Official Kids Mag is specifically written for kids ages 5 to 12. It contains activities and stories ranging from kid heroes, cooking, gardening, STEAM, education, fun facts and much more every month.
Issue link: http://www.epageflip.net/i/1291417
18 A fluffy-tailed squirrel barks out a warning. Another squirrel nearby quickly stands up on its hind legs, freezes and scans the area for danger. This time there is no danger. The squirrel that barked is actually a robot squirrel named Rocky. Scientists are watching how other squirrels react to Rocky—and its noises and tail wagging— to find out what different sounds and body movements mean in "squirrel talk." Squirrels have teeth like their rodent COUSINS – mice, rats and hamsters. All rodents have four big teeth in the FRONT of their mouths. Two are on the top and two on the bottom. They are called incisors. These four incisor teeth keep GROWING throughout the squirrel's lifetime. Gnawing hard objects such as nuts and ACORNS keep the teeth from getting so big that the squirrel can't eat. ocky looks like a squirrel, not a robot. But it is a machine that scientists operate by remote control. Scientists can play recorded squirrel sounds through tiny speakers inside the robo-squirrel. They can also make the robo-squirrel's tail move. Sarah Partan, Assistant Professor of animal behavior at Hampshire College in Massachusetts, uses a robotic squirrel in order to observe squirrels in their natural environment, rather than in the artificial environment of a lab. Scientists like Professor Partan hope to learn more about how squirrels communicate. Tree squirrels bury nuts and seeds and use their keen sense of smell to find the buried food at a later date. Some of the nuts and seeds never get eaten and start to grow. In this way, squirrels help new plants to grow. Ground squirrels collect and stuff nuts and grains into pouches inside their cheeks. Then they take the food back to their burrows. Standards Link: Investigation: Students know that scientists and engineers often work in teams to accomplish a task. Squirrels live on all continents of the world, except two. Antarctica is one of them. Can you guess the other? Check your guess by using the code. Climb down from the top of this tree like a squirrel. A squirrel gnawed these words out of this paragraph. Where do they belong? How many acorns can you nd on this page in 60 seconds? Now have a friend try. Who found the most acorns? Official kids mag www.kidscoop.com Vicki Whiting October 2020