Fascinating Nature
Adapt to Survive
Black skin under see-through fur, fish that walk on mud, and moths that changed colour because of smoke: nature is full of clever survival tricks!
Did you know?
A polar bear's skin is black, and its fur is not really white! Each hair is see-through and hollow. The hairs scatter light, so the bear looks white against the snow.
A camel's hump does not store water. It stores fat! When food is hard to find in the desert, the camel can use this fat for energy.
Mudskippers are fish that live on muddy shores, including mangroves along India's coasts. They 'walk' on their front fins and breathe through both their gills and their moist skin.
Try this: Camouflage Challenge
Tear 10 small squares from scrap paper. Leave 5 plain white. Scribble grey pencil lines on the other 5 so they look like newspaper print. Scatter all 10 on an open newspaper. Ask someone to pick up as many as they can in 10 seconds. Which squares got picked first? Hungry birds hunt in the same way!
Go further: The Moths That Changed Colour
In England in the 1800s, smoke from burning coal covered tree trunks with black soot. Light-coloured peppered moths resting on the dark bark were easy for birds to spot and eat, while the rare dark moths stayed hidden. More dark moths survived and had babies, so soon most peppered moths were dark! Later, when new laws helped to clean the air, light moths became common again. This is natural selection in action.