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Animal Mothers of the Wild

However, there are some animals that are not known for their nurturing instincts, and make a very different kind of animal mother.

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Orangutan- Even though Orangutans are known to be very solitary and independent apes, they build strong bonds with their mothers. Orangutan mothers carry their offspring for the first two years of their lives. During this period the young ones learn what kind of food is good to eat, where they can find it, what material can be used to build a nest and how to do so. This training period lasts from six to seven years. Then mothers and offspring part ways, but not for good. They pay regular visits to their mothers until they are 16. Typically, orangutans live up to 45 years or more in both the wild and captivity.

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African Elephant mothers are the largest land mammal mothers on Earth. When new in the role, mothers are never left alone in caring for their little ones. Due to the matriarchal organization of the group they live in, the other female elephants support all new moms during their 22-month pregnancy. By doing so, the new mothers learn how to raise their babies, what food to give them, dangers to watch out for and places to go. The babies suckle on mother’s milk for 4 to 6 years.

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Lion- Even though lions do not inhabit jungles, they are recognized as the kings of the jungle. Generally, a mother lioness is protective, attentive and caring with her little ones, especially when they are very young. Unfortunately, when a new male takes over a pride, lion mothers allow the new lion king to kill all cubs younger than two years old and start a new dynasty from scratch.

Giant Panda- Giant pandas get pregnant with great difficulty. When they do succeed, they deliver up to three cubs. Out of the three, giant panda реəцатар mothers choose only the strongest-seeming cub to raise, abandoning the others.

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The Cape Ground Squirrel

Summer is here. As the sun beats down on us, we need caps and umbrellas to shield us from the harsh sunlight. So we carry them whenever we step out.

The cape ground squirrel of South Africa too carries its umbrella everywhere. It can never leave it behind even if it wants to. Do you know why? Because it uses its tail as an umbrella!

Friendship is Necessary

The cape ground squirrel lives in the Kalahari Desert of South Africa. It lives in burrows and not on trees, unlike others we usually see in our gardens and parks. This is because there are no trees in the desert where it can live on or use its shade. This squirrel spends its day foraging for plants and seeds around its burrow. So it cannot avoid going out in the sun. That’s when its bushy tail comes to the rescue. It uses its bushy tail to cover its head while it is searching for food. While foraging, the squirrel positions itself with its back facing the sun and its tail erect and above its head.

The squirrels spend the hottest part of the day in their burrows, which are much cooler because they are about 60 cms below the ground.

The shovel-snouted lizard

Summer is almost here. When the temperature goes up, we turn to cold drinks and ice creams to cool ourselves down. But the shovel-snouted lizard has an innovative way to cool off. When the weather becomes too hot-it starts to dance!

The shovel-snouted lizard is found in the world’s third largest desert-Sahara, in Northern Africa. When the sand becomes too hot to stand on, the lizard balances itself on its tail and raises two of its feet at a time— alternating between front left and the rear right, and vice-versa—for about 10 seconds each. It does so to cool its feet. When the shovel-snouted lizard does this, it looks as if it is dancing

The shovel-shouted lizard can remain buried deep in the sand for an entire day.

It also uses the sand to its advantage to hide and hunt. When the lizard spots a predator, it dives and buries itself in the sand. It stays hidden under a layer of sand and pops only its head out. It does the same while hunting too. The lizard surprises its prey by quickly emerging from under the sand and grabbing it. It usually feeds on small insects like beetles, moths and spiders.

MAKE A PARACHUTE

Stuff

  • Plastic cover/ bag
  • String
  • Scissors
  • Scotch tape
  • Your favourite action figure (should not be too big) or a small stone

Do

1. Using a large circular lid or any circular object, trace a circle on the plastic cover and cut it out.

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2. Mark eight points along the edge of the circle as shown. The points should be equally spaced.

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3. Take eight strings of equal length (each about 50 cms long). Stick one end of each string to the markings on the circle.

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4. Tie all the loose ends of the strings into a knot and attach it to your action figure or stone using tape.

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See

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When you drop the action figure or stone from a height, it lands gently on the ground as the parachute opens up and slows down the fall.

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Think about

How does the parachute slow the fall?

An object falls because the force of gravity pulls it down towards the ground. When the parachute attached to the object opens up, its surface area increases. Thus, it traps a large amount of air under it, which offers resistance to the falling object. Now, there are two forces that are acting on the object: gravity and air resistance it is similar to someone trying to you push you back when you are trying to move forward). The air resistance caused by the air trapped under the parachute is greater than the gravity acting on the object, and hence the fall is slowed down.

Let’s Find Out

What are the uses of a parachute?

A parachute is used to slow down the jump of people or fall of things from heights, ensuring they can land safely: soldiers use parachutes to land safely after jumping off planes; fighter jets use parachutes to slow themselves down after they land on aircraft carriers; packets of food and medicines are tied to parachutes and dropped from planes into areas affected by natural disasters.

 

SLIPPERY CARDBOARD

Stuff

  • A coffee mug
  • A small piece of cardboard
  • A rubber ball

Do

1. Place the coffee mug on the table and cover it with the piece of cardboard and place the ball on it.

SLIPPERY CARDBOARD

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2. Slowly pull the sheet and observe what happens.

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3. Now, again put the sheet back in place with the ball on it.

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4. This time flick the sheet with your index finger very quickly. Observe what happens.

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See

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When you slowly pull the sheet, the ball doesn’t fall off. When you flick the sheet with your finger, the sheet flies off but the ball doesn’t. It falls into the coffee mug.

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Think about

Why does the ball fall into the glass when you flick the sheet off the glass?

Newton’s First Law of Motion states that a body at rest stays at rest and a body in motion stays in motion unless acted upon by an outside force. When you are in a moving car you are going at the same speed as the car. When brakes are applied, the brakes stop the car but not you. You move forward till your seat belt stops you. Here, when the paper sheet is slowly moved, the ball moves along with it because of friction between ball and sheet. Friction is the force between one surface and another. The friction between the ball and sheet causes the ball to move along with the sheet. When the sheet is flicked away quickly with your index finger, the ball does not move along with the sheet as the speed of the applied force is more than the friction between ball and sheet. The force of gravity on the ball makes it fall into the glass.

Winter Animals Winter Sleep

Trees shed their leaves. People wear jumpers and parkas and at home turn the heater on. But what about the animals? How can they survive low temperatures, long chilly nights and the lack of food?

Animals have developed few strategies to get through winter. They migrate to warmer places, they adapt to the season or they fall asleep and remain inactive until external conditions suit them better. This long, very deep sleep over winter time is called hibernation.

The coolest winter hibernators on Earth are:

Alpine Marmots

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(Marmota marmota) are quite sleepy animals. Found in the mountain areas of central and south Europe, they hibernate for up to 8 months.

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Bats

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They might be the sleepiest animal on Earth. In captivity scientists have recorded a big brown bat that spent 344 days sleeping away!

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Common Poorwill (Phalaenoptilus nuttallii)

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It is the only known bird species to hibernate. This bird sleeps for up to 5 months.

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Bears

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They are not always found in hibernation, except for 4 species: American Black Bear, Asiatic Black bear, Brown bear and Polar bear. Then their sleep is not a real deep one. They can wake up at any moment. So beware!

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Bumblebees

They die at low temperatures but the queen bumblebee hibernates in a hole in the ground for 6 to 8 months. As soon as weather conditions warm up the queen wakes up and works to create a brand new swarm.

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animal winter

Common Box Turtle (Terrapene carolina)

They can hibernate from 80 to 160 days. This length varies according to location and turtle subspecies. These turtles are very delicate. If they get up too early, they may not survive to winter.

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Snails

winter animals

They can hibernate for years. They just need to lock them inside their shell and wait for the right time to get up and go out.

 

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animal winter

Garter snakes are social. They hibernate in groups for warmth and as soon spring arrives and temperature goes up, they, in group, go out of their winter homes. People who see them say it’s quite amazing.

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Hedgehogs can sleep through the whole winter in their in their burrows.

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Albert Camus (1913 – 1960) French Nobel Prize winning author, journalist, and philosopher told us why: “In the depth of winter, I finally learned that there was in me an invincible summer.”