Coniferous Forests

    "THE FEAR OF THE LORD IS THE BEGINNING OF THE KNOWLEDGE" 

                                                                  Proverbs 1:7

CONIFEROUS FORESTS:

                                          Coniferous forests cover about a tenth of the of the world’s land. In the far north, they form a vast ring around the Tundra and North Pole. Conifer trees are often cone-shaped. This let’s snow slide easily off the branches.

 

FOREST GIANTS: 

                             Giant redwoods can live for thousands of years and their cones can take 20 years or more to mature.

 

CROSSBILL:

                     Most birds wait for pine cones to fall before eating the seeds, but the crossbill can prise open a conifer’s cones with its cross-tipped beak. It is also known as cone specialist.

 

PORCUPINE:

                       The North American porcupine is one of the few animals that can eat pine needles. It is also good at climbing the trees.

 

MOOSE:

               One of the largest coniferous forests residents is the moose. All moose have a flap of skin, a bell, hanging from the throat. Only the males have antlers.

 

PINS AND NEEDLES:

                                    Conifers have needle -shaped leaves that stay on all year. Instead of growing flowers and fruits, they produce cones. A cone’s scales close in wet weather but open when it’s dry, releasing the seeds.

 

WOLVES AND WOLVERINES:

                                                  Larger predators such as wolves and wolverines are not often spotted in the wild. Thick fur allows them to survive the chilly winters of a coniferous forests. Wolverines are also known as gluttons because of large appetites.

 

 

WATER BABIES:

                           In summer-time, moose love to wade into lakes and ponds to feed on aquatic plants and to escape the clouds of biting flies that suck their blood.

 

 

What is the world’s biggest deer?

                                                   The moose (called the elk in Europe)

THE SONORAN DESERT

"THE FEAR OF THE LORD IS THE BEGINNING OF KNOWLEDGE "

                                           Proverbs 1:7

THE SONORAN DESERT 

                                   North America's Sonoran Desert is enormous. It also receives enough rainfall to support a huge variety of life.

 

The Velvet Ants:

                             Velvet ants are actually wasps. Only the males have wings. Females lack wings, but they have a nasty sting.

 

Cactus Homes:   

                          There are few trees in Sonoran Desert, so the Gila Woodpecker makes its nest in a Cactus stem. It will use the nest for just one year, before moving on.

 

Roadrunner:

                         The most famous bird in the Sonoran Desert is Roadrunner, which scampers along at speeds of up to 30 kph (18 mph), hunting small mammals, reptiles, and birds.    

 

Saguaro Cactus:

                            The Saguaro Cactus, widely found in the Sonoran Desert, grows incredibly slowly just 2.5 cm in a year, but it can reach heights of 15 cm (50 ft). This Cactus stem swells as a plant takes in water. It can absorb the weight in water of a small car.

 

Ringtail Cat:

                    The Ringtail Cat isn’t a cat, it’s related to the Racoon. But it will clean itself very much like a cat. These cats are nocturnal, emerging to hunt rats, mice, squirrels, frogs, and insects.

 Collared Peccary:

                               A Peccary may look like a Pig, but it is only distantly related. Peccaries have poor eyesight, but a good sense of smell. They also produce a strong smell.

 Reptiles:

               From Lizards to snakes to tortoises, many reptiles have successfully adapted to living in the Sonoran Desert.

                          Gila monster:

                                This is one of the World’s two venomous lizards.

                         Desert tortoises:

                                This tortoise spend 95 per cent of their time underground.

                       Rattlesnakes:

                               These snakes warn off predators by shaking a rattle on their tail.

                     King Snakes:

                               These snakes take their name from their ability to eat other snakes.

 

Are there any forests in the Sonoran Desert…?  

   There are no trees, but there are forests of Saguaro Cacti.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What is Space...?

 "THE FEAR OF THE LORD IS THE BEGINNING OF KNOWLEDGE"  

                                                                                                Proverbs 1:7

What is Space...?

                          Space holds many secrets. It contains places where human beings can be stretched into spaghetti shapes, or boiled, or frozen solid: that's why astronauts wear protective clothing in space. 

Why is space so dark...? 

                         Space is black because there is nothing there to reflect light. From space, Earth looks lit up because light from our Sun reflects off sea, and land, and the particles in our atmosphere.

                                  How old is the Universe ?                                                Experts believe it's just under 14 BILLION years old

Where does Space begin ?

                           Earth is cloaked in a thin layer of gases i.e., Atmosphere. Outside this atmosphere is space, where there is no air to breathe or to allow wings to fly and where nobody can hear even the scream. 

                    What do we call the mixture of gases that makes up our atmosphere?

                                    We call it AIR

 

DID YOU KNOW ? 😉

If you drive a car straight up, it would take only about an hour to reach space.