Innholdsfortegnelse for October 2018 i Faces People, Places, and World Culture for Kids and Children

The elephant is the world’s largest land animal. They are known for their strength, intelligence, and sensitivity. Look for these five facts as you read through this issue. 1. You can tell the two species of elephants apart by the shape of their ears. African elephants have large ears (shaped like the African continent!) and Asian elephants have smaller ears. 2. Elephant herds consist of eight to 100 animals and are led by a matriarch (older female). Adult males leave the herd and live alone. 3. Only about 520,000 wild elephants roam the earth. About 470,000 of those are African elephants and 40,000 to 50,000 are Asian elephants. 4. A female elephant is pregnant for 22 months. Baby elephants weigh between 200 to 250 pounds at birth. They will gain…

HELP WANTED: Intelligent, sensitive, team player for grassroots position in Animal Kingdom. —News clipping from the Grassland Gazette, October 2018 If an animal employer needed a smart problem-solver who plays well with others, the elephant would be the heavy favorite for the job. An elephant’s resumé would include the following characteristics. Intelligence Research shows that the elephant has the largest brain of any land animal, with three times as many neurons as humans. Scientists in the United Kingdom discovered that African elephants can tell gender, age, and ethnic background (a person’s culture) by the sound of a human’s voice. In the study, researchers found two Kenyans from different ethnic groups, the Maasai and the Kamba. The Maasai people have a history of killing wild elephants, but the Kamba do not.…

8 to 100 Elephants have very big families. Their herds range from eight to 100 elephants. How big is your herd? 12 to 15 At the young age of 12 to 15, male elephants leave their herd to live on their own or with a few other male elephants. Would you be ready to leave your herd at 12 years old? 14 Male elephants can reach a shoulder height of 14 feet, which is more than two times the height of the average human male adult. 22 Imagine a human mother being pregnant for almost two years. A female elephant is pregnant for 22 months. 30 An elephant trunk to tail can reach a length of 30 feet long. 70 The African elephant is ranked 6th for the longest mammal…

Making a sculpture of an animal requires careful observation. Collect some photos of elephants and notice the basic shapes of the body. Better yet, if you have the chance to go to a zoo and observe an elephant in real life, use a camera to take your own pictures, or make some sketches. There are some surprising features and different details depending on the type of elephant. Try making your own elephant sculpture. Materials: Model Magic or another air-drying clay in gray and white. (Model Magic is easy air-drying clay that is sold at most arts and crafts stores, or you can use any air-drying clay.) Toothpicks Step 1: Basic Shapes To make an elephant out of modeling clay start with basic shapes: • a large oval for the body;…

AFRICAN ELEPHANT Loxodonta africana Weight: 9,000 to 16,000 pounds Height: 9 to 13 feet at the shoulder Head: has a single dome at the top Trunk: two grasping appendages Ears: large, in the shape of Africa Toes: 4 in the front; 3 in the back Diet: shrubs and trees ASIAN ELEPHANT Elephas maximus Weight: 6,000 to 13,000 pounds Height: 6 to 9 feet at the shoulder Head: has a dual dome at the top Trunk: single grasping appendage Ears: smaller ears, lower on the head Toes: 5 in the front; 4 in the back Diet: bamboo, palms, grassses…

History Imagine fighting an ancient battle with spears and axes. You hear insanely loud trumpeting sounds, and then huge gray animals lumber over the hillside with enemy warriors riding on their backs. What terror the war elephants must have struck in the hearts of men! Humans first used elephants about 4,000 years ago in India. They helped with transportation, carrying heavy objects, and farming. These huge beasts ripped trees out of the ground and cleared wide areas for fields. More than 10,000 captive elephants (animals controlled by people) still work in Asia, pulling machinery and hauling heavy tree trunks. A working elephant can carry up to four tons per day (twice as heavy as a car). Many cultures consider the elephant sacred. In Asia, temples and important people may own…

Elephants have been helping mankind for centuries. They’ve carried soldiers into war and transported armies across vast deserts, through dense jungles, and over dizzying Alpine heights. Elephants are beasts of burden, urban taxis, construction workers, and entertainers. They’re even star athletes, competing in speed racing, soccer, and polo. Around the world, these highly intelligent animals are prized not only for their strength and smarts; they’re also highly revered in and considered sacred by some religions. So perhaps it’s not that surprising that these magnificent creatures are also transformed into gigantic moving pieces of art. Toward the end of every March, large crowds gather in the streets of Jaipur, India. The air is thick with anticipation and excitement. Delicious aromas of samosas, malpuas (sweet pancakes), savory kabobs, and spicy kachoris drift…

Elephant poachers killed approximately half of the African elephant population during the 1980s. They killed the animals for one reason and one reason only: they wanted their ivory tusks. After an elephant was killed and its tusks were removed, its body was left to rot. Ivory is extremely valuable. Today, one pound can sell for as much as $1,500. A single elephant tusk can weigh up to 125 pounds (57 kg). That means that the tusk of even a small elephant is worth a lot of money. Beginning in 1990, international laws were established that banned the sale of ivory. Because the demand for ivory remained strong—especially in China—it continued to be sold illegally. Many conservation groups have worked tirelessly to end elephant poaching (as well as the poaching of…

Imagine this: Your upper lip is connected to a six-foot-long nose! It sticks out from your face and weighs nearly 300 pounds. On you, this would look quite strange. But on an elephant, it looks just right. Like other mammals, elephants think, perform jobs, and call out alerts to others in their group. Unlike other mammals, however, elephants use their noses—their trunks—to perform these tasks. More than a nose, an elephant’s trunk is like a fifth limb. It is essential to an elephant’s survival. This huge appendage has no bones. Instead, it contains about 150,000 muscles. that allow the elephant to operate its trunk with great flexibility. The trunk is strong enough to lift a fallen tree yet gentle enough to stroke a baby elephant. Tiny hairs cover the trunk,…

CHARACTERS: Narrator 1, Narrator 2, Narrator 3,Narrator 4, James, Elephant, Whale Why does a tale from Brazil, which does not have any elephants, feature the animal as a main character? This tale was one of many that originated with the African slaves who were brought to Brazil between 1500 and 1855. Narrator 1: James the turtle lived happily under the palm trees in the jungle, with orchids blooming all around him. Every morning, he went swimming and played on the beach. In the evening, he watched beautiful sunsets over the ocean. Narrator 2: One afternoon, James was eating a coconut that had fallen from a tree. A mighty elephant came crashing through the bush. Elephant: I am the king of the jungle. What are you doing eating MY coconut? James:…