Kha bugu iyi yavhudi i neaho mafulufulu, Mufumakadzana wa lunako wa Afrika Tshipembe, Shudufhadzo Musida, u ri anetshela tshiori tsha he a thoma hone; tsha u imba na u tshina na musidzana a ambesaho a bvaho kusini ku vhidzwaho nga la Ha Vhangani, o tangwaho nga lufuno nahone zwihulusa nga mme awe na makhulu wawe.

Zwithu zwo khakhea kha Shudu musi a tshi pfulutshela doroboni ntswa he a do tambudzwa nga vhane a dzhena navho kilasini.

Vhalani uri Shudu o kunda hani matungu awe na dzikhaedu, na uri a vha musidzana, mualuwa, we a guda u difuna ene mune!

Our friend, the Flixies, learns how important the interaction between plants and animals is. They learn how plants, as they spread over the earth, also serve to keep the soil “stuck” to the earth with their roots. In flowering plants it is particularly the reproduction that developed quite cleverly and the Flixies are impressed with the ways in which plants distribute their seeds.

The Flixies teach us one of their most important secrets: variety. And so we learn what the word biodiversity means, and why it is so important that we understand it. Facto learns that there is an exceptional number of different types of animals and plants on Earth, and that each one that is discovered must be named. Grandma Flox surprises the Flixies with a very special piece of embroidery…

The Teacher’s Guide includes:

• An explanation of the teaching strategy used
• An explanation of which comprehension strategy is used and which step of the teaching strategy should be applied in that specific book.
• Highlights in the text, with a side-panel modelling the teaching strategy and highlighting key points in the text for application.
• Key words are provided to display and use in the introductory discussion.
• Worksheets with comprehension activities based on the story are added to the end of the guide

The earliest green plants lived in water. Since the conditions on land was very different from life in water, the earliest plants would have simply dried out and would have been unable to stay upright without support of water. Facto learns how plants developed to be able to live on land and which plants were the most successful in propagating on land…

The Teacher’s Guide includes:

• An explanation of the teaching strategy used
• An explanation of which comprehension strategy is used and which step of the teaching strategy should be applied in that specific book.
• Highlights in the text, with a side-panel modelling the teaching strategy and highlighting key points in the text for application.
• Key words are provided to display and use in the introductory discussion.
• Worksheets with comprehension activities based on the story are added to the end of the guide

The Flixies talk about one of the most important natural resources, namely soil. They explain how important soils is to all plants, animals and humans, but they are also deeply concerned…

Although the earth is large and covered in soil, there is only a very small fertile layer where plants can grow and provide food for all living things. Flex uses a berry to explain this issue.

The Teacher’s Guide includes:

• An explanation of the teaching strategy used
• An explanation of which comprehension strategy is used and which step of the teaching strategy should be applied in that specific book.
• Highlights in the text, with a side-panel modelling the teaching strategy and highlighting key points in the text for application.
• Key words are provided to display and use in the introductory discussion.
• Worksheets with comprehension activities based on the story are added to the end of the guide

Kwax is in a discussion with Mannie Marsh Frog who is telling him about his ancestral history. He tells Kwax that the ancient amphibian ancestors were big and clumsy and really struggled to move about and live on land. An interesting point regarding amphibians is that they have not yet developed eggs with shells. They therefore return to water to lay their eggs. When the eggs hatch, little tadpoles pop out!

The Teacher’s Guide includes:

• An explanation of the teaching strategy used
• An explanation of which comprehension strategy is used and which step of the teaching strategy should be applied in that specific book.
• Highlights in the text, with a side-panel modelling the teaching strategy and highlighting key points in the text for application.
• Key words are provided to display and use in the introductory discussion.
• Worksheets with comprehension activities based on the story are added to the end of the guide

The Earth is like a spaceship orbiting with other planets through space. The big difference between our planet earth and all the other planets, is that earth carries thousands of various forms of life. Flex explains to the Flixies how all the planets travel in their orbits around the sun and how the shapes of these orbits influence the seasons, allowing plants to grow and to rest.

The Teacher’s Guide includes:

• An explanation of the teaching strategy used
• An explanation of which comprehension strategy is used and which step of the teaching strategy should be applied in that specific book.
• Highlights in the text, with a side-panel modelling the teaching strategy and highlighting key points in the text for application.
• Key words are provided to display and use in the introductory discussion.
• Worksheets with comprehension activities based on the story are added to the end of the guide

Facto hears how the thousands of plant and animal species are spread across the different regions of South Africa. They’re almost like giant gardens with different species that have adapted to their conditions. The Flixies are excited about the amazing biodiversity in South Africa and they think that it’s a world record for a small country!

The Teacher’s Guide includes:

• An explanation of the teaching strategy used
• An explanation of which comprehension strategy is used and which step of the teaching strategy should be applied in that specific book.
• Highlights in the text, with a side-panel modelling the teaching strategy and highlighting key points in the text for application.
• Key words are provided to display and use in the introductory discussion.
• Worksheets with comprehension activities based on the story are added to the end of the guide

Which was the most successful group in the entire animal kingdom? Facto finds out what contributed to the arthropods’ success and why they deserve the title of the first real land animals. The Flixies play a guessing game and they chat about crustaceans, multipedes, spiders and scorpions and the first animals that could fly – the insects!

The Teacher’s Guide includes:

• An explanation of the teaching strategy used
• An explanation of which comprehension strategy is used and which step of the teaching strategy should be applied in that specific book.
• Highlights in the text, with a side-panel modelling the teaching strategy and highlighting key points in the text for application.
• Key words are provided to display and use in the introductory discussion.
• Worksheets with comprehension activities based on the story are added to the end of the guide

Grandpa Flex and Dux discuss the various kinds of reptiles. Flex explains how primitive vertebrates eventually managed to cope with life on land. Certain descendants of the amphibians had the features necessary to make exactly this possible!

The Teacher’s Guide includes:

• An explanation of the teaching strategy used
• An explanation of which comprehension strategy is used and which step of the teaching strategy should be applied in that specific book.
• Highlights in the text, with a side-panel modelling the teaching strategy and highlighting key points in the text for application.
• Key words are provided to display and use in the introductory discussion.
• Worksheets with comprehension activities based on the story are added to the end of the guide

Facto listens to what the Flixies have to say about water and learns that it is magical material!

No form of life, as we know it, can exist without water. It is an amazing solvent as all food for animals and plants must first be dissolved in water before it can be absorbed. It also used for washing and cleansing and even to cool off. But our supply of usable water is actually extremely limited…

The Teacher’s Guide includes:

• An explanation of the teaching strategy used
• An explanation of which comprehension strategy is used and which step of the teaching strategy should be applied in that specific book.
• Highlights in the text, with a side-panel modelling the teaching strategy and highlighting key points in the text for application.
• Key words are provided to display and use in the introductory discussion.
• Worksheets with comprehension activities based on the story are added to the end of the guide

Facto has discovered the Flixies! He eavesdrops on their conversations and by doing so, he learns interesting new facts about the earth and nature. In this story we find out where the Flixies live, where they get their information from and how Facto discovered them...

The Teacher’s Guide includes:

• An explanation of the teaching strategy used
• An explanation of which comprehension strategy is used and which step of the teaching strategy should be applied in that specific book.
• Highlights in the text, with a side-panel modelling the teaching strategy and highlighting key points in the text for application.
• Key words are provided to display and use in the introductory discussion.
• Worksheets with comprehension activities based on the story are added to the end of the guide

The Flixies (and of course Facto) find out how wonderfully this ‘spaceship’ Earth is built and how it’s been positioned in space so that different forms of life on Earth can be sustained. They are reminded that the earth is exactly the right distance from the sun and therefore has the precise temperature to support and sustain life – it’s neither too cold nor too hot.

The Teacher’s Guide includes:

• An explanation of the teaching strategy used
• An explanation of which comprehension strategy is used and which step of the teaching strategy should be applied in that specific book.
• Highlights in the text, with a side-panel modelling the teaching strategy and highlighting key points in the text for application.
• Key words are provided to display and use in the introductory discussion.
• Worksheets with comprehension activities based on the story are added to the end of the guide

Vertebrates and invertebrates! Hollow animals! Hollow animals, spiny skins, molluscs and worms! Facto finds out that there are mainly two large groups of animals – those which have backbones and skeletons of bone and cartilage and those without. Of the latter group, the simplest ones live in water and we discover the advantages of living in water…

The Teacher’s Guide includes:

• An explanation of the teaching strategy used
• An explanation of which comprehension strategy is used and which step of the teaching strategy should be applied in that specific book.
• Highlights in the text, with a side-panel modelling the teaching strategy and highlighting key points in the text for application.
• Key words are provided to display and use in the introductory discussion.
• Worksheets with comprehension activities based on the story are added to the end of the guide

In this story the Flixies Learn about the winning recipe of the vertebrates – a skeleton of bones and cartilage inside the body, to which muscles could be attached. Vertebrates had unique features that enabled them to adapt to living on land. In this way many niches were filled, thereby opening up the land even further for the other forms of life!

The Teacher’s Guide includes:

• An explanation of the teaching strategy used
• An explanation of which comprehension strategy is used and which step of the teaching strategy should be applied in that specific book.
• Highlights in the text, with a side-panel modelling the teaching strategy and highlighting key points in the text for application.
• Key words are provided to display and use in the introductory discussion.
• Worksheets with comprehension activities based on the story are added to the end of the guide

Grandpa Flex tells an interesting story about the first vertebrates, fish, how they moved out of the water and their progress to life and land. Scientist had naturally guessed what the earliest clumsy, ancient fishes must have looked like to be able to crawl out of the water and explore life on land. Fossils were even found to support the scientists’ assumptions – fossils of giant lobe-finned fish, which had fins that looked like primitive legs!

The Teacher’s Guide includes:

• An explanation of the teaching strategy used
• An explanation of which comprehension strategy is used and which step of the teaching strategy should be applied in that specific book.
• Highlights in the text, with a side-panel modelling the teaching strategy and highlighting key points in the text for application.
• Key words are provided to display and use in the introductory discussion.
• Worksheets with comprehension activities based on the story are added to the end of the guide

The Flixies gather at the seaside, where a big variety of plants and animals can be found. They having a brainstorming session – a think-tank – to discuss the different reasons why biodiversity is so significant and the use shells and leaves to make posters so that they can what they’ve learnt with others.

The Teacher’s Guide includes:

• An explanation of the teaching strategy used
• An explanation of which comprehension strategy is used and which step of the teaching strategy should be applied in that specific book.
• Highlights in the text, with a side-panel modelling the teaching strategy and highlighting key points in the text for application.
• Key words are provided to display and use in the introductory discussion.
• Worksheets with comprehension activities based on the story are added to the end of the guide

Our friend, the Flixies, learns how important the interaction between plants and animals is. They learn how plants, as they spread over the earth, also serve to keep the soil “stuck” to the earth with their roots. In flowering plants it is particularly the reproduction that developed quite cleverly and the Flixies are impressed with the ways in which plants distribute their seeds.

The Teacher’s Guide includes:

• An explanation of the teaching strategy used
• An explanation of which comprehension strategy is used and which step of the teaching strategy should be applied in that specific book.
• Highlights in the text, with a side-panel modelling the teaching strategy and highlighting key points in the text for application.
• Key words are provided to display and use in the introductory discussion.
• Worksheets with comprehension activities based on the story are added to the end of the guide

Facto is dreaming in a nice cosy hollow among the roots of on the Wonder Tree. He waits to learn from the Flixies about the last two groups that successfully managed to master life on land – birds and mammals… and he can’t believe what he hears!

The Teacher’s Guide includes:

• An explanation of the teaching strategy used
• An explanation of which comprehension strategy is used and which step of the teaching strategy should be applied in that specific book.
• Highlights in the text, with a side-panel modelling the teaching strategy and highlighting key points in the text for application.
• Key words are provided to display and use in the introductory discussion.
• Worksheets with comprehension activities based on the story are added to the end of the guide

The Flixies share an entertaining time together in the wetlands. Kwax and Crox, the two water Flixies, stage a play act as though they are some of the ancient lobe-finned fish that first stuck their heads out of water. They crawl about in the muddy waters and wonder it must be like to live on dry land. And so the Flixies learn about all the problems that vertebrates possibly had to face with the transition from life in water to life on land…

The Teacher’s Guide includes:

• An explanation of the teaching strategy used
• An explanation of which comprehension strategy is used and which step of the teaching strategy should be applied in that specific book.
• Highlights in the text, with a side-panel modelling the teaching strategy and highlighting key points in the text for application.
• Key words are provided to display and use in the introductory discussion.
• Worksheets with comprehension activities based on the story are added to the end of the guide