Animals |
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| Contributor | Subject | Fact |
| Squeaky H | Cheetahs |
Cheetahs are the most effective hunters of all the big cats on the African plains, but not the best fighters. Thus, although they usually
make their kill, they don't always get to eat it. Other predators, like hyenas or lions, make take their kill. Partly this is because they need to cool off for up to half an hour after a kill. From The Cheetah: Fast as Lightning, by Philippe Dupont, 599.75D
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| Air T | Chimpanzees |
The African name for a chimpanzee is "the mockman," because they are good at imitating other creatures. Chimps can learn to talk to people with sign language. They are one of the Great Apes along with gorillas, orangutans. They have good memory and they learn quickly. They live in Africa, in grasslands as well as in the rain forests. They live in groups of, at most, 80. Each of the groups have a leader, always a
male. They eat fruit, plants, leaves, bark, roots, vegetables, bird eggs, and insects. They do not eat much meat. They use tools for eating food. A newborn chimpanzee stays really close to the mother and drinks milk from her. From Chimpanzees, by Mae Woods, 599.885W
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| Adrienne H | Dogs |
Dogs have lived with humans for more than 12,000 years. German Shepherds have
double coats that keep them warm in the winter. When puppies are born they are deaf for ten days. From German Shepherds, by Stuart A Kallen, 636.7K
Photo © German Shepherd Dog Rescue Houston, Inc Learn More: |
| Sarah B | Dolphins |
Did you know that dolphins sleep with one eye open?
Did you know that when people x-ray a dolphin's fins, they can see bones that look just exactly like the bones in the human foot! From Dolphins and Sharks, by Mary Pope Osborne and Natalie Pope Boyce. 599.53 Osb.
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| Breyer CK | Pangolins |
Pangolins are the weirdest looking animals in the rain forest. They have sharp claws, no teeth, huge stubby legs, and long skinny heads. They are covered with huge, thick scales which protect them from attack. If they are scared, they curl up into a ball. Their favorite food is ants, which they hunt at night. From Rain Forests: a nonfiction companion to Afternoon on the Amazon, by Will Osborne, 577.34 O.
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| Fermo R | Birds |
The African secretary bird kills its prey by stamping it with its feet. It mostly runs rather than flies. From Amazing Birds, by Alexandra Parsons, 598P.
Image © The Hawk Conservancy Trust Learn More: |
| Alvo A | Hyenas |
Some Africans think that the hyena is a helpful scavenger. Others have legends that show the hyena as evil. Hyenas often hunt in pairs or in small groups called clans. They have the most powerful jaws in the animal kingdom. From Hyenas, by Lynn Stone, 599.74S.
Photo courtesy of Frank Stober |
| Air Wreck | Buffalo |
Buffalo lived in herds and usually and old cow (female buffalo) were leaders. A bull (male buffalo) can stand 5 to 6 feet tall at the shoulder. They are 10 to 12 feet long from their nose to their tail. Sometimes the horns were used as weapons against any creature that tried to hurt them. The horns are also used to tear up the prairie grass to make a dust wallow (hole). From Buffalo by Emilie U. Lepthien, 599.7L.
Learn More: Theodore Roosevelt National Park Buffalo or Bison Neal Smith National Wildlife Refuge Photo courtesy of Neal Smith National Wildlife Refuge |
| Tia G | Giraffes |
A mother giraffe usually has one baby. She rarely has twins. A mother giraffe has her calves about a year and one-half apart. A calf weighs between 100 and 150 pounds at birth, and it already is nearly six feet tall. A giraffe grows for 10 years. Giraffes in zoos have lived to be 28 years old. It is unlikely that a wild giraffe would live that long. From Giraffes, by Lynn Stone, 599.73S.
Photo courtesy of Frank Stober |
Insects | ||
| Contributor | Subject | Fact |
| Alice G | Spittlebug, Jumping bean bug |
Weird Insects: Did you know about the spittle bug and the jumping bean bug? The spittlebug lets white froth come out of its back end so it can hide in the froth. If you ever look for it, it looks like a patch of spit.Next, there is the jumping bean bug. It is a small caterpillar of a small moth that lives in a shrub inside a seed or bean. It tries to jump by flipping its body into a hole to get away from birds. From Amazing Insects, by Laurence Mound, 595.7.
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| Sophie Q | Crickets |
Did you know that crickets have ears on their legs, right underneath the knee? And they can jump 20 to 30 times their body height. From Amazing Insects, by Laurence Mound, 595.4M.
Learn more: Crickets (Ed Koday's Amazing Insects website)Cricket photo from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Licensed for use in accordance with the GFDL. |
| Josie Q | Dragonflies |
Dragonflies have been around 300 million years. That means they have been around before there were any birds or even pterodactyls flying around in the sky. Did you know that they were also much larger
back then than any dragonfly you can see today? Their eyes are made of 30,000 3-sided parts that cover most of its head, so the dragonfly can actually see behind its head. And yes, it can fly backwards. From Dragonflies, by Heather Amery, 595.7A.
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| Spongebob | Houseflies |
Did you know that flies were symbols of bravery in Ancient Egypt? Soldiers with the most courage received flies made out of gold. From The Housefly, by Andreas Fischer-Nagel, 595.7 F.
Learn More: Sacred Insects of Egypt (Kendall Bioresearch Services) Order of Valor (Egyptian Museum) Photo courtesy of James Kalisch of the University of Nebraska, Lincoln |
Disasters |
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| Contributor | Subject | Fact |
| Armo A | Earthquakes |
In 1960 an earthquake measuring 9.5 struck the city of Valdivia, Chile. The earthquake caused a tsunami that had terrible effects as far away as Hawaii and Japan. The town sank almost 7 feet. Rivers changed courses and created a wetlands area that is now a sanctuary in sunken land near Valdivia. This earthquake is the largest ever measured. From Earthquakes, by Allison Lassieur, 551.22L.
The picture to the right shows the remains of trees that grew here before the earthquake. Learn More: Valdivia, Chile: City of Rivers Photo of Carlos Anwandter Sanctuary courtesy of the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands. |
| Joe G | Pompeii |
When Mount Vesuvius erupted in 79 AD, it killed the whole city. All the people and buildings were all preserved by the volcanic ash. Some bodies left shells, turned by archaeologists into plaster casts, of their bodies. Archaeologists found streets, shops, homes, gardens, sculptures and even paintings under all the tons of ash, rock, and
lava. From Ancient Times: A Watts Guide for Children, by Guy I. Austrian, 930 Aus.
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Human Body | ||
| Contributor | Subject | Fact |
| Lucy I | Human Body |
Did you know that if you stretched all your blood vessels into a straight line, they would stretch 12,00 miles long, which is 2 1/2 times around the world? Arteries carry blood away from your heart, and veins carry blood back to the heart. The capillaries are very tiny. They carry all the nutrients to your body. From The Body, by Steve Parker, 612P
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