Today's queens of the sea are giant merchant ships that carry trade goods all over the world. Compared to these giants, the ships of the ancient Phoenician traders would look like tiny rowboats! The...
The world ocean
Look at a globe from the top or the bottom. You will see that all the oceans are really joined to one another and form a single body of water. More than three-quarters of our world is covered with...
Medicines to make you well
If you get sick, a plant may help you get well. Many medicines that doctors give sick people are made from plants. People with heart trouble use a medicine made from this plant. One of the best...
Bread, breakfast food, and popcorn
Do you know that you probably eat grass? When we think of grass we usually think of green lawns. But there are many kinds of grass. Wheat, oats, rye, barley, rice, and corn (which is called maize in...
Natural gardens
Natural gardens are often called wild gardens because they look just like an ordinary woodland or meadow. But most of the plants in a natural garden are carefully planted by people. A natural...
The carrot’s lacy cousin
From May until late August you can see the white, lacy flowers of a plant called Queen Anne's lace nodding at you along roads and in fields. The plant is named after a real queen who ruled England...
Fairies, sneezes, and piles of gold
that ragweed was the favorite plant of the fairies. But it seems strange that the fairies would like a plant that makes many people feel sick. In most flowers there are tiny grains called pollen....
Jack-in-the-pulpit
> Jack-in-the-pulpit It's easy to see how this little plant got its name. It looks like a little man in a pulpit, ready to give a sermon. It's called Jack-in-the-pulpit because "Jack" is another...
The cushion plant
> cushion plant In New Zealand, there grows a plant that looks like a cushion made of white sheep's wool. It's called a cushion plant. And sometimes it's called a vegetable sheep. A cushion plant...
What leaves do
Leaves don't seem to do anything at all. But if you could become tiny enough to peek inside a leaf---you would have a surprise! Sunlight comes into a leaf through the leaf's skin, which is clear...
