5 - Sparky's 'Buzzarded' World

Hello, Sparky here.

Ø  It’s getting hot here. If you pay attention you will notice changes in weather even from week to week. Looking at a moment, the weather might seem standing still but step back and look at it in its entirety and you will notice a pattern, a rhythm. Nature around us is like a gently flowing river, moving from one season to another, following a definite plan.  We, animals, birds, insects and the like live by nature’s plan. We do not live in brick and mortar houses with electricity powered equipment making the outside weather irrelevant to us. So, we live by the time-table Mother Nature draws. We rise and sleep with the Sun (there are others who do just the opposite) and the sun rise and sun set time keeps changing through the year. We build nest, have babies, and visit other places, all as per ‘Her’ scheme. Our food also changes with the season and it’s usually what’s best for that season. We are all perfectly in tune with each other, connected to each other, living by Mother Nature’s master plan.

Only Humans seem to think they can do what they like and get away with it. But, sadly, they are wrong. Some Humans have realised that water, air and land polluted by their activities is harming them. They have started showing concern. They celebrate ‘Earth Day’ every year on April 22nd to show and get support for protecting environment. This week, we saw some humans diving into the river wearing protective gear to clean up the mess in the river (remember Mr. Kurma, the turtle’s drawing). Cleaning up is all very well, but why do they not live in such a way that there is no need to clean up? I hear that they keep meeting to discuss Climate Change but I don’t understand why things don’t seem to be getting better, in fact, it’s getting worse. There are frequent floods in some places, droughts in others; summers are getting longer and hotter and winters shorter. Trees are being cut down for buildings and farms. Humans are just one species but have taken over the entire planet with no concern for anyone else. Mother Nature is getting upset by all of this, very upset.   

Ø  Talking of being upset, the entire lot of us were upset 4 days back. An Oriental Honey Buzzard from some other place came to our Banyan Island, probably following a wasp or a bee. There is a huge bee hive hanging from a branch of the banyan tree. The Honey Buzzard either followed a bee from this hive that had gone far in search of nectar or he followed a wasp and happened to see the bee hive. Whatever be the case, he attacked the bee hive, broke off a chunk of the honey comb and sat down a little way off to enjoy his meal while the bees furious with being raided like that, went mad with anger and attacked everyone in the vicinity. It was mayhem like the Banyan Island has never seen before. All of us ran for shelter, but it happened so quickly many of us were stung. While we were running and shooing the bees, howling in pain, the Honey Buzzard just sat there eating bee larvae, comb and honey. It is all very well for him, he is an expert at getting honey and for that he has different kind of feathers on head, face and neck which also have a chemical coating for protection against stings. I don’t want to call him names. After all, this is a magazine read by kids and adults alike. But if you want to know what I think of him, solve the first puzzle and find out.  

Ø  As far as the bees are concerned, I wouldn’t go around calling them names. The world needs them more than they need us. If not for them there would hardly be any flowers or fruits. They pollinate (carry pollen from one flower to another which helps plants makes fruits, grains, vegetables, nuts…) 85% of the world’s flowering plants and over 65% of crops grown by human is thanks to the bees, not just honey bees, but bees of all kinds. From forests to home gardens, bees’ role in keeping them growing and healthy should never be forgotten. Our survival and well-being depends on them. 

Ø  There’s nothing else to report except that after the Honey Buzzard left, the Bee-Eaters kind of had a feast as well while the rest of us sat catching our breath and licking the stings. Bee-eaters are beautiful lively birds and very fast too. Although, they eat bees and wasps like the Honey Buzzard, they don’t go attacking bee hives, they catch the insects while they are flying.

         

If you haven’t been stung by bees or hurt yourself while running, consider yourself very lucky. If you have been stung or gotten hurt, here are some activities to take your mind off the pain.

• If you put together the first letter from all the answers, it will give you a word which is what I think of the Honey Buzzard.

	Someone who shows too much curiosity about other people’s life is ____? The word rhymes with Cozy.
	Someone who comes uninvited is an________?  A trespasser is also called this.
	An Unpleasant person is a _______ person? Also used for smells and such. Weird, but the word rhymes with Tasty!!!
	Someone who’s not kind is________?
	Someone who’s dull, unintelligent is called an ________person? Also means an angle that’s greater than 90 degrees.
	Someone who’s unkind and unfair is a ________ person? An average of numbers is also called this.
	Someone who’s stupid is called this. Someone whose brain size is as small as a pea.
	Someone who’s annoying and offensive is an _______ person? This word is used to describe bad smell as well.
	Someone is different and peculiar is an _____person? 1,3,5,7 are also called this.
	A person who robs people on the sea is called a ________?

• ‘Monkey see, monkey do’ is an Idiom. Idiom is a phrase (group of words) that means not what the words mean but something else because it has been used in that sense over a long period of time. Idioms are part of the language, say English here in this example and someone who does not speak English might not understand it in the same way.

Here’s an Idiom quiz on animals. See, if you can ‘crack these tough nuts’. Match the Idioms in first column to its meaning in the second column.

Idiom	Meaning
Copy cat	Raining heavily
Cat’s got your tongue	Get the biggest share of something
Let the cat out of the bag	Unable to be calm or stay quiet out of nervousness or excitement
Raining cats and dogs	Suspicious
Get the lion’s share	Face a task/challenge boldly
Fishy	Said of someone who suddenly goes quiet
Hold your horses	Very competitive
Take a bull by the horns	Reveal a secret
Rat race	Wait, be patient
Ant’s in one’s pants	Someone who imitates someone else

• Homphones are words that have same pronunciation but have different spelling and different meanings. See, if you can fill in the  _______(right/write) words in the blanks. Once, you have completed filling in the right words, do read the story again to enjoy the story.

This is the ____(tail/tale) of Bucky, the ______(Be/Bee) who stole and _____ (ate/eight) ______(ate/eight) pots of nectar from the Bee hive store house. When the chief guard discovered the theft he informed the Queen Mother who _____(maid/made) all her _____ (Be/Bee) babies stand in a row near the _____(hole/whole) in the tree, close to _____(there/their) hive.

Queen Mother then said, ‘My children, it takes a 1000 trips to ______(flowers/flours) to collect nectar to fill 1 pot. So, it should be _____(plain/plane) to everyone who can _____(see/sea) that it’s 8000 trips that have been stolen. Is it _____(fair/fare) my _____(deer/dear) ones, that all of us toil in the _____(son/sun) and one gets to enjoy it all? I shall ______(no/know) no ______(piece/peace) till the thief is caught. I _____ (need/knead) the thief caught in one _____(hour/our)’ Saying that she ______(blue/blew) a kiss to them and _____(flu/flew) away from the ______(scene/seen).

As the chief guard walked around, his _____(nose/knows) picked up the ______(cent/scent) of the nectar from Bucky. He wanted to teach Bucky a lesson for the _____(pain/pane) he had caused all of them so he told them that one of the pots of nectar was a magical ______(potion/portion) and the one who had had a ______(byte/bite) from that pot would be able to swim. He then dismissed the gathering. Bucky was curious to _____(cheque/check) if that was true and _____(flew/flu) down to ______ (where/wear) the river was flowing. As Bucky stepped into the water, he begin to sink, the guard reached there to hear Bucky _____(groan/grown) and struggle in ______(vein/vain) to get out of water. The guard pulled Bucky out of water and took him to the Queen Mother who _____(rapped/wrapped) him on his _____(knows/nose) and ______(find/fined) him his pocket money for 3 months and ______(allowed/aloud) him to go.

Bucky was grateful to Queen Mother and the chief guard for not telling the others and also to his friends who helped him when he had no money by sharing with him the ice-creams they would _____(buy/by). Bucky never tried to _____(steel/steal) again. He never lost _____(sight/site) of what’s _____(write/right).

• Two weeks back, we understood the Frog’s life cycle as it starts life from an Egg to a Tadpole to a Frog. A Butterfly goes through a similar metamorphosis as well. Here are the stages of a Butterfly’s life.

o   First, an adult Butterfly lays eggs on the plant which the larvae will eat when it hatches from the egg.

o   The Eggs hatch into Larvae, called Caterpillars who spend most of their time searching for and eating food. 

o   When the Caterpillar is fully grown, it finds a well-hidden place, attaches itself to the place with a silk thread that it spins. It loses its outer skin and is now called a Pupa. Some Butterflies spin a cocoon around themselves, which is a protective covering around them when they are in the Pupa stage.

o   In the Pupa stage, it undergoes a transformation and emerges as an adult Butterfly who will continue this life-cycle by laying Eggs.

Now, that you have read about the almost magical life cycle of a Butterfly, can you arrange these pictures in the correct order?

• Now for a Mathematical puzzle. Understand how the first 2 squares have been solved and apply the same logic to the other squares and fill the answers in the center of the squares.

See you all next week with more news, activities and answers to this week’s puzzles.

In the meanwhile, if you would like to write to me, email me at Sparkyatbanyan@gmail.com

Answers to last week’s puzzles:

• Solve the riddles one by one and get a word that solves another riddle.

Mouse	I am a little creature that helped one far bigger in size, So proved that no matter how small, each has his use, at the right times.
Ant Hill	I am built by many tiny insects working as one, Look like a mound above ground, But I house a queen and am almost a palace underground.
Nest	I could be just a hole in a tree or a wall, Or made of sticks, mud or grass woven into a ball.  I am ‘home’ to many – both big and small.
Google	If you can’t figure out a riddle, this is where you will seek, If you don’t find it there either, come back here next week.
Orange	I am an eatable as well as a colour.
	The final riddle – first letter of the answers above will also solve this riddle below:
MANGO	I am sour when raw but as I ripen I turn sweet A big seed inside and to eat me is a delicious treat.

• Complete the Crossword puzzle below:

• Make as many words as possible with the below letters without repeating any of the letters:

L

I

N

S

D

A

• Mathematical Puzzle –The numbers in columns 3, 4 and 5 are a sum of the previous 2 numbers. Knowing this logic, find the missing numbers: 

1	4	5	9	14
5	10	15	25	40
2	4	6	10	16
4	7	11	18	29
5	15	20	35	55
2	7	9	16	25
1	4	5	9	14
2	4	6	10	16

• Analogical reasoning questions:

• Puzzle-Garden’: Find the hidden flowers below: