© 2009 Universal Press Syndicate

release dates: May 9-15 19-1 (09)

from The Mini Page © 2009 Universal Press Syndicate

Have you ever spent time watching aturtle? There is a lot of mystery aboutturtles’ lives, especially about turtlesliving in the sea. The Mini Page takes alook at some of the things we do knowabout these fascinating animals.What is a turtle?

Turtles arereptiles, agroup ofanimalsincludingcrocodiles,

tortoises, snakes and lizards. Reptiles:• are cold-blooded, which means

their body temperature matches thetemperature in the air around them;

• have scaly skin;• breathe air with lungs;• produce eggs.Turtles are known for the shells protecting

their bodies. Their shells are part of theirskeletons, or their framework of bones.

Most shells are made of bone coveredby hard plates, or scutes. (“Scute”rhymes with “cute.”) The leatherbackturtle has a softer shell that ismore leathery than bony.

Turtles have beenon Earth for morethan 245 millionyears. They sharedthe planet withdinosaurs.

Turtles:• live in or near water and are great

swimmers;• cannot pull their heads and limbs all

the way into their shells. Freshwaterturtles can pull their heads partway in.Sea turtles can’t pull their heads in at all.

Tortoises:• live only on land, and would probably

sink in water;• can pull their heads and limbs all

the way into their shells for protection.

Life in the Water

Sensational Swimmers

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Sea turtles’ bodies aredesigned for swimming.Their flipper-like limbsallow them to movegracefully through waterbut make them clumsy andslow on land. Their frontlimbs have claws to helpthem pull food apart.

Turtle or tortoise?Turtles and tortoises are a lot alike. People are often confused about which is

which. Here are some of the differences:

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Tortoises have limbs that are like thick treestumps. This desert tortoise uses its powerfullimbs to dig holes, or burrows, in the sand orsoil.

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Sea turtles have front limbs shaped likeflippers and back limbs shaped like paddles tohelp them swim.

Mini Spy . . .from The Mini Page © 2009 Universal Press Syndicate

Mini Spy and Basset Brown are watching a sea turtle at anaquarium. See if you can find: • word MINI • number 3

• exclamationmark

• question mark• apple• number 8• snake• pencil• bird• net• football• bell• letter H

from The Mini Page © 2009 Universal Press Syndicate

19-2 (09); release dates: May 9-15®

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A life in the waterFreshwater turtles live near bodies of

water, such as ponds or lakes. They donot spend much time on land, althoughthey do come onto land to sunthemselves. Because they are cold-blooded, they need to be in the sun towarm up their bodies.

Sea turtles may live about 150 years.As soon as baby sea turtles hatch on abeach, they crawl to the sea and staythere for years. Males may stay in thewater for 20 years before coming backto a beach even to sun themselves.Females return to the beach where theywere born to lay eggs.

Some species, or kinds, of sea turtlesstay near theshore. But othersswim out into thedeep ocean.Scientists knowvery little aboutturtles’ lives in the ocean.

Sea turtles are usually found inwarmer ocean waters. Big groups withthousands of turtles may spend hoursfloating on the surface of the water,sunning themselves.

Even though they breathe with lungs,sea turtles canstay underwaterfor a long time.For example,green sea turtles

can hold their breath for five hours. Theirheart rate slows so they don’t need tobreathe as often. Also, they have big bloodcells that are able to hold extra oxygen.

Underwater, green sea turtles mighthave one heartbeat every nine minutes,compared to an average of five beats perminute above water.

Sea turtles often settle down and restin one spot underwater for hours.

At Home in the Water

Designed for swimmingTurtles are strong swimmers. Besides

having limbs shaped like flippers andpaddles, their shells also are designed tohelp them move through the water.

Their shells are high in the front andlower in the back. This allows the watercurrent tosweep overthemquickly. Ifyou look ata turtlefrom theside, you can see it is shaped like anairplane wing. There is a high point inthe front, and it curves to the back.

Words that remind us of turtles are hidden in the block below. Somewords are hidden backward or diagonally. See if you can find: SHELL,SEA, SWIM, DIVE, EGG, BEACH, HOLE, HATCH, REPTILE, POND,JELLYFISH, ENDANGERED, LEATHERBACK, SHAPE, LIMBS, HEAD,DIG, RETURN, BORN, WATER, NIGHT, ARRIBADAS, OCEAN.

Turtles TRY ’NFIND

TURTLESNEED OUR

HELP!

P E L O H D E R E G N A D N E

S O L S H A P E B N R U T E RS H N I H A T C H O S G G E RD W E D M B E A C H R E M L EW I I L V B T H G I N N A Q PA H V M L W S K K N A E C O TT E D E G H S I F Y L L E J IE A I V S A D A B I R R A K LR D G K C A B R E H T A E L E

from The Mini Page © 2009 Universal Press Syndicate

Basset Brown

The News

Hound’s

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Although turtles can swimlong distances, they don’t govery fast. They may averageabout 2 miles per hour, withbursts of 5 to 10 miles perhour.Sea turtles can dive morethan 1,000 feet. Theleatherback turtle can divemore than 3,900 feet.

® 19-3 (09); release dates: May 9-15

Rookie Cookie’s RecipeChillin’ Cherry Pie

from The Mini Page © 2009 Universal Press Syndicate

from The Mini Page © 2009 Universal Press Syndicate

Meet Billy Ray CyrusBilly Ray Cyrus stars as Robby Ray

Stewart in the Disney movie “HannahMontana: The Movie.” He is the real-lifefather of the movie’s star, Miley Cyrus, aswell as the fictional father of HannahMontana in the movie and in the DisneyChannel TV series “Hannah Montana.” Healso was a co-producer of the movie.

Billy Ray is a country music star. He hassold more than 25 million albums throughout the world. Heplays the left-handed guitar.

He has also acted in movies and TV shows, including the TVseries “Doc.”

Billy Ray, 47, was born in Flatwoods, Ky. He went to collegeon a baseball scholarship, but then studied music.

You’ll need:• 4 ounces light cream cheese• 1/2 teaspoon sugar• 1 (8-ounce) tub light whipped topping, divided• 1 (9-inch) prepared graham cracker crust• 1 (20-ounce) can cherry pie filling (or other flavor)What to do:1. Mix cream cheese with sugar until well blended.2. Stir in half of whipped topping and mix together.3. Spread mixture over top of graham cracker crust.4. Spoon cherry pie filling on top.5. Top with remaining whipped topping.6. Chill for 4 hours.You will need an adult’s help with this recipe.

from The Mini Page © 2009 Universal Press Syndicate

from The Mini Page © 2009 Universal Press Syndicate

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Go dot to dot and color this swimmer of the sea.

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All the following jokes have something in common.Can you guess the common theme or category?

Timothy: What is a good name for a flyingturtle with a propeller?Terry: A shellicopter!

Tom: How do turtles keep warm in the winter?Theresa: With people-neck sweaters!

Tammy: Why did one turtle always keep hishead out of his shell?

Tala: He had claustrophobia!

To order, send $15.99 ($19.99 Canada) plus $5 postage and handling for each copy. Make check or money order (U.S. funds only) payable to Universal Press Syndicate. Send to The Mini Page Book of States, Universal PressSyndicate, P.O. Box 6814, Leawood, KS 66206. Or call toll-free 800-591-2097 or go to www.smartwarehousing.com.Please send ______ copies of The Mini Page Book of States (Item #0-7407-8549-4) at $20.99 each, total cost. (Bulk discount informationavailable upon request.)Name: _______________________________________________________________________________________Address: ______________________________________________________________________________________City: ________________________________________________________ State: _________ Zip: ________________

The Mini Page’s popular series of issues about eachstate is collected here in a 156-page softcoverbook. Conveniently spiral-bound for ease of use,this invaluable resource contains A-to-Z facts abouteach state, along with the District of Columbia.Illustrated with colorful photographs and art, andcomplete with updated information, The Mini PageBook of States will be a favorite in classrooms andhomes for years to come.

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19-4 (09); release dates: May 9-15®

from The Mini Page © 2009 Universal Press Syndicate

Please include all of the appropriate registered trademark symbols and copyright lines in any publication of The Mini Page®.

Laying eggsWhen it is time for a mother sea

turtle to lay her eggs, she always findsher way back to the same beach whereshe was hatched.

The turtle comes onto the beach anddigs holes with her hind legs. She maydig a couple of fake pits first to throw offany enemies that may be watching. Thenshe moves away and digs the real hole.She may lay up to 200 eggs in the hole.

The eggs are tough and leathery, sothey dent but don’t crack open when themother drops them into the pit.

After the mother has laid all hereggs, she fills in the hole with sand.Then she returns to the ocean. After shehas buried her eggs, they’re on theirown. A couple of weeks later, she maycome back to lay another batch of eggs.

A turtle egg may take 45 to 70 daysto hatch. Once they hatch, the babiesfind their way to the sea.

The eggs and baby turtles have a lotof enemies that want to eat them. Expertsbelieve there are so many dangers to youngturtles that out of 200 eggs a mother lays,only two or three will live to adulthood.

The arrivalIn some species, thousands of turtle

moms come ashore on the same night tolay their eggs. This group egg-layingevent is called arribadas, which isSpanish for “arrival.”

Many environmental groups helpprotect eggs and baby turtles during thearribadas.Some fun facts

• Turtles have agland that pullssalt out of seawater. When eatingunderwater, turtles scoop upmouthfuls of seawater. They get ridof the extra water by squirting it outtheir nose.

• The leatherback is the largestliving sea turtle, weighing more than1,100 pounds.

• The Kemp’s ridley and olive ridleyare the smallest, weighing about 110pounds.

Caring for Turtles

Turtles in troubleAll species of sea turtles are

endangered. Many freshwater turtlesare also in trouble. Some of the biggestdangers to sea turtles include:

• people killing turtles for their meator shells;

• animals such as dogs, possums andfoxes that eat the eggs;

• fishing nets;• pollution;• plastic grocery bags. These look like

jellyfish when they float in the water.But when the turtles eat them, the bagsstay in their stomachs and kill them.

• hotels and homes on beaches wherethe turtles need to lay their eggs;

• bright artificial lights that confusethe turtles so moms won’t come ashore,or babies can’t find the sea.

The Mini Page StaffBetty Debnam - Founding Editor and Editor at Large Lisa Tarry - Managing Editor Lucy Lien - Associate Editor Wendy Daley - Artist

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SeaWorld workers collecteggs from a sea turtlenest. They will raise theturtles themselves sopeople can learn moreabout this mysteriousanimal. At the top, aworker shows a close-upof turtle eggs, which looklike pingpong balls.The pit the mother turtledigs for the eggs can beas much as 2 feet deep.

photo courtesy U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service

If you touch aturtle ortortoise, even ifit’s only on theshell, wash yourhands well.Turtles andtortoises carry adisease calledsalmonella.

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Expertsbelieveturtles cansmellunderwater.This isunusual foranimalswith lungs.

The Mini Page thanks Tim Downing,underwater zookeeper, SeaWorld, San Diego,for help with this issue.

Site to see:www.seaworld.org/infobooks/SeaTurtle/home.html

Look through your newspaper for storiesabout animals.

Next week, The Mini Page gives some funchoices for summer reading.