2-1 Old Man Blue and Junction Town
There was a town with a strange looking mountain. P
It looked like the face of an old man. P
There was a large cave at the very center that looked like a mouth. P
They called this mountain "Old Man Blue." P
Junction Town, Kansas, was named because a lot of trains used to meet up there. P
The town was born because so many people passed through. P
Today the town does not have many trains coming through anymore, P
but it still keeps its name because that was how the town was founded. P
2-2 Ash Hill & Big Fish
In California there is a place called Ash Hill. P
A long time ago, there was fire in the hill that burned everything on it. P
The hills turned ashy and black. One day, a traveler came through town. P
The ash bothered him so much that he said, "This town is nothing but a hill of ash." P
Ash Hill became the new name. P
Big Fish, Texas got its name from one of its residents. P
The man liked to tell a lot of lies and exaggerate everything. P
He told people that he had caught a fish bigger than himself. P
The people didn't believe him because he told so many lies. P
Then he showed them the fish and it really was bigger than him. P
2-3 Nails
You have tiny shields on the ends of your fingers and toes. P
These are called fingernails and toe nails. P
They protect the tips of your hands and feet. P
We have to trim our nails or else they will get in the way. P
Animals have nails too, but theirs are more suitable for their lifestyle. P
Cats have claws that they can retract. P
They can use their claws to climb things. P
The nails humans have help protect our precious fingers that we use to do work. P
Nails are made from the same material horses have on their hooves and rhinoceroses have in their horn. P
2-4 Our Eyes
Our eyes are specially designed to help us survive. P
Humans see better in daylight when there are less predators around. P
We can see many colors, which can help us find the best food. P
Our eyes are not as sharp as other animals like an eagle, but that is because we did not evolve this way. P
Our eyes can see very far which could have helped us find water. P
Light enters through a small opening in our eye. P
This light passes through nerves shaped like rods and cones. P
Our brain then processes this images and tells us what we saw. P
All of this happens very quickly! P
2-5 Sea Creatures
There are many different types of life in the sea. P
They come in different sizes, shapes, and colors. P
Some sea creatures are bigger than a person and others are so small they can only be seen with a microscope. P
The biggest creature on earth is the Blue Whale, but it only eats the tiniest krill. P
Deep under water, there are still creatures that we do not know about. P
Species that were once thought extinct may still be around. P
Some sea creatures are named because they are similar to other things. P
For example, the sea cucumber looks like the cucumbers people eat. P
Unlike the cucumber, the sea cucumber's body is soft and squishy. P
2-6 Coral Reefs
There are under water communities that live in coral reefs. P
Many of these sea creatures live and work together to survive. P
Some may dig homes while another keeps a lookout in case a predator swims by. P
The coral itself is a living creature, growing for thousands of years on the remains of other coral. P
Coral is very sensitive to temperature changes and can die if there is rapid climate change. P
There are worries that in the future, coral reefs will die out and majorly affect the global ecosystem. P
2-7 Learning to Fly
One morning, a mother bird decided to teach her children to fly. P
They were getting a little too big for the nest. P
Inga Bird looked down at the ground. P
It seemed like it was very far away. She got scared. P
"Mom I don't want to fly yet," Inga Bird said. P
Mother Bird replied, "You must learn to fly because it's what birds do." P
The baby birds all watched Mother Bird jumped from the nest and flap her wings. P
"See? This is how you do it," she said. P
The baby birds went to the edge of their nest. P
One by one they jumped and flapped with their wings. P
They did not fall, they flew! P
However, their wings were still weak and they could not go very far. P
They enjoyed flying very much. P
"Tomorrow we will practice more. P
Soon you will be able to leave the nest," Mother Bird said. P
2-8 Baby Otter
Baby Otter was asleep in the kelp. P
Mother Otter had tied her baby to a piece of kelp and had gone off to look for food. P
Baby Otter woke up and saw that Mother Otter was not there. P
He got scared and began to cry. P
There were a lot of other baby otters around him tied to the kelp. P
Baby Otter was tied too tightly to go and look for his mommy. P
The other mothers were coming back with food for their babies. P
Baby Otter looked for Mother Otter. He called out to one, "Mommy!" P
The one he called out to looked back and said, "I am not your mother." P
Baby Otter was crying because he missed his mother. P
Where was she? One mother was coming close to him. P
He called out to happily. He could smell that it was his mother and she could smell him. P
Baby otters and mother otters know each other by smell. P
Baby Otter was very happy he found his mother. P
2-9 A Squirrel and His Acorns
One day a little squirrel was digging into the ground. P
He was going to bury some acorns to store for the winter. P
He moved the dirt with his paws. P
Soon he had a hole big enough to bury all of his acorns. P
Just then, a fox was walking by. P
The fox watched the squirrel and hid in some bushes. P
The squirrel put the dirt to cover up his acorns. P
Just as the squirrel was about to leave, the fox jumped. P
She jumped at the squirrel because she wanted to eat him. P
The squirrel heard the noise and quickly got away. P
He scurried up a tree where the fox could not reach him. P
The fox was left on the ground. P
2-10 Lost and Found
On Saturday it snowed a lot. P
On Sunday, George and Lana went outside to play in the snow. P
They threw snowballs and made snow angels. P
Lana lost her bracelet and George lost his scarf in the snow. P
"I need to find my bracelet," Lana said. "Mom, help me find it!" P
Mom said, "The snow is too deep, Lana. We can't find it." P
"What about my scarf?" George asked. P
Dad said, "Soon something nice and warm will come into the sky and help you find it." P
On Monday, the sun was shining in the sky. P
The snow melted away a little. P
The days passed and the snow continued to melt away. P
When the snow was gone, George found his scarf. P
Lana found her bracelet by the tree they had played under. P
2-11 Queen Elizabeth I
Queen Elizabeth I was the daughter of Anne Boleyn and Henry VIII. P
Her mother was executed when Elizabeth was a small child P
and she was declared illegitimate by her father who wanted a male heir. P
Elizabeth was told that she was no longer a princess. P
Elizabeth's stepmother helped to convince her father to declare Elizabeth a princess again. P
When Henry VIII died, his heir did not live for long and Elizabeth's sister, Mary, ascended the throne. P
Elizabeth had to live carefully because Mary was afraid that she would try to steal the throne. P
When Mary died, Elizabeth became queen and launched a golden era for England. P
2-12 Queen Elizabeth II
At the beginning of Elizabeth's reign, Spain was the dominant force on the sea. P
This meant that their ships were the strongest. P
Spain launched an attack on England and Elizabeth had to act fast. P
She sent out small, quick ships that destroyed the slow Spanish ships. P
Elizabeth proved herself a worthy foe and gained the respect of other nations. P
Elizabeth was also a great patron of the arts. P
It was during her time that theater flourished and William Shakespeare wrote many of his works. P
Today, people still revere Shakespeare as one of the greatest writers. P
2-13 How Animals Sleep I
After working hard all day, it's nice to fall asleep in your bed. P
Animals need to sleep like people do. P
Some animals can sleep while floating in the water. P
Others will dig holes in the ground for a safe place to hide as they sleep. P
Other animals will sleep up high in trees or under some leaves. P
They all have to find the best place for them to sleep. P
Animals that live in the ocean might seem strange to us because we cannot fall asleep in the water like they can. P
Fish do not have eyelids so they cannot close their eyes. P
When they sleep, they look as if they are staring out. P
Otters will sleep in beds of seaweed to keep themselves from floating away from their family. P
Parrot fish will blow a bubble of clear gel with their mouth before they go to sleep. P
This bubble protects them while they are sleeping. P
2-14 How Animals Sleep II
Some animals go under the earth to sleep. P
Chipmunks will curl into a ball, tucking their nose and tail in tightly. P
They keep food nearby in case they get hungry. P
They make their beds from leaves and grass. P
Desert frogs live in hot dry places and will burrow underground during the hottest parts of the years. P
The desert frog could stay in this hole for months at a time. P
Monkeys will climb high above the ground in trees. P
They will make soft leafy beds to sleep in. P
Nothing can get the monkeys while they are up in the trees branches. P
Insects need rest too and they will crawl beneath leaves and go to bed. P
That leaf might even be their breakfast when they wake up. P
Bees buzz home after a long day of collecting nectar and sleep in the hive with their sisters. P
When they are rested they will be ready to go to work again. P
2-15 Shivering I
When you are cold, your body will shiver to try and warm you up. P
By shivering, you are moving around a little bit so it helps to keep you warm. P
Signals from your nervous system go to your muscles to make them shiver. P
How does this work? P
There are two parts to the nervous system. P
The nerves are one part of the system. P
They are long, thin threads that carry messages to every part of your body. P
The second part of the nervous system is your spinal cord and brain. P
The spinal cord is a thick bundle of nerves that runs along the inside of your backbone. P
When your brain sends out a message, the signal goes down to the spinal cord. P
Through the spinal cord, the message is sent out through your nerves. P
The muscles get these signals and then you shiver! P
2-16 Shivering II
Imagine yourself in this situation. P
You are waiting outside for your bus to arrive and it is raining. P
You're very cold and wet, so this is what happens. P
A place in your brain feels that you are cold. P
That place sends out a message through your spinal cord to all your nerves that you temperature is dropping. P
The message goes to other nerves through different connections between the nerves. P
The signal is passed on to the muscles and they are told, "Get ready!" P
Heat is produced when a muscle moves. P
That is the reason why when you go run and play, you get warm. P
Your muscles get the signal that you are cold and they start working to make you warmer. P
They tighten and loosen quickly, making you shiver. P
This helps you get warmer. P
2-17 Wild Turkey I
Turkeys are different from other birds. P
For one thing, the way they fly is not as smooth. P
The way they fly is similar to helicopters because they go straight up and fast. P
A wild turkey was once recorded to have flown 55 miles per hour. P
Turkeys look different from other birds too. P
Male turkeys have snoods and waddles to attract females. P
The snood is a flap of skin above their beak that hangs down. P
It can be brightly colored. Some can even grow to be 5 inches long! P
The wattle is the bumpy skin on a turkey's neck. P
It can also grow to be very long. P
The wattle can change colors from red to white and back again. P
Some people think that this is the male turkey's way to send a message to female turkeys. P
Other people think that this is how the males send out warnings to other males to stay far away. P
2-18 Wild Turkey II
Wild turkeys used to live in the woods. P
When people began to settle in wild areas, P
they cut down these forests for the lumber and to make more room to grow. P
The turkeys began to disappear because their homes were taken away from them. P
People also liked to eat the turkeys so they hunted them until there were only very few left. P
By the 1900s, turkeys were becoming more and more rare. P
People began to notice the disappearance of the turkeys. P
The leaders of each state passed laws to protect the turkeys. P
There were limits made on how many turkeys hunters could kill. P
If there was an area with fewer turkeys, more turkeys would be brought into help the population. P
The number of turkeys started to improve thanks to these laws. P
People learned that wild animals could be protected if they made the effort. P
2-19 The First Toys I
The first toys were simple and made of whatever people could find around them. P
The ball was one of the very first toys. P
In the beginning, balls were just smooth and round rocks. P
People liked to kick rocks and see how far they would go. P
They also threw the rocks to try and hit targets. P
Thousands of years ago, people started to play bowling in Egypt. P
They played by rolling a ball made of rock through a little tunnel. P
There would be some other rocks at the end of the tunnel P
and there would be other rocks that the Egyptians would try to knock away. P
Bowling was played later in Germany using a stone ball and one wooden pin. P
As time passed, they started to use a ball made of wood. P
The number of pins changed as well depending on what people felt like. P
They would play with three pins or even as many as eighteen pins. P
2-20 The First Toys II
Native Americans used to make up games with balls. P
They played a game that was similar to basketball. P
They even made a ball out of rubber. P
There were rubber trees where they lived and they got the rubber from there. P
In Europe, children liked to bounce balls made from animal skins onto the walls of buildings. P
Handball started this way. P
The children really liked bouncing the balls from the high walls of churches. P
People later started to hit the balls over nets. P
At first they used their hands and then they started to wrap their hands with string to protect them. P
Later they added a stick and that was how tennis was born. P
Tennis started from handball! P