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The Snowiest Place in the World Read More »
On a dark night in central Alaska, the sky might be lit with green and red lights four out of every five nights. These lights are the famous northern lights. Despite their name, the northern lights can be seen much further south than Alaska. They have been seen as far south as Mexico and even
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Why do leaves change color in the fall? And why do different trees turn different colors? All leaves contain chlorophyll. Chlorophyll reflects green light making leaves look green. As the days shorten and the nights cool, trees form a layer of cork cells in the stem of their leaves. This causes the leaf to die
This month there are several astronomy events involving the moon. Next week on September 17 the moon will briefly hide the planet Saturn. This event called an occultation will happen in the early morning. It will be visible from the Western United States, southwestern Canada, and northwestern Mexico. Saturn will disappear behind the moon between
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What’s In My Backyard? Meet the Neighbors: Queen Meet Her Majesty the Queen!! She is of course closely related to the Monarch. This big beautiful butterfly lays eggs on milkweed just like the Monarch. If they are so similar, how can you tell the difference? If you look at the butterflies in the pictures, you
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To enjoy this content, please join our 5sparrows family. If you can’t afford a donation or monthy support, there is a free registration option. You can also click on the About us link in the menu bar to learn more about us and our project. We look forward to hearing from you. If you are
Mouse & Bird Explore: Erasers Read More »
What’s In My Backyard? Meet the Neighbors: Blinded Sphinx moth This big beautiful moth is called the Blinded Sphinx Moth. Blinded? Does that mean it can’t see? Surprisingly this name has nothing to do with the moth’s eyes. The moth has perfectly functional eyes. Instead, the name refers to the bright blue eyespots on its
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Why is summer hotter than winter? Summer is hotter than winter because Earth is tilted on its axis. The northern hemisphere is tilted toward the sun in summer and away from the sun in winter. The same is true for the southern hemisphere except that summer and winter come at different times of year than
What’s In My Backyard? Meet the Neighbors: sunflower beetle This brightly colored beetle eats sunflower plants. Its Latin name is Calligrapha Exclamationis. Exclamationis means exclamation. If you look at the side of this beetle, you will see a mark that looks like an exclamation mark! In areas where sunflowers are grown, these handsome beetles can
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What’s In My Backyard? Meet the neighbors: Dainty sulphur For the introduction to this series, see here This tiny, delicate butterfly is in the same family as the white cabbage butterflies that are pests in the garden but these butterflies are not usually pests. Their wingspan is only 2–3.2 cm (0.7 to 1.2 in)! For
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