Innholdsfortegnelse for February 2019 i National Geographic Kids

THE OLDEST CONTINUOUSLY STANDING TREE ON EARTH IS MORE THAN 5,000 YEARS OLD— ABOUT THE SAME AGE AS THE PYRAMIDS OF EGYPT. YOU ARE MADE UP OF ABOUT 10 TRILLION CELLS. THERE CAN BE ABOUT AS MANY INSECTS IN 1 SQUARE MILE AS THERE ARE PEOPLE ON THE ENTIRE PLANET. THE EARTH TRAVELED MORE THAN 5,000 MILES IN THE PAST 5 MINUTES. A SNAIL would take about 220 HOURS to crawl mile nonstop.  A SAN FRANCISCO MAN USED 10,000 TOOTHPICKS TO BUILD A 4-FOOT-LONG REMOTE-CONTROL THE WORLD FIRST’S HANDHELD CELL PHONE COST $3,995. STUDIES SHOW THAT WHEN EVENLY MATCHED TEAMS COMPETE, THE TEAM WEARING RED HAS A BETTER CHANCE OF WINNING. THE TALLEST VOLCANO ON MARS ISABOUT 17 MILES HIGH . THAT ’S 61 TIMES TALLER THAN THE 110-STORY WILLIS…

The Southern Cross constellation appears on Brazilian coins. A Cambodian leader once abolished the use of money. The Greek goddess Athena and her sacred owl appeared on coins minted over 2,000 years ago. Botswana’s currency is named pula, or rain, which is valuable in this desert nation. THIS WILL BUY YOU A LOT OF DOG TREATS. Belgium issued a coin featuring the cartoon hero Tintin and his dog, Snowy. Fibers from the abaca plant, a close relative of the banana plant, are used in Japanese banknotes. In the Netherlands in 1636, tulips were so valuable that some cost as much as a hous. The U.S. Bureau of Engraving and Printing uses 8.5 tons of ink each day to print money. A mint error added an extra hump to the bison…

Slowly stalking down the snowy hillside, the Amur leopard watches its prey through the trees. In the clearing below, a sika deer munches on tree bark, one of its few remaining food sources during the cold Russian winter. The leopard crouches, its body so low to the ground that its belly fur brushes the snow. Suddenly it bounds and springs forward, tackling the deer from 10 feet away. With a deadly combination of speed, strength, and stealth, the Amur leopard seems like it has everything it needs for survival. But not long ago—after decades of habitat loss and poachingthese endangered cats almost went extinct. Thanks in part to a newly established national park, however, Amur leopards are clawing their way back from the brink. Disappearing Act Most people think of…

Pigs have a reputation for being dirty, but that’s just trash talk. They’re actually very clean animals. Sure, they roll in the mud sometimes—but that doesn’t mean we can’t have a good, grime-free fight!  This animal sure looks ... um ... fierce? Ferocious? All right, maybe just super cute. But can pugs wipe the floor with piglets in this competition? MOST LIKELY TO BE A TRACK STAR Piglets Pigs might not look like all-star athletes, but they can probably outrun you. Adult domestic pigs can run up to 11 miles an hour—that’s faster than most humans ! In fact, some county fairs in the United States have pig-racing competitions, in which oinkers speed around a track. What’s a pig’s motivation to be the leader of the pack? The snack at…

1 What heats up the water in a natural hot spring? A. the sun B. magma beneath the ground C. microscopic creatures D. steam engines 2 Bowling three strikes in a row is called a _______ . A. turkey B. gutter C. stinker D. trio 3 What’s the longest amount of time a person has spent riding a Ferris wheel? A. 1 hour 15 minutes B. 6 hours C. 30 hours 35 seconds D. 72 hours 4 Which character does Alice play croquet with in Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland? A. Cheshire Cat B. Mad Hatter C. White Rabbit D. Queen of Hearts 5 The Hope Diamond is about the same size as a ______________ . A. pea B. walnut C. baseball D. basketball 6 In which of the…

In the new book Explorer Academy: The Nebula Secret, 12-year-old Cruz Coronado breaks secret codes in order to fight dangerous villains and solve mysteries. Test your own skills by cracking the code on this page, then check out more about the book at ExplorerAcademy.com . THE CODE: KEYED CAESAR CIPHER 1. The key to solving this cipher is a secret code phrase—without it, the code is unbreakable. Start by choosing a code phrase and then write that at the beginning of an alphabet table, ignoring any spaces and punctuation. For example, if your code phrase is “I LOVE CATS,” you would start your table like this: 2. Next, write the alphabet in order after the phrase—but leave out any letters that are already in your secret code phrase. For example,…

$169 HOT DOG You won’t find this treat at the ballpark. The most expensive hot dog sells for $169 at a Seattle, Washington, restaurant. Called the Juuni Ban, the foot-long hot dog is topped with high-end toppings such as Wagyu beef, shaved black truffles, caviar, and Japanese mayonnaise, all served in a brioche bun. What, no ketchup? —Molly Marcot FINNED MAN CONQUERS HURDLES Think leaping over hurdles during a race is hard? Try doing it with flippers. Christopher Irmscher of Germany can run the 100-meter hurdles wearing swim fins in 14.82 seconds, the fastest on record. Not bad, considering that’s only about two seconds slower than the world record without flippers. So why wear swim fins in the first place? Uh, we have no idea. —B.F. Summers GIANT HORSE Big…

CHOOSE THIS: Stack monuments all the way to the moon’s surface. CHOOSE THAT: Stack hamsters to the height of a famous monument. If you CHOSE THIS You’re reaching for the stars if you try to get to the moon by stacking Eiffel Towers on top of each other. The height of the Eiffel Tower in Paris, France, is 986 feet. The distance from the Earth’s surface to the moon at its closest is about 223,700 miles. If you were to stack Eiffel Tower upon Eiffel Tower all the way to the moon, it would require more than 1.1 million monuments! Be sure to build an elevator while you’re at it. If you CHOSE THAT You’ve got quite a balancing act if you try to stack hams to the top of…

Part of the PLANET OR PLASTIC? initiative STRAW SWITCH Help keep the Earth healthy by ditching single-use plastic items. This month, make a paper straw to use instead of a plastic one, which is one of the top items found at beach cleanups and can hurt ocean animals that mistake them for food. Check out special Nat Geo Kids straw patterns online! natgeokids.com/straws MATERIALS • Paper• Scissors• Non-toxic glue• Chopstick• Glass jar• Paraffin wax• Candle warmer or large cooking pot• Paper towel STEPS 1 Print out the Nat Geo Kids straw pattern and cut it out, or use a piece of printer paper cut into 1.5-inch-wide strips. 2 Add a long line of glue on the side without the pattern. 3 Place a chopstick at an angle on…

1 Brain cells live longer than all of the other cellsin your body. 2 Your teeth are harder than your bones. 3 The more you concentrate, the less you blink. 4 Your heart beats about 100,000 times each day. 5 Some people can hear their eyeballs moving. 6 It’s not possible to tickle yourself. 7 The saliva you produce in your lifetime could fill nearly 30,000 water bottles. 8 Your foot is about the same length as the distance between your elbowand wrist. For more fun facts, grab a parent to watch Things You Wanna Know! youtube.com/natgeokids…

Mommy Mix-up Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park, South Africa Watch out: Baby animal ahead! While driving through a national park, visitors spotted a newborn wildebeest racing behind a blue car. When the vehicle came to a stop, the tiny calf nuzzled a tire and even tried to drink milk from it. The youngster might’ve been wondering: Are you my mom? Since the calf was probably only about a day old, the newborn likely hadn’t completely bonded with its mother yet, African wildlife expert Markus Hofmeyr says. So when it was separated from its mom, the baby wildebeest had a strong instinct to follow any large moving object. The behavior keeps very young calves close to their mothers and their herd, which can protect them from predators like lions and jackals. The calf…

SEEING RED These photos show close-up and faraway views of objects that are red. Unscramble the letters to identify what’s in each picture. CHECK OUT THE BOOK!…