THE POLAR BEAR.

Have you ever thought how polar bears can survive in the icy cold Arctic? Well dear students, here are some interesting facts about polar bears:

• Paw pads with rough surfaces help prevent polar bears from slipping up on the ice.
• Polar bears swim using their large front paws to propel themselves through the water and their back legs to steer.
• The scientific name for polar bear is Ursus Maritimus which means 'sea bear'.
• Adult males generally weigh between 363 and 771 kilograms. Adult female generally weigh between 227 and 272 kilograms.
• Polar bears are the largest predators on land and they are the largest of all bears.
• Polar bear have known to swim 100 miles at a stretch.

                                            Facts by Jennifer Kirkpatrick (1996-2011), National Geographic Kids.

Polar bears use their front paws to propel and back legs to steer.

 VOCABULARY SECTION.

While reading the facts above, have you came across any difficult words about polar bears? What are the meanings of these words?

1. surfaces - the outer part of an object
2. propel - cause to move forward with force
3. steer - to direct the course of
4. predators - an organism that lives by preying on other organisms

                                                                                        Definition from thefreedictionary.com.

Now, let's test your knowledge on polar bears with a simple reading comprehension exercise. Have fun!

The Polar Bear.

GARDEN TREASURE

Do you know that plants and flowers can be very useful to human's life? Countries like Canada adopts the Maple leaf as their national symbol while New Zealand chooses the Kowhai as its national flower. Other than that, plants are also very useful as cooking ingredients and can be processed and turned into calming oil. Mint leaves for example, can be made into fruity mint punch. I have tried it myself :)

Apple mint punch

Do you know what are shallots? Well, shallots are plants with small bulbs. These bulbs can replace the use of onions in cooking. Shallots are healthy to consume as they have less sugar than spring onions and they are also the source of dietary fiber.

Shallots are closely related to onions but they are milder in taste.

Other than shallots, onions can also be substituted with tulip bulbs in cooking.

tulip bulb

Now that you already know how useful plants and flowers are in our lives, lets complete this simple matching exercise. Good luck students! :)

Garden Treasure