discovery box up close to a lion family

l It supports muscles and makes them more Humans first wove fabric using plant fibres and then animal hairs such as wool.. Almost every Sunday, a he was going old boy called Vilem vis

Va sur

le blog Labo

That would be the hominids

or ‘great apes’ Other members are

chimpanzees, bonobos, gorillas and

orang-utans We’re all related!

The chimp who knew

he was going to die

page 20

What do a dress and the nose of a high-speed train have in common?

They’re both made fromFabrics of the future

To find the answer go to

Face to face with lions

the DIY section at

the back of DiscoveryBox

where there will be an activity

for you to do.

Sometimes we will have extra stuff

to look at or download Go to:

84

Face to face

Here we are on the savannah in Kenya, Africa, with some lion cubs A camera at ground level brings us these amazing shots of a pride of lions.

Nature

LIONSwith

MOther She looks like a big pussy cat

but she’s an awesome hunter She uses

her powerful muscles, jaws and claws to

catch zebras and wildebeest

Cub Isn’t he cute with his big, brown eyes?

This lion cub is growing up in a pride (family)

of two males, six females and a dozen cubs.

Father His huge mane is a disadvantage for hunting because it can be seen from far away So it’s the lionesses who hunt for the pride But the male always gets to eat first and he can happily gorge on 30kg of meat a meal!

Family group

Nature 7

Lions don’t like getting into the water but they will lap

up water like cats These five little cubs play together all day long They chase and jump all over each other

It’s good practice for when they start hunting But what they love best is napping Lions sleep for around

An American comic book published in 1938 has been sold for a record $877,631!

It contains the first episode of the adventures of Superman

for the stew!

the cowboys have b een replaced

by… golfers! But fr om this

picture, golf tourn aments

in Arizona are pric kly

affairs!

Look out for the FSC tick tree

logo when shopping for wood

and paper products

By choosing FSC products,

you are supporting

the responsible management

of the world’s forests

FSC forests are managed

with care for the environment,

wildlife and the people who live

and work in them.

Use the leaf alphabet to work out what the message says

Send your answer by 15th October to:

Don’t forget to write your name and address and the name of

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Fabrics are flexible materials made of fibres or threads that are woven together Nowadays all sorts of things are made of fabric: suitcases, advertising hoardings, even bikes and parts of electricity sensors on high-speed trains Some fabrics are very flexible and others are ultra-resistant or very hard Fabrics are everywhere You can’t get away from them! Turn the page to follow the thread of our enquiry…

13

Science

What do a station roof, the nose of a high-speed train, the suit worn by a triathlon champion and a fireman’s jacket

all have in common? They’re all made of fabric.

Today’s jacket made of aramid fibres and Kevlar = 2kg Leather jacket used in the past = 3kg

The external coating on

their suit protects

firefighters from flames

as hot as 400°C!

But inside the suit,

they get very hot

Their job can be very

Reflective fabric strips

The antenna transmits

the information about

the firefighter by radio

waves to a base station.

The information tells

the commander of the

unit whether he should

order the firefighters

to leave the scene of

the fire

Sensors woven into

the firefighters’ t-shirt

record their body

This was the start of fabric

Soon, fabric was used instead

of animal skins to make clothes.

900 years ago

The Arabs invented knitting

This was a way of making fabric using only one thread.

From weaving to knitting

The nose of this high-speed train is made of woven glass fibres that are heated to 50°C

Fibreglass can be made into any shape that engineers need It’s also lighter and stronger than steel Most importantly,

in a fire, fibreglass doesn’t burn This means firefighters and passengers are less exposed to dangerous fumes.

Goodbye metal bike! Cycli ng champions now ride bikes made of fa bric

Manufacturers weave a lon g tube using carbon fibres Then they he at the tube in

a mould with resin (a stick y, glue-like substance) Half an hour la ter they have

an 800g bike frame The sa me frame in steel would weigh 1.7kg.

shape means it has

less resistance to the

air, which means it

uses less electricity.

Fork = 1km of carbon fibres Frame = 3km of

carbon fibres

for a princess micro-capsules were attached to like in a fairy tale! When it was made, The colour of this dress changes, just

the fibres of the fabric The capsules contain a coloured chemical that becomes transparent when the temperature rises above 22°C So

in the summer, a pink dress with blue capsules stays blue in a cool house Outside in the sunshine, it turns pink!

Strong capsules change colour in the heat

Fragile capsules release perfume

to mask the smell

Curved surface so rain or snow run off it

Steel tension cables keep the roof stretched tight Valleys where water can run down

suit

This triathlete’s suit

was made using the latest

technology

l After swimming, it dries

in 5 minutes.

l During running or cycling,

it lets sweat escape.

l It supports muscles and

makes them more

Humans first wove fabric using plant fibres and

then animal hairs (such as wool) Today

researchers have discovered that spiders make

silk that’s stronger than steel They have

genetically engineered goats to produce hair

that can be made into a silk thread as strong as

a spider’s but in much greater quantities!

Surgeons will be able to use this thread to sew

blood vessels in humans.

Fabric around the thighs

is woven in such a way as

to grip the muscles so that they shake less and are stronger.

No more seams that rub against the skin!

The different parts of this suit are glued together.

Marion Mont

Chamo

Marie Curie?

She was a Polish chemist and

physicist who isolated radium in

1898 with her husband Radium

is a metal that gives off rays that

can cure cancer Marie Curie

received two Nobel prizes for

her work with radioactivity (she

invented this name) and she was

the first female professor at

the University of Paris.

a hendecagon?

Triangles have three sides, squares have four sides, pentagons have five sides and hexagons have six sides… All these geometrical shapes are polygons A hendecagon is a polygon with 11 sides.

Crocodile tears

Animal

If we say someone is crying crocodile

tears, it means they’re pretending to cry

their prey, tears run out of their eyes just

as the saliva runs out of their mouth

It happens automatically and has nothing

to do with them being sad.

Job: migrat ory sea bir d

Weight:

100g

What is

Rue des Arch

ives/M

Eva

Michel Beurt on

18

Words

When it’s time for the class photo,

the snail is always asked not to smile!

Got it?

“Be careful not to shoot the baby…” said the other man

The hunter was aiming at a mother chimpanzee whose baby was clinging to her tummy He fired Pow!

The mother had been hit and fell to the ground, protecting her baby with her arms She fell on her back with a thud

Scientists have been studying chimpanzees for

300 years They now know that chimps can learn to

understand the meaning of up to 250 different signs

They can give their keepers short orders, such as,

“Give banana” Today, by hitting the keys on a

special computer, chimpanzee X can communicate

with a human being and respond to complicated

orders, such as, “If X gives the soft toy an injection

and puts it on the second shelf, Paul will give him

Science Nature

“Good shot! She’s dead,” said the first man “The baby is groggy but alive Look, it’s a male See his face with those sticking-out ears?

He will be fine for the order from the Czechs! Put him in the bag.”

That’s how, three months later, the little chimp arrived at Prague Zoo in Czechoslovakia He was called Hurvinek after a puppet with funny ears on Czech television

Two or three years passed

Almost every Sunday, a

he was going

old boy called Vilem visited the zoo with his parents He liked the apes best, especially Hurvinek

In the chimp’s big cage there was a door a few metres off the ground that led to a smaller cage where he could sleep without being seen by the people visiting the zoo Sometimes Hurvinek grabbed the edge of the door,

p u l l e d h i m s e l f u p a n d disappeared

“See, Mum,,” said Vilem “Even

a gymnast couldn’t do that!”

© P Eglin

hen Vilem was 14 he went to the

zoo so often that all the keepers

and even the director knew who

he was He was allowed in for free

He still loved the apes and wanted

to understand them and be able

to communicate with them…

But Hurvinek ignored Vilem,

despite all the boy’s attempts to

make friends

Vilem complained, “I know he

recognises people because he

greets them by shouting

‘ooh-ooh’ He’s so annoying!”

The chimp may have been

annoying but he was also a clown!

When there was a crowd of people

he seemed to find funny

“Don’t think I don’t know what you’re up to,” thought Vilem smiling “I’m

sure you keep

a little stash of peelings so you have things to throw!”

Then one day, Hurvinek’s fur suddenly bristled as he grabbed

an apple core and threw it at Vilem, hitting him on the chest

People in the crowd burst out laughing The boy was really

One day Hurvinek threw an apple core

at Vilem, hitting him

on the chest.

W

We’re mammals of the order of primates Among primates, there are simians, which include old world monkeys (or tailed apes), and great apes or hominids (who don’t have tails) including orang-utans, gorillas, chimps, bonobos and human beings

Humans and apes: same family

25 million

years ago

12 million years ago

10 million years ago

6 million years ago

2 million years ago

Humans Bonobos

Chimpanzees Gorillas

Orang-utans Tailed apes

Science Nature

pleased “He aimed at me, straight

at me He recognises me!” thought

Vilem happily

That was how their friendship

began Vilem visited the chimp

often Hurvinek started greeting

him with little ‘ooh-ooh’ sounds

Vilem thought he was saying, “I

know you, but I’m not really

interested in you!”

When Vilem was 18 he was

still really interested in apes He

got the chance to do a student

work placement over the summer

at the zoo By this time, Hurvinek

had become an adult He was

1.20m tall and weighed 75kg But

he had contracted tuberculosis

Great apes can easily catch

human respiratory (breathing)

diseases Although the vet treated

Hurvinek, the chimpanzee didn’t

get better

All summer long, Vilem fed

him, looked after him and

cleaned out his cage… But he

never forgot that he was dealing

with a powerful wild animal He

had noticed that the keepers

never took hold of the chimps’

hands through the bars They only stroked the back of their hands so the chimps could not catch hold of theirs In zoos, more serious accidents happen with chimpanzees than with wild cats

One evening in August, Vilem found Hurvinek lying in his cage

He was almost completely still

The young man was worried about him and he went back to see the chimp before going home

To his surprise, Hurvinek stood

up, walked slowly towardsVilem on all fours and…

put his hand through the bars

Chimps’ hands are longer than ours Chimps are four times stronger than humans.

Chimp language

“ He gave the boy

a last look and lay down on his back ”

he young man looked at the

hand and then at the chimpanzee

who was gazing at him He

hesitated… but then decided to

take hold of it His heart beat fast

as Hurvinek’s hand was very

strong

For a second, Vilem thought,

“He’s going to pull my arm into

the cage! He will get me in the

end.”

But the sick chimpanzee just

held the young man’s hand for 20

seconds or maybe a minute

Vilem lost count Then Hurvinek

gently let go of his hand, looked

away and lay down on the ground

again

Vilem switched off the lights

and went home But he didn’t

sleep a wink He tossed and

turned in his bed At dawn, he

hurried back to the zoo

When he got to the monkey

house, he switched on the lights

a n d h e a d e d s t r a i g ht f o r

Hurvinek’s cage The chimpanzee

was still in the same position but

he was no longer breathing

Fifty years have passed Vilem left his country a long time ago

He became a journalist and a recognised expert in great apes

H e s t i l l wonders about Hurvinek’s last gesture “Did

he k now he was dying? Did he want to say goodbye to his friend? Would a chimp be capable of such a thing?” He often thinks about what happened and tears trickle down his face

T

© Cyril Ruoso

GEOATLAS® WORLD VECTOR - GRAPHI-OGRE® - France - 1997

25

Turn the page and pull out your poster

Howard Carter, an English archaeologist,

discovered Tutankhamun’s tomb in the Valley

of the Kings at Luxor.

This is the number of amazing items found in the

tomb They’re in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo.

This is the weight of Tutankhamun’s gold mask.

Pyramids around the world

China: 4500 bce

Egypt: 2650 bc e Peru: 2600 bce

Mexico: 600 ce

Canary Islands: period unknown, but probably relatively modern

Huge treasure for a small king…

Tutankhamun’s reign was not long – only ten years

But the many treasures found in his tomb were

fabulous Imagine what must have been in the tomb

of a great pharaoh, such as Ramses II… Unfortunately,

thieves knew what was in there too and everything

was stolen over the years, starting in ancient times

First coffin made of wood covered in gold leaf

Second coffin made of wood, decorated with gold and glass

Third coffin made of solid gold It weighs 11kg Tutankhamun’s mummy with gold mask

Pink stone sarcophagus

Rearing cobra and vulture

to protect the pharaoh and destroy his enemies

False beard, symbol of authority Necklace made of

of the god Amun’.

Tut