Once, a ravenous wolf was in search of some prey. He came across a village and saw a flock of sheep grazing in a pasture. He decided to pounce on one of them. Suddenly, he saw a sheepskin on the ground. He thought, ‘I will wear this sheepskin and mix in with the flock. Then […]
Once upon a time, some frogs were travelling through the village. Suddenly, two of them fell into a deep pit. The other frogs gathered around the pit and exclaimed, “It is not possible for them to come out. They will die there.” But the two frogs tried to jump out of the pit. The other
Fossil plants are older than fossil animals. They are mostly found as trace fossils in sedimentary rocks of land or freshwater origin. The first plants were related to the blue green algae family and they are probably 2 billion years old. A plant and its parts cannot become a fossil until they are quickly buried
A young woman was troubled. She told her mother, “It seems that as one problem is solved, a new one crops up.” Her mother filled three pots with water. In the first, she placed carrots, in the second eggs and in the third coffee beans. After boiling them, she took them out. Turning to her
Once, a merchant owed some money to a mean moneylender. Now, the moneylender had an eye on the merchant’s daughter. One day, he said to the merchant, “I have a proposition. I will put two pebbles–black and white–in a bag. If your daughter picks a black pebble, she will become my wife. And if she
Vertebrates, the animals with backbones, first appeared on the Earth during the Palaeozoic period. Agnathids were the oldest vertebrates which resembled fish. Rocks from late Palaeozoic period revealed 75 different species of amphibians. Most of the fossils resembled today’s salamanders. Body, cast and trace fossils of dinosaurs have been found during exploration. Fossils of the
Once upon a time, there was a farm. A frog also lived on the farm. One day, he was hopping around the farmyard. He became somewhat careless. Suddenly, he ended up falling into a pail half-filled with milk. He tried to get out. As he swam about attempting to reach the top of the pail,
Invertebrates, the animals without backbones, first appeared on the Earth during the Cambrian period. The most common early animals were arthropods, the trilobites. They were soft-bodies animals living mostly in the sea. Another important fossils of invertebrates found during the Paleozoic time were molluscs, echinoderms, crinoids (sea lilies: cup-shaped body), starfish and corals. Fossils of
Long ago, an owl lived on a tree. But he was upset. He could not sleep as he was disturbed by the constant singing of a grasshopper. The owl pleaded to the grasshopper, “Would you be so kind to stop singing? It disturbs my sleep.” But the grasshopper paid no heed. He increased his singing
Once, two brothers lived on adjoining farms. One day, they had a quarrel and stopped speaking. Days later, a carpenter said to the elder brother, “I am looking for some work.” The elder brother said, “Look across the creek at that farm. That is my younger brother’s. I want you to build me a fence,
Once upon a time, an eagle was flying high in the sky when she spotted a lamb down below. She flew down and grabbed the lamb and carried him away. A crow saw all this. He got excited and tried to copy the eagle. He saw a group of sheep and flew down to grab
The two main categories of fossils are: body fossils and trace fossils. Body fossils are the remains of bones, teeth, shells of an animal, or leaves of a plant. They are further divided into two categories: mould and cast fossil. Trace fossils are just the impressions of an animal or plant created when it was
A long time ago, there was a farmer. He used to make his living by selling butter. He used to sell a pound of butter to a baker every day. One day, the baker thought, ‘Let me weigh this butter. I wish to see if it is of the correct weight or not.’ To his
A soldier was returning home with his wife. They were crossing a lake in a boat, when suddenly a great storm arose. The man was calm and quiet but the woman was trembling. She asked, “Are you not afraid? We may not survive this storm!” The soldier laughed and took out his sword from its
Once, there was a woman who always kept food on her window for the poor. A hunchback used to take that food every day but he never used to thank the woman. He would only say, “The evil you do remains with you. The good you do, comes back to you!” The woman felt bad.