Innholdsfortegnelse for September 2017 i National Geographic Kids

BIRD BRAIN Skipper Blue is ringing in a victory—the macaw holds the record for placing the most rings around a target in one minute. For weeks the parrot practiced picking up small, plastic rings with her beak and dropping them over a wooden and metal pole. Then during the record attempt Skipper Blue plopped 19 rings around the target. Nobody can accuse this bird of winging it. PUZZLE PEOPLE Jigsaw puzzle pieces come in many different shapes and colors. This one’s pink—and made up of people! Nearly 550 employees of a company in Germany, most wearing pink sweatshirts, gathered to break the record for largest human jigsaw puzzle piece. To show people where to stand, organizers drew the jigsaw piece’s shape in the grass. Then the puzzle participants took their…

1 One-quarter of all butterfly species on Earth live in South American rain forests. 2 The Amazon rain forest is home to giant rodents - called capybaras - that are about as tall as German shepherds. 3 Tropical rain forests are a habitat for 80 percent of the world’s insect species . 4 Rainbow-colored grasshoppers live in the rain forests of Peru. 5 Antarctica is the only continent that has no rain forests. 6 The world’s biggest flower - found in the Indonesian rain forest - can grow wider than a car tire.…

Looking for a snack, a 30-inchlong viper slithers down a tree in a steamy rain forest in Central America. Suddenly it sees a tasty-looking, three-inchlong red-eyed tree frog resting on a nearby leaf. The reptile lunges forward and snatches up the tiny croaker in its fanged mouth. But the snake’s in for a not-so-pleasant surprise—the frog tastes terrible! The snake immediately spits out the amphibian. Landing unharmed on the forest floor, the frog blinks its big red eyes, then hops off to safety. Red-eyed tree frogs have some features and behaviors that surprise other animals in their rain forest home, as well as the experts who study them. Discover how these jaw-dropping jumpers turn their habitat into one big surprise party. Shake It Off When researchers visited the country of…

1 The Amazon rain forest’s Awá people keep parakeets as pets. 2 In 2012 SCIENTISTS in Guatemala UNEARTHED the JEWEL-FILLED TOMB of a MAYA WARRIOR QUEEN named LADY K’ABEL. 3 Ecuador’s Waorani people capture anacondas with bare hands as a test of strength. 4 THE OLDEST AUSTRALIAN ABORIGINAL BOOMERANGS—WHICH WERE USED FOR HUNTING—ARE 10,000 YEARS OLD. 5 The Tzeltal-Mayan people in Mexico use beetle wings as jewelry. 6 Some of the Penan people in the countries of Malaysia and Brunei move their settlements about once a month. 7 THE KAYAPO OF BRAZIL MAKE HUNTING SPEAR TIPS WITH SHARP STINGRAY SPINES. 8 The Tlingit of North America’s Pacific Northwest region carve totem poles that are as high as 40 feet to honor ancestors. 9 By spraying bee-repelling sap onto hives, India’s…

What would happen if Earth’s continents had never broken apart? It’d be a bad break for humans. Around 200 million years ago, Earth had just one giant landmass called Pangaea. Over time the movement of large plates that make up the outer layer of Earth’s crust broke Pangaea into several continents, which slowly drifted to their current locations. If Earth’s land had stayed one big continent, moisture from the ocean would dry before reaching the area’s vast interior, likely making it desertlike. Reptiles often thrive in dry conditions. So if Pangaea still existed, it might be overrun with them. Hope you like lizards! What would happen if you owned an invisibility cloak? Scientists are actually researching whether it s possible to manufacture invisible materials that can be used to create…

DOG CLIMBS MOUNTAINS Ouray, Colorado Biskit the Jack Russell terrier was definitely not afraid of heights. She went rock climbing with her owner! Pulling herself up with powerful little toes and squeezing her muscle-toned body through crevices, Biskit made dozens of climbs—some higher than 600 feet. Owner Tom Kelly says she seemed to be able to sniff out the best routes to get to the top the fastest. “Biskit was like a little goat,” Kelly says. “She’d climb some rocks that people couldn’t even manage.” And if she didn’t feel like climbing mountains, she’d climb trees to chase squirrels! —Gail Skroback Hennessey BAT TAKES BUBBLE BATH Taunton, England For most people, bubble baths are relaxing. But for one tiny bat, they’re lifesaving. This male pipistrelle bat accidentally flew into an…

A forbidding forest of pointed peaks soars above the surrounding jungle landscape. This surreal limestone lair looks like a challenge straight out of a video game. The eye-popping spot—called Tsingy de Bemaraha national park and reserve—is located in western Madagascar, an island off the southeast coast of Africa. It’s easy to see why the word tsingy(pronounced sing-EE) means “where one cannot walk barefoot” in the local Malagasy language. But in this brutal landscape, many creatures make their home among these stone towers where only a few humans dare to set foot. WATER AT WORK Around 200 million years ago, the limestone plateau that makes up Tsingy de Bemaraha was part of the seabed. Over millions of years, the limestone layers below the water slowly rose above the sea level. Heavy…

Many penguins thrive in freezing conditions. They shrug off subzero winds, belly-surf over glaciers, and swim underneath ice. But not tawakis. Also known as Fiordland crested penguins, these guys live in the rain forests of New Zealand. With their distinctive plumage, unusual squawks, and hardto-find cave nests, these birds stand out from their fellow black-and-white relatives. Check out why tawakis are the rule breakers of the penguin world. RANGE ROVERS When it comes time to search for food, many penguins hunt as far as 40 miles from their nest. Not tawakis. “Some tawakis I’ve observed have stayed within a radius of just two miles from their home,” says Thomas Mattern, a researcher with the Tawaki Penguin Project. Climate change is forcing these birds to travel farther from shore, however, as…

JOAN OF ARC French heroine Joan of Arc was one of the world’s first female military leaders. Find out more about the life of this legend. START ca 1412 Joan of Arc is born into a family of farmers in the village of Domrémy, France. She likely spends her days taking care of animals and sewing. 1415-1422 English troops invade France and force French king Charles VI to name England’s Henry V as France’s next king. Following Henry V’s death, young Joan begins to have visions telling her she can save her country by restoring the throne to Charles VI’s son, Charles VII. April 1429 Teenage Joan—dressed like a man—visits Charles VII, demanding that he let her fight on his behalf. Although he realizes she’s a woman, he agrees, allowing…

Grab your hiking boots and binoculars for this special jungle issue! Before touring the world’s rain forests, learn which jungle animal you’re most like by following the paths of the statements you agree with most. As you go, discover the structure of a typical rain forest. (It has four levels, like a leafy apartment building where animals live!) Hey, it’s a jungle out there!…

You’re on a scientific survey looking for certain animals in the Congo basin. This area in central Africa contains the second largest rain forest in the world. Find the 10 animals on this list in the scene. 1 western gorilla 2 elephant 3 gray parrot 4 Nile crocodile 5 duiker * 6 red river hog 7 chimpanzee 8 leopard 9 African pygmy-kingfisher 10 royal python * HINT: A duiker is a kind of antelope. ANSWERS ON PAGE 39 MORE TO EXPLORE NAT GEO ADVENTURERS Check out “Earth Explorers” at the National Geographic Museum in Washington, D.C. Grab a parent and go online for more details. ngmuseum.org…