Moments of Wonder and Ponder

                                                              Dolphins Dolphins are a group of sea mammals closely related to whales. Both animals belong to the order cetacea. To keep their bodies warm, dolphins have evolved a thick layer of blubber. Every few minutes, dolphins have to surface to breath, a blowhole on top of their heads exhales used up air and inhales fresh air. There are over 40 different species of dolphins. Dolphins are fast swimmers, some of them can top 50 kilometers per hour! They move by beating their powerful tails, or flukes, up and down. The dorsal fin and flippers help them steer. Their dominant sense is echolocation. An organ, called a melon, in their foreheads emits a series of clicks. The dolphin senses the return wave though it's jaw Dolphins are also social anima...

                                                                     Dogs Dogs are canines, part of the biological family as wolves, coyotes, foxes, and jackals. Dogs are domesticated -bred to be gentle so they can live with us. Nowadays, the United States recognizes seven main categories of Dogs. Dogs have very good hearing, they can detect sounds that are either too high - pitched or low - pitched for humans to hear. They can also pinpoint the exact direction where a sound is coming from. Their sense of smell is highly developed. Some dogs are trained to sniff out missing people, drugs, explosives, and possibly even cancer! Dogs can also be trained for other types of service, like helping the blind or disabled. Notes taken from :   BrainPOP.com

                                                                    Cats Cats are cool creatures! Cats belong to the family Felidae, which is why they're called felines. There are 37 feline species in the world, including lions, tigers, panthers, and leopards. All cats have amazing senses. They can hear and smell much than humans can, and they can see in way darker conditions. The nerve endings in a cat's whiskers are so sensitive. The whiskers are as long as their bodies are wide. Cats are divided into longhaired and shorthaired varieties, and there are lots of different breeds. Cats usually live an average of 12 to 15 years. Cats conserve energy by sleeping for an average of 13 to14 hours a day. Cats have flexible bodies and teeth adapted for hunting small animals such as mice...

Carnivorous plants  Most carnivorous plants live in extreme environments where the soil isn't that great. Like most meat-eating plants, the Venus flytrap lives in swampy areas. There's plenty of light and water there, but the soil doesn't have all the nutrients that it needs - especially nitrogen. It makes up for this thin soil by gathering nutrients from insects and other small animals. There are lots of different carnivorous plant species. One of the simplest is the pitfall trap, a cup-shaped growth with liquid inside. It lures bugs in with the promise of sweet delicious nectar, but once they come in, they drown the stuff inside. The lobster pot trap is pretty basic too. lobster pots are passive, they just hang out waiting for insects to enter. Inward - pointing hairs force to the bug to keep crawling in one direction until it gets to a sort of stomach, where it is digested. The dewy pine plant is a good example of a flypaper trap. ...

                                                                        Birds There are close to 10.000 different species of birds. All birds are warm-blooded vertebrate animals. Birds are endothermic, meaning their body temperature stays the same no matter what the temperature is outside. Birds bones are hollow and their vertebrae are fused together for strength.  Flying requires a good supply of oxygen, so it makes sense that birds have extremely efficient respiratory systems. A system of air sacs helps to insure that the lungs receive a constant supply of fresh air. Birds beat their wings when they take off to get thrust and lift. The color of the bird's feathers will often tell you whether it'd male or female. Females have more muted tones that provide camouflage so ...

                                                  Autumn leaves   Leaves are green because they contain a substance called chlorophyll. Green plants use chlorophyll to transform sunlight into energy, in a prosses called photosynthesis. In the fall, the weather starts to cool off. Days get shorter and there are fewer hours of sunlight, because of that, there isn't enough light or water for photosynthesis, so trees stop producing chlorophyll. As the chlorophyll begins to break down, we begin to see two different pigments called carotenoids and anthocyanins. Carotenoids produce yellow, orange, and brown colors. anthocyanins produce colors like red, purple, and pink. In the fall, when trees sense a change in the weather, they change colors.

                                                                                              Bacteria  Bacteria are single-celled microscopic organisms. There is about 5 nonillion of them right now. Bacteria live in our food, our water, our air and even inside our bodies. Without bacteria, cows wouldn't even be able to eat grass! Plants need bacteria too, they convert nitrogen in the soil into  simpler structures that plants can absorb more easily. Bacteria come in lots of different shapes and sizes. Some can't move, but others move using whip-like strands called flagella. Bacteria are prokaryotic cells, unlike animal's and plant's cells most bacterial cells don't contain many complex organelles. Some bacteria ...

                                                             Arachnids  Scorpions aren't insects, they belong to a group of arthropods called arachnids. Arachnids are some of the most adaptable animals. They are over 70000 different species. Arachnids have a hard exoskeleton and jointed limbs. They have eight legs and a two-segment body. An arachnids abdomen contains its internal organs The mouth, eyes, and limbs are attached to the cephalothorax. Besides the four pairs of legs, the cephalothorax has pinchers called pedipalps, and a big pair of fangs called chelicerae. Pedipalps are for grabbing things, but they also can sense smells and vibrations. The fangs often contain venom to stun or kill prey. Sometimes they're used for digging holes in the ground. Scorpion have venomous tails, tha...

                                                                   Ants                                                              Ants are related to wasps and bees, but most Ants don't fly. They are born with wings but lose them right after birth. Their bodies are divided into three main parts : The head has two compound eyes, a set of jaws called mandibles, and jointed antenna. The antenna detects chemicals called pheromones given off by other ants. With pheromones, an ant can leave a trail to food or identify ants from its colony. All six of the ant's legs are attached to its thorax. The abdomen holds the internal organs, and sometime...

                                                          Amphibians  Amphibians are vertebrate animals like frogs, salamanders, and newts. Existing amphibians are split into three groups: Anurans or frogs and toads have short bodies, strong legs, and no tails. Urodeles have long bodies, short legs, and flattened tails for swimming. Organisms in the group Apoda are called Caecilians. These are practically blind worm-like creatures that look a lot like snakes. All amphibians are cold-blooded creatures. Most amphibians split their lives between land and water in a similar way:  They're born in the water, stick to the land as adults and return to the water to breed.          Notes taken from:  BrainPOP.com

                                                                    Algae                                                                  Algae are not really plants.  They don't have roots, stems, or leaves like real plants do. They are plant-like organisms. Because photosynthesis produces oxygen, Algae are an important source of air we breathe. Without Algae, the world would be a much tougher place to live in. Algae are divided into a bunch of different categories. Green algae are the most common type and almost half of our oxygen comes from green Algae. Red algae have a red pigment which helps them absorb sunlight f...

Assalamualykum everyone, We've got some interesting news to share with you all. We'll be posting inshallah some lovely facts we've learned and found them beneficial. They are directly taken from a website known as " BrainPOP ", it has plenty of knowledge but sadly it isn't free... So we thought of sharing some notes we've taken by watching the videos... We've written the notes in a special book which we call "Our Brainpop book" and Inshallah we hope to do this until the notes in our book finishes!  Here are some pictures of our books! Assalamualykum