Innholdsfortegnelse for Issue 226 i National Geographic Kids (UK)

Graphic grains It looks like these women are making a giant work of art. But they're actually using palm branches to fan out rice so it can dry in the sun! Photographer Ahsanul Haque Nayem reguarly visits this ‘drying paddy’ in Bogura, Bangladesh, to photograph the ancient traditional technique. Workers there spend 5-6 hours each day turnina the rice to ensure it dries evenly. Ahsanul's striking photo was shortlisted in the Adapting for Tomorrow category of the Environmental Photographer of the Year 2023 competition, which showcases images that inspire people to live sustainably. Great pic, Ahsanul!…

HISTORY'S GREATEST HITS THE NATIVE AMERICAN GIRL WHO… helped explore western USA Sacagawea (1788-1812) Sacagawea is one of the most famous Native American women in history. When she was only about 17, she joined the Lewis and Clark Expedition sent by U.S. President Thomas Jefferson to explore western USA. She travelled thousands of kilometres with them through unmapped terrain, facing dangerous mountains, bad weather and wild animals all while carrying her newborn baby! When the expedition passed through the Shoshone tribal lands where Sacagawea grew up, she acted as a guide. She also translated when the expedition encountered Native people. As a young mother she was able to reassure them that the stranqers were peaceful. Despite being just a teenager, and the only woman in the group, Sacagawea was trusted…

Percy Jackson and the Olympians is on Disney+…

PLAY! Animal Awards These cute-looking creatures can be surprisingly ferocious! Can you match each of the animals pictured to its ‘award‘ on the right? ANSWERS ON PAGE 50 1 BIGGEST APPETITE Pouncing on prey that they've startled out from tall vegetation, these African animals can capture about a dozen birds or rodents in a single night making them super-successful hunters. 2 TRICKET TRAP The inside of this Antarctic animal's mouth is covered with hooks that prevent fish from wriggling away. It can dive down 175m and swim faster than 14kmph. 3 GUTSIEST GRAZER Watch out, because more people are hurt by this grazing animal every year than by sharks! If the 680kg creature feels threatened, it might kick or trample people in its grassy habitat. 4 SNEAKIEST EATER This creature blends…

MEMORY CHALLENGE Spend one minute looking at the words and pictures in this panel. Then cover them up and see how many you can remember! FRIENDSHIP LOVE TREATS PARTY TIME FUN VALENTINE'S TEST Can you fill in the gaps to complete these loved-up words? WORD GAME Can you fit these Valentine's Day things into the grid? We've added some letters to help! • CARDS • CHOCOLATES • FRIENDS • GIFTS • HEART • HUGS • LOVE • ROSES • TREATS • VALENTINE WHICH WORDS? Which of these words CAN'T be made from the letters in CUPID'S ARROW 1 CROWD 2 DOOR 3 SOUP 4 OILS 5 DRAW 6 WORD 7 CURSE 8 CAP 9 WRAP 10 COINS Answers on page 50 HEART HUNT Which two hearts only appear once on these pages? LOVE LOLS Match each Valentine's Day joke…

Super news for saigas! Hip, hip, hooray - saiga antelopes have made an incredible comeback in Central Asia. After disease and poaching cut the goat- sized mammal's numbers to just 48,000 in 2005, conservationists stepped in to protect the species and its habitat.Thanks to their efforts, over 1.9 million saigas now roam across Kazakhstan - and they're no longer considered Critically Endangered. Yay! These mammals have been around since the Ice Age, when they lived alongside woolly rhinos and mammoths. Millions of them would migrate up to 1,000km across Central Asia to breed and feed. It's hoped that this spectacle may one day return if their numbers continue to rise. We'll be seeing you, saigas! New hedgehog species! Not one, not two, but FIVE new species of soft-furred hedgehogs have been…

The 15-day-old leopard cub doesn't make a sound as he sits in a sugar cane field in western India. The youngster is waiting for his mother to return from hunting rats, hare and deer. Most of the year, the 2.4m-tall sugar cane stalks provide a safe, quiet place for cubs to hide in until their mum returns. But it's March - harvest season in India - and people are working in the field. With so many humans around, the mother is too nervous to return to her baby. As the workers slice through the sugar cane with 90cm-long knives, they find the lonely cub sitting on the ground. He's so young that his eyes haven't even opened yet. The people don't know how long the little one has been alone,…

awes8me 1 TEETER-TOTTER Gravity? What gravity?! This 9m-tall column of basalt rock, called Balancing Rock or Nature's Time Post, seems to balance precariously over St. Mary's Bay in Nova Scotia, Canada. But don't worry. It's stood like that for thousands of years! 2 STEEP & SACRED Rising 264m from base to summit, Devils Tower in Wyoming, USA, is a sacred site to over a dozen Indigenous American tribes. 3 ALIEN INVASION Eerie sandstone pinnacles called ‘goblins’ mark the terrain of Goblin Valley State Park in Utah, USA. Many people say it looks like the landscape on Mars. Creepily cosmic! CHECK OUT THE BOOK! 4 SAND SCULPTURES Centuries of sand blown by desert winds have helped shape amazing chalkrock sculptures in Egypt's White Desert. These two are known as the Chicken…

ACROSS 1 Combat sport (10) 5 Long-necked mammal (7) 9 Emotions (8) 12 Second-largest continent (6) 13 Baby bear (3) 15 Long-necked dinosaur (10) 16 Gobble, scoff or consume (3) 17 Device you can listen to (5) 19 Veggies that might make you cry! (6) 22 Pointy type of teeth (7) 25 Sharp tool used in sewing (6) 27 What the white cliffs of Dover are made from (5) 28 Slang word for the sticky mucus produced in your nose (4) 29 Tip of a pen (3) 31 Female UK pop star with hits like Hello, Easy On Me and Someone Like You (5) 33 Tool used to draw straight lines and measure things (5) 34 Long hug (6) 35 Greeting in New Zealand (3,3) 36 Body of salt water (3) 37 Missing (4) 39 Go round and round (5) 40 Wild or not domesticated (7) 43 Type of bread roll with…

VERY PRETTY POLLIES! SPECIES: Edectus parrot FROM: Indonesia, Papua New Guinea and Australia Unlike most parrot pairs, eclectus parrot couples are different colours - and were once mistakenly thought to be two separate species! The male's green plumage helps him stay camouflaged in the forest, while the female's bright purple and red feathers help her attract a mate from her tree hole - where she nests for up to 11 months a year! From her hollow, she flashes her underwings to show off her colours. If the male's interested, he'll bring food, bow and flap his wings back at her. Cute! The species on these pages all show sexual dimorphism that's a scientific word for when males and females look or act differently from each other.This could be to help…

DARAGH'S DEN Hi National Geographic Kids, Here is a picture of a wildlife den that my sister (Rua), cousins (Hazel, Erica and Róisín) and I made in our granny's garden. Daragh, 7 • Wow, that's an amazing den, Daragh. Looks like a great place to hang out! CHEERIO THE CAT! Name: Cheerio Age: 2 Breed: Domestic shorthair rescue cat Likes: Food, sleeping on beds and playing with his bouncy toys Dislikes: Being fed late and sudden loud noises! Owners: Meg, 7, and Lucy, 10 ART ZONE! Hi NGK, I love art and drew my own version of the spiny bush viper from issue 225. Annabelle, 8 • Sss-uper drawing, Annabelle! Hi Nat Geo Kids, I go to an art class and one of my topics was to paint in a Tinga Tinga* theme. I chose to…

SCIENCE SPECIAL! What you'll need • Large jar with lid • Water • Food colouring • Vegetable oil • Effervescent tablets, such as Alka-Seltzer Start here! 1 Pour some water into the jar until it's about a quarter full. Then add a few drops of food colouring and mix it in. 2 Carefully pour in the vegetable oil until the jar is around three quarters full. (You'll need about twice as much oil as water.) 3 When the liquid has settled into two layers, break up half an effervescent tablet and plop it into the jar. 4 Now watch what happens! You can keep adding tablets for more fizzy fun. WHAT'S GOING ON? Oil floats on top of water because it's less dense, but bubbles of carbon dioxide created by…