1. Inside the earth it gets 3 degrees hotter every 100m further
down.
2. The largest lake in the world i.e. the Caspian sea measures
about 980 km from North to South and 215 to 440 km in
breadth, with an area of 371,800 sq.km.
3. The deepest point in the crust is the Mariana's Trench in
the Pacific ocean which is 11km below sea level.
4. One of the driest places on earth, Africa, Chile in South
America gets an average rainfall of only about 0.5 mm.
5. The most destructive earthquake occurred in September, 1923
in Japan. 143,000 people lost their lives and the cost of the
damage was estimated at 1 billion pounds i.e. $30 billion or
Rs.120,000 crores.
6. The longest pipeline in the world is 2856km long and is used
for carrying crude oil. It runs from Edmonton, Canada to Buffalo,
USA.
7. The largest known uncut emerald is 5 cm long and 5 cm in
diameter.
8. Making a simple vase out of the precious stone- Jade, may
take more than two years of work.
9. The amount of gold in all the oceans together is estimated
to be as much as 10 thousand million tonnes.
10. Less than 1 gram of gold can be beaten into a sheet of
nearly 2 sq.mt.
11. The largest hailstone ever, was found in Kansas, USA. It
was the size of a melon, 19cm wide and weight 758gms.
12. The Great Barrier Reef off the coast of Australia is 2000km
long and covers an area of 250,000sq-km. It has been constructed
by stony corals over a period of 600 million years and supports
more life than any other habitat on earth.
| Facts about
Animals & Birds |
1. Bees beat their wings 200 times per
second.
2. Swifts fly non-stop for their first two or
three years until they are old enough to breed. They eat and drink
while flying.
3. The largest flying animal ever was a
prehistoric reptile, Quetzalcoallus Northropi which lived 65
million years ago. It had a 12m wingspan, the width of a two
seater airplane.
4. Eagles have the best eyesight of all
animals and can spot a hare from 3 km away.
5. Arctic terns fly a distance of 35,000km
while going from the Arctic to the Antarctic and back.
6. Fish hear through their bodies.
7. The loudest animal in the world is the
Blue Whale. It can make sounds as loud as 188dB, that can be
picked up 850 km away.
8. Electric eels store enough energy in their
tails to light up 12 light bulbs. A shock from it could kill a
person.
9. Leeches vary from a size of 25 cm to 1
metre.
10. Grasshoppers hear with their legs, waving
them in the air to tell where a sound is coming from.
11. The arrow-poison frog in South America is
very brightly coloured and is one of the most poisonous animals in
the world.
12. Snakes do not have ears and cant hear
sounds through air. They pick up low sounds through the ground.
13. A particular breed of snakes, called
Rattle snakes can see heat and can find and catch their prey even
in the dark.
14. The fastest land animal in the world is
the cheetah, which can run faster than 100 kmph. It can accelerate
from 0 to 70 kmph in about 2 seconds.
1. Tiny plants called plankton live in the sea and
make nearly three quarters of the earth's oxygen. The biggest is
about 1mm across and the smallest is about 50 times smaller.
2. The tallest tree is the giant redwood called
the Founder's tree, growing in the Humboldt National Forest,
California, and is over 110mts high.
3. Some of the Sequoia trees in the USA are more
than 4000 years old.
4. The kelp seaweeds along the Atlantic coast grow
as long 6 mts, and the giant kelp of the pacific coast is even
longer.
