Innholdsfortegnelse for April 2025 i National Geographic Kids

Fireflies were crawling all over my face while I made this photo in a misty forest in the town of Nanacamilpa in southern Mexico. I came here specifically to make long-exposure pictures of these insects. This camera setting means the shutter stays open longer than usual, allowing the camera to better capture things in motion, like these fast-moving fireflies. The trick with this type of photography is to keep the camera very steady. But these animals were super interested in my camera—and me. So I had to stand completely still as they explored my arms, my hair, and my face. This was tough because they were making my nose and cheeks tickle! I returned to this spot for three nights, but I only had about 20 minutes in the early…

A red panda totters along the branch of an evergreen tree, placing one paw in front of the other like a gymnast on a balance beam. But then … whoops! The panda loses its footing. A fall from this height—about a hundred feet—could be deadly. But the panda quickly grips the branch with all four paws and some seriously sharp claws, steadies itself, and keeps moving. Red pandas spend about 90 percent of their time in the trees, says Mariel Lally, a red panda keeper at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo in Washington, D.C. In fact, red pandas have adapted so well to life in the trees that they’re famous for their incredible acrobatic skills. Check out six ways red pandas land a perfect score with their amazing aerial act. BUILT-IN…

Crack this crossword by solving the cryptic clues below. The number of letters in each answer is shown in parentheses alongside the clue. BONUS: Solve the code words using the letters in the colored squares. ANSWERS BELOW This animal can’t make its own shell. So it uses old shells made by other animals to protect its soft body. ACROSS 1. Did not speak clearly (7) 5. Another name for streetcar (7) 7.Large, spiky fruit (9) 8. Common conjunction (7) 9. Bright flash that’s followed by thunder (9) DOWN 2. Feel sure a thing is true (7) 3. Not wet (3) 4. Not in any place (7) 5. Normal and usual (7) 6. Describe; make clear (7) 8. Common word for insect (3) Answers: CODE WORDS: hermit crab CHECK OUT THE…

“Iceberg right ahead!” Just after 11:30 p.m. on Sunday, April 14, 1912, the R.M.S. Titanic is steaming across the North Atlantic Ocean when a lookout sees a dark shape in the ship’s path. The 882-foot-long passenger ship, the largest and most luxurious on the seas, is carrying 2,240 people on its maiden voyage from Southampton, England, in the United Kingdom, to New York City. But the lookout’s warning is too late—the iceberg scrapes the ship. Within three hours, the Titanic sinks and more than 1,500 lives are lost. Scientists discovered the Titanic’s wreck on the ocean floor over 70 years later, in 1985, and they’ve studied it carefully ever since to try to understand the ship’s final hours. Since the Titanic broke apart as it sank, experts haven’t been able…

CHOOSE THIS ADRIFT AT SEA IF YOU CHOSE THIS: Ahoy, sailor! To survive this salty scene, first tie everything down so snacks and water aren’t tossed overboard. Whatever you do, don’t drink seawater—it’ll dry you out. Finally, look for fliers. Many seabirds hunt during the day and return to land at dusk, so following these birds might be the best chance you have to find a coastline. WHAT YOUR CHOICE MIGHT SAY ABOUT YOU: You’re a brave adventurer who’s always looking toward the horizon. You don’t mind physical challenges like being cold, wet, or tired. The one thing you can’t stand? Sitting still! CHOOSE THAT LOST IN THE JUNGLE IF YOU CHOSE THAT: You smartly told your friends you were going for a hike so that eventually they’d send a…

THE PROBLEM: When it rains, water slides off city sidewalks and roads straight into drains, transporting lawn fertilizers and other harmful chemicals into lakes, rivers, and bays. This stormwater runoff pollution harms marine animals like oysters.! THE SOLUTION: Make pavement more like soil! A company called AquiPor invented a new material that lets rain soak through to the ground below while it filters pollutants out of the water. That means fewer chemicals enter waterways. Bonus: This invention might also help reduce flooding on city roads after heavy rain. HELP CRITTERS LIKE US! Ask your parents to use native plants in your garden. These growers don’t need fertilizers, which pollute our water. Plus, their roots can hold more rainwater in the soil than non-native plants. GET MORE EARTH-SAVING TIPS! natgeokids.com/savetheearth…

LOCATION: Danakil Depression, Ethiopia Towers of salt, bright yellow rocks, neon green ponds, and electric blue lava often dazzle at this landmark, where temperatures reach as high as 125°F and the ground can suddenly split open beneath your feet. Welcome to Ethiopia’s Danakil(pronounceddah-NUH-keel) Depression. Part of a wider African desert that stretches into Eritrea and Djibouti, the depression is one of the hottest and lowest places on Earth. This sunken piece of land is the meeting point for three tectonic plates, or giant slabs of rock that form Earth’s crust. When they shift, they can cause earthquakes and can force lava aboveground. And the Danakil’s tectonic plates are constantly shifting. “When you’re driving around here, it’s not unusual to see some of the roads breaking apart,” says Felipe Gómez Gómez,…

Wild animals don’t have store-bought ointments, boxes of bandages, or infection-fighting pills to treat their wounds. So what do they do when they get a serious scrape or a broken leg? “For a long time, people thought that self-medicating—or treating yourself to prevent or reduce illness—was something only humans did,” evolutionary biologist Louise Peckre says. “But it turns out animals do it, too.” Read on to discover five extraordinary examples of animals healing themselves. THE PATIENT: Sumatran orangutan THE CONDITION: Open wound THE TREATMENT: Plant paste Rakus the orangutan had probably been tussling with another male over territory when he got a large gash on his cheek. Afterward, researchers watched Rakus eat leaves from a vine that orangutans rarely dine on. He chewed the leaves, then applied the mash to…