What is volvox?

Volvox is probably the simplest living organism composed of a number of cells that show as common purpose. Volvox (Latin for rolling) is a plant, looking like a tiny green ball as big as this ‘o’,. If you look carefully into the surface of a freshwater pool or pond you will probably see, rolling through the water, tiny green balls-these are volvox.

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What is show-jumping?

Show-jumping is a competition to see which horse and rider can best jump a series of walls, fences and other obstacles . Points are won and lost as the horses, one after the other, attempt each obstacles on a specially prepared course. Some times, extra points are awarded to the horse which completes the course successfully in the fastest time.

Some of the special walls on a show-jumping course are made of brick, and if the horse kicks any of the bricks off the wall as it goes over the top it will lose its rider points. Fences are often made of wooden poles, and again, none of the poles must be kicked out of place by the horse if its rider is to score full points. Also there are often ditches filled with water, which the horses must be able to clear. If a horse refuses to jump a fence, it will mean a serious loss of points, And if a horse throws its rider out of the saddle, this is worse still.

Show-jumping is popular with millions of people today who can see such contests on television. Some show-jumping horse riders are now as famous as racing jockeys.

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What do guide-dogs do?

Dogs are what we call Domesticated animals, meaning that for thousands of years they have played a very close and important part in men’s lives. One of the most valuable jobs a dog can be trained for is to act as a guide-dog.

These dogs are owned by blind people and lead the way when they want to go out. Such dogs are selected for this job when they are about two years old, and it takes four or five months to train them. They are trained to lead their blind master down a street so that he won’t bump into other people or walk into building or lamp posts. They are also taught to stop at the curb and not lead their master across the road until the traffic has stopped or is a safe distance away. As they are highly intelligent animals, they can even help their masters safely in and out of buses and trains.

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