Which country has most islands?
The country of Indonesia in South East Asia is made up of more than 13,000 islands. But many of the islands f are tiny and people only live on about 1,500 of them.
Is it true?
New islands keep being made.
YES. In 1963, a new island, called Surtsey, burst out of the sea near Iceland when an undersea volcano erupted.
Why are deserts dry?
Desserts are the driest places on Earth. In some deserts it doesn’t rain for years at a time. In others, it never rains at all. Some deserts are also scorching hot. In the daytime, the sand’s hot enough to fry an egg on.
Sandy desert seen from above
Amazing!
The Sahara Desert is the biggest, sandiest desert in the world. It covers about a third of Africa.
Can sand dunes move?
Strong winds blowing across the desert pile the sand up into giant heaps, or dunes. The biggest stand 200 metres tall. The dunes creep forward every year and can bury whole desert villages.
Are all deserts sandy?
No, they’re not. Only about a quarter of all deserts are sandy. Most deserts are rocky or covered in gravel and stones. Some deserts have high mountains or strange-shaped rocks towering up from the ground.
Is it true?
Mushrooms grow in the desert.
YES. Well, mushroom-shaped rocks. They’re carved into shape by sand blown by the wind, like a giant piece of sandpaper.
Why are rainforests so wet?
Because it rains almost every single day! Late most afternoons, the sky goes black and there’s a heavy thunderstorm. Rainforests grow along the equator where it’s hot and sticky all year round. It’s the perfect weather for plants to grow.
Where do the biggest forests grow?
The biggest forests in the world stretch for thousands of kilometres across the north of Europe and Asia. The trees that grow here are conifers. They’re trees with needle-like leaves and cones.
Is it true?
The paper we use comes from forests.
YES. You could make more than 1,500 copies of this book from a single conifer tree.
Amazing!
The biggest rainforest grows in South America along the banks of the River Amazon. It’s home to millions of plants and animals.
