Innholdsfortegnelse for March 2023 i National Geographic Kids

A mountain lion can kill prey up to seven times its own weight. A mountain lion is also called a puma, cougar, catamount, and panther. A young mountain lion extends a paw toward the dark road in front of him, but then … HONK! A loud horn and bright headlights startle the cat, causing him to dart back a few feet. He’s standing at the edge of Interstate 5 in Washington State, attempting to cross the highway to find other mountain lions. The steady stream of dangerous traffic scares him. After a few minutes, he gives up and retreats to the forest he knows. With the highway blocking his way, this cat might never be able to leave the area where he was born—and therefore never find a suitable mate.…

HEY, SMARTY-PANTS GOT BIG QUESTIONS? WE’VE GOT ANSWERS! 1 Who is the wealthiest person of all time? Mansa Musa. But he didn’t create a social media platform or run a giant company—this person took the top spot around 700 years ago. Mansa Musa ruled the Empire of Mali in western Africa between 1312 and 1337, and he’s estimated to have been worth around $400 billion in today’s dollars. (By comparison, Jeff Bezos, who founded the online store Amazon, was worth “only” about $110 billion at the end of 2022.) His land was rich in gold and salt—which was extremely valuable then because it preserved food. The empire traded these items far and wide. When he traveled to what’s now Saudi Arabia, Mansa Musa’s caravan included 80 camels, each carrying 300…

THE RARE MONKEY ORCHID LOOKS LIKE A MONKEY’S FACE. THE “DARTH VADER” PLANT GETS ITS NICKNAME FROM ITS FLOWER, WHICH RESEMBLES VADER’S MASK. THE WHITE EGRET ORCHID LOOKS LIKE AN EGRET IN FLIGHT. CHECK OUT THE BOOK!…

In 2013, a mountain lion was photographed slinking in front of the Hollywood sign in Los Angeles, California. Mountain lions roamed the nearby Santa Monica Mountains, but spotting one so close to the city was unusual. After placing a GPS collar on the cat, called P-22, scientists thought he would leave the area to claim new territory or find a mate. But like a movie star, P-22 was seen around Los Angeles nearly a hundred times since 2013 in videos and photos. Sadly, nearly 10 years after this famous picture was taken, 12-year-old P-22 passed away last year. But he’ll be remembered as a symbol of urban wildlife, showing that these cats can carve out a life near cities and coexist alongside humans.…

1 In 2024, King Charles III will appear on British banknotes instead of his mother, Queen Elizabeth II, who died in 2022. 2 In the United States, more $100 bills are in circulation than $1 bills. 3 Every year, travelers passing through U.S. airport security leave behind some 1 million dollars in loose change. 4 Nearly 1 in 3 parents admit to dipping into their kids’ piggy bank. 5 Currency is the official money of a country—like the U.S. dollar or Mexico’s peso. 6 Experts are developing a currency that might be used on Mars one day. 7 Dating back to the 8th century, the British pound is the world’s oldest currency still in use. 8 South African bills featuring former president Nelson Mandela are known as “randelas,” a pun…

1. Fill in the thought balloon. 2. Cut out the entire picture (or make a photocopy of it). 3. Mail it along with your name, address, phone number, and date of birth to Nat Geo Kids, Back Talk, P.O. Box 96000, Washington, DC 20090-6000. Selection for publication in a future issue will be at the discretion of Nat Geo Kids. FROM THE FEBRUARY 2022 ISSUE Look at me! No cavities! Hadley D., 7 Portland, Oregon Now this is what we call a zebra crossing! Aidan M., 13 San Jose, California Hey! You’re blocking my good stripe! Yuki M., 12 Lexington, Kentucky I get dizzy looking at zebras. Henry G., 8 Burr Ridge, Illinois Do I have something in my teeth? Isabella S., 9 Milltown, Indiana Why are all my pictures…

SUPER-FURRY RABBIT Haircut … what’s that? With her nearly 15-inch-long hairs, Franchesca the Angora rabbit holds the record for the longest fur on a rabbit. One benefit is that she always has a cozy fur coat for the winter. The problem? According to owner Betty Chu, Franchesca is sometimes mistaken for a dog! PUZZLE PEOPLE Jigsaw puzzle pieces come in many different shapes and colors. This one’s orange—and made up of people! Some 1,700 people in Greece, most wearing orange sweatshirts, gathered to break the record for the 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 places. Way to keep it together. GIANT CUPCAKE What weighs more than one ton and tastes delish?…

Dog ‘Plays’ With Octopus Onrus, South Africa Dogs love to play with tennis balls. This octopus might, too! Lucy the border collie and her owners were walking alongside tidal pools when their tennis ball rolled into the water. Lucy tried to pick it up but stopped when she noticed a long, purple arm wrap around the ball—an octopus had grabbed her toy! “Lucy looked at us like she was asking us what to do next,” owner Almar Creighton says. Marine biologist Jenny Hofmeister says that octopuses are naturally curious and often check out new and unfamiliar objects. “At first, the octopus might have thought the ball was food,” she says. “But by tasting the ball with its suckers, the octopus would’ve quickly figured out it was something else.” The octopus played with the…

Scientists classify animals into eight levels based on traits they share. This system is called taxonomy. The biggest level is called a domain; the next level is called a kingdom, which has five groups of living things. (Two of those groups are animals and plants.) Next comes phylum, which has even more groups. These groups keep dividing into smaller groups in different levels. Those levels are called class, order, family, genus, and species. The lower the level, the more traits the animals share. So: Humans, tigers, and whales are in the same class—mammals—because they share traits that all mammals have, such as having hair. But humans and gorillas are in the same order—primates—because they share traits that not all mammals have, such as seeing in color. PLAY! Taxonomy has so…