Facts At Your Fingertips: The living world – Natural history facts OLDEST LIFE The oldest living thing on Earth is the giant seagrass that grows in the Mediterranean Sea. Some of it may be 200,000 years old The longest-lived animal is the clam, which can live for more than 400 years. Of animals that move … Read more
Facts At Your Fingertips: The living world – Amazing science facts MOST COMMON ELEMENTS In the universe: Hydrogen—75% Helium—23% Other elements—2% In the Earth’s crust: Oxygen—47% Silicon—28% Aluminum—8% Iron—5% Calcium—4% Sodium—3% Potassium—3% Magnesium—2% In the human body: Oxygen—61% Carbon—23% Hydrogen—10% Other elements—6% RAREST ELEMENT The rarest element naturally occurring on Earth is francium. Only about … Read more
Facts At Your Fingertips: The living world – Human influence Human activity is changing environments across the world. We are damaging many natural habitats to meet our growing demands for food, energy, land, and other resources. We are also adding carbon dioxide to the atmosphere by burning fossil fuels such as oil, and this is … Read more
Facts At Your Fingertips: The living world – Evolution Over millions of years, living things change in response to differences in their environment. This is called evolution and it happens through a process called natural selection. Changes that are more likely to help a plant or animal survive are passed to future generations, but living … Read more
Facts At Your Fingertips: The living world – Flying Animals that spend much of their time in the air fly using wings. Most flying insects have two pairs of wings attached to their bodies, while birds and bats fly using wings that are specially adapted arms. Wings For animals to fly, they need to produce … Read more
Facts At Your Fingertips: The living world – Living in water Creatures that live in oceans or rivers are specially adapted to move, breathe, and feed in water. The oceans contain a wide variety of animal life, from tiny plankton to the gigantic blue whale. Breathing under water Fish, such as this stingray, and many … Read more
Facts At Your Fingertips: The living world – Survival Living things have a wide range of methods to find food, keep themselves safe from predators, and survive changing conditions. These include living in large groups, moving from place to place, and even feeding off other animals. Symbiosis Sometimes two different species of plant or animal … Read more
Facts At Your Fingertips: The living world – Ecosystems A community of organisms that lives in a particular environment is called an ecosystem. A single ecosystem might be as small as a pond or as large as a desert. Ecosystems vary hugely across the world, depending on conditions such as climate, the soil type, or … Read more
Facts At Your Fingertips: The living world – Cycles Every living thing needs the elements oxygen and carbon to grow and make energy. These elements are constantly passing from the air into living things and back into the air again in cycles that are essential to life. The oxygen cycle Plants release oxygen into the … Read more
Facts At Your Fingertips: The living world – Food webs Energy passes from one living thing to another in the form of food. Food webs show how living things feed on one another. At the bottom of a food web are plants, which make their own food using energy from the Sun. At the top … Read more
