Category Geography

Seashores visitors

 

 

Some of the animals that we see on seashore do not live there all the time. They spend most of their life in the sea, and only visit the seashore for a short time. They may visit the shore to rest or to have babies.

 

 

 

 

 

 

These seals have come to the shore to rest.

Seals spend most of their time in the sea, but they sometimes visit the seashore. Seals are excellent swimmers but move very slowly on land. They haul themselves up on to rocks or sand banks to rest and bask in the Sun. Seals give birth to their pups on quiet seashores where they will not be disturbed.

 

 

 

 

 

Puffins visit the seashore to nest.

Puffins visit the seashore each year to breed. They nest on the top of cliffs. They dig burrows or take over an old rabbit tunnel. Puffins usually have only one chick. They feed their chicks on sand eels and fish.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Turtles visit the shore to lay their eggs.

Female turtles come ashore at night to lay their eggs above the high tide line. They dig a hole in the sand, lay their eggs in it and cover the eggs with sand. When the babies hatch, they dig themselves out and crawl down to the sea.

Looking after the seashore

 

 

 

Seashores can be harmed by people. If we leave rubbish on a beach, it can hurt or kill wildlife. Plants and animals often lose their homes when we build on the seashore. We all need to take care of the seashore and the wildlife that lives there.

 

 

 

 

 

 

This rubbish has been washed up on a beach.

Rubbish is often dumped in the sea. It can be carried long distances and washed up on beaches. Rubbish like plastic bottles and bags, fishing line and glass can hurt or kill animals. Turtles eat plastic bags because they look like jellyfish.

 

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Why was the Statue of Liberty built?

               The Statue of Liberty which is one of the world’s tallest was built to celebrate the birth of the United States of America. It was a gift from the French people to the Americans symbolizing the spirit of liberty, friendship and fraternity. This Statue stands on Bedloe’s Island, now called Liberty Island, at the mouth of New York harbour. This was put here as desired by its sculptor Frederic Auguste Bartholdi.

               The plan for this monument was made by the famous French historian Edouard de Laboulaye after the American civil war. The cost of the statue was met by the French people, while the money for the 150 ft pedestal was raised in the United States. The statue was made of copper sheets. In 1885, the complete statue, 152 feet high and weighing 225 tons was shipped to New York City. It was put on the pedestal at Bedloe’s Island and dedicated to the nation by President Grover Cleveland on Oct. 28, 1886.

               The total height of this monument from the pedestal upto the torch is 305 feet. It represents a women wearing a robe and holding a burning torch aloft in her right hand. The left hand holds a tablet bearing the date of American Declaration of Independence (July 4, 1776). At night the statue is floodlit and the torch shines with a powerful light. An elevator rises to the balcony level, and a spiral staircase leads to an observation platform in the figure’s crown.

               The statue was at first administered by the Lighthouse Board, because the illuminated torch was considered as a navigational aid. In 1901 the statue was transferred to the War Department. In 1924, it was declared a National monument. In 1956 Bedloe’s Island was renamed as Liberty Island.

               This colossal statue stands as a symbol of freedom and equality. The French people made this gift to the Americans on the 100th anniversary of US independence. 

The Earth

 

 

 

What is the difference between the geographic poles and the magnetic poles?

The earth has a natural magnetic field and behaves as a magnet, influencing a mariner’s navigational compass. The north and south poles (magnetic) are points on the Earth’s magnetic axis. The earth spins on its geographic axis and not on its magnetic axis.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Which is the largest river in the world?

          Amazon is the largest river in the world because it contains more water than any other river on the earth — it contains about 25% of all the water (excepting sea water) that runs off the Earth’s surface. The Amazon rises high up in the Andes Mountains in Peru, flows across a length of 6,448 km from Northern Brazil to the Atlantic Ocean and on the way it is fed by about 15,000 tributaries and sub-tributaries.

          The true source of Amazon was discovered in 1971 by Loren McIntyre in the snow-covered Andes of Southern Peru. The Amazon begins with snowbound lakes and brooks, and from the confluence of two major headstreams, the Maranon and Ucayali, the river is called Amazon.

          The Amazon was first discovered in 1499 by Vicente Yanez Pinzon — a Spanish sea captain who was a part of Columbus’ crew on his great voyage. As Pizon was sailing out of sight off the coast, he discovered that he was voyaging through fresh water. He moved shorewards to investigate and anchored in the mouth of the vast river.

          One of the most intriguing things about the Amazon is that its tributaries are distinctly of different colours. The true source of the main river is 5,240 metres above the sea-level in Peruvian Andes, and this starts off as white or dirty yellow. All the tributaries to the Amazon which run through the Andes are similar in colour as they carry heavy quantities of whitish soil in their waters. Many of its other tributaries which originate in northwest Brazil and Venezuela are apparently black in colour. In fact, these rivers are very clear and dark red in colour because they flow over ancient bare rock formations, and are relatively free of sediment but laden with iron.

          Of late, Amazon has been categorized as the longest river of the world along with river Nile. A latest survey of the length of Amazon puts it at 6,750 km which exceeds the length of Nile by 80 km. But which is longer is more a matter of definition of length of a river than the simple measurement of length.

 

Which is the oldest city in the world?

           From the available historical sources, Jericho is considered to be the oldest city in the world. It is located on the west side of Jordan near Israel. It is situated 825 ft below the sea level, some six miles north of the Dead Sea. The Archaeologists have uncovered 17 layers of settlements dating back to 5000 B.C. or earlier, signifying its continuity over the years. 

          In the biblical history, it is known as the first town captured by Israel and that its wall fell to blast of their trumpet.

          Jericho is mentioned in the Old and new Testaments. Herod the Great established a winter residence there and died there in 4th B.C. There is evidence to prove the visit of Mesolithic hunters around 9000 BC, and of a long period of settlement by their descendants. To begin with their habitations included flimsy huts. From these huts solid houses were developed and the settlement spread to cover an area of about 10 acres. By 8000 BC the inhabitants had developed into an organized community capable of building a massive stone wall around the settlement. The construction of such a huge wall suggests that a population of around 2000-3000 persons inhabited the town. Thus, within a period of 1000 years, there had been a development from a wandering-hunting way of life to an agricultural settlement. For the next 2000 years, Jericho passed through the Neolithic stage. During 5000 BC people of this place started using pottery. Over the next 2000 years, occupation was sparse and possibly intermittent.

          At the end of the 4th millennium BC, an urban culture once more appeared in Jericho as in the rest of Palestine. Jericho became a walled town again with its walls rebuilt many times. About 2300 BC there was once more a break in the urban life. Jericho of the Crusader period was on yet a third site, a mile east of the Old Testament site and here the modern town grew up. Its major expansion, however, came after its incorporation into Jordan in 1949.