 1% minerals. There are hundreds of species of jellyfish some live in saltwater lakes, but most live in the ocean.   The lifespan of a jellyfish is three to six months.

By Leonski                                                

Listen to Sarah’s goss’!

The traffic light has several different names, like traffic signal, stop light, traffic lamp, stop-and-go lights, robot or semaphore.Its is used to indicate, using a three colours Red Yellow and Green. The traffic lights we know mean Red is stop, Green is go and Yellow is “prepare to stop”, but in the UK, Canada and New Zealand, Yellow means stop aswell. Also in the UK, Hong Kong, Macau, Pakistan, Germany, Hungary, Czech Republic, Poland, Denmark, Iceland and Israel, red and yellow light up together to mean “prepare to go”.

Old Traffic lights looked like a clock with one part of a circle red, one yellow and one green and the arrow in the middle would indicate by pointing to the colour these were called Marshalites. But in the 1990’s a more cost effective lamp was made, it was run by electicity and consisted of lights the lighted up to indicate. These are called LED lights (Sorry, forgot to say that last bit in Audio :oops:)

By Photos-by-Richard

Listen to Tom’s Goss’!

Alligators have wider snouts than crocodiles. Both the Alligator and Crocodile tend to be darker in colour. The colour depends on the water usually. In crocodiles, when the mouth is shut you can see the top and bottom teeth, but in an alligator you can only see the top teeth, when the mouth is closed.  An average alligator’s weight is 360 kg and 4 m long. An alligator’s lifespan is usually estimated to be 50 years or more. An Alligator named Muja has lived for at least 70 years. Muja had been living in a zoo since 1937.  Another Alligator has lived to be more than 72 years old and died last year.

   A male freshwater crocodile at the Australia zoo is estimated to be 130 years old. He was rescued from the wild by Bob and Steve Irwin after being shot twice by hunters. Because of the shootings, this crocodile has lost his right eye. Large Crocodiles can reach over 5 metres long and weigh heaps over 1200 Kgs. 

An alligator   By GrandmaDee

A crocodile   By Thai Jasmine

Listen to Holly’s Goss’!

• Everyone has freckles; some people have them in very odd spots like, in-between fingers, in ears and even up noses!!!
• The word “freckle” comes from the Middle English “freken,” which, in turn, came from the Old Norse “freknur,” meaning “freckled.”
• There are two basic types of freckles — both with somewhat strange names — ephelides and lentigines.
•  Freckles are mostly made by long exposure to the sun, which is known as suntaning!!!
• Freckles are rare on infants, and more common on children  before puberty; they are less common on adults!
• If you are very fair skinned or you have red hair you are likely to have a lot of freckles or ’sun kisses’ as they are sometimes called.

Photo by millylillyrose

rowan_freckles.mp3

Hi I got the Goss on Rainbows,

Sunlight although we cannot see it has seven different colours in it. Those colours are the colours of the rainbow.

 Then because it is obviously raining the sunlight reflects of the raindrop which makes it all colourful.There is many wacky myths about rainbows like: The pot of gold under the very end of a rainbow. This myths first came from Eastern Europe and they said the angels put it there a only a nude person could pick it up but im not to shore about that one! There are also others that if you go under neath one you will swap! Like man turns to lady and lady turn to man! That’s freaky but you actually cannot go under neath one because of the law of physics. There are once again more with some different cultures believing that rainbows are the gateway from earth to heaven that is believable but if your on a drought no one DIES! There is one more fact that every single person has seen rainbow!

REFERENCES: http://www.howstuffworks.com/question41.htm

Listen to Alex’s Goss’!