Showing results for "Science" in Animals

Learn about the science and history of dinosaurs with iMindsJNR audio-learning series for younger minds. Huge and sometimes ferocious, dinosaurs ruled the earth for more than 175 million years. To us, dinosaurs might be scary-looking. But humans never had to fear dinosaurs because they died out 65 million years ago, a long time before the first people were around!Dinosaurs lived in a period called the Mesozoic era, which began about 240 million years ago.

Before Carl Linnaeus began classifying organisms, before John James Audubon drew birds from the wild, before Charles Darwin proposed his theory of evolution, there lived a 13-year-old girl named Maria Merian who loved to draw bugs. With no formal training or university education, Maria Merian took on the role of artist, adventurer, and scientist in 17th-century Europe - a time when women were rarely allowed responsibilities outside the home, and unusual interests led to accusations of witchcraft.  

Could griffins have been real? When Adrienne Mayor carefully read the ancient Greek and Roman descriptions, this mythic hybrid of a lion and an eagle sounded like something people had actually seen. What could explain that evidence? After a decade of hunting through myths, poring over old maps, and tracing the discoveries of modern dinosaur hunters, she found the answer: awesome dinosaur fossils observed by ancient gold hunters in the Gobi desert.

Did you know that Pteranodon was not a dinosaur? Pteranodon belongs to a special group of flying reptiles called pterosaurs.

Triceratops means “three-horned face.” This massive dinosaur had a parrot-like hard beak and a bony frill around its head. Triceratops had a horn above each eye and another horn on its nose. These horns were used to protect it from other meat-eating dinosaurs.

Have you ever seen a cuddly looking koala? Most people call them koala bears. But koalas aren't bears! In fact, koalas aren't even related to bears. Koalas are mammals called marsupials. Marsupial means “pouched animal.” Koalas carry their babies in pouches just like kangaroos. Koalas are picky eaters. The only food that a koala will eat is eucalyptus leaves. Eucalyptus leaves are found in Australia, so koalas live in Australia. Koalas are “nocturnal” animals, which means that they sleep during the day and are awake at night.

Crocodiles and alligators are cold-blooded reptiles. This means that their body temperature will heat and cool according to their surroundings. Crocodiles and alligators can move quickly on land for short distances, but feel more at home in the water. Can you tell the difference between a crocodile and an alligator? A crocodile’s snout is longer and more pointed than an alligator’s. Crocodiles also have teeth that stick up from the lower jar when their mouths are closed. Catchy lyrics and a fun melody will teach kids all about crocodiles and alligators in this fabulous audiobook.

Why do mandrills have blue faces? What makes a parrot's feathers so bright? Learn these answers and more about some of nature’s most colorful creatures in Science Behind the Colors.

If you love to learn about dinosaurs, you might want to consider becoming a paleontologist. A paleontologist studies the remains of prehistoric life. They study why fossils form and why the animals and plants lived where they did.

The life cycle of a frog is very interesting. First, a frog will lay its eggs in water. The eggs are inside a jelly-like covering. Soon tadpoles begin to grow inside the eggs. They have a head, body, and tail. Tadpoles swim in the water feeding on tiny plants called algae. As a tadpole grows, it will develop hind legs and then front legs. Then a tadpole will develop lungs and go to the surface of the water to breathe. Now the tadpole looks more like a frog. It will climb out of the water to eat insects and worms. Listen to this fun, factual audiobook about the life cycle of a frog!

Mary Anning grew up on the south coast of England in a region rich in fossils. As teenagers, she and her brother Joseph discovered England’s first complete ichthyosaur. Poor and uneducated, Anning would become one of the most celebrated paleontologists ever, though in her time she supported herself selling by fossils and received little formal recognition. Her findings helped shape scientific thinking about extinction and prehistoric life long before Darwin published his famous work on evolution.

Scientists are not quite sure what colors the dinosaurs were. They can only guess that the dinosaurs may have been colored to match their surroundings, just as most animals are today.

Plesiosaurus swam in prehistoric oceans. Its name means “near-reptile” because paleontologists thought that it resembled a reptile.

Stegosaurus means “roofed lizard.” This plant-eating dinosaur was about the size of a school bus and had two rows of bony plates along its back.

Tyrannosaurus was the fiercest meat-eating dinosaur. It was “king of the tyrant lizards,” with 50 sharp, jagged teeth!

Some animals live in water. Some animals live on land. The land that animals live on can be very different. What makes a place the right home for an animal? Let’s investigate habitats!

Animals are living things. They need certain things to grow and live. What are they? Let’s investigate what animals need to survive!

Bald eagles, bees, and bats all fly. But a bee is an insect. A bat is a mammal. And a bald eagle is a bird! Why are these animals sorted into different groups? Let’s investigate animal classification!

Some people call insects bugs, but they aren’t all true bugs. True bugs are grouped in a special class called hemiptera, meaning “half-wing.” True bugs have sucking mouth parts and only go through three stages before developing into an adult. Examples of true bugs are bed bugs, stink bugs, and chinch bugs. Did you know that the giant water bug can catch a small fish or frog with its hooked front legs? Water bugs can grow to four inches long in South America. Kids will learn all about these fascinating creatures with this fabulous audiobook.

Technology is advancing rapidly. Transportation experts think self-driving cars could fill the streets someday soon. Designers are experimenting with different artificial intelligence devices. The choices designers make now will affect our future.