American Robin
The American Robin is one of the most popular species of birds, a regular visitor to front porches and in backyards. The Robin can be seen throughout North America and is recognizable by its gray head, orange underbelly (usually brighter in the male), and distinctive crescents around the eyes. During breeding season, adult males grow eye-catching black feathers on their heads; after the season is over, the plumes fall out (just like their middleaged male human counterparts). The Robin’s song sounds like a whistled musical phrase, sometimes described as “cheerily, cheer up, cheer up.”
Cool facts:
The American Robin is the state bird of Connecticut, Michigan, and Wisconsin. And there is a Crayola crayon color named after the color of the eggs: Robin’s Egg Blue.
Blue Jay
The Blue Jay, a large crested songbird, is immediately recognizable by its characteristic bold blue coloring. Blue Jays are intelligent, resourceful, and adaptable. They can imitate the sounds of hawks, driving off competitors for their food, and have a reputation for stealing the eggs and nests of smaller birds during breeding season.
Cool facts:
Male and female Blue Jays look the same. Blue Jays living in captivity have shown themselves to be capable of using tools, grabbing strips of newspaper to rake in food pellets just outside their cages.
Chickadee
There are five species of Chickadee in North America: the most common, the Black-Capped Chickadee, is found all over North America; the Carolina Chickadee is found in the southeast; the Mountain Chickadee is found in the Rockies; the Chestnut-Backed Chickadee is found along the Pacific coast; and the Mexican Chickadee is found in Arizona, New Mexico, and west and central Mexico. Chickadees are smaller than sparrows and very acrobatic. The Chickadee has two characteristic calls: one that sounds like “cheeeeeese bur-gers” and one that gives them their name: “chick-a-dee-dee-dee-dee.”
Cool facts:
The Black-Capped Chickadee hides seeds for later, and can remember thousands of hiding places. The bird’s seemingly simple calls are actually used to communicate sometimes complex information, such as identity or predator alerts, to other Chickadees.
Ruby-Throated Hummingbird
These tiny birds are the only species of hummingbird that breeds in eastern North America and are present as far north as New Brunswick, Canada. The birds hover at flowers, and their name derives from the humming sound emanating from their wings.
In the winter, the Ruby-Throated Hummingbird flies nonstop across the Gulf of Mexico to Central America. To fuel themselves for the journey, they eat so much that they double their body mass in the days before they leave. The Ruby-Throated Hummingbird has an iridescent green back; the males have a bright red throat and the females have a white throat. The female is also larger than the male.
Cool facts:
The Ruby-Throated Hummingbird beats its wings 53 times per second. Also, its legs are so short that is cannot walk or hop, only shuffle. But it manages to scratch its head by lifting its foot up and over its wing.
Red-Tailed Hawk
The Red-tailed Hawk is roughly the size of a small cat (22 inches long and 2 to 4 pounds). Categorized as raptors—birds of prey—they are meat eaters, or carnivores. They have hooked beaks; their feet have three toes pointed forward and one turned back; and their claws,
BIRDING TIPS FROM PETER CASHWELL
(author of The Verb ‘To Bird’)
1. Get up early. It’s good to get outside before sunrise if you want to see and hear birds with the fewest possible distractions (traffic, factory noise, etc.). You can keep birding all day, of course, but the early morning is the best time.
2. Learn a few common birds’ appearances well. They give you something to compare to the bird you saw. If you know the Robin cold, you can tell whether this bird was smaller than a Robin, or had a whiter belly, or had a thicker bill.
3. Set up a feeder or a birdbath. This brings birds into your yard where you can watch them up close and over a long time. You’ll probably also attract several different kinds of birds, which will help you with #2.
4. Bird with others. More experienced birders can show you all kinds of things you’d probably miss on your own, and most birders like to show less experienced birders the ropes. Even if it’s just you and a friend who doesn’t know much about birds, two sets of eyes will see more than one (and two sets of field marks will help you figure out what you saw).
5. Bird everywhere. You don’t have to be in a National Park to see unusual or interesting birds. Some will be at the beach, others in the city park, still others in your yard, and some in that empty lot across the road. Keep looking and you’ll see things everywhere.
or talons, are long, curved and very sharp. They can live as long as twenty-one years, though the more typical lifespan is about ten years. This variety of hawk is found throughout North America, from central Alaska and northern Canada to the mountains of Panama. It has a rasping scream that is most commonly voiced while soaring.
Cool facts:
A Red-Tailed Hawk’s eyesight is eight times as powerful as a human’s. A hawk kills its prey using its long talons; if the prey is too large to swallow whole, the hawk rips it into smaller pieces with its beak.
Mallard
The Mallard duck is found throughout North America and all across Eurasia, most noticeably in urban park ponds. It is the ancestor of almost all domestic duck breeds. Male Mallards have iridescent green heads, reddish chests, and gray bodies; the female is a mottled brown.
Cool facts:
Mallards are monogamous and pair up long before the spring breeding season. The males are loyal, but only the female incubates the eggs and takes care of the ducklings.
Red-Breasted Sapsucker
The Red-Breasted Sapsucker is common in the forests of the west coast, but rarely seen in the east. They are recognizable by their markings: red heads and breasts, and a prominent white stripe across black wings. Male and female Red-Breasted Sapsuckers look alike; younger birds are mottled brown but have white wing-stripes, just like the adults. These birds get their name from the way they eat: foraging for food by drilling horizontal rows of holes in tree trunks and later feeding on the sap and the insects drawn to it.
Cool facts:
Hummingbirds often make use of sapsucker feeding holes, nesting near them and following the sapsucker around during the day to feed at the sap wells it keeps active.
American Tree Sparrow
The American Tree Sparrow is actually not closely associated with trees, as it forages and nests on the ground. It is a common “backyard bird” found throughout southern Canada and the northern United States. The American Tree Sparrow is a small songbird, only 6 inches long, with a brown crown and eyestripe against a grey head, and a dark spot in the center of its breast.
Cool Facts:
In the summer months, the American Tree Sparrow eats only insects. In the winter it only eats seeds and other plant foods.
And now, a birding poem to inspire you:
A BIRD CAME DOWN THE WALK
By Emily Dickinson
A Bird came down the Walk—
He did not know I saw—
He bit an angle-worm in halves
And ate the fellow, raw.
And then he drank a Dew
From a convenient Grass
And then hopped sidewise to the Wall
To let a Beetle pass—
He glanced with rapid eyes
That hurried all abroad—
They looked like frightened Beads, I thought—
He stirred his velvet head
Like one in danger, Cautious,
I offered him a Crumb,
And he unrolled his feathers
And rowed him softer home—
Than Oars divide the Ocean
Too silver for a seam—
Or Butterflies, off Banks of Noon,
Leap, plashless as they swim.
Modern Wome
n Leaders
WHILE THE UNITED STATES has yet to elect a woman president, many other countries in the past 100 years have had women leaders.
Country Name Years in Office
Argentina President Isabel Martinez de Peron 1974-1976
Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheik Hasina 1996-2001
Bangladesh Prime Minister Khalida Zia 1991-1996
2001-2006
Bosnia-Herzogovina President Borjana Krišto Elected 2007
Botswana Paramount Chief Muriel Mosadi Seboko Elected 2003
Burundi Prime Minister Sylvie Kinigi 1993-1994
Canada Prime Minister Kim Campbell 1993
Central African Republic Prime Minister Elisabeth Domitien 1975-1976
Cherokee Nation Chief Wilma Mankiller 1985-1995
Chile President Michelle Bachelet Jeria Elected 2006
Dominica Prime Minister Mary Eugenia Charles 1980-1995
Finland President Tarja Halonen Elected 2000
France Prime Minister Edith Cresson 1991-1992
German Democratic Republic Chairman Sabine Bergmann-Pohl 1990
Germany Chancellor Angela Merkel Elected 2005
Guyana President Janet Jagan 1997-1999
Haiti Prime Minister Claudette Werleigh 1995-1996
Iceland President Vigdís Finnbogadóttir 1980-1996
India Prime Minister Indira Gandhi 1966-1977
1980-1984
Indonesia President Megawati Sukarnoputri 2001-2004
Ireland President Mary McAleese Elected 1997
Ireland President Mary Robinson 1990-1997
Israel Prime Minister Golda Meir 1969-1974
Jamaica Prime Minister Portia Simpson-Miller Elected 2006
Latvia President Vaira Vike Freiberga Elected 1999
Liberia Chairman Ruth Perry 1996-1997
Liberia President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf Elected 2005
Lithuania Prime Minister Kazimiera Danutė Prunskienė 1990-1991
Malta President Agatha Barbara 1982-1987
Mozambique Prime Minister Luísa Dias Diogo Elected 2004
New Zealand Prime Minister Jenny Shipley 1997-1999
New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark 1999-2007
Nicaragua President Violeta Barrios de Chamorro 1990-1997
Norway Prime Minister Gro Harlem Brundtland 1981, 1986-1989
1990-1996
Pakistan Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto 1988-1990
1993-1996
Panama President Mireya Moscoso 1999-2004
Peru Prime Minister Beatriz Merino 2003
The Philippines President Corazon Aquino 1986-1992
The Philippines President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo Elected 2001
Poland Prime Minister Hanna Suchocka 1992-1993
Portugal Prime Minister Maria de Lourdes Pintasilgo 1979-1980
Rwanda Prime Minister Agathe Uwilingiyimana 1993-1994
Sao Tome and Principe Prime Minister Maria do Carmo Silveira 2005-2006
Sao Tome and Principe Prime Minister Maria das Neves Ceita Baptista de Sousa 2002-2003
Seminole Nation Chief Betty Mae Jumper 1967-1971
Senegal Prime Minister Mame Madior Boye 2001-2002
South Africa Rain Queen Mokope Modjadji V 1981-2001
South Korea Prime Minister Han Myung-sook 2006-2007
Sri Lanka President Chandrika Kumaratunga 1994-2005
Sri Lanka Prime Minister Sirimavo Bandaranaike 1960-1965,
1970-1977,
1994-2000
Switzerland President Micheline Calmy-Rey 2007-2008
Switzerland President Ruth Dreifuss 1999-2000
Turkey Prime Minister Tansu Çiller 1993-1996
United Kingdom Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher 1979-1990
Yugoslavia Prime Minister Milka Planinc 1982-1986
Rules of the Game: Darts
DARTS is another game with a long history. The game is thought to have been invented by soldiers throwing arrows at the bottom of tree trunks or wooden casks. Modern dart boards are most commonly made of boar bristles or sisal fibers (or, in the case of Velcro dart games, felt). Playing darts takes some practice, and some math skills, but mostly it’s just fun to throw something across the room. Make sure you give annoying siblings and small animals a wide berth.
Setting up the board
A regulation board has a diameter of 18 inches and is divided by thin metal wire into 22 sections. Make sure to mount your dart board so that the center of the double bull (the bull’s-eye) is 5 feet 8 inches from the floor. Mark the toeline, called the oche (pronounced to rhyme with “hockey”), 7 feet, 9¼ inches from the face of the board.
Basic rules
To determine shooting order, each player shoots for the bull’s-eye. The one who comes closest gets to go first. Each turn consists of three darts, which must be thrown from behind the oche. For a throw to count, the point of the dart must touch the board. If a dart bounces off the board or misses it completely, it does not get a score (and also can’t be rethrown).
Scoring
The dart board is divided into wedges, with point values marked along the outer edge of the circle. Two rings overlap the playing area; landing outside these rings scores a player face-value points for that area of the board. Landing between the first inner ring and the second inner ring scores a player double the points for that section. Landing between the second inner ring and the bull’s-eye earns triple points. Hitting outside the outer wire scores nothing.
How to throw
First, aim. Look at the target you want to hit. Lift your arm up, bent at the elbow so that the sharp end of the dart faces the dartboard. The dart should be tipped slightly up. Check your aim and line up the dart with your sight line. Move the hand holding the dart back toward your body, then pitch the dart forward, releasing the dart and making sure to follow through with your arm. The optimal followthrough will end with your hand pointing at the target (not having your hand fall to your side). When throwing, try not to move your body—the throwing action should come from your shoulder.
PLAYING THE GAME: THE 301
The object of this game, which is most commonly played by two people, is to start with a score of 301 and count down to exactly zero. Each player has a three-throw turn, and the point value of their hits is subtracted from 301. A player can only start subtracting once they “double”—that is, hit one of the doubles on the board. Once that is accomplished, the scores will begin to count. If the total score of the three throws exceeds the remaining score for that player, the score returns to what it was at the start of the turn. A double must be hit to end the game.
PLAYING THE GAME: ROUND THE CLOCK
In this game, players take turns trying to hit each number, from 1 to 20. Each player has a threethrow turn; players advance to the next number on the board by hitting each number in order. The first person to get to 20 wins.
PLAYING THE GAME: CRICKET
This strategy game is typically played with two players, or two teams of two players each. To win at Cricket, a player must “close” the numbers 15 to 20 and the bull’s-eye before any other player, and must also have the highest point count. “Closing” a number means hitting it three times in one or more turns (hitting a single closes a number in three throws; hitting a double and then a single closes a number in two throws; and hitting a triple closes a number in a single throw). You don’t have to close numbers in any particular order—but you do want to close them before the other players.
To keep track of the score, you’ll need a scoreboard (a blackboard on the wall or a pen and pad of paper will work). Write out the numbers vertically for each player, from 20 down to 15, then “B” for bull’s-eye. Each player’s turn consists of three throws, and only darts that land in the numbers 15-20 or in the bull’s-eye count. (You don’t get points for hitting numbers 1-14.) Points start to accumulate once a number is closed, and are tallied as follows: the center of the bull’s-eye is worth 50 points and the outer ring of the bull’s-eye g
ets 25; numbers 15-20 are worth their face value, but landing in the doubles ring doubles the number’s value, and landing in the triple ring (the inner ring between the doubles ring and the bull’s-eye) triples it.
When a player hits a number once, you put a slash (/) by the number. When that number is hit a second time by a player, you turn the slash into an X. When that number is “closed,” or hit a third time, you draw a circle around the X. Once a number has been closed, if any player hits it, the points for that number go to the player who originally closed it. Once a number has been closed by all the players, no points are awarded for that number for the rest of the game. Total up the points after one player closes all her numbers plus the bull’s-eye, and the person or team with the highest number of points is the winner.
DART LINGO
Arrows: Darts
Bust: Hitting a number higher than you need to go out
Chucker: Indifferent thrower
Clock: Dartboard
Double In: Starting a game with a double
Double Out: Winning a game on a double
Hat Trick: Three bull’s-eyes
Leg: One game of a match
Slop: Hitting a number other than the intended
Trombones: A total turn score of 76 points
Wet Feet: Standing with your feet over the line
Math Tricks
EARLY IN THE LAST CENTURY, sometime between 1911 and 1918, a Hindu scholar and mathematician discovered ancient Indian scriptures outlining a series of mathematical formulas. This hitherto unexplored section of the ancient Indian Vedas, the sacred text written around 1500-900 BC, had been dismissed by scholars who had been unable to decipher any of the mathematics. But Sri Bharati Krishna Tirthaji dedicated himself to translating and examining the texts, and after years of study, he was able to reconstruct what turned out to be a unique system of aphorisms, or easily remembered rules, used to solve a range of mathematical problems from simple arithmetic to trigonometry and calculus. He called this “Vedic Mathematics,” playing on both meanings of the word veda, which essentially means “knowledge” but also refers to the ancient sacred literature of Hinduism, which dates back over 4,000 years. There are sixteen total sutras, or sayings, in Vedic math. The three discussed below will help in many of your everyday math problems: “By one more than the one before” (Ekadhikina Purvena); “All from 9 and the last from 10” (Nikhilam Navatashcaramam Dashatah); and “vertically and crosswise” (Urdhva-Tiryaghyham).
The Daring Book for Girls Page 22
