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The Seven Natural Wonders   Dear Readers,       The seven natural wonders of the world are, to us the most fascinating.  The include: The Great Barrier Reef (off the coast of Australia); Mount Everest (in the Himalayas); The Sahara Desert (in Africa); The Nile River (also in Africa); Ayers Rock (in Australia); The Grand Canyon (in Arizona); and Angel Falls (in Venezuela).  We hope you enjoy reading this as much as we enjoyed writing it!            Happy Reading!                  From: Holly and Megan

Angel Falls   By:  Holly   A lot of people know about Niagara Falls, but have you heard about Angel Falls? Angel Falls, located in Venezuela, is the longest waterfall in the world! Its drop is twenty times farther than Niagara Falls! The water drops 3,212 ft. down into a gorge. It falls into a branch of the Carroa River.   The falls were named after Jimmy Angel, who spotted it in 1933 when he was flying over the gorge. He was sure he had found the longest waterfall in the world.   Fourteen years later, the falls were properly surveyed, and he was right! When Jimmy Angel was killed in an air crash in 1956, his ashes were sprinkled over Angel Falls.   Angel Falls comes down from a reddish-white sandstone plateau,  called Auy`an Tepu`i, which is an Indian name for " Devil`s Mountain". There is also a jungle around the falls.   Tourists today visit the falls by planes, or motorized canoes.

Ayers Rock   By:  Holly   Ayers Rock is all that remains of a huge mass of sandstone that once covered that part of Australia. It was formed more than 450 million years ago. The sandstone that Ayers Rock was made of was once at the bottom of the ocean. Then the ocean dried up, and an earthquake brought the sand up. The sand dried, and there was Ayers Rock. Some places eroded faster than others, so that`s how there are different crack and ridges on Ayers Rock. Today Ayers Rock stands 1,150 feet high, and is five miles around its base. You can see it from over 60 miles away!   Ayers Rock was found in 1872 by an explorer named Ernest Giles. Ayers Rock was then named after a former Australian premier, Sir Henry Ayers. The Aborigine people also knew about Ayers Rock, which they called Uluru (giant pebble).  They lived and drew in Ayers Rock`s caves.   Tourists today come to see Ayers Rock magically change colors in the evening with the sunset, and they also can climb to its summit.

Mount Everest   By Megan   Mt. Everest, located in Asia, is the world`s highest mountain.  Mt Everest is located on the border of Nepal and Tibet.  Mt. Everest is 29,028 feet (8848 m.) high.  Mt Everest is in the Himalayas Mountain Range.     The Himalayas are the highest mountain range in the world.  Over 100 mountains in the Himalayas are higher than 23,451 feet.  The Himalayas rise one to two centimeters each year.  Shaggy oxen, called yaks, live 19,686 ft. up in the Himalayas. Mt. Everest was not known as the highest mountain until 1856.  Sir George Everest (1790-1866) was the first person to map Mt. Everest.  Mt. Everest was first named Peak XV.  Later, it was changed to Mt. Everest.   Many brave climbers try to reach Mt. Everest`s summit, the top, but not many have.  The summit was first reached on May 29, 1953, by Edmond Hillary and Tenzing Norgay.  Edmond Hillary was a New Zealander while Tenzing Norgay was a Nepalese guide.  On the way up, the climbers rest at night by sleeping in tents along the slope.  Climbers must carry lots of equipment.  One thing they carry is an oxygen tank, because the air on top is very thin.   In the Indian language, Mt. Everest is called Sagarmatha, which means "highest point in heaven."  The people of Tibet know Mt. Everest as Qumolongua, which means "goddess mother of the world."  Mt. Everest is known as lots of different things to lots of people in all countries, but I know it as Mt. Everest, the world`s highest mountain.

The Nile River   By Megan   The Nile River, located in Africa, is the longest river in the world.  The estimates on its length range from 3,470 miles (5,584 km) to 4,145 miles (6,671 km).  The Nile River has estimates on its length because everyone has different opinions on where it starts.  The Nile River starts near the equator` and then empties into the Mediterranean Sea.   Seventy percent of its water comes from the Blue Nile.  Nine countries (one tenth of Africa`s) water drains into the Nile River.  Although its largest source is Lake Victoria.  The Nile River runs through swamps.  It also conducts electricity and irrigates farmland.  In Egypt the Nile irrigates about six million acres and in Sudd about 2 ¾ million acres.   Between Sudd and Khartoum, Sudan, the Nile River is called the White Nile.  In Khartoum the Blue Nile and the White Nile join together.  For thousands of years, the people of Egypt knew it as the "Sacred River."  Today we know it as the Nile River.

The Grand Canyon   By Megan   The Grand Canyon is located on the Colorado River in Arizona.  The Grand Canyon is 277miles (446 km) long, 18 miles (29 km) wide, and 5,000 feet (1500 m) deep.  The Grand Canyon is the biggest canyon in the world.  In 1919 it became a U.S. National Park, and then in 1979 it became a World Heritage.  The Grand Canyon was bestowed with these titles because it is so amazing that it attracts lots of tourists every year.  These titles help it by protecting it.   There are many different colors in the Grand Canyon`s rocks.  The colors range from pale yellow to dark red.  There are carvings on some of the rocks.  The Indians of the Ute Tribe made these carvings hundreds of years ago.  Part of the Grand Canyon was set aside as a reservation for these Indians.   People used to think that the Grand Canyon was cut open by an earthquake.  The Grand Canyon was formed millions of years ago by the Colorado River.  (The Colorado River flows very fast.)  Weather helped carve the Grand Canyon by making the cracks larger.  Winter winds, frost, summer heat, and rain did this. The Grand Canyon is so deep, that there are many different types of weather throughout it.  The bottom is warmer and drier than the top.  The floor is a hot desert.  The North Rim is the coldest, with snowfalls averaging up to 10 feet in the winter.   You are able to see the Grand Canyon today. It is located along the Colorado River in Arizona.  The Grand Canyon is a beautiful place.

The Great Barrier Reef   By Megan and Holly   The Great Barrier Reef, found in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Queensland Australia, is the largest living structure on earth.  It reaches up to 1,259 miles of the coast.  If someone tried to drive a car across the Great Barrier Reef, it would probably take a couple of days to get from one side to the other side.   Every coral reef, including the Great Barrier Reef, has been around for 240,000,000 years despite earthquakes and volcanoes.  The Great Barrier Reef was formed by many colonies of living polyps.  When polyps die, they turn into white skeletons.  Other coral polyps grow on top, forming a reef.  More than a billion polyps are attached to the reef.  Polyps have tiny, stinging arms.  Their arms catch plankton and put it into their mouth.   When coral reaches above the surface, the waves pound it down to sand.  This forms tiny islands called coral cays.  Birds sometimes land on the cays, where they drop seeds. Then the seeds grow into trees. Some of the animals that live in the Great Barrier Reef include 1,400 different species of fish, octopus, shellfish, and clams.  There are also predators such as manta rays, sharks, sea turtles, and eels.  They help keep the number of fish down.  Also, there are 400 different kinds of coral.   The balance of nature in the reef can easily be disturbed.  To protect the reef, some parts have been declared national parks.  Some people who visit the reef break off pieces of coral as souvenirs.  They do not understand that it will take thousands of years to grow back.  So… take care of the reef, so that your children can enjoy its beauty, too.

The Sahara Desert   By:  Holly   The Sahara Desert is the sunniest place in the world! It has over 4,300 hours of sunshine a year! In the daytime it can reach over 122 degrees Fahrenheit, but at night, it can drop to 50 degrees Fahrenheit! The highest temperature ever recorded in the Sahara was at Azizia in Libya, where it reached 136 degrees  Fahrenheit in the shade!   The Sahara Desert is also very LARGE! It is the largest desert in the world, covering over a quarter of Africa! Altogether, the Sahara covers about 3 million and a half square miles. That`s an area as big as the United States! The countries of Morocco, Egypt, Libya, Tunisia, Algeria, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Chad, and Sudan have a part of the Sahara in them.   Plants that live in the Sahara either have seeds that live through long seasons of drought, or have big root systems, like the Tamarisk tree and cacti. Animals can also adapt to the climate. Camels are the most well-known desert animals that can live a long time without water.   The geography of the Sahara is constantly changing. In some places it is rock hard, like asphalt, while in other places there are sand dunes reaching as high as the Empire State Building! The dunes move a lot with the wind, so people must beware of the danger of being covered in sand.   The Sahara Desert does have people, despite its harsh conditions. It has a population of about two million. The people that live in the Sahara live in "oases." Oases are places in the desert that have water and can support life. But oases are usually small, and can only support 1 or 2 families. Oases are where most animals live, and insects and amphibians swim in the waterholes. People grow crops there. The most important is the date palm. Some people are cutting down trees and not replacing them fast enough in the Sahara. This is destroying the food chain.  If they do not change their ways, the places they live will soon become dry and lifeless.