In Anna Claybourne's alarming yet educational book, 100 Deadliest Things on the Planet, many of the world's most frightening plants and animals are accounted for, and in detail their deadly attributes are examined. What this thin book lacks in length, it makes up for in forthright and striking factual detail. Claybourne covers a wide range of the world's death traps, from False Morel, to the more understandably frightening Funnel-Web Spider, and the obvious killer, the tiger.
The Australian Brown Snake is a decently common snake that lives near many residential ares in Australia, the unfortunate reality of this is that the snake is easily agitated and is not shy about delivering its incredibly life threatening bite. Foxglove is a beautiful species of flower that is also a powerful killer. It is known by its "dead man's bells" which are long strings of bell shaped flowers that are poisonous to the touch. Stonefish are known to hide at the bottom of deadly pools of water and sting people who may accidentally step on them. Their spines are filled with the deadliest venom of any fish, and can leave the victim paralyzed and can also cause respiratory failure. These are just a few examples of the deadly and fascinating creatures discussed in the book.
 |
| Pufferfish, incredibly toxic. |
This small but fact filled book would be interesting to almost any student capable of understanding the text. Any science class would no doubt benefit from assigning a book such as this, it encourages reading while at the same time providing students with a plethora of scientific facts about a variety of plants, animals, and bacteria. I would say that any student from 6th grade and up would enjoy this quick but exciting read. This book fits better into science classes, but could also definitely count toward some required reading in an English class as well.
3 comments:
This book sounds like a blast to read. It's so interesting that something like a beautiful flower may be deadly to the touch.
The stone fish is an animal that I am familiar with. It comes from a family of fish called Scorpaenidae, or scorpion fish. Recently I was scuba diving in mexico and spotted a lion fish (part of the scorpion fish family). I pointed it out to the dive master and he proceeded to try and catch it in a zip lock bag. Once we got back to the surface he told me that the lion fish is invasive to the area has become extremely detrimental to the reefs. He told me that divers in the area have begun to kill any lion fish that they spot to make the attempt to help the reef fish survive. Very interesting.
I will definitely get this book, I always curious about nature and this secret weapons. I like to watch animal planet channel and I remember about the lion fish.
It is absolutely must be on everyone's bookshelf. Very educational and useful all the time because this kind of book never expires. I would like to have one.
Post a Comment