Natural Disasters

WHERE DO FROGS LAY THEIR EGGS? 

  Frogs are amphibians, which  means they can live on land as  well as in water. Many kinds of  frog go to the water to lay their  eggs. Mostly, they lay their  eggs in spring. The frogs lay  eggs in quiet places, usually at  the edges of ponds and small  lakes. The yellow free frog  chooses to lay its eggs in water  or on plants overhanging  water depending on the amount of  shade. In shaded ponds, the frogs lay  eggs on leaves above the water; while in  unshaded ponds, the frogs lay most of  their eggs in the water. The eggs are  enclosed in a mass of jelly which is attached to a plant in the pond.  When the eggs are first laid, the mass is the size of a teacup, but it  swells up with water to several times  the size, by the time the eggs hatch.  The eggs may take a few days or a few  weeks to hatch. Afier hatching, each of  the tadpoles lives life like that of a fish.  About 7-10 weeks later, the tadpoles  grow legs and lungs and develop into  frogs and are ready to leave the water.  The male Darwin’s frog swallows the  eggs and keeps them in its throat until  they hatch and pop out of its mouth.

Natural Disasters

 WHERE DO GREEN TURTLES LAYTHEIR EGGS?   

  Turtles, tortoises and encom  all belong to the family  reptiles called chelonion  Turtles are mostly found  the sea and fresh water  turtles, whether they live in  land, in fresh water or in the  seo, lay their eggs on lond  Sea turtles lay their eggs on  sandy beaches. Many female seo tunles  have a homing in stind. This means the  they return to the beach, where they were  born, to lay their eggs. Laying eggs on  land is hard work for a female sea turtle. While swimming, o female  sea turtle can glide through the water with ease. But on a beach, she  must slowly drag herself across the sand. A female sea turtle looks foro  spot that will be safe at the time of a high tide. Once she has found o  safe spot, she digs a hole in the sand  with her back feet. The female sea  turtle, then, lays her eggs inside the  hole and covers them with sand. When  the work is finished, she heads towards  he water. Over the period, the sand  incubates or warms the eggs. This  helps the baby turtles grow inside the  safety of their shells until they are ready  to hatch. Most baby sea turtles hatch  after about two months of incubation, 

Natural Disasters

WHERE DO THE EMPEROR AND KING PENGUINS PROTECT THEIR EGGS?

   Penguins live in huge colonies called rookeries along the coast of  swimmers. The emperor and king  Antarctica and nearby islands. They cannot fly but they are excellent  penguins do not build any nest. Each  of them lays only one egg. It is the male  bird which has the responsibility of  taking care of the egg and protecting  the young chick after its birth. In case of  an emperor penguin, the male emperor  penguin keeps  the newly laid egg warm, but it does not sit on  the egg as many other birds do. Each male  emperor penguin stands and protects its egg  from its predator by balancing the egg on its  feel and covering it with feathered skin known  as a brood pouch. Mother penguin, then, sets  off back to the sea on an extended hunting trip  that lasts some  two months. Male emperor penguins  with their valuable eggs sit huddled  together on the ice throughout the  dark weeks and months of the  Antarctic night. During this time, they  lose about 40% of their body weight.  They use less energy while asleep. So,  they prefer to sleep as long as  possible. It is not unusual for empero  penguins to sleep for 20 or more hour  a day.

Natural Disasters

    WHERE ARE PUFFINS FOUND?   

of puffins  A puffin belongs to the auk family of seabirds. There are three species  -the Atlantic puffin, the Homed puffin and the tufted puttin  For most of the year, when  they are not breeding, putting  are to be found bobbing  about on the waters of the  Atlantic and Arctic Oceans  often hundreds of kilometres  in the  from land. The Atlantic Puffin  is the smallest of the puttins. It  is found exclusively  North Atlantic Ocean. In  North America, it nests from  Labrador to the northeastem  United States. In Europe, it  nests from south to the Brittany Coast of France, northwards to Iceland,  Greenland and Northern Russia. Most of the world’s puffins are found  in Iceland where sixty per cent of the population breeds. One of the  species of the puffins has a very large triangular bill which is bright red,  blue and yellow in the summer. This species breeds on rocky islands of  the coasts of Siberia, Alaska and  British Columbia. The puffing of this  species give bitth to their young ones in  burrows, in rocky cavities or among  rocks. 

Natural Disasters

WHERE ARE COBRAS FOUND?   

Cobra is the common  name for the members of  the family of venomous  snakes known for their  intimidating looks and  deadly bites. Cobras are  recognized by the hoods  that they flare when angry  or disturbed. The hood of  a cobra is created by elongated  ribs that extend the loose skin of  the neck behind the cobra’s  head. Cobras often feed on eggs  and chicks raided from poultry  houses. Their natural prey  includes small mammals, loads, lizards, birds and other snakes. The  different species of cobras live in habitats ranging from tropical rain  forests and swamps to sovannas and  deserts. Because many species of  cobras prey on small rodents, snokes  may hunt or live in areas around  human settlements or in fields where  crops grow and rodents thrive. Cobras  are found in most parts of Africa except  for the Sahara Desert. Their range  extends through the Middle East, Central  Asia, South Asia, into Southeast Asia (as  far as Indonesia and the Philippines)  and into southern China, 

Natural Disasters

WHERE DOES A HEDGEHOG GO IN WINTER?  

 A hedgehog is a  small  which looks like o porcupine  has short ears and legs, o shon  tail and a long nose. A hedger  has stift, sharp needle like  growth, called spines, on its bod  to protect itself from its predelo  It can roll itself into o prickly bol  to protect its soft underparts  ,  when there is danger. In winter, a  hedgehog goes into hibernation,  which is a sleep-like state in order to protect itself from the cold on  reduce its need for food. The body temperature of the hedgeho,  decreases and its heartbeat and breathing are also slowed down too  great extent. In this state, it requires little energy to keep itself alive.  can live on the food which is stored in the form of fal in the body  Hedgehogs nest in a hibernaculum throughout the winter, but the  may wake up several times. The nest is about 50cm in diameter. It is  mostly made of leaves, grass and various other plants. Hedgehogs  also nest in semi-manmade structures,  such as a pile of logs. 

Natural Disasters

 WHERE ARE BACTERIA FOUND?

   Bacteria are unicellular and share the characteristics of both plants  and animals. They are the most widespread forms of life existing on the    und    earth. They cannot be  seen with the naked eye.  They are visible only under  a microscope. Hence, they  are called micro-organisms  About two thousand  species of bacteria are  known to have existed and  they are found proctically  everywhere on the earth  Some exist in the mouths, noses and  intestines of animals, including human  beings. Others thrive on fallen leaves,  dead trees, animal wastes and carcasses.  They are also found in fresh and salt water,  in milk and in most food. They live in dust  and soil. A single teaspoon of topsoil contains about a billion bacterial  cells. The human mouth is home to more than 500 species of bacteria  Some bacteria thrive in the most  forbidding, uninviting places on the  earth, from nearly boiling hot springs  to super-chilled Antarctic lakes buried  under the sheets of ice. Most bacteria  are either harmless or actually helpful  to other forms of life. They are  responsible for the decomposition of  dead plants and animals. They also  play an important role in the digestive  process of almost all living organisms.

Natural Disasters

    WHERE ARE CORAL REEFS FOUND?

   Coral is a limestone for  nation formed in the  sea by millions of tiny  animals called polyps.  Coral animals cannot  live in water cooler than  165°F (18°C), therefore,  coral reefs are found  mostly in warm, shallow,  and tropical seas. Coral  reefs are located in three primary regions located between 20 degrees  N and 20 degrees 5 of the equator: the  Indo-Pacific, the Western Atlantic and the  Red Sea. The Indo-Pacific region stretches  from southeast Asia through Polynesia  and Australia, eastward across the Indian  Ocean to Africa. This is the largest and  richest assemblage of reels in terms of the  species of corals and fish. The Western  Allantic region stretches from Florida to Brazil, including Bermuda, the  Bahamas, the Caribbean, Belize and  the Gulf of Mexico. The Red Sea is the  smallest of the three regions, located  between Africa and Saudi Arabia. It is  considered a separate region because  of the high number of coral reefs  found only in this area. Coral reefs are  not found along the west coast of  North America and South America as  well as the west coast of Africa because  of the strong cold coastal currents that  reduce water temperatures  areas.  in these

Natural Disasters

 WHERE IS THE MARINE IGUANA FOUND?   

Iguanas are large lizards  which are found around the  Pacific and in America.  Unlike other lizards which  eat insects, iguanas eat only  fruits, flowers and leaves  The marine iguana is the  only lizard that spends  most of the time in the sea,  It is found mostly in the  Galapagos Island. Although the iguanas on each island look a little  different and are different in sizes yet they all are the same kinds of  iguanas. Iguanas develop their colours as they get older – the young  are black, while adults can be the combinations of black, green, red or  grey, depending on the island on which they live. All iguanas are good  swimmers, but the marine iguanas are better swimmers. They swim by  moving their bodies from side to side, with their legs held to their sides.  Their flattened tails are perfect for swimming. Their claws are longer  and sharper than those of land iguanas. So, they can cling tightly to  rocks along the shore without being pulled away by the waves. Marine  iguanas have blunt noses, which make  it easier for them to scrape algae off  the rocks with their sharp teeth. 

Natural Disasters

WHERE DOES STARCH COME FROM?

    Starch is produced by plants and is  found in the form of tiny grains.  Leaves absorb carbon dioxide from  the air through small pores called  stomata. It also has a pigment  called chlorophyll, which absorbs  sunlight and combines water from  the soil and carbon dioxide and  tums them into sugar. This sugar is  changed by the plants into starch  which is stored in the form of small  granules in large quantities in  stems, leaves, roots, seeds and  fruits. Plants store starch so that it  may serve as food for the develop-  ment of seedlings or new shoots  until they can manufacture their own food materials. Both human and  animals consume starch because they serve as an important sourced  energy Starch is often found in fruits, seeds and in the rhizomes or  tubers of plants. It is the major source of energy in these food-items  Cornstarch, in particular, is used in  cooking for thickening foods such as  sauces. In industry, it is used in the  manufacture of adhesives, paper and  textiles.

Natural Disasters

  WHERE DOES A COCONUT GROW? 

  The coconut palm is native to  southeast Asia and the islands of  Melanesia in the Pacific Ocean  But now, it has been introduced  into all the tropical and sub.  tropical parts of the world. It is  grown both over the Asian  continent (India, Sri Lanka,  Indonesia) and in Central and  South America (Mexico, Brazil),  in Africa, the largest producing  countries are Mozambique,  Tanzania and Ghana, 90% of  the world’s coconut production for exports sources from the Asia  Pacific region. The coconut palm is a tall, graceful tree. The coconut  palm thrives on sandy, saline soils; it requires abundant sunlight and  regular rainfalls over the year. It has a single trunk which is 20-30 m  tall. Its bark is smooth and grey, marked by ringed scars. The coconut  fruit forms at the base of the palm fronds (leaves). One tree can  produce up to 50 coconuts. The coconut palm produces a crown of  pinnately com-pound yellow-green  leaves called fronds. Each frond  reaches 15 to 17 feet in length.

  WHERE IS COCOA GROWN?   

The birthplace of cocoa is Central  America and South America. It is  believed that Christopher Columbus  discovered cocoa beans in Europe  in 1502. The cocoa seeds were  commercially cultivated first in  11879, in Ghana. Even today,  Ghana is the largest producer of  cocoa. Equatorial regions are  most appropriate for growing  cocoa trees which need continuous  moisture. Regions having a rainfall  of 50-100 mm are most suitable  for these plants. A cocoa tree grows  to a height of about 8 metres.  Twice a year, small, star-like pink  and yellow flowers bloom. After a certain interval of time, flowers gro  into fruits or pods of the shapes of eggs, which are around 6-10 inche  long and 3-4 inches thick. These pods take around six months  mature, Chocolate is made  grinding the kernels of cocoa beans !  a paste called chocolate liquor. The  liquor is hardened in moulds to mo  chocolate. Cooking chocolate is bite  whereas eating chocolate has sug?  and milk added to it.

 WHERE DO SPICES COME FROM? 

  Spices are the buds, borks,  roots, borries and aromatic  seeds that are harvested for  use in llavouring food items  during cooking, Most spices  are grown in the tropical  regions of the world, with  some thriving in the cool misty  highlands. The Phoenicians  traded in spices about 2,500  years ago. The great voyages  and explorations of Columbus in the 1400s were mainly to find woys  to reach the source of spices in southeast Asia. Spices made from  frogrant tropical plants have long been used to Havour food,  Cinnamon is the inner bark of a laurel tree native to Sri Lanka, Pepper  comes from the fruil or seeds of a tropical climbing shrub which  originally grew on the western coast of India. The pepper berries are  green at first. Then, they become yellow. At last, they turn red. After they  hove turned red, they are plucked and spread out to dry in the sun,  When dried, they turn black and are ground. Saffron is the yellow  stigma of the purple saffron crocus. It  is the costliest of all spices. It takes  1,70,000 flowers to make just 1 kg of  saffron

 WHERE WAS TEA DISCOVERED? 

  was in the South West part of  China that Chinese lewe  thound. According to one  popular Chinese legend,  Shennong, the legendary  Emperor of China, inventor of  agriculture and Chinese  medicine, was drinking a  bowl of boiling water some  time around 2737 BC. The wind blew  and a few leaves from a nearby tree fell  Into his water and began to change its  Blour. Tha ever inquisitive and curious  monarch look a sip of the brew and was  pleasantly surprised by its flavour. Major  teo growing regions of the world are  India, China, Sri Lanka, Japan, Kenya,  Turkey Indonesia, Vietnam, Argentina,  Tanzania, Taiwan, Malawi and Zimbabwe. Tea grows best in trepice  and sub-tropical climates with som  warm days and moist, cool nights  world’s finest teas are grown  altitudes between 3,000 and 600  feet. Tea requires, at least, 50 inches  rainfall a year, it prefers acidico  Only the top 1-2 inches high buck on  leaves of a mature tea plant  picked. These buds and leaves  called flushes. A plant growse  flush every seven to ten days during  growing season. 

WHERE IS THE SECRETARY BIRD FOUND?   

The secretary bird is a bird of prey.  Unlike other raptors, it has long legs,  wings and a tail. The bird gets its name  from its crest of long feathers that look  like the quill pens which the 19th-  century office workers used to tuck  behind their ears. The secretary bird is  found only in Africa (south of the  Sahara desert.) Its preferred habitat is  open grass plains and steppes. The bird  is basically dove-grey in colour, with  black on the wings, thighs and  elongated central tail feathers. The  short, down-curved bill is backed by  an area of bare, red and yellow skin.  The secretary bird stands three feet high. It is  renowned for its ability to catch snakes, but it  probably does not catch as many snakes as  might be imagined. It will also catches and eats  virtually anything  which is not too  big to swallow,  such as lizards,  insects and small  mammals. It usually chases its prey  along the ground. Once it has catches  its  prey, it repeatedly attacks the head  of its prey with its short, sharp rear talon.  Secretary birds are almost completely  silent birds, except for rare croaking  sounds they utter while displaying. 

WHERE WOULD YOU FIND THE TRAVELLER’S TREE?

   Ravenala madagascariensis, also known as the traveller’s tres  traveller’s palm, is a  tropical tree from the same  family as the birds of  paradise. It is native to the  island of Modagascar. The  plant is shaped like a huge  fan made of feathers. It can  grow up to 30# 60 H (10  m to 20 m) tall. The leaves  of the traveller’s tree are  symetrically grouped and  give the tree the shape of a hand fan. Leaves can be up to 10 h (3.  long. The traveller’s tree grows best in well-drained and moist grounds  Edible seeds are produced in fruit capsules after finy, white summer  plooms. According to some beliefs, this plant produces water at the  base of its leaves and is thus valuable to a traveller. But actually  , the  tree does not produce water. It is rain which has been trapped in the  sheaths that cover the ravenala’s leaves. The water can be obtained by  pricking the stems of the leaves and  has been used for drinking in times of  scarcity

WHERE WAS THE GINGER PLANT FIRST GROWN? 

  Ginger is commonly used as a cooking spice  throughout the world. The ginger plant  has a long history of cultivation. It is known  to have originated in China and then spread  to India, southeast Asia, West Africa and  the Caribbean Nowadays, it is cultivated  all over tropical and sub-tropical Asia,  Fifty per cent of the world’s harvest is  produced in India. The other major  producers in the world include Brazil,  Jamaica and Nigeria. A ginger plant can  grow to about 1 m tall. The upright shoots  sprout from the rhizome at the base of the  plant. Rhizomes are knobbly and fleshy,  covered in ring-like scars. This is the  important part for food and medicine.  Although the rhizomes grow underground yet they are swollen stems,  not roots. Young ginger rhizomes are juicys and fleshy with a very mild  taste. They are often pickled in vinegar as snacks or just cooked as  ingredients in many dishes. The juice from old ginger roots is extremely  potent and is often used as a spice in  Indian recipes and Chinese cuisines to  flavour dishes. Ginger contains up to  three per cent of an essential oil that  gives it fragrance.

WHERE IS THE WORLD’S BIGGEST  CRAB FOUND?   

Crabs are decapods. They are ten-legged omnivores, but the from  pair of legs are specialised with enlarged claws. So, they are common  described as eight-legged creatures. Crabs vary in sizes from the pea crab  only a few millimetres wide, to the Japanese spider crab with a leg-span  of up to 4 m. The Japanese spider crab is the largest known arthropod.  The size of its body is 37 cm and its weight is up to 20 kg. A crab’s  natural habitat is on the bottom of the Pacific Ocean around Japan. It  often lives on the seabed at the depths of 150 to 800 m, but is found  most prominently in the depths of 200  to 300 m. In spring, it can often be  found laying eggs in waters as shallow  as 50 m. It has an orange body, but it  has white spots on its thin legs. The  width of its oval-shaped and vertically  rounded shell can reach up to 30 cm,  and can be up to 40 cm long. Its  compound eyes are situated on the  front. Its two thorns stick out between  them. It feeds on dead animals and  shellfish. It is believed to have a lite  expectancy of up to 100 years.