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The Pigeon Party
Twenty noisy pigeons Had a party last night Noisy Pigeon Party [Illustration by Shinod AP] The last egg Had hatched The youngest one Was OUT! The last egg had hatched [Illustration by Shinod AP] They rocked on the TV wires looked the kitten In the eye They splashed In the pool – the kitten’s water bowl They splashed in the pool [Illustration by Shinod AP] And then they...
Dinosaur eggs Found in Patagonia
The film Jurassic Park is peanuts compared to this: Last month, Argentine scientists found thousands of dinosaur eggs in hundreds of nests at Patagonia. A report in the journal New Scientist says that it is the biggest nesting site of dinosaurs found thus far. Each nest contained 15 to 30 eggs the size of a grapefruit each. The eggs contained bones of titanosaurs which would have weighed about 15 tonnes when fully grown. Close to 100 million years old dinosaur egg....
The Boy Who Could Do Nothing Right!
Do you know of anyone who stumbles on a flat stretch of road, or walks into chairs and tables all the time? I knew one such boy. His name was Tarun. I met him in the hill retreat of Shimla in the northern Indian state of Himachal Pradesh. I had gone there for a holiday some time ago. The Boy Who Could Do Nothing Right! For a nine-year-old Tarun was tall. Since he was much taller than his classmates, he would hunch his shoulders to appear smaller....
Sitting in Rows is Better for Primary School Kids
October 21: Are you studying in primary school? How does your teacher make you sit – in rows or in groups? How would you like to sit? Does sitting in rows make you feel good or does it make you feel lonely? Do you feel that sitting in a group and discussing things makes you learn more and in an easier way? For those who were in primary school at any time, try to remember your classroom, the way the tables and chairs were arranged....
The Scent of an Enemy
It seems the fish were always a smart lot. Only, humans took some time to realise the fact. Some years ago, scientists had discovered that they identify family members with their smell. Now, scientists in Glasgow University, have discovered something new, according to a report in the journal ‘New Scientist’. They have discovered that the salmon fish go a step further. They actually keep a nose out for fish that smell like outsiders and not like family....
The Yellow River
October 21: The Yellow River has been called the cradle of the Chinese civilisation, just as the Indus River made it possible for the ancient Indian civilisation of Harappa and Mohenjodaro to flourish, the Tigris and Euphrates gave birth to the Mesopotamian civilisation (now in Iraq), and the Nile gave birth to the Egyptian civilisation more than 4000 years ago. The magnificent river runs 4345 km, and is second only to the Yangtse river. Called China’s sorrow because of its tendency to overflow and change its course, till date it has overflowed 1600 times and changed its course 26 times, affecting the lives of hundreds of thousands of people....
The Story of Big Ears
Retold from “When the World was Young’, by pioneering anthropologist, Verrier Elwin. It is a fascinating collection of folktales from the tribal peoples of India. This happened a long, long time ago. Humans had big ears then. And they would flap in the wind. The Story of Big Ears [Illustrations by Nitin Vishwakarma] Their ears were so big that they found a use for them. Sometimes they would lie down upon one ear, using it as a mattress....
How the First House was Built
A long time ago, humans were only as tall as hens and rabbits. These tiny “humans”, if you can call them that, lived under trees. Living in trees was not very nice. During rains they got wet. In summers they sweated madly, and in winter they almost froze into ice. Life was tough. How the First House was Built [Illustrations by Sudheer Nath] So they started living in burrows, just the way rabbits do....
How Man and Dog Became Friends
There they were – two little pups crying for their mother. She had just been killed by Deer. They sobbed so much and for so long that they got tired and lay down for a while. It was then that they decided to take revenge on Deer for killing their mother. Once they had decided what they were going to do, they felt better. Soon, they realised they were too small to be able to catch Deer....
The Smart Polluters
Health officials in Canada are very busy these days. They are placing chickens at fixed points all along their border with the United States of America. That’s an enormous distance of 2,500 km. It’s not a practical joke, nor have the Canadians gone mad. They are using these chickens to see if the deadly West Nile virus is lurking around. The virus infects birds, so they think that the chickens have a good chance of catching the virus....