Mocomi TimePass The Magazine - Issue 87

1. Get Your Daily CopY! facebook.com/mocomikids ISSUE 87 JUNE 28, 2020 GO tO A FOLKTALE ABOUT THE SERPENT AND THE KING OF FROGS Which Animal is the Slowest- Snail, Sloth or Turtle? WHAT IS A CHROMOSOME? THE STORY OF KING HARSHAVARDHANA

2. FOLKTALE the King of the Frogs The Serpent and Mandavisha was happy to see his plan working. He gladly allowed Jalapada to climb his back and carried him to and fro, thus pleasing him. The following day, the snake pretended that he was unable to move about. The king of the frogs asked him, “What happened to you, my royal ride? Why are you so sluggish today?” “I am feeling very weak as I had nothing to eat since morning. I won’t be able to take you for a ride today.” said the snake. The king wanted to go on a joyride with his wife, so he said, “Well! We need our royal ride to be ft and healthy. I permit you to eat one frog from my kingdom every day.” This was all that the snake wanted to hear! He started eating up the frogs one by one and in the end, he came to eat the king of frogs as well. As his end was near, the king of frogs said to himself, “What a fool I have been to get carried away by the oily talks of this treacherous snake.” A long time ago, there lived an old snake named Mandavisha. He had become so old that he was unable to hunt for his food. One day, he was resting on the bank of a lake. A small frog spotted him lying there. The snake did not move an inch even after seeing the frog. Out of curiosity, the frog asked the snake, “Why are you hunting for food?” Mandavisha was a cunning snake. A diabolical plan struck him and he said, “O frog! Please leave me alone to my fate. I am reaping the fruits of my wrong doing. Few years back, I bit a pious brahmin’s son. The brahmin was full of sorrow and grief to see his dead son. He threw the blessed water on me and cursed me, “Soon the frogs will use you as a vehicle to ride on.” Thus cursed, I am waiting for the frogs to ride me.” The frog went running to his king, Jalapada and told him about the cursed snake. The king of frogs immediately left to meet the snake and make him his royal ride. 1

3. Find the Correct Shadow Sandy Godolphin Silly Rhymes Sandy Godolphin sat up on the hill, And up on the hill sat he; And the only remark he was known to make, Was “Fiddledy diddledy dee!” He made it frst in the high Hebrew, And then in the Dutch so low, In Turkish and Russian and Persian and Prussian, And rather more tongues than I know. He made this remark until it was dark, And he could no longer see; Then he lighted his lamp, because it was damp, And gave him the neuralgeë. Sandy Godolphin came down from the hill, And moaned in a dark despair: “I’ve fnished,” said he, “with my fddledy dee, For nobody seems to care”. 2

4. Science explorer What is a Chromosome? Chromosome structure The word chromosome is derived from two words, 'chroma', meaning colour and 'soma', meaning body. This is because when they were frst discovered, they had used very strong colour dyes to detect them. They are thread like structures, located inside the nucleus of cells of both plants and ani- mals. Each chromosome is made of protein and single molecule of DNA (Deoxyribonucleic Acid). DNAs are responsible for carrying forward the genetic make up of an individual plant or animals and so the species. In humans, animals, and plants, most chromosomes are arranged in pairs within the nucle- us of a cell. Humans have 22 of these chromosome pairs, called autosomes. Chromosomes tend to show up only when the cell is undergoing cell division. They are made of DNA that are tightly coiled around positively charged proteins called histones. This is to condense the DNA material. On each chromosome, there is a constriction point known as the centromere, that sepa- rates into four arms. The centromere plays an important role in the overall shape of the chromosome and can be used to locate a specifc gene. Short arms are called p arms and long arms are called q arms. This gives the chromosome an X like appearance. Human cells have 23 pairs of chromosomes, making a total of 46 chromosomes. Of these, 22 pairs are called autosomes and look the same in both male and female humans. In females, the 23rd pair has two X shaped chromosomes. In males, the 23rd pair has one X and one Y chromosome. 3

5. spot ten differences Pondering Corner Which Animal is the Slowest- Snail, Sloth or Turtle? If the snail, sloth and turtle decided to run a race, who would you think would win? In this case, it isn't a matter of the fastest, rather, the least slow out of the three. Let's take a look at the three animals before we make a decision - A turtle needs to move once every three days in order to eat. In extreme conditions, however, it can go several months without food. An average turtle swims at a pace of 10-12 miles per hour and walks at about 3 - 4 miles per hour. The sloth, doesn't need to move much for food. Its habitat is in the treetops, surrounded by the lush green leaves it likes to eat. It needs to eat every few days, but as a vegetarian, doesn't expend much energy in hunting. On the ground, their speed can go up to 3 meters per minute. However, their speeds go up to 13.5 meters while swimming. Finally, we have the snail. They can seal up their bodies inside their shells and skip eating for up to 6 months or even longer. They can move up to 1 meter per hour! When we look at these three animals side-by-side, we can determine that the snail is the slowest, followed by the sloth and then the turtle!

6. Tickle your funny bone Q: How do snails get shiny shells? A: They use snail polish! Q: What happens when two snails have a fght? A: They slug it out. Q: What was the snail doing on the highway? A: About one mile a day! AMUSING NEWS Medieval Fighting Snails Historians studying manuscripts from the medieval period came across a surprising sight. While studying the artwork which dots the edges of the pages, they dis- covered drawing of knights fght- ing giant snails! They aren't sure where the drawings come from, as they're pretty sure giant snails did not exist!

7. stories from history King Harshavardhana Prabhakar Vardhan, ruler of Sthanvisvara, Thanesar (in present day Haryana) was the first ruler of the Vardhana dynasty. He had two sons. The elder son Rajya Vardhana ascended the throne after his father. His younger son was Harshavardhana. Rajya Vardhana was deceived and murdered by King Gauda, at which point a young sixteen year old Harsha swore to take revenge. Harsha waged war against King Gauda and won the battle. Harsha was consequently crowned the new ruler and he proved to be a great conqueror and administrator. He first united the kingdoms of Thanesar and Kannauj and then went on to bring Bengal, Bihar & Odisha under his command. He married off his daughter to Dhruvasena whom he had defeated in Gujarat. 6

8. King Harshavardhana then moved towards the south only to be stopped by Pulakesi II of Vatapi. As a result the Narmada became the southern limit of Harsha’s empire. Under Harsha the small republics from Punjab to central India were reunited. Like many kings of that time, Harsha was a true patron of the arts. He sup- ported the Nalanda university with financial grants. He was also an author of repute having penned Sanskrit plays like Nagananda, Ratnavali and Priyadarsika. Banabhatta, Harsha’s court poet wrote the Harsha Charitam, the first his- torical poetic work on King Harsha. The Harsha Charitam is replete with the king’s achievements and deeds. Harsha’s capital city, Kannauj extended 6 to 8 kilometers along the river Ganges. The city was filled with magnificent buildings & structures. He also had a systematic tax structure in place. One fourth of the taxes went towards the administration of his empire. The rest were given away to charities and to further the arts & cultural endeavors in his kingdom. Trade too flourished during his reign.

9. Later on in his life, King Harsha, a Shaivite by birth became a follower of Bud- dhism. He constructed various stupas in the name of Buddha. Under him all re- ligions and schools of thought like Jainism and Buddhism enjoyed freedom of expression. Harsha ruled ably for 41 years. However as he had no heirs, the kingdom disin- tegrated after his demise. Soon after his death, the Pratihars of Malwa, Palas of Bengal & the Rashtrakutas of the Deccan all fought for control over north- ern India. With King Harsha’s passing, the idea of a single kingdom ruling northern India disintegrated. Fun with Words Unscramble the Letters to Name Slow Moving Animals esa maeneon losw srloi oerotist hslot 8

10. Complete The little snail peeked out from underneath his shell. He had heard a rustling in the bushes and had immediately panicked, pulling his body quickly inside the shell. The rustling grew louder and he curled up tighter inside his shell. He pushed his head out just a little to look around and let out a scream... the Story... fun facts with Hamlet the Hamster To know or not to know, that is the question! Well, wouldn’t you prefer to know? Facts about Snails Snail is a common name for gastropod molluscs that can be split into three groups - land snails, sea snails and freshwater snails. Common garden snails have a top speed of 45 m per hour, making the snail one of the slowest creatures on Earth. The largest living sea snail species is the Syrinx aruanus that can weigh up to 18 kgs! Most snail species have a ribbon-like tongue called a radula that contains thousands of microscopic teeth.

11. Help The Snail Meet The Worm 10

12. The Team Editor Assistant and Copy Editor Aryaa Naik Dalmiya Lavanya Khare Content Contributing Writers Kaniz Fatima Khan Priyanka Garegat Deepti Raavi Ekta Bhatnagar Raunaq Amarnani Rituparna Chatterjee Archana Rajagopal Layout and Design Walmik Pawar Artists Kalpana Siromani Amol Padwal Shailendra Havane Sujith VS Rohini Dusane Bhavini Damani Sitanshu Bhartiya Atul Wankhade Archana Rajagopal Bharat Pillai Tushar Rokade Distribution Digital Marketing Dnyanesh Thombre Prashant Kini Shekhar Ramaiah Creator Jesh Krishna Murthy

13. Mocomi timepass is a mini magazine available daily for children! Packed full of stories, puzzles and fun facts.. there’s a little bit of fun for everyone! follow us on facebook for daily fun content for kids facebook.com/mocomikids YOUTUBE.COM/USER/MOCOMIKIDS INSTAGRAM.COM/MOCOMIKIDS ForAdvaItandVedant