Morning Starters: Spring 2 - Sahara Desert
Did You Know?
Dung beetles are desert insects with a surprising favorite food – dung! This dung comes from animals like camels and antelopes that live in the desert. When a beetle finds a fresh pile, it quickly rolls part of it into a ball and skillfully pushes it across the sand to bury it. Scientists have discovered that these clever insects use the light of the Milky Way to help them navigate, making sure they roll their dung balls in straight lines.
Word Challenge
Dung beetles have 3 main body parts: a head, a thorax and an abdomen.
Find and list the 3-syllable words that appear in the ‘Did you know?’ paragraph.
Example:
an-te-lopes
Grammar Challenge
Rewrite the following sentences as a single sentence, using a suitable conjunction from the list above.
A dung beetle is small. It can carry many times its body weight.
Number Challenge
Fact: Some dung beetles can roll dung balls over 50 times their own weight!
Multiply each number in the grid below by 50.
Critical Thinking
What does a a solar-powered dune buggy and dung beetle have in common?
Can you think of something that no-one else will have thought of?