Go Green, Plant a Tree

The Earth’s natural resources, plants and trees included are slowly beginning to become scarce. Because of this, the need to spare and restore our natural environment arises and honestly, it does not take an Einstein to know that a simple tree-planting activity would make a difference in saving mother Earth.

Planting a tree is not as simple as just digging a hole and throwing a seed in it and waiting for it to grow into a healthy tree. If you want the tree you're planting to survive and thrive, here's what to you should do:

1. Know the right time of year for planting the tree. Do not plant in late spring or summer because the heat will stress the plant and may cause it to die. The best time to plant a tree is fall (autumn) or early spring.

2. Choose a suitable tree for the region, climate and space. Ask your teacher or parents about it. You can also do research at your school or community library on the kind of trees that can live in your area. Include in your research the size, shape, and type of these trees.

3. Decide where you want the tree. Remember that trees will grow large, so in addition to arranging it according to how you want the area to look, think ahead. Ask someone to help you with this.

4. Prepare the hole. Take a suitable shovel and dig a hole that is 2-3 times the width of the root ball, not just enough so it will fit. This lets the roots ease in more easily and begin to grow outwards into the soil. It also allows you to cut off the wire root basket if there is one.

5. If it is a small tree, then you can turn it upside down gently to get it out of the pot. You could also cut some plastic containers to remove them.

6. If the tree is larger and has a net or a hessian or rope bag, you might need to use large scissors or a sharp knife to cut through the packaging. Avoid handling the tree with the burlap off. Put it in the hole, then cut as much of the wire basket and burlap as you can from around it. The goal is to keep as much dirt around the roots as possible; moving the tree more than absolutely necessary can easily cause air to get to the roots and dry them out, even inside the root ball.

7. Don't leave a tree's roots out of its container or burlap for too long. Especially in sun and wind, it could dry out and damage the roots.

8. Place the tree into the hole gently. Be sure the hole isn't too deep or too shallow. The ground level of the plant in the pot should match up with the ground level after you fill the hole in. Do not bury over the crown (where the stem changes to root) or leave any roots exposed.

9. Use some compost or composted manure if needed. If the soil that you currently have is not rich, has clay-like qualities or if it has the consistency of dust or sand, the addition of manure or compost will give the tree a great start in life. Backfill three quarters of the hole with existing dirt, one quarter with compost or composted manure.


Unlike in virtual worlds and online games for kids such as eKidnaworld.com where planting simply involves buying pots, soil and seeds, and watering it to let it grow healthily, growing an actual tree needs a lot of serious attention and calls for a responsible person. With the help of your mum, dad or older sibling, maybe you can start growing your own tree now.

Echidna Fun Facts

echidna

Echidnas are mammals that are uniquely found in Australia. It is so different from any other that it still puzzles researchers and scientists. It has remained unchanged since prehistoric times but has found ways to survive while other species became extinct. Also known as spiny anteaters that belong to the family Tachyglossidae in the monotreme order of egg-laying mammals. Aside from echidnas are four other extant species, which, together with the Platypus, are the only surviving members of the order and are the only extant mammals that lay eggs. 

What do Echidnas look like?
An Echidnas body is covered with 2 types of hair. A "normal" short coarse hair to keep them warm and long sharp spines each being a single hair but hard (similar to our fingernails in composition) The colouring and length of their "normal" hair differs wildly across Australia depending on climate and habitat).

In size Echidnas are between 35 - 45 cms long and weigh anything between 2-7 kg.

The Echidna has a pointy snout and an extremely long sticky tongue to catch ants and termites.

They feet have sharp claws for digging and though like the Platypus the male has a spur on its ankle, it is not poisonous They make a sniffing noise as they search for food.

Unique Habitat
The Echidnas main requirement is a large supply of ants and termites so Echidnas are found all over Australia from the highlands to deserts to forests The Echidna has no fixed home except when the female is suckling its young. Echidnas can be found in a variety of shelters from rocks to fallen wood, small caves, or even under bushes.

There is normally 3 options open to an Echidna when it feels threatened
1) Run away on its short stubby legs if on a hard surface such as a road or rocks.
2) Curl itself into a ball protecting its softer underbelly, and only showing sharp spines to its threat.)
3) Burrows down below the surface of the soil showing only its spines along its back, and holding on below the surface with its claws thus resisting being pulled out of the ground.

Normally the Echidna feeds at night on ants or termites. The tip of its snout or nose is sensitive to electrical signals from an insect body thus it searches and "sniffs" out ant and termite nests. Echidnas then normally tears into the mound or nest with its sharp claws (front feet) and its snout exposing the ants or termites and then catching them with its fast flicking sticky tongue. Because they have no teeth the Echidna crushes the insects between horny pads in its mouth.

Man especially the motor car kills hundreds every year on our roads Goannas eat young Echidnas. Dingoes, foxes as well as feral cats and dogs are also responsible for deaths. Lastly, as with most Australian animals. Bushfires and Droughts are a natural enemy.

Want to adopt a virtual echidna and play games online? Go to eKidnaworld.com and discover how echidnas make such a cute virtual character.

Coffee Makes Robots Powerful

Did you know that coffee helps robots become a more powerful machine? Because robots don’t drink, they use coffee for something else—to help them lift, hold and move objects.

Robots are modeled after human beings. And like humans, robots also have hands with fingers and thumbs. These robots might be programmed to use their hands as humans do: to lift and hold objects.

But the new tool, called the “universal gripper,” suggests robots don’t need fingers to move things around. It’s a simple device made of a small balloon filled with ground coffee and attached to a vacuum. This strange but smart design means the robot gripper can pick up all kinds of objects, including fragile things.

“One of the tricky things about picking up delicate objects is that you have to know how much pressure to apply: too little and you drop the object; too much and you break it,” Peko Hosoi told Science News. “This new gripper works by exactly conforming to the shape of the object.”

In a video produced by the scientists, the robotic tool is shown lifting all kinds of objects, including a jack, an egg and a shock absorber. The video also shows that the tool allows a robot to write with a pen or pour water from one glass into another.

“Our goal was to pick up objects where you don’t know what you’re dealing with ahead of time,” Eric Brown told Science News. Brown is a scientist at the University of Chicago who worked on the new tool.

The new tool is small, but the scientists are thinking big. They say that a giant gripper three feet across would be strong enough to lift and move something weighing 2,000 pounds — like a small car.

Of course, to get enough grounds to fill such a big balloon, the scientists would need a lot of coffee.

Aren't these robots cool? Experience more fun stuff at eKidnaworld.com, a safe virtual world for kids where you can create your own character, play cool games, make your own home, go shopping, even connect and chat with your friends online.