How intelligent are whales? Whales are highly intelligent creatures. Next to man, they have the largest brain for their body size of any animal. We may not yet realise just how clever these creatures are, but ) we know that the smaller whales, such as dolphins, can quickly learn to perform tricks and are eager to learn more difficult tasks once ; they have mastered the more simple ones. Perhaps one...

Should we hunt for whales? Many years ago, whales were very plentiful in some oceans of the world. Large sailing vessels used to put to sea for many months, searching for whales to catch. Once sighted, the whales were chased in open rowing boats which were put over the side from the larger sailing vessel. The men in the open boats had to row very quickly to catch the whales, and...

Is a whale’s skeleton like other mammals’ skeletons?   A whale’s skeleton is in many ways like any other mammal’s skeleton, but it has been changed, or modified, during evolution to suit the special needs of an animal designed to spend all its life in water. If you see a whale skeleton at a museum, study it closely. Firstly, you will see that it is very long and straight, with a...

When were the Olympic Games re-started?   A young French baron, Pierre de Coubertin of Paris, was responsible for the rebirth of the Olympic Games in 1896 — after a lapse of 15 centuries. As you probably know, the first Olympic Games were held by the Greeks about 776 BC and continued to be held every four years for over 1,100 years. They ceased about 500 years after the Romans conquered...

 The Football World Cup The World Cup is the supreme football competition. Practically every footballing nation in the world enters for it, and it is played every four years. The last finals were in Spain in 1982, when Italy beat West Germany 3-1. The World Cup series of games was the idea of M. Jules Rimet, president of the French Football Federation who became president of FIFA (the Federation of International...

Where do insectivorous plants grow? You may think that these plants only grow in exotic tropical forests, where many strange plants are found. Although some insectivorous plants like the pitcher plant do grow in tropical forests, they have relatives that also grow in North America. The Venus fly trap lives in North America too, in places where it is boggy. The sundew can be found in Australia and parts of Europe,...

How do insectivorous plants catch insects? The two pictures at the bottom of this page show pitcher plants ; so named because of their shape which is like a pitcher. Insects are attracted to the pitcher by the red colour inside and by a sweet-smelling odour — they probably think it is a flower. Once they walk inside, tiny scales which surround the sides stick to their feet. These scales prevent...

Why do some plants eat animals? All green plants, that is, those that make their own food by photosynthesis, also have a need for certain chemicals. These chemicals are called nutrients, and plants usually obtain them from the soil. The nutrients pass into the roots, and from there they are carried to the various parts of the plant. One of the most important nutrients is nitrogen, which is turned into nitrates...