Chewing gum

The first chewing gum came from rubber trees in the South American rain forests. The Aztecs chewed it and called it `chicttli `. It was harder than modern chewing gum and didn`t taste of anything. The gum is delicious. Byee :P

Popcorn! :P

Popcorn is not a modern food like potato crips. It is more than 5,000 years old. Popcorn was an American Indian food. Columbus bought popcorn necklaces in the West Indies. There was also popcorn at the first Thanksgiving meal in North America in 1621. In the 1940s, cinemas in the USA started to sell popcorn. It is still the most popular cinema snack. :D

Collector :)

I often go walking with my family. I like it a lot. Taking photos is OK, but I take home bits of the mountain with me too. That`s rigth, I collect colored stones. I have a collection of more than 100 stones. My mum isn`t verry happy because I keep them under my beed! :P

Roman times

Yesterday mount Vesuvius started to erupt at midday. In the afternoon the shops opened and people walked in the streets. By the evening there was a lot of volcanic ash on the streets and people stayed inside their houses. Today the volcano is still erupting and the volcanic ash is slowly covering the houses, shops, and temples. Everyone is asking the same question: When is Vesuvius going to stop erupting?:)

:O

Mount Venus in Italy erupted in AD 79. It covered the Roman city of Pompeii with six metres of hot ash. At first the ash fell very slowly. People walked around under the ash and didn`t try to leave. Scientist now think that there was a sudden eruption of very fast and very hot wind and ash. The wind blew people onto the ground and they couldn`t breathe because of the ash. Many centuries later people discovered Pompeii. There was a whole city under the ash with houses, skeletons and even food. Historians learnt a lot about life in Roman times from the city of Pompeii. Vesuvius last erupted in 1944.

volcanoes

A volcano is a mountain of lava. When a volcano erupts, lava, ash, and smoke come out of the crater. The lava cools and makes a cone. There are more than 850 volcanoes in the world. Most of them are in a ring around the Pacific Ocean. It is called the Ring of Fire.

Spanish lynxes

Spanish lynxes are the smallest of the big cats. They are also one of the rarest - there are only a few hungred still living. These lynxes look like cats but they are larger. They have long legs, large feet, and long hairs on top of their ears. Their home is in Mediterranean forests, but there aren`t many of these forest now. Hunters also kill lynxes for their fur.

Cheetahs :D

Cheetahs have long legs and thin bodies and they are the fastest land animals in the world. They can run about 100 kilometres an hour, but they can`t run this fast for a long time. Cheetahs once lived all over Africa, India and the Middle East. Now there are fewer than 4,000. Most of them live in Africa.

Snow leopards

Snow lwopards live high in the mountains in Asia. In winter their fur grows thicker because it is very cold. They can climb well and spend a lot of time in trees. Snow leopards are the quietest big cats. They dont `t roar, they purr loudly (Like a cat). There are only about 5,000 snow leopards still living. Hunters love their winter fur. :P

The best swimmer ;)

Ian Thorpe is the best swimmer in the world. He comes from Sydney, Australia. He was born on 13th october, 1982. He started swimming when he was three years old. He won two silver and three gold medals in the 2000 olympics in Sydney when he was only 17.

The Williams sisters! :P

In june 2000 two sisters played against each other at the tennis Championships at Wimblendon. Their father and tennis teacher wasn `t there. He didn `t want to watch because he wanted both of them to win. Venus is faster and stronger than her younger sister, and in the end Venus was the winner. The williams sisters ` story is very special. They come from a poor town in California in the USA. Their father started to teach them tennis when they were four years old. He wanted his daughters to play tennis and get rich. Venus and Serena have three older sisters. They also play tennis, but Venus and Serena are the family champions! :)

Allosaurus! :)

Size: It was 11 metres long and nearly 2 metres tall.
Special features:It had a strong neck and huge teeth. It had a long, strong tail and very strong back legs. It had sharp claws on its front and back feet.
Movement: It ran fast. It couldn `t climb or swim.
Brain: Big!!! A clever dinosaur.
Food: It ate small plant-eatong dinosaurs.
Bad points: It moved slowly in water.
Lifestyle: It lived in groups.

Dinosaurs :P

Tyrannosaurus was king of them all. He had big back legs and was very, very tall. His teeth were long and sharp and white. He had a loud roar ans a very big bite.

Brachiosaurus was slow and strong. He head was small and her neck was long. She walked around on all four legs. She ate green leaves and she cared for her eggs.