Innholdsfortegnelse for April 2019 i Faces People, Places, and World Culture for Kids and Children

1. Australia is not considered an island. By definition, an island must be surrounded by water and smaller than a continent. Therefore, Greenland is the world’s largest island. 2. Lemurs are fascinating animals. They are only found in the wild on the island of Madagascar off the southeast coast of Africa. Most of the 100 lemur species are facing extinction. 3. Rising sea levels are threatening the Maldives. Located in the Indian Ocean, this island nation is the flattest country in the world. The country has built sea walls and relocated buildings and roads to combat flooding. 4. Several of the world’s islands are overrun by animals. You can swim with swine at Pig Beach in the Bahamas or feed the felines of one of Japan’s cat islands. 5. Sixteen…

There are so many islands in the world that no one has managed to count them all. Sweden, the country with the most islands, has more than 20,000. Most of them are uninhabited. To be considered an island, an area of land must be surrounded by water and must be smaller than a continent. For that reason, Australia is not considered an island. There are six major types of islands. Greenland, the world’s largest island, is a continental island. Continental islands were once connected to nearby continents. They are usually located in shallow seas off the coast of large landmasses. Some continental islands were formed when shifting continents broke apart millions of years ago. Others formed when glaciers melted and caused sea levels to rise and low-lying areas to flood.…

Rising sea levels are putting the Maldives at risk. The flattest country on Earth, nearly 80 percent of its tiny coral islands are only 3.3 feet above sea level. The people of the Maldives are fighting for worldwide support and investment to keep the rise in sea level and warming of the oceans due to climate change from devastating their islands and way of life. THE IMPACT OF SEA LEVEL RISE AND CLIMATE CHANGE Located in the Indian Ocean, the Maldives are among the most beautiful islands in the world, with sandy white beaches, crystal clear water, and spectacular coral reefs. The country relies on tourism, fishing, and shipping. But the rising sea level and the carbon pollution causing warming oceans are threatening their existence. Harsher storms, more widespread and…

Most people think of islands as warm, tropical places with palm trees, white sand beaches, and beautiful blue ocean waves. But there are just as many islands in the world that are wilder, more rugged, and certainly much colder. Among those are the South Shetland Islands, located near the bottom of the world. These islands are about 75 miles (120 kilometers) north of the Antarctic Peninsula, in the South Atlantic Ocean. While most of Antarctica is centered over the South Pole, the Antarctic Peninsula sticks out like a finger, pointing at the tip of South America. This group of 11 large islands and many smaller ones extends for 320 miles. The total area is 1,800 square miles. They stretch from Smith Island and Low Island in the southwest to Elephant…

The Galapagos Islands sit at the crossroads of three major ocean currents, in an area where deep, nutrient-rich water upwells (rises) to the surface. Isolated from the South American continent, the islands are a hotspot of biodiversity. Some of the species can’t be found anywhere else on Earth. These unique animals inspired Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution by natural selection. GEE, OH. . . GEOLOGY AND GEOGRAPHY The Galapagos Islands are a group of 19 volcanic islands located on a tectonic plate. They are about 600 miles west of Ecuador. Intense heat caused by the movement of the plate leads to eruptions, which create new volcanoes, which become new islands. The volcanoes continue to erupt to this day. RARE WILDLIFE The Galapagos Islands are home to more than 2,900 known…

Remote and uninhabited, the Isle of Staffa is a haven for seabirds, including puffins, razorbills, fulmars, and black guillemots (GILL-eh-mots). But birds aren’t the only things flocking to this remarkable island in Scotland’s Hebrides (a group of islands off the country’s west coast). Although Staffa may be small (less than a mile long and a quarter-mile wide), it has a big story to tell. Through the years, it has ignited the curiosity and creativity of scientists, writers, artists, musicians, and other inquisitive travelers. Sir Walter Scott, a writer who visited the island during the 1800s, said it was “one of the most extraordinary places I ever beheld.” Renowned for the hexagonal (six-sided) basalt columns on its cliffs and caves, Staffa is a geological work of art. Basalt, a volcanic rock,…

Deception Island is one of the most interesting South Shetland Islands. The island was formed by a volcano, and it looks a little like a doughnut, with water in the middle. A violent eruption about 10,000 years ago caused the volcano’s summit to collapse and formed the flooded caldera, or crater, in the center of the island. But don’t be fooled. Deception Island’s volcano is still active, last erupting in 1991-1992. It often spews lava and hot ash into the ocean waters around it. Because the water inside the island’s Pendulum Cove is heated by underground volcanic activity, it is possible to go swimming there, even if it is Antarctica! Swimmers must find the perfect spot between very hot volcanic water and very cold Atlantic Ocean water. Deception Island was…

Across 3. Island that surrounds a central lagoon 6. Type of primate found only on Madagascar 7. Fingal’s Cave is found on this island 8. Country with the most islands 10. This island’s name means “island of many hills” in Algonquian Down 1. Greenland is this type of island 2. These crustaceans make their home on Christmas Island (two words) 4. Tree that built New Zealand (two words) 5. Island created by a volcanic eruption in 1963 9. Islands created by large offshore deposits of sand and sediment…

Jumbled here you will find a line from a poem by John Donne (1572-1631). The letters are directly below the column in which they fit, but they are mixed up within the column. It is your job to determine where each letter goes. Picture Credits: ESB Professional/Shutterstock.com: inside front cover; Zoia Kostina/Shutterstock.com: 2-3; Serban Bogdan/Shutterstock.com: 4 (left); AridOcean/Shutterstock.com: 4 (right);Stefano Termanini/Shutterstock.com: 4 (top and bottom); Bardocz Peter/Shutterstock.com: 5 (top); Parrot Ivan/Shutterstock.com: 5 (bottom); EQRoy/Shutterstock.com: 5 (bottom); Rainer Lesniewski/Shutterstock.com: 5 (top), 5 (left and inset); Lukas Gojda/Shutterstock.com: 5 (bottom); PSboom/Shutterstock.com: 5 (top); yakub88/Shutterstock.com: 6; Dudarev Mikhail/Shutterstock.com: 7 (top); FeyginFoto/Shutterstock.com: 7 (bottom); Javen/Shutterstock.com: 8-9; ARCTIC IMAGES/ Alamy Stock Photo: 10 (top); em faies/Shutterstock.com: 10 (center); Maridav/Shutterstock.com: 10 (bottom); Mario Hagen/Shutterstock.com: 11; Discodollydivia/Shutterstock.com: 12; Fernando Espinosa/Shutterstock.com: 13; Andy Deitsch/Shutterstock.com: 14; David M. Roberts/Shutterstock.com:…

Madagascar is unlike any other island in the world. It is located in the Indian Ocean just off the southeastern coast of Africa. It is one of the most interesting places on Earth because of its history, diversity, and culture. reef system in the world. The Toliara coral reef is located off the southwestern coast of Madagascar. It is one of a very few places where the coelacanth, a 400-million-year-old fish species, can be found. The reefs also are home to at least 13 species of sharks, four species of sea turtles, and 11 species of cetaceans (whales, dolphins, and porpoises). It is an active breeding habitat for humpback whales. Rare sightings of the critically endangered blue whales occur in waters near the shore. The national sport is rugby, but…

Do pigs swim? Anyone who has visited the tiny island of Big Major Cay in the Bahamas can answer this question. The island has attracted international media attention because of the swimming pigs that live there. No one knows for sure how pigs first ended up on the uninhabited island. They may have been brought there by European explorers who carried livestock with them on their ships. Pig Beach has become a popular tourist attraction—a place where people can swim with pigs. Because the pigs have become accustomed to being fed by tourists, they swim out to meet the boats that arrive each day. Scientists are among the only people who visit Gough Island, a very small island in the South Atlantic. It is one of the most important seabird…

Manhattan is 13.5 miles long and just a little over two miles wide. One and a half million people live on this small island. “Manhattan” means “island of many hills” in the Algonquian language. One World Trade Center on the southern end of the island is the tallest skyscraper in the Western Hemisphere. Some experts believe that more than 800 different languages are spoken in Manhattan every day. The famous obelisk in Manhattan’s Central Park—nicknamed “Cleopatra’s Needle”—was constructed around 1450 B.C.E. on the banks of the Nile River. The highest density of peregrine falcons in the world live in New York City. The peregrines love to nest on the bridges and high buildings around Manhattan. Although it stands on its own tiny island, the State of Liberty is considered part…

CHARACTERS: Narrator 1, Narrator 2, Narrator 3, Mamá, Juan, Pepe, Domingo, Rich Man Narrator 1: A silly peasant boy lived in the highlands of Puerto Rico. Although he tried very hard, he sometimes got things backwards or misunderstood them completely. His neighbors called him Juan Bobo, which means “Simple John.” Mamá: Juan Bobo, you must go find work. Juan: Yes, Mamá. Está bien. But where should I look? Mamá: Go ask the farmer for a job. Narrator 1: Juan ran to the farm next door and asked Don Pepe for a job. Pepe: Here is a basket of beans. Shell them and put the beans in the wheelbarrow. Then throw the shells on the ground. Narrator 1: Juan Bobo sang happily as he tossed the shells into the wheelbarrow and…