• Tryannosaur wrecks
• Save plants that save us
• Thoughts for a New world
• Do you know?
• Tricks animals play

Tryannosaur wrecks

For the first time in some 65 million years, a Tyrnanosaurus rex has gone on the attack! Fortunately for the owner of this home, the dinosaur was just a big balloon. The floating dino- 168 feet from nose to tail- was supposed to land in an open field at the Gateway International Balloon Festival in Tusla, Oklahoma. But it was blown off course by the wind and the Jurassic beast parked itself on top of the house. There were no injuries or major damage, but the T- wreck was gashed and deflated within 20 minutes.

Save plants that save us

Trees are very useful for both man and animals to survive. They give us fuel for cooking and warmth and also provide valuable medicines. The timber is used for furniture.

We know that plants existed on earth before humans. so it proves that they don't need man for their existence. But man cannot live without plants. Earth is a beautiful place because of plants.They produce oxygen which man and animals breathe in.

Another use of plants is that they stop soil erosion. Because of the rise in population peoples' needs are increasing day by day but nature's gifts are not increasing. Greedy people cut down trees and kill the precious wild life and earn money. Because of this millions of trees have been cleared and mountains have lost their protection and thus humans face earth slips and erosion.

Man has to cut down trees for his needs but he must not do it in an irresponsible manner if trees are cut down. We must grow more trees in their place. That is the only way to preserve them for the future generation. It takes only one hour to cut down a big tree. But it takes many years for a tree to grow.

We must have a correct understanding of mother nature and make people understand the importance of conserving nature. As children we too can make an effort to conserve our mother land. So if we love mother nature she will save us and if we want to make a better tomorrow, we should try to live with nature.

Harshini Rasangika Denesh,
Royal Institute,
Colombo 5.

Thoughts for a New world

Where are the memories and grim experiences
of the last war in
Hiroshima and Nagasaki?
More than that what remains
in our hearts about a Nuclear war,
hearts full of hatred and ignorance
still more the violence, killing
lying, slander cover the earth
while some people are trying to
profit by the sale
of destructive weapons,
some people are burning in the war
lives are lost forever
in the black storm clouds of terror
but think ........
who created the root causes for this war,
the human being?
we must understand who we are,
and should build up a self confidence
it will strengthen our peace and happiness.
we must achieve peace
all together,
with justice, fairplay and by seeking
correct livelihood,
without indulging and hurting others.
"do not have hatred in your hearts
practice goodwill, compassion and sympathy
let us try to have a mind full of compassion"
then we can achieve peace............
and we will have a better tomorrow .......... also a "NEW WORLD"

Janadari Kapugama,
Mahamaya Girls' College.
Kandy.

Do you know?

As plants absorbs water from the soil they also absorb minerals that are needed by plants to perform life processes. Most plants that live on land get minerals from the soil. But a few get minerals by eating insects. Different kinds of insect-eating plants have different ways of trapping insects. One kind, the Venus Flytrap, uses its leaves. As an insect crawls onto a leaf, the leaf presses together, trapping the insect. The leaf then gives off special juices. These juices break down the insect's body. Minerals from the insect are then used by the plant.

A.I.A. Irshad,

Tricks animals play

What a bite

One bite from central Australia's inland taipan can contain enough venom to kill nearly 250,000 mice!

Although this is the most potent venom in the world, the inland taipan is not considered the most deadly to humans. The deadliness of a snake depends on several factors, including the size of its fangs, how much venom it can produce and whether the snake is inclined to strike at humans.

On average, fewer than five people die of snakebite in Australia each year, but this figure is much higher in many other countries.

Fishy sex change

Throughout Australia, the barramundi is prized for its delicious taste, but few people know that every female barramundi undergoes a sex change. All barramundi are born as males but, after several seasons, a remarkable thing happens - they all turn into females. When the male is several years old, his sex organs redevelop as ovaries instead of testicles! Once they have turned into females, they will never go back to being males again.

Gender dilemma

Crocodiles have an unusual way of determinig the sex of their offspring - they let the environment decide. When they are laid, the eggs of saltwater crocodiles are neither male nor female. Their gender is determined by the temperature of the nest during the first part of the incubation period. If the nest is under 30c, all the babies will develop into females; if it's above this temperature, the babies will be a mix of males and females. However, if the temperature goes over 34c or under 27c. no babies will hatch.

Rock fishing

Marine cormorants have a problem - they float, but the fish they eat live out of reach in the sea below them. Diving after these fish can be tiring work because a bird's buoyancy keeps pushing it back to the surface. But the black-faced shag has a cunning solution - it swallows pebbles to make itself heavier. With the extra weight, it can dive deeper into the water to chase its food. The pebbles make fishing easier, but they also make flying difficult. After a day's fishing the bird can barely take off, and can fly only just clear of the wave tops.

Drinking devil

It can be a long time between drinks in the desert. But not so for the thorny devil, a lizard with a remarkable way of extracting water out of thin air. This creature has a spiky exterior which does more than keep predators at bay. A tiny groove runs from the tip of each spike down to the skin where it joins a network of tiny cana. On chilly nights, dew settles on the ground - and on the lizard. The water runs along the tiny grooves into the corner of the lizard's lips, via the network of canals.

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