21-1 (97)
Release Date: May 17-23
Especially
for
and
families
their
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© 1997 by Universal Press Syndicate
By BETIY DEBNAM
from The Mini Page by Betty Debnam C 1997 Universal Press Syndicate
Weird and Wonderful
Carnivorous Plants
c
May 22-28 is Celebrating
Wildflowers Week, and amazing
plants are popping up all over. You
probably will spot animals eating
plants. But sometimes it is the
plants that are eating the animals!
Strange plants
In all the world, there are about
350,000 different kinds of plants.
Of that number, 500 are most
unusual. These are the meat-eating, or
carnivorous (kar-NIH-vor-us), plants.
There have been a lot of strange
stories made up about these plants.
~ut they are much too small to eat
....: -' people.
-- , '. <V'
~i \P" - ~ •... .' They do eat
, - • " .
, I '
animals such
as insects,
slugs and
spiders.
The tall
pitcher
plant grows
in North
and South
Carolina,
Georgia,
Florida,
Alabama
and
Mississippi.
The pitcher plant
The pitcher plant has hollow,
tubelike leaves lined with hairs.
The plant produces a sweet juice
that attracts insects. When they fall
in, they are unable to crawl out
because hairs inside the plant point
downward.
The insect becomes tired, falls into
the fluid collected in the bottom, and
drowns. The plant then dissolves the
insect's soft body parts.
A short pitcher plant.
Plant traps
Carnivorous plants use their
unusual leaves to trap tiny animals.
Some of these plants, such as the
Venus flytrap, grab onto an insect.
The bladderwort, an underwater
plant, slurps up ~
tiny animals
with parts of its
leaves.
Others have
special smells to
attract insects.
They might smell like something
• sweet to eat. Or they might smell like
rotten meat.
That extra something
Growing places
Carnivorous plants grow in bogs, or
wet, soggy ground. In this type of
ground, plants can't get all the
nitrogen they need from the soil.
Nitrogen is a substance
found in the air and in
all living things. Insects
have a lot of it.
While most
carnivorous plants can
survive without
trapping insects, the
extra food they get
when they do trap
them is very important.
Carnivorous plants are in trouble.
People have drained many of the
swampy areas where they live.
Today, many are raised in hothouses
or botanic gardens. (A botanic garden
is a place to grow, study and exhibit
special plants.)
Carnivorous
plants are
found in many
parts of the world.
In the United
States, most are
found in the
southeastern states.
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21-2 (97)
Release Date: May 17-23
The dandelion
~.
The dandelion is a wildflower
~IIII[ that is dandy for making
wishes. Some people believe
that if they make a wish and
then blow off all of the seeds in
one puff, their wish will
come true.
The flower gets its
/'"
,name from its ragged
leaves, reminding us of
, 'lion's teeth.
"Dandelion" means
~,.,r-/
''lion's tooth" in French.
The whole blossom is made up
of many tiny flowers. It opens on
sunny days and closes in the later
afternoon or on cloudy, rainy days.
After a few days, the flower petals shrivel up, leaving
a green ball. Inside the ball, the seeds begin to form.
~~_ Blowing in the
Help Alpha Mouse find the carnivorous plant.
~
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,
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Fit the names of these flowers into the puzzle.
ACROSS:
2
DOWN:
3
wi nd
The seeds are
~M~A~~~-- ' ~ ~l< attached to a white
~\
barb that leads to
~(f- the seed head. At the
7/ other end are little
hairs that act like parachutes.
When the wind blows, the
seeds and their parachutes take
off. If a seed goes into the ground,
it comes up as a dandelion in the
spnng.
-..:.!1\\lL1>-l.:
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2.
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5.
4
5
3.
4.
from The Mini Page by Betty Debnam C 1997 Universal Press Syndicate
... elf
--Mi~i'mspy'~
Mini Spy and her friends are interested in carnivorous
plants. See if you can find:
• question
mark
• lima bean
• kite
• saw
• bird
• teapot
• letter A
• bell
• feather
• letter Z
• lips
• heart
• letter V
lit~:u~o~:-;~~:;;""W~~-
~:~~~
Words about meat-eating plants are hidden in the block below.
Some words are hidden backward or diagonally. See if you can
find: MEAT, EAT, INSECTS, NITROGEN, LEAVES, DIGEST,
PLANTS, FLYTRAP, NUTRIENTS, SWAMPS, STRANGE,
SPIDERS, FOOD, TRAP, FLUID, GROW, WATER, FEED, CURL.
NUT R lEN T S S BFA L V
INS E C T S C G T L L C B M
DCPTSCNURREYWSW
EDDLRWQROAATMPA
DEE F A A A L W N V REI T
DIU L F N P M F G E A A 0 E
G T A E R B T C PES PTE R
DIG EST J SUS X Y Z R 0
000 FEN EGO R T I N S K
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21-3 (97)
Release Date: May 17-23
The Mini Page Map of the U.S.A. is a colorful 23-by-35-inch map that includes state
capitals, state birds and state flowers. For your copy, send $3 plus 75 cents postage and
handling per copy to: Mini Page Map, Andrews and McMeel,
P.O. Box 419242, Kansas City, Mo. 64141.
~ Rookie
Cookie's Recipe
Peppered Popcorn
Go dot to dot and color.
~
~
~---~
You'll need:
cup peanuts
cup sunflower seeds
cup butter or margarine
• 8 cups popped popcorn
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 3/4
• 1/4
• 1/4
What to do:
• 11
It
• .J
3{,.
\3 • \1
\
1. Cook peanuts and sunflower seeds in butter or
margarine over low heat 5 minutes. Stir often.
2. Place popcorn, peanuts and sunflower seeds in a large
bowl. Mix well.
3. Sprinkle salt and cayenne pepper on top. Mix well .
Makes about 9 cups .
Meet Doug Powell
As a child, Doug Powell loved
music. He played the ukulele and
began writing songs at 9.
Today, at 32, he makes his living
as a singer and songwriter. He also
plays the guitar and keyboards.
He released his first album last
year.
In college he played in a band.
After college he worked for a while as a graphic designer.
On a trip to Chicago to see a concert, he gave a tape of
his music to a musician he liked. He soon got a call from
the musician asking to hear more of Doug's songs.
Doug grew up in Oklahoma. His mother is a
professional flute player and his father a physicist.
~.
from The Mini Page by Betty Debnam C 1997 Universal Press Syndicate
The Mini Page Body Parta Book
Now Kide Can Learn
About the Body ...
I
111",
)'our 81111/ bl.dder:
• The Body 5Y6tem6
• The Body P,,11"6
• How The Body Func:tion6
In Terme They Can
Underetand!
(sent in by Nicole Byram.)
To order, send $3.00 plus $1.00 postage and handling for each copy. Send only checks or money orders
payable to: Andrews and McMeel, p.o. Box 419242, Kansas City, Missouri, 64141.
I
I Please send _ _ copies of The Mini Page Body Parts Book (Item # 7805-4) at $4.00 each, including postage
I and handling. (Bulk discount information available upon request.)
I Name _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __
I Address _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _~
IL City
State
Zip
________________________________
.JI
Greg: Who's there?
Patty: Otts.
Greg: Otts who?
Patty: Bless you!
(sent in by Sandra Fortune)
from The Mini Page by Betty Debnam C 1997 Universal Press Syndicate
Please include all of the appropriate registered trademark symbols and copyright lines in any publication of The Mini Page®,
~
21-4 (97)
Release Date: May 17-23
from The Mini Page by Betty Debnam C 1997 Universal Press Syndlca1e
More About Carnivorous Plants
Plant care
Venus flytrap
C photo by Jerome Wexler
4)
1. The Venus flytrap is found
only in the wet meadows of
North and South Carolina.
3. The leaves close around the
insect. The insect drowns in a
fluid that oozes into the trap.
The plant keeps oozing fluid
until it digests the soft parts of
the insect.
Sundew
2. It has leaves that trap its prey. Each
leaf has two halves. When an insect lands
on the leaves, tiny hairs trigger the trap.
Carnivorous plants:
• must be watered with distilled
water, rainwater or melted snow. The
minerals in tap water are harmful.
• do best in terrariums where
there is a lot of moisture.
• need to grow in a mix of peat
---,
moss and fine sand.
• need a cool
resting period during
the winter months,
when many of them
need less moisture
and warmth.
If you are interested in raising
carnivorous plants, check a local
nursery to see if it carries them. If
not, maybe the people there can tell
you where to order them through the
mail.
A word of caution: These plants
require more care than most
houseplants.
Look through your newspaper
for stories about plants
eat.
People
e photo by Jerome Wexler 1 --=-----::....----------------1
4. Then the flytrap opens its leaves again.
The Mini Page thanks Bill McLaughlin and
Out falls the parts of the insect that the plant Christine Flanagan ofthe u.s. Botanic
wasn't able to digest. It is ready to catch
Garden for help with this issue.
another insect. Each leaf usually catches
~ Next week The Mini Page meets
about three insects before it shrivels and dies.
W with some old friends in books.
Sundew plants have leaves that act like flypaper. The leaves
have tiny hairs on them covered with sticky droplets.
Insects land on the leaf and stick to the droplets. The
leaf curls up and the plant gets nutrients from the
insect. Once that is done, the leaf opens up, leaving only
the hard parts of the insect that it could not digest.
Please include all of the appropriate registered trademark symbols and copyright lines in any publication of The Mini Page®.
21-5 (97)
Release Date: May 17-23
Meet some meateating plants
~fhf~Ai':a
T
© 1996 by Universal Press Syndicate
~ Goldie GoodSpoit,os;:;;~-
Teacher's
Guide
Supersport: Steffi Graf
For use by teachers and parents at home and at
school. For use with issue: Carnivorous Plants
ill
~" ~;!1iA :.;a:"~ ~
, Th!.7byUN_~,i..!!:~gem
by Betty Debnam
Appearing in your
newspaper on _ _ __
from The Mini Page by Betty Debnam
1997 Universal ~re88 Syndicate
o
(Note to Editor: Above is
camera-ready, one columnby-41f4-inch ad promoting
Issue 21.)
Main idea: This issue is about carnivorous plants. The following is a list of
activities to be used with this issue. They are listed in order of difficulty, with the
easier pre-reader assignments listed first. Ask the children to do the following:
1. Draw a picture of a carnivorous plant.
2. Design a poster to celebrate Wildflowers Week.
3. Get another copy of this issue. Cut apart the photos in one issue. Mix them
up, then find their matching photos in the other issue.
4. Look through your newspaper for ads for gardening supplies.
5. Count the number of photos of carnivorous plants. How are they alike and
different?
6. Discuss the following: Have you ever seen a carnivorous plant? If so, where?
Do you live in an area where they grow? Why do people find such plants so
interesting? Do wildflowers grow in your area? Where have you seen them? What
is your favorite kind? Does your family have houseplants? Do you help take care of
them?
7. Find the following words in this issue: carnivorous, swamps, bogs, trigger,
dissolves, distilled, nitrogen, digest, botanic, nutrients, prey, hothouses, hollow.
Define and make up a new sentence for each one.
8. Look through your newspaper for articles on gardening.
(Note to Editor: Above is the Teacher's Guide for Issue 21.)
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Height: 5-9
Weight: 132
Birthdate: 6-14-69
Birthplace: Bruhl,
Germany
Steffi Graf has been playing professional
tennis since 1982. Since then she has won
more than 100 singles titles.
Last year she won 54 tournaments and
earned more than $2.6 million. Her wins
included Wimbledon, the U.S. Open and the
German Open. It was her seventh win at Wimbledon and her
fifth at the U.S. Open. She also reached the quarterfinals of the
Italian Open.
She has earned more than $19.8 million in her career.
At the 1988 Olympics she won a gold medal.
In 1995 she took some time off to have surgery on her left foot.
Steffi has homes in Bruhl, Germany, and in New York.
(Note to Editor: Above is copy block for Page 3, Issue 21, to be used
in place of ad if desired.)
Please include all of the appropriate registered trademark symbols and copyright lines in any publication of The Mini Page®.