Scienceville
Fables to Facts!
Stories give fun reasons for animals' amazing body parts. Science finds the real ones! Let's look at trunks, stripes and long necks.
Did you know?
An elephant's trunk is its nose and upper lip joined together. It has no bones, and it can hold about 8 litres of water!
Why do zebras have stripes? Scientists think stripes keep biting flies away. In tests, fewer flies landed on striped coats!
A giraffe's long neck has only seven bones, just like yours! But each one is more than 28 cm long.
Try this: Write a 'Just So' Story
Choose an animal with a special body part, like a peacock's tail. Make up a funny story about how it got that part. Give your story a title like 'How the Peacock Got Its Tail'. Draw a picture for it. Then ask an adult to help you find out the real reason. Which one is more surprising?
Go further: Stories Told 'Just So'
Rudyard Kipling wrote Just So Stories. He was born in Bombay, now Mumbai, in 1865! The tales began as bedtime stories for his daughter, Josephine. She wanted them told exactly the same way every time, or 'just so'. If he missed a sentence, she would wake up and say it! The book came out in 1902. Kipling also wrote The Jungle Book.