Innholdsfortegnelse for June/July 2019 i National Geographic Kids

1 LIGHT METER The slit-like pupils in domestic cats’ eyes provide a distinct look, but they also have a purpose. Cats are active both day and night, and their eyes can adjust to all light settings. Their pupils are round when letting in lots of light and become slits to let in less. 2 KEEP AN EYE OUT Not only do goats like this ibex have horizontal, rectangular-shaped pupils, they can rotate their peepers 50 degrees—10 times more than humans can—to keep those slits parallel with the ground. This helps them spot predators while they’re grazing. 3 ALLSEEING EYE Don’t try to sneak up on a chameleon: This remarkable reptile has eyes on the back of its head! Well, practically. A chameleon can independently rotate and focus each eye, giving…

THE CODE: PIGPEN CIPHER This code puts letters into boxes, or pens, giving it its name: the pigpen cipher. Each letter is represented by the section of the grid it’s in. (In the key below, the dots are next to the letters. But in the coded message, the dots are placed in the center.) Check out the pigpen alphabet below. THE PIGPEN ALPHABET So you write FEATHEER like this: CRACK THIS CODE! sing the pigpen alphabet, decode the message below. BREAK MORE CODES! ExplorerAcademy.com CHECK OUT THE BOOK!…

LIONS FOREVER These posters celebrate Nat Geo Kids readers’ love of lions and the importance of protecting them. THE WINNER! Take a look at the winning poster and some of the runners-up of the Lions Forever ALMANAC CHALLENGE! Go online to see all the runners-up. natgeokids.com/june-july Draw a supercool scientist. Send us your original drawings: Nat Geo Kids—Scientist Art Zone P.O. Box 98002 Washington, DC 20090-8002 Include your name, address, phone number, date of birth, a title for your drawing, a statement that it is your own work, and the name of your parent or guardian. Your parent or guardian must sign a release for publication if your illustration is selected. Submissions become the property of National Geographic Partners, and all rights thereto are transferred to National Geographic Partners. Submissions…

A “Oh, rats!” would be a dinner invitation to an Indian cobra. TRUE. Indian cobras eat rodents, frogs, and other small animals. Cobra venom paralyzes and kills the prey. B A newly hatched cobra is the same length as a regular hot dog. FALSE. It’s as long as two hot dogs end to end. The 10-inch-long hatchling is venomous and able to spread its hood. C A cobra achieves its threatening pose by spreading its long ribs. TRUE. The resulting hood makes the cobra appear larger and fiercer. False A croc would order the “surf D eyespots add to the illusion. D King cobras will eat Indian cobras. TRUE. The mongoose is another predator. E “Bite first, ask questions later” is the cobra’s motto. FALSE. Rather than bite, a cobra…

BIG CHOCOLATE Get out your toothbrush. The world’s largest chocolate bar weighs more than 12,770 pounds, nearly as much as about 132,000 average candy bars. Created by pouring buckets of the melted mixture into a 13-foot-by-13-foot mold, the chocolate wasn’t just a tasty treat. Pieces were chipped off and sold for charity. Another treat for the volunteers was that they went home smelling like chocolate! LOOOOOOOOONG NOSE This guy definitely nose he’s special. Mehmet Ozyurek of Turkey has a 3.46-inch sniffer, the longest on record. Measured from the bridge to the tip, the schnoz is longer than a toothpick. Wonder if he can smell that dinner is ready before anyone else? RACING SHEEP Lamborghini the sheep is always ahead of the herd. He’s won 165 out of 179 sheep races,…

WANT TO RACE? Turtle Walks with Wheels Baltimore, Maryland When a wild eastern box turtle arrived at the Maryland Zoo with a broken bottom shell, caretakers wondered how to help. The vets could fix the fracture, but how would they keep the shell off the ground to heal? That’s when a vet student had an idea: a wheelchair made of Legos. He sent sketches to a Lego-loving friend, and the two created a design while the vets performed surgery on the turtle. A few weeks later, the zoo’s medical team used putty to attach the DIY wheelchair to the edges of the turtle’s top shell. “The minute we put the chair on, the turtle took off,” lead veterinarian Ellen Bronson says. “You could tell it was feeling better.” The turtle…

TONGUE TWISTER Say this fast three times: Percy seeks special sea species. KNOCK, KNOCK. Who’s there? Kelp. Kelp who? Kelp me find some sea snacks! TONGUE TWISTER Say this fast three times: Hogwarts sports frog warts. Q What kind of cow is very rich? A cash cow Q How do animals in the Arctic travel quickly on the ice? A On polar skates KNOCK, KNOCK. Who’s there? Cash. Cash who? No, thanks. I prefer walnuts. KID: How much does it cost to adopt a dog? ADULT: Ten dollars apiece. KID: Ten dollars a piece? I wanted one that was already put together! CHECK OUT THIS BOOK!…

The moon is Earth’s closest celestial neighbor, covered with huge craters, rugged mountains, and flat, gray plains formed from lava that flowed across its surface billions of years ago. But it wasn’t until 50 years ago that people finally walked on its surface, when astronaut Neil Armstrong became the first human to step on lunar soil on July 20, 1969. Scientists are anxious to go back. But why return when there are still unexplored spots to visit in our solar system? Faced with threats such as overpopulation and climate change on Earth, our easy-to-reach neighbor could help people survive in the future. (The extremely faraway future, that is!) Many experts believe that the moon is our next step in learning how to live in space. Exploration missions to the moon…

GO FISH Ask a friend to give you words to fill in the blanks in this story without showing it to him or her. Then read out loud for a laugh. PLAY MORE FUNNY FILL-IN! natgeokids.com/ffi My granddad is the adjective ending in-est fisherman of all time. Once he even reeled in a(n) large number-pound animal! I couldn’t wait for him to teach me how to verb a boat. We packed the tackle box full of insect, plural and rowed our wooden noun into the middle of the type of fish River. Things were going adverb ending in -ly until I noticed the boat was filling up with liquid. Thinking quickly, I used a(n) noun to scoop out the water while Gramps tried to plug the hole with his type…

A You’re better at climbing trees than a margay is. FALSE. It can hang from a branch by one foot and is the only cat that can run headfirst down a trunk. B Big eyes help margays hunt. TRUE. These night stalkers hunt in the dark, usually between one and five in the morning. C Visiting tourists often see these sociable cats in their forest home. FALSE. The margay is rarely seen in its home, from Mexico to South America. D A newborn margay weighs about as much as this magazine. TRUE. Kittens weigh three to six ounces. E A margay’s tail is shorter than tails on most wild cats, so it doesn’t get in the way while the cat is climbing. False. The tail is almost as long as…

Airplane Hotel HOTEL COSTA VERDE 727 FUSELAGE HOME WHERE Manuel Antonio, Costa Rica HOW MUCH $260 to $790 a night WHY IT’S COOL Ever fallen asleep on a plane? Not like this you haven’t! The 727 Fuselage Home is a real Boeing 727 jet that overlooks the Pacific Ocean 50 feet below. Separate from the main 70-room hotel, this special suite includes a cockpit sitting area and real airplane windows in your bedroom. From the deck perched on the plane’s right wing, you might encounter howler monkeys swinging from trees, as well as toucans, sloths, and iguanas. Off the left wing you can watch the ocean, which you can access from a spiral staircase leading down to the beach. This hotel really has earned its wings. COOL THINGS ABOUT COSTA…

Do you ever feel like your dog is laughing at you? Research suggests maybe it is! Dogs make huffing noises that scientists think is essentially doggy laughter. They make the sound when they’re inviting another animal or person to play. They also make it when they’re tossing a toy around by themselves. Gorillas, orangutans, and rats are among other animals that laugh. But does the ability to giggle mean these creatures have a sense of humor? No one knows for sure, but researchers are working to answer the question. Check out seven stories and decide for yourself if these animals’ antics mean they find things funny. 1 TRICKY FOXES Can a two-pound ball of fluff play a practical joke? Fennec fox keepers at the Endangered Wolf Center in Eureka, Missouri,…

Animals often blend in with their environments for protection. Find each animal listed below in one of the pictures. Write the letter of the correct photo next to each animal’s name. 1. crabs 2. hare 3. alligator 4. praying mantis 5. seal 6. frogfish “Find the Hidden Animals” 1. E, 2. D, 3. F, 4. B, 5. C, 6. A.…

A Got a thirsty aardwolf? Give it a big glass of juicy termites. TRUE. Aardwolves rarely drink because they get most of the water they need from the termites they eat. B An aardwolf uses its hefty claws to dig deep holes to locate termites. FALSE. Its claws aren’t strong, so an aardwolf waits for termites leaving the mound. C An aardwolf could hear a termite whisper, “What big ears you have!” TRUE. Extra-large ears hear the rustling movements of marching termites. D An aardwolf’s “bad hair day” technique intimidates predators. TRUE. When threatened, the aardwolf turns sideways, puffs out its hair, and roars and growls loudly. E An aardwolf is full after eating about 200 termites. FALSE. One aardwolf eats more than 200,000 termites in a night. STOCKBYTE /…