Friday, 20 November 2015
Friday, 6 November 2015
Stingrays
By Amy
“I’m dying!” gasped Steve Irwin as he struggled in the water. Do you know the crocodile hunter that died of a hundred stabs from the stingray’s barb? Stingrays don’t usually attack humans directly but some people handling stingrays are stabbed by the stingray’s barb as the ray tries to protect itself.
Have you ever wondered how stingrays respire? Stingrays are similar to fish so they breathe through their gills but next to the stingray’s eyes, another respiratory system they breathe through is the spiracles. The spiracles allow the stingrays to bury themselves in the sand to prevent them from predators.
In a beautiful wavy motion, the stingrays move their whole body to swim and glide through the water. They also flap their fins or flippers to help move faster. Flexibility also helps them to move along the water by using the pectoral fins. Pectoral fins are powerful, wing-like fins that help glide swiftly through the water. The Pectoral fins move by flapping and rippling. Many rays like the mangrove rays sink onto the seafloor when they stop swimming.
In order for the stingrays to have young, there must be female and male stingray. The male will follow the female closely and bite at her pectoral disk. Stingrays are ovoviviparous meaning they give birth to 5-13 pups at a time. Have ever thought if stingrays are mammals? Stingrays are marine mammals because they give birth to live young not eggs.
Stingrays sense everything happening around them. Stingrays are like gliding metal detectors. They are thought to be extra sensitive to electric fields that can be used to navigate over long distances. But what makes rays extra sensitive to electric fields? It is because they can detect the earth’s strong magnetic field.
Stingrays usually hunt for worms, carrion, squid and crustaceans. Did you realise that the stingray's mouth is on the other side of the body. Having the mouth on the other side helps the stingray to dig out crabs and shrimps from the sea floor. The mouth included several rows of blunt, broad teeth. Unbelievable!
Are stingrays harmless to humans? Well, it depends. If you are frightening them, they might react and stab you with its barb. You wouldn't want that right so be gentle to stingrays!
Wednesday, 4 November 2015
Thursday, 29 October 2015
Book Review: The City of Rats
By Amy
This novel, ‘The city of Rats’ written by an internationally bestselling author, Emily Rodda has been sold over 15 million copies. I chose this book to read because I read the first and the second book of the eight volume ‘Deltora Quest’ series. It continues the threesome’s jorney to seek out the seven missing gems from the Deltora belt. This story is told nicely about how the trio escape the Ra-Karcharz, Reece. This book is told in a chronological order, according to the time sequence. The book starts with a flashback and then carries on with the story.
The main characters are Lief, Barda and Jasmine. The writer describes Lief as a fast boy, Barda as a strong man and Jasmine as a flexible, strong girl. I found Jasmine sympathetic since she understood how Lief felt when he was going through some tough times. The conflict occurred when the threesome argues whether to leave the Ra-Karcharz place or not.
The writer have a reason for telling this story. The author is trying to convey to the readers the idea of not giving up so easily even though times are very rough.
I really enjoyed this book especially when Lief, Barda and Jasmine were in the City of Rats. A person that enjoys reading adventure and mystery would definitely love this book. The mystery shown in the story was when the threesome was suspicious about serpent lurking in the City of Rats. The adventure is shown in the story when Lief, Barda and Jasmine had to go on an ‘adventure’ to seek the missing gems. I would want to read the rest of the series because the finding of the gems are so interesting. In one sentence, ‘This book is skilfully written and explained’.
Thursday, 15 October 2015
Tuesday, 13 October 2015
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