Life in the Coniferous Forests In northern Canada and the C.I.S. there are vast belts of forests called `Coniferous forests’. In the summer months, as the snow melts, ample food for many varieties of birds and animals is available and the otherwise cold forests are suddenly full of life with birds like Woodpeckers, Tits, Cross bills, Jays, Hazel Hen, etc feeding on berries, insects and seeds. There are also a lot...

Balance of Life and Survival Nature has a unique way of maintaining a balance of life and ensuring `Survival of the fittest’. This is based upon the basic fact that all living things and plants are inter-dependent upon each other. Air is the most basic resource we have, if all living things give out carbon dioxide during respiration then plants use the same in photosynthesis and release out oxygen which is...

Wonders of the Animal World On thinking of animals, we can recall them with certain shapes, colours and sizes which are commonly seen. When discussing a spider, we can think of a common household spider, or a poisonous black widow spider, we may even know of the Tarantulas which live in burrows, but we may not know of the ‘Water spider’ which lives it’s entire life under water by making air...

Family of Monkeys and Apes Lemurs, monkeys, apes etc are vertebrate mammals belonging to the family of ‘Primates’, they are considered to be one the most intelligent creatures mainly because of their large brains. On occasions they use their hands and feet and behave like humans. They are largely herbivores but they may also eat small insects and bird eggs. Gorillas, which are the biggest in this family may measure between...

Sea Life Fish are found both in fresh river water and in salty sea water. Fish swim in water by using their fins and tails and they breathe by absorbing oxygen through flaps called Gills which are located on the side of their heads. Under their scaly skin most fish have skeletons and body organs like a Heart, Liver, Spleen, Intestine, and an Ovary for laying eggs. Some of the species...

Kingdom of Insects     Of all the different types of animals, insects are the largest in number with over a million different types known to man, which have inhabited  Earth for more than 500 million years. They can be divided into 20 different  families i.e. fleas, dragonflies, grasshoppers, moths, leaf  insects, bugs, mantises, flies and mosquitoes, cockroaches, termites, scorpion flies, lice,  thrips, beetles, bees and wasps, earwigs, etc. They vary...

Kingdom of Reptiles Cold blooded animals with scales on their skins are called ‘Reptiles’. The first reptiles were the descendants of the Dinosaurs. There are over 6500 different types of reptiles which can be classified into six broad categories i.e. snakes, tortoises and turtles, alligators and crocodiles, worm lizards, lizards and tarantulas. Of these families the largest is of Lizards with 3800 different types and the one which is facing extinction...

Kingdom of Birds Birds are a marvel of nature, they are the only warm blooded animals which possess feathers and have the capability to fly. Over 9,000 different species of birds live in the world in all kinds of conditions and habitats and feed on all kinds of food. Birds are vertebrates and have skeletons with hollow and light bones. The organs in their bodies include a heart, liver, intestines, kidney...