National Geographic Museum Blog

The Anglo-Saxons is the general name given to the Germanic peoples who inhabited Britain between the 5th and the 11th centuries, between the Romans and the Normans. They come from mainly 3 different Germanic tribes:

1. The Angles, who may have come from Angeln (in modern Germany); supposedly their whole nation came to Britain, leaving their former land empty.
2. The Saxons, from Lower Saxony (in modern Germany; German; Niedersachsen) and the Low Countries
3. The Jutes, possible from the Jutland peninsula (in modern Denmark)

Did you know…

• The leopard is the most widespread of all big cats.
• Mountain lions are strong jumpers, thanks to muscular hind legs that are longer than their front legs.
• Tigers have been hunted for their skin, bones, and other body parts, used in traditional Chinese medicine.
• Unlike other cats, lions have a tuft of hair at the end of their tails.
• After humans, mountain lions have the largest range of any mammal in the Western Hemisphere.

Source: http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/big-cats/facts/

This weekend on October 29th, we are bringing a hoard of gold to Washington DC! The Anglo Saxon hoard is a huge stash of gold and metal items found mysteriously buried in a field in England by Terry Hebert using a metal detector. Don’t miss the only U.S. appearance of the largest hoard of Anglo-Saxon gold ever discovered.

All animals excrete waste. It’s natural.  In fact, animal scatologists spend their whole lives studying the texture, weight, color and size of animals poop! There are a lot of different kinds of name for the waste that animals leave behind depending on the type of animal and whether its an herbivore or a carnivore!

Question: How many insects can a bat gobble in one night?!

Answer: 3000, those bats are hungry!

Question: What part of their body do butterflies use to taste food.

Answer: Their feet have taste receptors!

Learn more weird but true facts here: http://kids.nationalgeographic.com/kids/games/puzzlesquizzes/quizyournoodle-weird-but-true-animals/

Did you know…

• Cheetahs do not roar, as the other big cats do. Instead, they purr.
• Tigers are excellent swimmers and do not avoid water.
• A female Amur leopard gives birth to one to four cubs in each litter.
• Fossil records from two million years ago show evidence of jaguars.
• Lions are the only cats that live in groups, called prides. Every female within the pride is usually related.

Source: http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/big-cats/facts/

Yuck- when you visit the National Geographic Museum you can find out who Nurse Grossness is! In one exhibit, she needs your help to choose which color blood is needed for which transfusions for a few different ailing animals. Your job is to assist her by learning which animal has which color blood. Each station’s blood tube must be filled with each correct answer. Think you can do it? Good luck!

Tapeworms can live in your body and grow as they feed off the nutrients inside your intestines. Do you know that a tapeworm though can grow up to be 8 feet long as it worms through your body or the body of an animal? Think how long 8 feet is or measure it out with a measuring tape. Now that’s a lot of worm!