In the Desert : In the Desert (9780307496126) Read Online Free PDF

very high fevers are dangerous—too much heat can damage the molecules of our brains and other organs.
    Interestingly, low fevers actually help our bodies fight infections.
Many animals keep their eyes clean by blinking. But geckos can’t blink—they don’t have eyelids. Instead, a transparent scale covers and protects their eyes. When their eye covers get dirty, geckos clean them with their tongues!
Frogs can survive environments that are too cold or too hot. During cold winters, frogs sink to the bottom of deep lakes. Their hearts slow down and they may even stop breathing. (Frogs can get oxygen through their skin.) Some frogs can freeze almost as solid as an ice cube. They have a kind of “antifreeze” in their blood that keeps their hearts and brains and other organs alive.
    Surviving low temperatures by slowing down is called hibernation (hy-bur-NAY-shun).
    Desert frogs have the opposite problem, but a similar solution. When the environment becomes too hot and dry, desert frogs burrow underground. It’s much cooler down below. They may surround themselves with a layer of shed skin or slime to protect themselves from drying out. Then their bodies slow down, too.
    When animals slow down their bodies to deal with heat, it’s called estivation (es-tuh-VAY-shun).
Meat ants are also farmer ants. They protect the caterpillars of certain Australian butterflies from predators, including other ants. In turn, the caterpillars poop sugary stuff called honeydew—tasty food for ants!
A brown tumbleweed rolling across a desert is not a dead plant; it’s a plant that’s spreading its seeds.
    Tumbleweeds sprout in spring and bloomin late summer. As soon as the seeds develop, the stem breaks away from the roots. The plant curls into a ball shape and rolls and bounces along the ground. With every bounce, it drops some of its seeds. A tumbleweed can roll for miles, scattering 250,000 seeds along the way.
    Tumbleweeds grow well in farmlands. It’s easy for the plants to roll and bounce across the open fields. But farmers don’t like tumble-weeds. Their sharp thorns can hurt farm animals. Also, they catch fire easily—a burning tumbleweed can destroy a farm.

All deserts are different. But they’re all inhabited by plants and animals that have amazing ways to survive with little water and in lots of heat. Want to find out more about desert weirdness? Read these!
One Day in the Desert
by Jean Craighead George (New York: HarperTrophy 1996). A dramatic story of how the humans and animals of the Sonoran Desert in Arizona deal with the heat and a sudden violent storm.
Correctamundo! Prickly Pete’s Guide to Desert Facts & Cactifracts
by David Lazaroff (Tucson; AZ: Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum Press, 2001).Do you really know the facts about deserts, or do you just think you know? Find out!
101 Questions About Desert Life
by Alice Jablonsky (Howell, UT: Southwest Parks & Monuments Association, 1994). Become an expert on desert facts!
Lizards Weird and Wonderful
by Margery Facklam (New York: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, 2003). Want to know about lizards that squirt blood out of their eyes? Read this book!
    Turn the page
for a sneak peek at
Andrew, Judy, and Thudd’s
next exciting adventure—
    ANDREW LOST
WITH THE FROGS
    Available July 2008
    Excerpt copyright © 2008 by J. C. Greenburg.
    Published by Random House Children’s Books, a division of
    Random House, Inc., New York.

“Ergh!” grunted ant-sized Andrew Dubble. Andrew, wearing a furry black-and-yellow-striped jumpsuit, was on a ledge outside a kitchen window.
    His arms were covered by black metal tubes jointed at the elbows. He was struggling to get his legs into pants made from the same tubes.
    “You’re not supposed to be outside, Bug-Brain,” came a voice from the windowsill behind him. “And what’s with that
stupid
outfit?”
    It was Andrew’s thirteen-year-old cousin, Judy. Judy was ant-sized, too.
    Andrew stood up stiffly in his metal pants.“I