First Children Encyclopedia

The world of amphibians The most poisonous frog is the bright-yellow poison-dart frog.^139 A choice of home Frogs and toads can ...

Apart from honey, what else does a bee produce that we can use? The living world 140 A huge majority of creepy crawlies are inse ...

The world of insects and their poison is used as medicine. Bees produce wax^141 Become an expert 142-143 The world of non-insect ...

How big can spiders grow? The living world 142 There are many creepy crawlies scuttling around our planet that are not insects. ...

The world of non-insects Some spiders can grow as big as dinner plates!^143 Molluscs Slugs, snails, squids, and oysters, are mol ...

Which fish is the slowcoach of the sea? The living world 144 Fish have been around for 400 million years! They live in seas, riv ...

The world of fish The seahorse is the slowest fish that lives in the sea.^145 Scales Most fish are covered in hundreds of scales ...

146 Plants make their own food from the Sun’s rays. Most have leaves that reach outwards to capture sunlight, and roots that dig ...

147 What is a plant? Ferns Ferns love damp and shady areas. They have prong-like leaves and spread using spores. You can identif ...

148 Plants have an amazing system for making and transporting food to all their different parts. How plants work Are plants the ...

149 Wilting leaves On warm, sunny days, plants lose lots of water from their leaves. If they lose too much their leaves collapse ...

150 Mushrooms, toadstools, yeasts, and moulds are all kinds of fungi. Fungi are neither animals nor plants. They feed on living ...

151 Penicillin In 1928, Sir Alexander Fleming made an important discovery. He realised that the mould Penicillium notatum makes ...

Harmful bacteria Some bacteria can cause serious illnesses such as cholera and tetanus. Good sanitation and antibiotic drugs hel ...

Micro life It can make 4,000 million million million copies.^153 Vaccinations Vaccinations can help to protect people from harmf ...

154 Everything in the living world needs food to survive. And everything must feed on something else. This is called a food chai ...

Some species of pitcher plant found in the Philippines.^155 Carnivores Carnivores only eat meat. On the African plains, carnivor ...

156 All over the world, living things exist in distinct kinds of places called ecosystems. Each has its own climate, soil, and c ...

157 Ecosystems Yes, deciduous woodlands and cold coniferous forests. Living together A group of living things in a habitat is ca ...

Polar regions are often dark, blasted by freezing winds, and they receive little rain. Only the toughest can survive. Polar regi ...