Some animals can easily find their way home after a long journey. How do they make it? Scientific research shows that they are born with certain unusual abilities for direction.

A certain kind of ants, for example, can count their steps to avoid getting lost. They can go as far as 110 metres and bring food home. These ants live in the open desert, so they have nothing to guide them along the way. It’s like someone walking six kilometres through a dark forest.

Some fish have an unbelievable sense of smell. They can smell even a single drop of their home water in a large sea area. Some sea birds have a similar ability. They are able to make a smell map of their flying area.

Some animals can sense the earth’s magnetic field (磁场), while humans can’t. This magnetic field guides a certain kind of fish when they swim a long way to a place and then back. How can this kind of fish do that? It is still a mystery. Scientists have no good answers yet.

However, animals with such unusual abilities still have difficulty dealing with environmental changes caused by human activities. For example, many birds depend on stars for direction, but they get lost easily at night when city lights are kept on all night. To solve this problem, we can simply turn off some lights at night. Clearly, one small act of humans may mean a lot to animals.

Helping others is a great thing to do. You can learn new things and have fun. You can help people, animals or the environment. It can make you feel good too! How can you help?

Charities are organizations that help others, for example, UNICEF or the World Wildlife Fund. You can help charities by giving your time, giving money or giving things that you own. You can also help people or places you know.

Volunteering

Volunteering is when you give your time to help others. Some ways of volunteering are:

•visiting old people to talk to them or help them

•walking dogs at an animal shelter where homeless animals can sleep and get food

•cleaning up a park

Fund-raising

Fund-raising is when you collect money to help others. Some ways of fund-raising are:

•making cakes or biscuits to sell

•doing a sponsored (赞助) activity. For example, family and friends give you money if you finish a long walk.

Donating

Donating is when you give your things to help others. Some ways of donating are:

•giving your old toys or clothes to a charity that helps sick children or poor people

•giving your old books to a library

So, what can you do to help others?

Every day in newspapers and magazines there are articles telling us we should exercise more. And scientists now say that running is one of the best ways to keep fit. It can make you feel better and look better. Some say it can even make you live longer.