Indholdsfortegnelse for Issue 251 i National Geographic Kids (UK)

1452 Leonardo was born in the village of Vinci in central Italy, in the spring of 1452. Leonardo's father worked as a lawyer in the nearby city of Florence, and his mother was a poor young woman from the countryside. His parents were not married and so the boy grew up with his wealthy paternal grandparents in Vinci. Young Leo was a curious child, and he loved to spend time in nature. He saw patterns everywhere, and was overflowing with questions about how the universe worked… 1467 Around the age of 15, Leonardo left for Florence. It was time for him to learn a trade. At that time, because his mum and dad weren't married, he wasn't allowed to go to university. Instead, his father arranged for him to study…

BETTER LEATHER These shoes are ‘grown' by bacteria! Leather is a material that's made from animal skin. It's used to create lots of products, from shoes and handbags to furniture. But as well as harming animals, leather production isn't great for the environment. The chemicals used to preserve the animal skins pollute the water and air nearby, and they can make the leather workers sick. Plus, farmers cut down forests so the cows used for leather and meat have room to graze. But National Geographic Explorer Theanne Schiros is working on creating a sustainable ‘leather’ using bacteria!* Her trainers have a similar texture to real leather, are fully compostable, chemical free, zero waste and yet are still super strong. Step onwards to discover how Theanne's cool kicks come to life……

TOP TIP! If you get stuck on one of the clues, move on to some others. You can go back to it when you've got extra letters! EXTRA HARD! You might need to work with a grown-up on this one! ACROSS 1 Gemstone from an oyster (5) 4 Transparent. Also means ‘explained well’ (5) 7 Burn caused by hot liquid or steam (5) 10 Scrunch up paper so it's creased (7) 11 The pinky of your foot? (6, 3) 14 Show gratitude (5) 16 Polite way to address a man whose name you don't know (3) 17 Language spoken by the Ancient Romans (5) 19 Capital city of Thailand (7) 22 Exact copy of a living thing (5) 24 The period after sunset and before sunrise (5) 26 ‘_______ sports’. Risky and adventurous activities (7) 27 Eight-sided shape (7) 30 The opposite of…

Rare whales spotted! These are the first-ever photos of ginkgo-toothed beaked whales! Some of the deepest-diving mammals on Earth, no scientist had seen them alive before this pod was sighted in waters off Baja California, Mexico. The shy whales usually live far from coastlines and only surface to breathe for a few minutes at a time. So researchers had been using hydrophones (underwater microphones) to track their distinctive calls since 2020 – and in June 2024, they finally caught up with them! There are 24 known beaked whale species, but scientists know very little about them and they're hard to tell apart – the team had to get a DNA sample to confirm this sighting. Wow! World's largest spiderweb! Arachnophobes, look away now – researchers have discovered the world's largest…

IT'S BEHIND YOU! National Geographic photographers Jennifer Hayes and David Doubilet were diving off the coast of Cuba, when Jennifer suddenly heard a rapid burst of camera clicks and saw strobe lights flashing in the water. Click, click, click, click! “David was furiously trying to get my attention!” she says. “I turned around and saw this magnificent croc! Then it calmly swam away.” By pressing his camera shutter button to alert Jennifer of the danger, David also managed to capture this amazing photo! “We'd seen crocodiles, mangroves, coral and sharks almost every day,” says Jennifer. “But a croc had never come so close to us before!” The photographers were in a marine sanctuary called the Gardens of the Queen, where American crocodiles are used to humans diving and snorkelling nearby –…

The starry night sky might seem totally random to you. But when they looked up, ancient people imagined animals and other objects within the stars – a bit like a giant game of dot-to-dot. The Ancient Greeks named 12 of these star groups (constellations) after tales from their mythology. And sometimes they told stories about how the figures ended up in the sky. The name for each of these 12 constellations – called a zodiac sign – is the Latin word for what the constellation looks like, such as Leo, meaning ‘lion’. (Over the centuries, many people have used the Latin language to write things down, which is probably why those names for the zodiac signs have stuck.) As Earth orbits, the Sun appears in front of each constellation for about…

TREE GOATS Many goats found in southwest Morocco live the high life! Every summer, the argan trees in the region produce bitter-tasting fruit that the local goats love, so they climb the trees to reach the tasty treats. And bizarrely, their daredevil dining helps humans. When the goats come back down and poo out the nuts inside the argan fruit, people collect the nuts to create an oil that's used in hair products, moisturisers and foods. Er, yum?! VOLCANO SHARKS When scientists dropped a deep-sea camera into an active underwater volcano in the South Pacific Ocean, they were shocked to find three species of shark! Swimming in the crater near the Solomon Islands, the sharks were living in water that's way too hot and acidic for humans. Experts think the…

1. Skunk clownfish _____ 2. Leaf-tailed gecko _____ 3. Stone grasshopper _____ 4. Grey wolf _____ 5. Lion _____ 6. European hares _____ Answers on page 49…

A brown lemming cautiously steps out of its burrow into the 24-hour sunlight of the Arctic summer. The small, mouselike animal is right to be wary as it scampers around munching on short grass – there's a deadly hunter nearby! Golden eyes locked on the lemming, a male snowy owl swoops down from a rocky outcrop. Gliding just above the ground, he extends his legs and snatches the rodent in his long, black talons! Returning to the nest, the owl presents his mate with the freshly killed lemming, and she tears off bite-sized pieces to feed the seven fuzzy hatchlings nestled beside her. It's hard to believe these blind, helpless babies will one day be fearsome predators themselves – the youngest chick only weighs as much as eight grapes! It will…

Deodor-anteater! LESSER ANTEATER Cover your nose if you ever meet a lesser anteater on your travels around the forests of South and Central America – because they absolutely reek! Also known as tamanduas, their rancid pong isn't because they need a bath. It's actually an effectively whiffy weapon, used to send predators scarpering. If an enemy gets too close, the anteaters can spray their pungent ‘perfume’ (said to be four times more powerful than a skunk's!) at the attacker from a gland by their tails. Stink bomb! Yes, I'm cute. But only from a distance! Farting fishies! HERRING Breaking wind can clear a room, right? Well, meet some fish that fart (a lot!) to attract others! One of the world's most abundant fish, herring love to let one rip when…

ART ZONE! Hi Nat Geo Kids, I took care of my cousin's little hamster, Eda, while my cousin was on holiday, and I really enjoyed his company. I drew a picture of him for you, drinking water from his bowl. Zac, 7 • Aww, Eda looks very cute, Zac! Hi National Geographic Kids! I have drawn a creative poster about lions and how we can help them. I learnt so many new facts. I want people to see it and help save lions from extinction! Lily, 9 • Wonderful poster, Lily. Thanks for sharing it! Hello NGK! Drawing is my favourite hobby and lynx are one of my favourite animals, so I was inspired to draw one. I hope you like it. Reuben,8 • Grrr-eat pic, Reuben! COVER STARS! Names:…

NUMBER GRID Can you fit these figures into this grid? We've added some numbers to get you started! FACT OR FIB? Can you spot which of these sums are incorrect? DOLPHIN QUEST How many times can you find the word ‘DOLPHIN’ in this grid? Words can be written forwards, backwards and diagonally! MONKEY MIX-UP! Can you number these jumbled-up picture pieces, putting them in the correct order? Squirrel monkeys live in the forests of Central and South America. Answers on page 49 JEWEL JUMBLE Which two jewels only appear once on these pages? SPIRAL SAFARI Can you find these baby animal names hidden in the spiral? AROUND THE WORLD Fill in the missing letters to reveal the names of some countries! LINK IT Insert a word in each space so…