National Geographic Kids USA - 03 2019

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NATGEOKIDS.COM • MARCH 2019
COOL
BOOK
GIVEAWAY
G orilla
Talk S
WHY THESE APE SAY
HAVE A LOT TO
CAT DOES TRICK
FUN
COMIC
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Editor in Chief and Vice President,

Kids Magazines & Digital
Rachel Buchholz
Vice President, Visual Identity
Eva Absher-Schantz
Design Director, Magazines Eileen O’Tousa-Crowson
Editorial Kay Boatner, Senior Editor / Digital Producer;
Allyson Shaw, Associate Editor / Digital Producer
Photo Shannon Hibberd, Senior Photo Editor;
Hillary Leo, Contributing Photo Editor
Production Sean Philpotts, Director
Digital Laura Goertzel, Director;
Tirzah Weiskotten, Video Manager IN THIS ISSUE
PUBLISHED BY NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC PARTNERS, LLC 12 How to Speak Gorilla
Chief Executive Officer Find out the surprising ways these apes communicate.
Gary E. Knell
Chairman of the Board of Directors
Peter Rice
Executive Vice President and General Manager, DEPARTMENTS
National Geographic Media
David Miller Dare to Explore
20 D 4 Weird
Senior Vice President, Kids Media, Content F Nat Geo explorers
Five But True!
Jennifer Emmett share secrets about 5 Incredible Animal
communicating with Friends
Advertising Offices Kim Connaghan, Vice President, Publisher
(212) 822-7431; Detroit Karen Sarris(248) 368-6304; the world. 6 Guinness
West Coast Eric Josten(424) 292-5715 World Records
International Magazine Publishing Yulia Petrossian Boyle, 7 Bet You Didn’t Know!
Senior Vice President; Jennifer Jones, Business Manager;
Rossana Stella, Editorial Manager
8 By the Numbers
10 Amazing Animals
Finance Jeannette Swain, Senior Budget Manager;
Tammi Colleary-Loach, Senior Manager, Rights Clearance; 24 S
Sneak Peek! 28 Fun Stuff
Pinar Taskin, Contracts Manager C
Check out a chapter
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FUN
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The Falcon’s Feather.
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Parents, contact us online: [email protected]
26 30
3 Cool
Things About
T
COVER: SUZI ESZTERHAS / MINDEN
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Please recycle. Follow us on Twitter@NGKids and like us on Facebook.
Grab a parent to
watch Fast Facts for even
Check out these more crazy-fun facts.

youtube.com/natgeokids
outrageous facts.
BY JEFFREY WANDEL
twine in Kansas
A ball of
weighs more than
can
19,000 pounds
and could stretch halfway
across the United States.
Giraffes
have
be very
high
GREEN, BLOOD
BLUE, or PRESSURE
to pump
RED. blood
up
their
LONG
The Earth spins so NECKS.
FAST that someone
standing at the
EQUATOR A rattlesnake’s
rattle
is made of
the same
would be traveling at about

1,000 MILES is the
321 d
area code for fingernails.
material
as your
where the space shuttle

an hour. used to blast off in Florida.
The The average
NASA (SPACE SHUTTLE); © BURKE / TRIOLO / BRAND X PICTURES / JUPITERIMAGES (BANANA)

offspring American
MARK THIESSEN / NG STAFF (GLOBE); © TODD PUSSER / MINDEN PICTURES (WHOLPHIN);
of a whale and a Humans can make

eats
dolphin is a about
10,000
DIFFERENT
facial
expressions.
5,000
wholphin. bananas
in a lifetime.
4 NAT GEO KIDS • MARCH 2019

CHECK OUT
THIS BOOK!
INCREDIBLE
ANIMAL
A NIM
MAL FRI
FRIENDS
IEN
NDS
S BY SARAH YOUNGSON
BABY CHEETAH GETS PET DOG

LABRADOR Tampa Bay, Florida
RETRIEVER Whenever Kasi the cheetah wanted Mtani the Labrador CHEETAH
retriever’s attention, he chirped like a baby bird. Mtani
HEIGHT 21 to 24 inches responded by chasing Kasi’s tail. “They absolutely loved HEIGHT 24 to 36 inches
WEIGHT 55 to 80 pounds spending time together,” says zoologist Mike Boos of WEIGHT 75 to 145 pounds
ORIGIN Newfoundland, Busch Gardens Tampa Bay, where the friends lived. RANGE Africa and part
The animals were introduced shortly after Kasi was
Canada of the Middle East
abandoned by his mother. Caregivers brought over Mtani from
CLAIM TO FAME With an animal shelter and began supervising playdates for the pair. CLAIM TO FAME These
webbed feet and strong The duo spent most of their days cuddling, rolling around in the super-speedy cats can
tails, Labs are great swim- grass of the park’s cheetah habitat, and playing tug-of-war with go from zero to 60 miles
mers. They were first bred stuffed animal toys. They even shared a large pillow when they an hour in just three
to retrieve fishing nets snoozed, with Kasi often falling asleep right on top of Mtani! If the seconds. Their 30-inch-
from the water. cheetah was ever separated from his Lab friend, he chirped until long tails help them stay
the dog returned. balanced during sprints.
FUN TO KNOW Some Labs Thee buddies even traveled the countr
country with their keepers,
work with rescue teams helping teach people about endangered animals such as cheetahs. FUN TO KNOW Cheetahs
to save people trapped by Says Boos, “These two were meant to be friends for life.” need to drink only once
avalanches, floods, or other every three to four days.
natural disasters.
A
LITTLE
LESS
S BBER,
LO
PLEASE!
MATT MARRIOTT / BUSCH GARDENS TAMPA BAY (BOTH)
MARCH 2019 • NAT GEO KIDS 5

GUINNESS
WORLD
RECORDS BY ALLI DICKEEY
THIS GUY
ROCKS
H ow do you stay awake while rocking in a rocking chair
for 75 hours and three minutes? If you’re Suresh
CAT BALANCES
Joachim, who holds the record for the longest time rock-
ing in a rocking chair, you talk to your family, play guitar,
and read about golf. And you definitely don’t listen to
any lullabies!
DICE
C at’s got your tongue—er, dice? Bibi the cat holds
the title for the most dice stacked on a cat’s paw,
balancing 10 on one paw. Bibi’s owner, Siew Lian Chui,
achieved the feat by carefully stacking the dice on
the feline’s paw while Bibi relaxed on the floor. In
addition to balancing objects, the kitty can also grasp
13 playing cards with one paw. Now someone just
needs to teach him how to play Go Fish.
Romania’s Palace
nt
of the Parliame t
h
has 20 floors, eig
of which are
underground.
HEAVY N ot even Superman could lift this building. The Palace of the Parliament in
Romania’s capital city of Bucharest weighs … wait for it … over one trillion
PALACE
pounds. That’s more than twice the weight of the Empire State Building. The
structure—made of steel, bronze, marble, glass, and wood—took 13 years to
build. How do you say “Whoa!” in Romanian?

GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS (JOACHIM, BIBI); OLLIRG / SHUTTERSTOCK (PALACE);
INFORMATION PROVIDED BY © 2019 GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS LIMITED.
uplifting facts
about flight BY ALLIE BENJAMIN
AND SHARON THOMPSON
2
The The record
first nonstop for the most
balloon flight parachute
around the world took jumps
in 24 hours is
19 days, 21 hours,
and 55 minutes. 640.
3 CHECK
OUT
Bullfrogs
THE
BOOK!
have traveled
into
space.
4
Daredevil 5
David “The Bullet” One airline
Smith has been
allowed
shot out of a only pets as
cannon passengers.
more than
8,000
times.
STR OLD / REUTERS MARCH 2019 • NAT GEO KIDS 7

GOT SPACE JUNK?

Although we don’t see space junk in the sky, it’s there.
Millions of pieces of debris are floating around Earth
just beyond the clouds, farther than the eye can see.
Read on to find out what’s up there.
FROM
THE
PAGES
OF
1965
20,000+
Year astronaut Ed White lost one of
his gloves during a space walk
Pieces of debris larger than a

softball orbiting Earth
MILLIONS
Pieces of debris that are so small
they can’t be tracked

CHECK
OUT THIS
O
OOK!
BO
BY JULIE BEER AND MICHELLE HARRIS
500 MILES
Distance most space junk floats
above Earth’s surface
17,500 MPH
Speed that objects travel through space. At this high
speed, even the tiniest piece of junk can be a
serious hazard. Space shuttle windows have been
damaged by pieces as small as a fleck of paint!
500,000
9
Pieces of debris the size of
a marble or larger
Number of telescopes the United States Air Force

uses to track objects floating in space
MARCELCLEMENS / SHUTTERSTOCK (EARTH); SOMCHAI SOM / SHUTTERSTOCK (MOON); PISAGOR / DREAMSTIME

(GLOVES); AFRICA STUDIO / SHUTTERSTOCK (SOFTBALL); © PICSTUDIO / DREAMSTIME (MAGNIFYING GLASS); YOBRO10 /
DREAMSTIME (PAINT CAN); ELISABETH BURRELL / DREAMSTIME (MARBLE); JEFEATHERSTON / DREAMSTIME (TELESCOPE) MARCH 2019 • NAT GEO KIDS 9
NEXT
ME I WANT
TIM
TO S
STAY AT A
TRROPICAL
RESORT.
Polar B
Checks
Svalbard, Norway
What
What’ss the best part of staying at a
hotel? If you’re a polar bear, it’s the
free breakfast!
When Malin Stark arrived one
In
morning to the Arctic hotel she manages,
she heard an odd rustling sound coming
from inside a storage room. Apparently a
polar bear had broken in the night
before and was trapped inside! The door
had closed while the bear was scarfing
down two bags of food scraps and some
dark chocolate. “It just did what bears
do—followed its nose,” polar bear
expert Tom Smith says.
Thinking quickly, Stark called the local
government for help. But the sound of
the rescue helicopter was enough to
convince the bear to free itself. So it
squeezed through a small window and
headed back to the wild. Guess this bear
won’t be ordering room service.
—Alli Dickey
HELICOPTER
1 3
“NO NEED TO
HELP, OFFICER!
2 “DON’T WORRY—
I CAN GET OUT I’LL LEAVE A
OF HERE BY “I WISH I’D GOOD HOTEL
MYSELF.” EATEN LESS REVIEW!”
CHOCOLATE.”
POLAR BEAR
GRAB A PARENT AND WATCH A VIDEO ABOUT A GIRAFFE HOTEL IN THE SERIES
WACKIEST PLACES AROUND THE WORLD! natgeokids.com/youtube
10 NAT GEO KIDS
YOU
SHOULD SEE
ME WITH A
RUBIK’S
CUBE.
g
LET’S
u i d i n
HOOF IT
G
TOGETHER.
Horse Octopus
Unties
Knots
Williamston, Michigan
As she walked down the street,
Mona Ramouni was accompanied
by an unusual crossing guard—a
mini horse named Cali. The animal False Bay, South A rica
let Ramouni know when they’d This octopus must have big brains—
reached a curb by tapping her and an even bigger appetite. The
hoof three times and wouldn’t animal figured out how to untie
move forward until it was safe wires holding down a canister of
for them both to cross. Ramouni food so it could get the grub.
is blind, and it was Cali’s job to lead Hoping to attract and observe
her everywhere a guide dog would. fish, scientists had tied a sardine-
The two-and-a-half-foot-tall filled container to a metal pole
Cali had months of training before and lowered it to the seafloor. Fish
becoming a guide horse. Then immediately swarmed the area. Then
she helped Ramouni navigate the octopus glided over. It wound its
busy streets, guided Ramouni to strong arms around the knots and
classes at her university, and stood pulled until they became loose. When
patiently by her owner’s desk during one knot was too tight, the cephalo-
the lessons. At the grocery store, pod cut it with its sharp-as-scissors
she located the aisles Ramouni beak. The octopus even had an arm
needed to visit. “Cali made sure I to spare to fend off a catshark that
got my favorite soda by guiding my was also trying to score some chow!
hand to the right bottle,” she says. Once the octopus freed the con-
Miniature horses are as smart as for. Cali did demand one luxury: She liked tainer, it swam off with its prize. “We
dogs, and since they live longer, they getting her hooves trimmed. “Cali worked were floored,” says marine biologist
can work with their owners for many hard,” Ramouni says. “She deserved the spa Lauren de Vos, whose team set up
more years. They’re also easy to care treatment!” —Elisabeth Deffner the canister and watched the heist.
“But these animals are smart and
skilled with their arms—and a snack
is great motivation.”
—Elisabeth Deffner
HORSE
Williamston, THE OCTOPUS
Michigan NABS ITS
TASTY SNACK.
POLAR BEAR
Svalbard, Norway
OCTOPUS
False Bay,
South Africa
OUTDOORSMAN / SHUTTERSTOCK (POLAR BEAR, MAIN); MALIN STARK (POLAR BEAR ESCAPING, ALL); AP PHOTO /
CARLOS OSORIO (MONA AND CALI, BOTH); RAIMUNDO FERNANDEZ DIEZ / GETTY IMAGES (OCTOPUS, TOP); LAUREN
DE VOS (UNIVERSITY OF CAPE TOWN) / SAEON / SAVE OUR SEAS FOUNDATION (OCTOPUS, BOTTOM)
HO W TO
AK
SPE LA
GO RIL ur pris in g wa ys
Five s ese apes
th icate
u n
comm
» BY JAMIE KIFFEL-ALCHEH
Keepers entering the gorilla enclosure at the Columbus Zoo in
Ohio often hear a noise that sounds like a babbling human. But
it’s just Mac, a western lowland gorilla. The ape greets his care-
givers by making long, low grumbling sounds, gorilla-speak for
“Hi, there!” When keepers exit the area in the evening, he makes
a similar sound as if to say “Good night.”
Mac isn’t just making noise. Gorillas like him have things to
say. And if you pick up a little gorilla language, you just might
understand them.
“Apes are excellent communicators,” Columbus Zoo curator
Audra Meinelt says. And sound isn’t the only way gorillas “talk.”
They use movements and even body odor to get their point
across. It’s no wonder experts think gorillas are among the most
advanced animal communicators after humans. Here are five
stories to help you decide. YOU
CAN DO
THIS!
1 “You’ve Got This.”

Fasha the wild mountain gorilla had gotten her foot caught in a
poacher’s trap in the forests of Rwanda, a country in Africa. She
managed to escape but was unable to keep up with her troop(what
researchers call a group of gorillas). But Icyororo the gorilla wasn’t
leaving her friend behind. Arms linked, they made their way from
rock to rock, crossing a river together. Every few minutes Icyororo
turned around and patted Fasha as if to say, “We’re almost there.”
When the pals reached the other side, Icyororo gave Fasha a hug.
“Gorillas can encourage their loved ones,” says Veronica Vecellio of
the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund. “Icyororo was telling Fasha: ‘You did it!’”

IBRAHIM SUHA DERBENT / GETTY IMAGES (MAIN); JORDI GALBANY / DIAN
FOSSEY GORILLA FUND INTERNATIONAL (FASHA AND ICYORORO, ALL)
KING KONG’S LOL, OK,

NO MATCH LIL’ GUY.
FOR ME!
A BABY MOUNTAIN GORILLA

IN RWANDA PLAYS WHILE
THE ADULTS IN THE GROUP
TAKE A BREAK FROM EATING.
WE’RE
ALMOST BRING IT
IN, BUDDY. ¬BFFS!
THERE.

A YOUNG MOUNTAIN
GORILLA IN THE
DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC
2
OF THE CONGO REACHES
FOR A CAMERA.
“What’s In It For Me?”
Nia, a western lowland gorilla, was excited when
she discovered a new “toy”—a plastic cup—had
been added to her habitat at the Columbus Zoo.
When zookeepers came to replace the cup with
another toy, Nia wouldn’t give it up. So Nia’s keepers
offered her a treat as a reward. Nia gave up the
cup—and realized that things she finds in her
habitat can be valuable. The next time Nia found a
cup in her space, the gorilla broke it into several
pieces and only gave the keepers one piece at a
time … in exchange for a treat after every piece!
Other gorillas at the zoo caught on to Nia’s
trick. “They’ll hold out an item they think we
might want, but not all the way,” zookeeper
Heather Carpenter says. “If we try to get it,
they’ll pull it back like, ‘Not so fast!’ Their actions
are telling us that they’ll give us what we want—
but only when we offer something they want.”
A WESTERN LOW-
LAND GORILLA
GOOFS OFF IN ITS Gorilla purrs, coughs, and hums
ZOO ENCLOSURE. can mean anything from “Hello”
to “Stay back!” Here’s a GORIL
translation of some of their LA
most frequently used sounds.
TALK
TRANSLATION
A long, low
grumble
“Hey,
3 “Help!”
there.”
HOO,
Anthropologist Kelly Stewart wanted HOO, HOO!
“Help!
to see how the wild mountain gorillas I’m lost!”
she was observing would react to her
new gorilla T-shirt. But when she
opened her jacket to reveal the shirt A purr-
like
to a young female, Simba, the gorilla huuuuuh “I’m having
screamed—a sound that means “I’m fun!”
scared!” in young gorilla. And that told
the older troop members that Simba
needed help. The group’s leader, Uncle
A cough-
Bert, barreled toward Stewart with a like
deep roar. Stewart quickly covered her grunt “Back off!”
shirt and stepped away from Simba,
who stopped screaming. Uncle Bert
backed off once Simba was quiet—the A soft
little gorilla was OK now that the unfa- uh-hum, “Everything’s
miliar “gorilla” was gone. “I never wore uh-hum good.”
that T-shirt again!” Stewart says.

A WESTERN LOWLAND GORILLA

AT THE DALLAS ZOO GETS A
WHIFF OF SOMETHING GROSS.
5
“Follow Me.”
Kighoma the eastern lowland gorilla is the (They’re called, well, silverbacks.) And
leader of his troop in the Democratic they’re often belching!
Republic of the Congo, a country in Africa. “It sounds like ‘na-oom,’ kind of like a
It’s easy to spot the gorilla in charge, throat clearing. It means, ‘I’m over here,’ ”
according to Sonya Kahlenberg of the Kahlenberg says. “And whenever Kighoma
Gorilla Rehabilitation and Conservation is ready to move, he’ll make that grum-
Education Center. Adult male leaders are bling sound and the other gorillas know
identified by the silver fur on their backs. to follow him.”
4
“I’m Not
Happy.”
When zookeepers at the Dallas Zoo in
Texas smell a gym-sock-like odor, they
know it’s time to do an extra check on
the gorillas. The smell comes from the
A SILVERBACK MOUNTAIN
apes’ armpits, and it means they’re GORILLA IN RWANDA
upset. “We have a group of adult males LEADS HIS TROOP.
that get along most of the time,” says
Keith Zdrojewski, curator of primates
and carnivores. “But they occasionally
have disagreements. We can tell when
they’re upset from the smell.”
SAVING GORILLAS
In the wild, male gorillas emit the Wild gorillas are in danger. These great 1 Recycle your cell phone.
odor as a way of saying “Back off!” to apes are threatened by people who Most cell phones contain a mineral called
other males that threaten to take destroy their habitats to mine minerals coltan, which often comes from gorilla
charge of their group. At the zoo, the and by poachers who kill them for meat. forests in Africa. “The more technology we
gorillas can make a stink for other Here’s what you can do to protect these create, the more we destroy their habitat,”
reasons too. “The smell might also endangered animals. says Keith Zdrojewski, curator of primates
mean a squirrel entered their exhibit,” and carnivores at the Dallas Zoo. “Recycling
Zdrojewski says. “Either way, they’re means we can mine less.”
saying that something’s not quite
right in the enclosure.” 2 Hold on to your tech longer.
Though it’s tempting to get the latest tech-
nology when it’s released, keeping your old
AFRICA
gadgets as long as possible means less
AT L A N T I C INDI AN
OC EAN OCEAN coltan needs to be mined from gorillas’ land.
NIGERIA
CENTR
N
AFRIC 3 Write to your lawmakers.

OO
REPUBL
ER
Send a letter to your representatives and

CAM
EQUATORIAL
GUINEA UGANDA ask them to raise awareness for the Great
Ape Conservation Fund, which provides
NGO
GABON
ATLANTIC
OCEAN DEMOCRATIC
money and support to great ape habitats
CO
REPUBLIC
OF THE CONGO RWANDA
CABINDA
(ANGOLA)
around the world.
Where gorillas live WATCH MORE APES IN ACTION!

natgeokids.com/march
ERIC BACCEGA / NPL / MINDEN PICTURES (2); STONE SUB / GETTY IMAGES
(3); ABZERIT / ISTOCK / GETTY IMAGES (GORILLA 101); COURTESY DALLAS
ZOO (4); MARTIN HALE / FLPA / MINDEN PICTURES (5); SUZI ESZTERHAS /
MINDEN PICTURES (SAVING GORILLAS); MARTIN WALZ (MAP) MARCH 2019 • NAT GEO KIDS 15
I’VE
HIT MY
STRIDE.
MO RE
I
AN KM A
TAL
» BY ALINE ALEXANDER NEWMAN

Can you speak squirrel? How about hippopotamus? Talking to
animals isn’t just for Dr. Dolittle. In fact most peopple can learn
to do it. Reading animals’ body language is one wayy. Another
trick is to teach animals human-speak—in the forrm of words,
symbols, sounds, or gestures.
It’s usually easier to teach animals to understand us than it
is to get them to say things. But sometimes the huuman-animal
bond is so strong that something like a conversation i hhappens.
Check out four true stories about chatting with animals.
I’LL NEVER
FORGET
UNLEASHED
MISBEHAVE? PLAYTIME.
WHO, ME?
Harrison Forbes couldn’t figure out why his

dog, PJ, kept getting into fights while on
walks with his mom. Whenever the 13-year-
old took the American Staffordshire terrier
out, the pooch would meet up with a neigh-
bor’s Rottweiler to play. But when his mom did
the same thing, PJ would pick a fight with the
Rottweiler. Forbes was stumped.
Then he discovered his mom was terrified
of Rottweilers. Without knowing it, his mother
tensed every time she met one. And PJ picked
up on that fear. “A leash is like an electric
power cord,” says Forbes, now a radio show
host. “Your feelings travel straight to the dog.”
Once Forbes’s mother learned to relax
around the Rottweiler, PJ calmed down too.
Now that’s a good boy.

OUND
When an upset horse charged Dennis Wriight, the animal communicator knew what
to do. Horses communicate with their boodies—so Wright did too.
First, he threw up his arms to mimic a reearing stallion and yelled. Spooked, the horse
thundered away, and Wright moved into his spot. This made Wright the alpha horse, or
leader. As the panicked horse circled, Wright didn’t chase or lasso him. Instead, Wright
raised one hand and turned his back, showiing trust. “That horse wasn’t crazy,” Wright
says. “He was lonely for his herd and aafraid.” By acting the way horses behave with DID
each other, Wright made the aanimal feel safe. The horse eventually ap- SOMEONE
SAY “FRESH
proached Wright, andd the two walked away together as friends. FISH”?
TRUNK TALK TREATS, PLEASE

Shanthi the elephant wanted to go outside and
play. But she was locked inside her enclosure. So
how could she tell her keepers what she wanted? Josephine the bottlenose dolphin liked her fish frozen.
Behavioral biologist Karen Pryor of Watertown, Taught to press a paddle whenever she heard a certain
Massachusetts, found out when she tried to train sound, she earned 25 treats in a row. But one day something
the elephant. Shanthi cooperated at first. Then happened. Josephine ignored 25 straight dings. She didn’t
she suddenly dropped the sweet potato Pryor had flap her tail. She just stubbornly refused to participate. “I
given her as a reward during training and poked didn’t know what was wrong,” says Ronald J. Schusterman,
her trunk out through the side of her enclosure. a marine biologist at the University of California at Santa
“She kept looking back and forth, from me to Cruz. Finally, he asked a student to check the fish machine.
where her trunk was,” Pryor says. Unsure what It was working fine, but ... ew! The fish were sunbaked and
she wanted, Pryor and a zookeeper followed the about as appetizing as warm ice cream.
elephant’s gaze—and saw that her trunk was
Josephine watched as the student replaced the warm fish
gripping the fist-size padlock that kept Shanthi
securely in her enclosure. with frozen ones. Schusterman hit the sound button, and
“Her message was clear,” Pryor says. They un- the dolphin zoomed right over and pressed the paddle. “It
locked the door, and the playful pachyderm spread took a very bright animal to figure out how to signal that
her ears and bounded out into the yard. something was wrong,” Schusterman says.
EASTERN LIGHT PHOTOGRAPHY / SHUTTERSTOCK (HORSE); SBOLOTOVA / SHUTTERSTOCK (DOG); JESSIE COHEN / SMITHSONIAN’S
NATIONAL ZOO (ELEPHANT); TORY KALLMAN / SHUTTERSTOCK (DOLPHIN). WOODSTOCK / GETTY IMAGES (KOALA, PAGES 18-19) MARCH 2019 • NAT GEO KIDS 17
Koalas sleep about 20 hours a day in their tree homes of Australia. When awake, males let loose a loud burp-
and-snore combo to scare off rivals. Koalas have extra-furry rumps to help cushion them on branches.
TOPHER WHITE PREPARES

TO MOUNT A LISTENING
DARE TO
DEVICE TO A TREE THAT
WILL HELP NAB ILLEGAL
LOGGERS ON THE GROUND.
EXPLORE From listening to animals to reading the stars, five Nat Geo
explorers share secrets about communicating with the world.
BY C.M. TOMLIN

THE ENGINEER
Topher White attaches
“Don’t be afraid
recycled cell phones to trees
to take things
in remote rain forests around
apart. Play with FROM LEFT: ASTRONOMERS
HALEY FICA, MUNAZZA
the world, hoping to pick up
them, see how ALAM, AND SARA CAMNASIO
the sounds of illegal loggers. STAND IN FRONT OF A
they work, and 21-FOOT-WIDE TELESCOPE
He describes trying to work
experiment on IN CHILE.
while being swarmed by bees.
your own.”
“Even though the forests can
be home to illegal loggers,
sometimes what’s going on in the treetops is scarier than THE ASTRONOMER
what’s on the ground. One time I was installing a phone,
and bees kept landing on me. Eventually I was completely Munazza Alam searches
covered with them! But I had to finish the job, even if it the sky for a planet that
meant getting a lot of bee stings. humans could live on one day.
“The phones I place each have an app that turns the She discusses her hunt for
phone into a listening device. They capture all the sounds what she calls the “Earth Twin.”
of the rain forest. Listening to this noise can help us pick
out the sounds of things like chain saws and logging “I spend a lot of my nights at
trucks. If we can pinpoint the sounds of illegal logging, we observatories atop mountain
TYLER ROEMER (WHITE, MAIN AND PROFILE); COURTESY RAINFOREST CONNECTION (WHITE PLACING DEVICE ON TREE); JACQUELINE FAHERTY /
NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC IMAGE COLLECTION (ALAM, MAIN); RANDALL SCOTT / NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC IMAGE COLLECTION (ALAM, PROFILE)
can instantly send alerts to local authorities and tribes, ranges using high-resolution
who are then able to stop illegal loggers on the spot. In a telescopes that are sometimes “If you have a
way, the trees are telling us when they need help.” the size of a school bus. I’m curiosity, don’t
observing faraway planets out- let that flame
WANT TO BE AN ENGINEER? side our solar system called go out. Never
exoplanets. By analyzing these let go of that
exoplanets, I hope to discover if enthusiasm,
STUDY Mathematics, physics any of them have atmospheres
WATCH The documentary series The Trials of Life because it will
similar to Earth that people inspire you
READ The Wild Trees by Richard Preston could one day survive in. You forever.”
could say I’m searching for
Earth’s twin.
“An ‘Earth Twin’ would be a rocky planet with tempera-
tures that would support liquid water. We haven’t found
WHITE ATTACHES A one yet, but I do think we’re getting closer. The more we
DEVICE TO A TREE
IN INDONESIA, study the stars and their planets, the more we can under-
A COUNTRY IN
SOUTHEAST ASIA. stand what they’re like. As an astronomer, it’s my job to
keep examining the sky in the hopes that it’ll reveal new
things about our galaxy and beyond.”
WANT TO BE AN ASTRONOMER?
STUDY Physics, astronomy

WATCH Zathura: A Space Adventure
READ The Magic School Bus: Lost in the Solar System
by Joanna Cole

THE MARINE BIOLOGIST ARI MARTINEZ

EXAMINES A
DYEING POISON
Shane Gero spends time with FROG IN FRENCH
the sperm whale community in GUIANA, A COUN-
TRY IN SOUTH
the Caribbean Sea. He talks AMERICA.
about chatty whale families
and shares how they’re not so
different from our own.
“Once when I was on a boat in

the Caribbean Sea, I needed to
BIRD); JOCHEN HALFAR / NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC IMAGE COLLECTION (WILLIAMS ON BOAT); COURTESY BRANWEN WILLIAMS (WILLIAMS, MAIN)
“We should feel

COURTESY SHANE GERO (GERO, PROFILE); COURTESY SHANE GERO BY DAVID FABIEN (WHALE); COURTESY ARI MARTINEZ (MARTINEZ, MAIN AND
tag a particular sperm whale so

I could study it as it swam. That an obligation to
speak up on TINY FROG!
meant I had to wait patiently
for several hours at the front of behalf of these
a boat holding a long pole with a animals,
sound-recording tag attached hopefully in
to it. The whale finally surfaced, ways that they
but I had to move fast. I quickly would speak for
stuck out the pole and gently themselves.”
attached the device to the ani-
mal. I could now track this giant ocean mammal as it made
deep dives and spoke with its family.
“The thousands of hours I’ve spent following sperm THE ECOLOGIST
whales have shown me that these creatures are a lot like
humans. Like us, they communicate using a type of lan- Ari Martinez studies birds in
guage. Only theirs isn’t spoken words—it’s a pattern of the jungles of South and Central “If you study
clicks, kind of like Morse code. These clicks allow families America to discover how they something for
to recognize each other. When I see whale families ‘talk- communicate. He recalls being long enough,
ing’ to each other, I’m reminded that their underwater tracked by a mysterious crea- you can be an
families are a lot like ours, full of playful siblings, doting ture while observing a group of expert on it. It
moms, and patient grandmothers.” feathered fliers. doesn’t matter
how young you
“We were following a flock of are as long as
WANT TO BE A MARINE BIOLOGIST? mixed birds through the you put in the
Peruvian Amazon when we time.”
STUDY Computer sciences, biology sensed that something was
WATCH The Octonauts following us on the ground. When we turned around
READ Whale Boy by Nicola Davies we’d see plants moving mysteriously, but we never saw
a person or an animal. Later, a team member told me
that our invisible friend was a stealthy jaguar! I’m
glad I discovered that after I was safely back at camp.
“Jaguars are solitary animals, but the birds I study
rely on each other to survive. They help each other
out through songs or alarm calls. It’s like the social
network of the jungle—a macaw squawks out a call
about a dangerous predator, which is then heard by
a parrot, who passes on the message to the toucans,
and so on. Kind of like a group text! It’s so cool to
discover that different groups of animals can
communicate to help each other.”
MARTINEZ HOLDS A
WANT TO BE AN ECOLOGIST? TAWNY-CROWNED
GREENLET IN PERU.
SHANE GERO PHOTO-
GRAPHS A SPERM WHALE STUDY Zoology, geography
IN THE CARIBBEAN SEA.
THESE WHALES TYPICALLY WATCH Project Nim
SURFACE ONLY FOR ABOUT READ One River by Wade Davis
15 MINUTES AT A TIME.

THE OCEANOGRAPHER
Branwen Williams dives into coral reefs to observe how
these ecosystems impact people. Below, she describes an
encounter with black-tipped reef sharks.
“One time while I was scuba diving in the “We must

South Pacific Ocean, I looked up to see a protect Earth’s
group of black-tipped reef sharks circling oceans, not only
above me. It was unsettling to have one of because it’s the SCIENTISTS BRANWEN
the ocean’s top predators swimming right thing to WILLIAMS(LEFT) AND
overhead while I worked, but I needed to ERIC BRASSEUR PRE-
do, but because PARE TO COLLECT ALGAE
finish collecting coral to examine at the it’s important
SAMPLES IN THE NORTH
ATLANTIC OCEAN.
surface. Luckily the sharks were just for our own
curious—they don’t eat people. health.”
“The coral I study are living organisms
that grow hard, rocklike skeletons. The WANT TO BE AN OCEANOGRAPHER?
layers of the skeletons tell how old the coral is, sort of like the rings of a tree. By
studying the changes in these layers, I can measure how the ocean environment
has changed over time, from the temperature of the water to the nutrients it pro- STUDY Mathematics, marine biology
vides. If we listen to what the ocean is telling us through these coral layers, we WATCH Blue Planet
can learn stories of its past—and maybe even what to expect from its future.” READ The World Is Blue by Sylvia Earle
WILLIAMS(RIGHT)
EXTRACTS CORAL FROM A
DEEP-SEA CORAL GARDEN
TO TAKE TO THE SURFACE
OF THE PACIFIC OCEAN.
For more stories

from Branwen
Williams, Munazza
Alam, and
other scientists,
grab a parent to
watch the series
Explorer Academy:
The Truth Behind.
youtube.com
/natgeokids
FROM
THE
PAGES
OF
BY TRUDI TRUEIT
In this excerpt from Explorer Academy: The Falcon’s Feather, Cruz

Cruz
Twelve-year-old g and his classmates are attempting to rescue a group of right whales
inin
Coronado is tra entangled in fishing nets. Cruz is assigned to communicate with the
demy
at Explorer Aca rer. mammals while underwater, using a helmet-like device called the
xplo
to become an e to Universal Cetacean Communicator (UCC) that converts human
But he has more language to whale-speak and vice versa.
deal with than Cruz encounters one of the whales and urges his friends to follow—
e fact
school—like th before it’s too late. But it turns out the whales aren’t the only creatures
out
that someone’s in danger. Cruz also finds himself fighting for his life ...
to get him.
BRIAN J. SKERRY / NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC IMAGE COLLECTION (WHALE), SCOTT PLUMBE

24 NAT GEO KIDS • MARCH 2019 (ILLUSTRATION), IMAGE DIGITALLY COMPOSED; ANTONIO JAVIER CAPARO (BOOK COVER ART)
F
OR A MOMENT, CRUZ COULD ONLY STARE AT THE 70-TON ANIMAL.
Mesmerized by its beauty, he felt so tiny.
As he started to speak, he heard a noise that sounded like a baby elephant
trumpeting. Had that come from the whale? The blue light in his UCC helmet
went on. Cruz held his breath, eagerly waiting for the translation.
“Human.”
Cruz heard another lonely wail, this one longer and from farther away.
“Caution,” came the translation.
The whale’s dark eye was moving, studying him.
“We’ve come to help,” Cruz said. “To take off the nets.”
As the UCC broadcast his message, Cruz heard a long whooooooom.
The message came back: “Help.”
An entire pod of whales suddenly appeared, allowing Cruz to move between them.
Surrounded by so many massive creatures, he didn’t feel crowded or even scared.
There! A red buoy trailed one of the whales. It was attached to a clump of twisted
nets wound several times around the whale’s tail.
Cruz heard a mournful wail. As the whale’s tail sank, his UCC translator spoke:
“Struggle. Tired. Pain.”
“I understand!” cried Cruz. “Hold on. Don’t give up!”
“I’m pretty sure I’ve found one of the whales that’s in trouble,” Cruz alerted his
team. “Swim through the space that I took and you’ll see us. Hurry!”
… Cruz’s team appears and successfully frees several of the whales from netting.
The team separates again to clean up the nets …
Cruz could no longer hear the whales, but his translator could, and it kept Go onli
lin
ine fo
for a sne
repeating one word: “Joy.” of the first ch ak p e
Tears clouded Cruz’s vision. He was breathless. apter.
“Looks good.” Cruz heard his instructor’s voice in his helmet. “Time to head back.” ExplorerAcad
emy.com
Cruz couldn’t wait to get back to the ship. He was excited to tell his dad that he’d
talked to whales!
Cruz’s viewer was blinking. He slowed his kicks so he could read the words that
had appeared: AIR PURIFICATION MALFUNCTION.
“I may have a problem,” said Cruz, keeping his voice steady.
In seconds, a response came. “What’s up?”
“I’m getting a warning light on my helmet.”
“You’re breaking up … say again?”
More words were flashing on his viewer: WATER SEAL BREACH. His helmet was
filling with water!
Cruz went through the checklist of everything he needed to do: remove his helmet,
grab the emergency regulator on his belt, put it to his mouth, and turn the valve.
That would give him enough air to make it to the surface.
He reached for the first of four latches that attached his helmet to his wet suit.
He unsnapped three of the clamps, but the last one wouldn’t pop. He tasted salt water.
Lifting his chin, Cruz used both hands to pry up the latch. It wouldn’t budge.
Cruz felt light-headed. He drew one last, deep breath into his lungs. The flashing
lights and warnings stopped. His helmet was dead. Will Cruz mak
e
Cruz knew that in a matter of seconds, he would be, too. the surface to it back to
be rescued?
Check out HER

M Y: TH E FA LCON’S FEAT
CADE
EXPLORER A to find out!
1 Armadillo 2
means “little
armored one”
in Spanish. 3
The Cambodian language has the world’s
largest alphabet—it contains 74 letters. Playwright
William
Shakespeare
is credited with
4 5 creating over
In Afrikaans,, a Russian was the first language spoken in outer space. 1,700 new words,
language spoken including
in South Africa, “eyeball” and
chameleons are called “swagger.”
verkleurmannetjies,
or “colorful
colorful little men.
men ”
6
It takes approximately
480 hours to learn a
new language.
THINGS
ABOUT
SHUTTERSTOCK (9, CHINESE FLAG); NATALIA MELNCHUK / SHUTTERSTOCK (11); ISTOCK / PJMALSBURY (12); SKYPIXEL / DREAMSTIME (13)
9
MARIA SWANEPOEL / DREAMSTIME (7); CHEAPBOOKS / SHUTTERSTOCK (8); PHOTODISC (9, UNITED STATES FLAG); PIXELJOY /
ROBERT EASTMAN / SHUTTERSTOCK (1); DAN WALLACE / DREAMSTIME (2); ISTOCK / STOCKSNAPPER (3); KUTTELVASEROVA
8 Morepeople speak
STUCHELOVA / SHUTTERSTOCK (4); VLADI333 / SHUTTERSTOCK (5); F9PHOTOS / SHUTTERSTOCK (6); JACOBA SUSANNA,
The word “huh” EnglishinChina than

is used in at least in the UnitedStates.
12 languages to
express confusion.
10
Kinshasa, the capital
7 of the Democratic
Elephants make a Republic of the
rumbling noise Congo, is the world’s 13
to alert others when second largest
they spot a beehive. French-speaking city.
12
Hippopotamus
means “river horse”
11
in ancient Greek.
Rabbits rub their
chins on things like
their food to indicate Nearly
that the item belongs 7,000 languages
to them. are spoken worldwide.

16
The first word spoken
by most babies around
the world is “dadda.”
15
M
Mother hens 17
14 sttart talking—er, A typeofsloth in South
Instead of making
g clucking—to their America called the ai
sounds, octopuses chicks about (pronounced like the
communicate by 24hours before letter i) is named after
changing color. they’ve hatched. the high-pitched sound
it makes to “talk.”
18
20
Cryptophasia is the name 19 Papua New Guinea
given to secret languages has 840 languages—
Babies’ cries can
spoken by some sets more than any country
sound different in
of twins. in the world.
differentlanguages.
21
The Albanian languagehas 27words PLAY LANGUAGE GAMES!
for different kinds of mustaches. natgeokids.com/march
22 Pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis—a type of lung disease—is the longest word in the English language.
23 24 25 26
In the
e 1960s, a man Death-watchbeetles The bobolinkbird is Nowords rhymewith
invennted a language communicate with nicknamed the R2-D2 “orange” or “purple.”
called
d aUI (pronounced each other by using a bird because it makes
ah-EWW-ee) that he claims clickingsystem si lar beeping noises similar
arned from an alien.
he lea to Morse code. to those made by the 30
StarWars droid. Puppies lick humans
beep beep when they’re hungry;
28 beep
older dogs do it to
Instead of speaking, beep
show affection.
27 residents of La Gomera,
Hawaiians have an island near Spain,
over 200 words often communicate
for rain. bywhistling.
29
Pirahã, a language
spoken in Brazil, has
two words to describe
colors. They translate
to “light” and “dark.”
ZHENGZAISHURU / SHUTTERSTOCK (14); CREATIVE FREEDOM / SHUTTERSTOCK (15); ZULUFOTO / SHUTTERSTOCK (16); CAGAN H. SEKERCIOGLU /
NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC CREATIVE (17); ANDI BERGER / SHUTTERSTOCK (18); BART VOS / SHUTTERSTOCK (20); MEDIAGRAM / SHUTTERSTOCK (21);
JULIEN TROMEUR / SHUTTERSTOCK (23); G E HYDE / MINDEN PICTURES (24); SERGEYKLOPOTOV / SHUTTERSTOCK (25, R2-D2); TIM ZUROWSKI /
SHUTTERSTOCK (25, BIRD); SUSAN OTTERNESS / SHUTTERSTOCK (27); MARIDAV / SHUTTERSTOCK (28); MILA ATKOVSKA / SHUTTERSTOCK (30)
PLAY
» wling
F eeze-Frame
BFF doesn’t only stand for “best
GAMES, friends forever.” Can you figure
LAUGHS, out the three-word phrase that
AND LOTS describes each of the numbered
TO DO!
STUFF
scenes in this bowling alley? The
first word always begins with b,
and the second and third words
always begin with f. For example,
the answer to number one is
“Baboon fries fish.”
ANSWERS ON PAGE 35
2
3
4
6
PAT MORIARITY

WHAT IN THE
CHECK OUT
THE BOOK!
WORLD
GREEN GRUB
These photos show close-up and faraway
views of green food. Unscramble the letters
to identify what’s in each picture.
ANSWERS ON PAGE 35
PRGSAE RENGE AEBSN ELISM

MIDDLE ROW (LEFT TO RIGHT): POSINOTE / SHUTTERSTOCK; © A.L. SPANGLER / SHUTTERSTOCK; © MRS. SIWAPOM / SHUTTERSTOCK.
TOP ROW (LEFT TO RIGHT): © LEWAL1988 / SHUTTERSTOCK; © LEONORI / SHUTTERSTOCK; © STEVE HIX / SOMOS IMAGES / CORBIS.
BOTTOM ROW (LEFT TO RIGHT): KELLEY MILLER / NG STAFF; © UNKAS PHOTO / SHUTTERSTOCK; © SUNVIC / SHUTTERSTOCK.
TUETLCE R LY C E E Y N E H OW D E
LEOMN
CIORLBCO TA S O O M T E RLUESBSS
SROSTUP

kids MAKE THIS

HAT
TO AVOID THAT
HOMEM
YOGURT
ADE
PLASTIC
YOGURT
CONTAINERS
BY ELLA SCHWARTZ
YUMMY YOGURT MATERIALS

• 1 quart milk (You can • Cold water
Help keep the Earth healthy by ditching single-use use any type; we used
• Ice cubes
plastic items. This month, make your own yogurt
•
whole milk.)
• Small bowl
instead of buying it in plastic cups at the store.
•
Medium cooking pot
• Spoon
These plastic containers can be dangerous to wild
animals like raccoons and squirrels when they get •
Whisk or wooden spoon
Kitchen thermometer • 2 teaspoons of store-
bought plain yogurt
their heads stuck in them. (optional)
• Large mixing bowl (big
(ingredients must include
“active live cultures”)
PLANET PROTECTOR TIP: You’ll need to purchase enough for the
• Glass jar with a lid
one last cup of store-bought yogurt for this recipe.
Once it’s empty, rinse and dry the yogurt container
cooking pot to be
placed inside) • Towel
before putting it into the recycling bin.
»
STEPS
1 Grab a parent and

2 Place the pot in a bowl
warm the milk in a pot filled with ice and cold water
on the lowest setting to quickly cool the milk.
on the stove, stirring If you’re using a kitchen
often with a whisk or thermometer, remove the pot
spoon. Remove the from the ice bath when the
milk once it reaches temperature of the milk
190°F or when you reaches 115°F. If not, take the
start to see bubbles. pot out when the milk is just
slightly warm.
3 4 5 6
Pour ½ cup of the warm Mix in 2 teaspoons of store- Return the mixture to the Carefully pour the mixture
milk into a small bowl. bought yogurt. pot of warm milk and stir from the pot into a glass jar
until fully combined. and screw on the lid.
7 8 After 10 t0 12 hours, the

yogurt is ready to eat! Serve it
with fruit, honey, or granola,
SHANNON HIBBERD / NG STAFF (ALL)
or just eat it plain. Your

homemade yogurt will last
up to two weeks in the
refrigerator.
When you’re ready to make
Wrap the jar in a towel and yogurt again, use 2 teaspoons
leave it in a warm spot. from this first batch to make more.
WANT TO DO MORE? Visit natgeokids.com/KidsVsPlastic
30 NAT GEO KIDS • MARCH 2019 to take a Planet Protector pledge and get more Earth-saving tips.
In the new book Explorer Academy: The Falcon’s Feather,

12-year-old Cruz Coronado breaks secret codes in order to
fight dangerous villains and solve mysteries. Test your own
skills by cracking the code on this page, then check out
more about the book at ExplorerAcademy.com .
TEXT AND PUZZLE BY GARETH MOORE
Secret messages can be hidden in real-life objects, including flags. Here, each flag
THE CODE: represents the first letter of the country the flag belongs to. For example, the
FLAG CODE French flag would represent the letter f, and the Argentine flag would represent
the letter a. Take a look at these flags from different countries below.
AFGHANISTAN ANDORRA ARGENTINA AUSTRALIA AUSTRIA BANGLADESH BELGIUM BOLIVIA BRAZIL BULGARIA
CANADA CHILE CHINA CONGO COSTA RICA CUBA DENMARK DJIBOUTI ECUADOR EGYPT
ERITREA ESTONIA FRANCE GERMANY GREECE GUATEMALA HAITI HUNGARY ICELAND INDIA
INDONESIA IRAQ IRELAND ISRAEL ITALY JAPAN KENYA LAOS LIBERIA LITHUANIA
MADAGASCAR MALTA MEXICO MOROCCO MYANMAR NETHERLANDS NORWAY OMAN PAKISTAN PERU
PORTUGAL RUSSIA SOUTH AFRICA SPAIN SRI LANKA SUDAN SW

WEDEN
WIN THE BOOK!

TRY ONLINE
FEBRUARY 12-19.
TANZANIA THAILAND TURKEY UKRAINE UNITED KINGDOM VIETNAM ZIM
MBABWE natgeokids.com
/march
CRACK THIS CODE!

Using the first letter of each flag’s
nation, decode the words below. BREAK MORE COD
CODES!
ANSWER ON PAGE 35
ExplorerAcademy.com

STRIKA ENTERTAINMENT
1
2 3 4
5 6 7

8 9
10
11 12 13
14 15

ART ZONE WACKY SCHOOL SUBJECT

Nat Geo Kids readers can’t wait
to do their homework for these
weird classes.
S Clover Chemistry
Eden B., 14, Oakville, Canada
How to Swim X
With Sharks
Holden T., 12
Memphis,
Tennessee
W Animal
Communication
Emily K., 9
Eliot, Maine

Draw
a weird new
Send us
your
original
Nat Geo Kids—
Park Art Zone
P.O. Box 98002
Washington, DC
Include your name, address, phone number, date of birth, a title for your drawing, a statement that it is
your own work, and the name of your parent or guardian. Your parent or guardian must sign a release
for publication if your illustration is selected.Submissions become the property of National Geographic
Partners, and all rights thereto are transferred to National Geographic Partners. Submissions cannot
theme park ride. drawings: 20090-8002 be acknowledged or returned. Selection will be at the discretion of Nat Geo Kids.
S Skydiving
Class
Andrew C., 14
West Des
Moines,
Iowa S Wizardry 101 T Travel 101
Macie C., 13, Roslyn, New York Sarah O., 15, Cocoa Beach, Florida
Rocket Class X
Emilio G., 10
El Paso, Texas
T Mountain
Climbing
Class
Olivia L., 11
Raleigh,
North Carolina
T Bird Watching Class (page 31): North Star

Allyson Z., 12, Garnet Valley, Pennsylvania
“Explorer Academy”
broccoli, tomatoes, brussels sprouts.
celery, honeydew melon. Bottom row:
beans, limes. Middle row: lettuce,
(page 29): Top row: grapes, green
“What in the World?”
7. Baker fans feet.
finds fortune. 6. Bees frighten family.
ferret. 4. Bulldog frees fairy. 5. Bicyclist
2. Boy films frog. 3. Bowler feeds
(page 28): 1. Baboon fries fish.
“Bowling Freeze-Frame”
Answers

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РЕЛИЗ ПОДГОТОВИЛА ГРУППА "What's News" VK.

NATGEOKIDS.COM • MARCH 2019

CAT DOES TRICK

Editor in Chief and Vice President,

Check out these more crazy-fun facts.

would be traveling at about

where the space shuttle

The The average

NASA (SPACE SHUTTLE); © BURKE / TRIOLO / BRAND X PICTURES / JUPITERIMAGES (BANANA)

of a whale and a Humans can make

4 NAT GEO KIDS • MARCH 2019

BABY CHEETAH GETS PET DOG

MARCH 2019 • NAT GEO KIDS 5

6 NAT GEO KIDS • MARCH 2019

STR OLD / REUTERS MARCH 2019 • NAT GEO KIDS 7

GOT SPACE JUNK?

Pieces of debris larger than a

8 NAT GEO KIDS • MARCH 2019

Number of telescopes the United States Air Force

MARCELCLEMENS / SHUTTERSTOCK (EARTH); SOMCHAI SOM / SHUTTERSTOCK (MOON); PISAGOR / DREAMSTIME

1 “You’ve Got This.”

12 NAT GEO KIDS • MARCH 2019

KING KONG’S LOL, OK,

A BABY MOUNTAIN GORILLA

MARCH 2019 • NAT GEO KIDS 13

14 NAT GEO KIDS • MARCH 2019

A WESTERN LOWLAND GORILLA

AFRIC 3 Write to your lawmakers.

Send a letter to your representatives and

Where gorillas live WATCH MORE APES IN ACTION!

» BY ALINE ALEXANDER NEWMAN

Harrison Forbes couldn’t ﬁgure out why his

16 NAT GEO KIDS • MARCH 2019

TRUNK TALK TREATS, PLEASE

TOPHER WHITE PREPARES

20 NAT GEO KIDS • MARCH 2019

STUDY Physics, astronomy

MARCH 2019 • NAT GEO KIDS 21

THE MARINE BIOLOGIST ARI MARTINEZ

“Once when I was on a boat in

“We should feel

tag a particular sperm whale so

22 NAT GEO KIDS • MARCH 2019

“One time while I was scuba diving in the “We must

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In this excerpt from Explorer Academy: The Falcon’s Feather, Cruz

BRIAN J. SKERRY / NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC IMAGE COLLECTION (WHALE), SCOTT PLUMBE

Check out HER

The word “huh” EnglishinChina than

26 NAT GEO KIDS • MARCH 2019

28 NAT GEO KIDS • MARCH 2019

PRGSAE RENGE AEBSN ELISM

MARCH 2019 • NAT GEO KIDS 29

kids MAKE THIS

YUMMY YOGURT MATERIALS

1 Grab a parent and