Animal Olympics
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Transcript of Animal Olympics
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Animal Olympics
Mrs. TweedieRead Aloud
Hottest, Coldest2009
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Animal Olympics
Every four years, top athletes compete in the
Summer Olympics. But guess what? In all sorts of
sports, animals are the real winners!
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Speedy Swimmers
A sailfish is the fastest creature in the seas over distances.
It can reach speeds up to 68 miles per hour-as fast as cars
whizzing along some highways. In fact, a sailfish makes
human swimmers look pathetic. The fastest Olympic
swimmers plug along at only about 5 miles an hour.
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Speedy Swimmers
How does the sailfish do it? It has a streamlined shape,
like a torpedo. It tucks its long “sail” into a slot in its back.
And, with just a few flicks of its stiff, sickle-shaped tail, the
fish propels itself speedily through the water.
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High Divers
What bird dives from the greatest height into water?
Several share the honors, including gannets and brown
pelicans. From 50 feet or more over the water, these birds
plunge headfirst to catch fish.
gannet brown pelican
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High Divers
They have especially strong skulls and air sacs, which
work like air bags, in their breasts. So the birds aren’t hurt
when they hit the water.
gannet brown pelican
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High Divers
How do humans
compare with these
champs? Olympic
high-divers drop
from a measly 33
feet above the water.
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Marathon Records
A gray whale would win the prize for distance swimming. These
fantastic animals swim an amazing 10,000 or more miles a year.
They migrate from their breeding grounds off Mexico to their
feeding areas off Alaska and Siberia, and then back again.
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Marathon Records
In the air, the long-distance winner is the arctic tern.
Many of these birds fly more than 20,000 miles a year. They
migrate from the Arctic to Antarctica-and back-catching
summertime in both places.
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Weightlifting Wonders
Human weightlifters can lift more than three times their
body weight while standing in one spot.
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Weightlifting Wonders
But rhinoceros beetles can lift about 30 times their own
weight and walk at a normal pace at the same time! A person
with that kind of muscle-power could walk carrying a pickup
truck!
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Weightlifting Wonders
But what about elephants? Surely, they’re very strong.
An Asian elephant, using just its trunk, can lift more total
weight than any other creature-a ton or more. But compared
to its size, a ton isn’t that much-less than half the elephant’s
weight.
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Gymnastic Greats Lots of animals
could be winners in
this category! For
example, tree
squirrels are super
acrobats. They can
leap through the
treetops or run along
thin branches, using
their tails to balance
them.
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Gymnastic Greats
Then there are the gibbons, small apes in Southeast Asia.
They swing by their long arms through the treetops-sometimes
letting go and “flying” like a trapeze artist from one branch to
another. In one free-form swop, a gibbon can travel nearly 10
feet.
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Gymnastic Greats
And don’t forget those super show-offs, the spinner
dolphins. They leap high out of the water and can do four
complete spins before flopping back down again. That deserves
a gold medal, for sure!
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Zoom, Zoom
Cheetahs are super-star sprinters. They can dash as fast as 64 miles
per hour over short distances. How? A cheetah has a super-bendable,
spring-like spine. So, with each stride, the animal can gather its legs
up tightly, then stretch them way out. This helps the animal zoom
across the ground.
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Zoom, Zoom
For high speed over the long haul, the pronghorn wins! It
can keep running at 35 miles an hour for many miles. And it
can speed up to 50 miles an hour if it has to.
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Zoom, Zoom
The fastest humans can keep up a pace of about 13
miles an hour over many miles. And for short bursts, they
can sprint as fast as 26 miles an hour.
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Zoom, Zoom
So, watch the Summer Olympics. But just don’t be too
impressed. After all, most of these human competitors just
can’t measure up to all the winners in the animal kingdom.