Introduction to Six Types of Text Structure

The lion is often thought of as the king of the jungle, but the African wild dog may be a better hunter. Both lions and African wild dogs are pack animals and have females lead their hunts, but they have different hunting styles. Although lions are very fast, they do not have much stamina. They attack in short, ferocious bursts because they get tired quickly. On the other hand, African wild dogs are not very fast, but they have incredible stamina. They can run for hours and often chase their prey to exhaustion. Dr. George Schaller studied African wild dogs in the Serengeti and found that 9 out of 10 of their hunts ended in kills, while lions are only successful in 3 out of 10 hunts. So you see, it’s not always good to be king.

The Cretaceous Period was filled with dangerous predators, but two of the most feared hunters were the tyrannosaurs rex and the velociraptor. The tyrannosaurs rex was one of the largest carnivores to ever walk the Earth. He was 20 feet tall and weighed seven tons. His jaws could crush down with 3,000 lbs. of force, enough to smash the bones of his prey. The velociraptor was very small compared to rex. Raptors only stood three feet tall and were seven feet long, weighing merely 35 pounds. But the velociraptor was fast. Scientists think that raptors could run 24 miles per hour and turn on a dime. Both dinosaurs used their jaws to kill prey, but the raptor had a secret weapon: a retractable toe claw that he pulled out like a knife to slash at his prey. Both dinosaurs had eyes on the front of their heads, which helped them track prey. If these two dinosaurs had fought, it would be difficult to say which would win; however since raptors died over ten million years before the first tyrannosaurs was born, scientists don't believe such a fight ever occurred.

Have you ever wondered what the inside of a volcano looks like? Deep underground is a magma chamber. The magma chamber is under the bedrock of the earth's crust. The conduit or pipe runs from the magma chamber to the top of the volcano. The conduit connects the magma chamber to the surface. Most volcanoes also have a crater at the top. Volcanoes are quite a sight, and you can enjoy this site all over the universe. Volcanoes are found on planets other than Earth, like the Olympus Mons on Mars.

A hurricane is a large storm with heavy winds and rain that begins in the ocean and builds up strength as it moves across the water. While some of the damage caused by hurricanes is from high winds, most of it is usually from tidal surge, flooding entire cities, and killing large numbers of people. A tornado is a storm that develops on land, with no warning, and moves in a circular motion with heavy winds with a funnel shape, picking up and carrying dirt, dust, and even objects. The damage caused by tornadoes is from the high velocity winds, which are extremely destructive and deadly. They can demolish entire neighborhoods in a matter of a few seconds to a few minutes. Tornadoes can form when hurricanes make landfall, as their winds at ground level slow down, while the winds near the top keep their momentum, but a hurricane cannot be created by a tornado.

If you ask me, the perfect pizza has a thin crust, but not too thin. Even though I'm from Chicago, I prefer the New York style crust. Your perfect pizza might have tomato sauce on it, but mine has pesto on top of the crust. On the pesto I'd like to see lots of cheese: a full layer of shredded mozzarella and Romano cheese, and on top of the shredded mozzarella, I'd like to see some slices of fresh mozzarella. Now you might think I'm crazy for this one, but I'd really like to see some goat cheese in the crust. To top it all off, I'd like to see it polka-dotted with pepperoni slices. Now that's what I call a pizza pie.