things I've leaerned in australia by Kayley

               Australia has the oldest rain forest on the planet.  Some of the plants and animals had to evolve as the climate changed and more modern plants started to grow, but some plants were obviously were alive when the dinosaurs were eating them.

                The stinger tree and the tar tree both have a very nasty defense mechanism as if they expect the dinosaurs to come back and eat them. So obviously they know the dinosaurs.  If you touch the tar tree sap you’ll get a 3^rd degree burn. And the stinger tree has these stinger hairs on the leaves.  if you touch the them they paralyze your nerves. First you have to wax the stinging hairs out and then the full recovery takes about 6 months.

                  I learned that Crocodiles haven’t evolved much since dinosaurs roamed the earth.  I also learned that some types of crocodiles can be up to 7 meters (21 feet) long!  Crocodiles eat practically everything from birds and fish to horses and cows. Isn’t that amazing? So crocodiles are practically dinosaurs.

                  For me the mangroves are very mysterious because I’m not sure if they evolved at all. But their germinating system is very interesting.  One type of mangrove germinates their seeds before the seeds fall of the tree. Another type called the cannon ball tree. The cannon ball tree’s seeds look like cannon balls.  There are about 30 seeds in each cannon ball. The cannon ball trees live over the water and when the seeds are ready they drop into the water to brake in to pieces. Then the seeds get carried by the water and grow some were else.  The cannon ball could have been alive when the dinosaurs were.

                I learned Australia’s rain forest is very ancient and unique. How the animals and plants survived when the dinosaurs went extinct, I don’t know, but it’s incredible. Some of these plants have some deadly defense mechanisms and a very interesting way of germinating.  The crocodiles are very ancient and deadly themselves.