It was a cold winter's morning on Marion Island. Everything was completely silent and the winds were still. Nothing could be heard except the loud roars of Mount Volcano. Something big was about to happen, you could tell by the absence of animals close to the foot of the mountain.

All of a sudden without warning the Earth started shaking violently. This was followed by an explosion that released a hot liquid called lava. It was pushed in different directions, towards the blue skies and down the mountain.

Young Lefika slowly flowed, cooling as he moved down the mountain. He came to a slow stop, this is where he settled and became a rock.

Thoughts filled his mind… Where is he? Who is everyone? What is he doing here? He is interrupted suddenly by a loud roar from the top of the mountain. He shakes out of fear.
"Do not fear my child; this is how nature brought you from under the Earth."
"Hello, I am Lefika," He said in a small scared voice.
The voice chuckled and replied, "Hello my grandson, I have waited to meet you for many years."
"You are my grandmother?" Lefika asked looking surprised.
"Yes!" the voice exclaimed. "We come from the same belly, I am Gogo Matshe."

Gogo could see the confusion in the young rocks face. She smiled while looking at him then giggled. She went on to explain, "We come from the same thick liquid called magma and we are igneous rocks."
Lefika's eyes lit up with wonder, "When did you get here?"
"Billions of years ago while the Earth was still young." She responded with great pride. "Magma erupts out of a volcanoes and flows on the Earth's surface as lava. When lava cools and solidifies, igneous rocks form."

Lefika recalls bumping into and befriending different rock types before he solidified. Tombo had said she was a sedimentary rock. She was made of many small particles of rock, pebbles and shells. Ribye who he met a few days ago was a metamorphic rock. He was made of sedimentary and igneous rocks that have been squeezed under the Earth.

Lefika was amazed by what he had learnt from Gogo already. He kept studying her every detail and was very curious about their differences. Gogo Matshe had a wrinkled yet smooth, light grey and round surface while Lefika was rough and dark grey.
"Gogo!" He exclaimed. "Why do you look so oooold?"
Gogo laughed aloud, "Mntanami! My Child! You will soon wear away and start looking like me."
Suddenly Lefika's face changed. "Wear away?" He asked in a very worried tone.
"Yes!" She exclaimed while chuckling at the look on his face. "This happens in a process called weathering and erosion."

The young rock listened and paid close attention to Gogo Matshe as she explained nature's way of working.

"From the moment rocks are made they start changing in shape and size." She explained. "This is because of wind and water." She continued while looking in the direction of the wind. "Rain, river and sea water hit against rocks.

Wind crashes into rocks as well, especially when it is moving fast. This causes rocks to break down into small, smooth and round pieces. These pieces can be moved to other places by the wind and water."

Lefika sat quietly feeling the wind hitting his surface. He was amazed by the process of weathering and was excited that it was also happening to him. This made him feel proud and more at home than he was before.
This moment of silence was disturbed by Gogo clearing her throat. "My grandson I have waited to tell you many stories about our Earth. Today I would like to tell you the tale of the five powerful kingdoms that lost everything because of mass extinctions."

"Ex-tinc-shin…" Lefika repeated slowly after his grandmother.
"That is how you say it, ex-tinc-shin. It happens when a lot of plants and animals die because of a change in where they live. A different climate makes it hard for life to survive."
"What causes these changes in where they live Gogo?" He seemed shocked at what he was being told.
"Lefika my child I have seen many things, these reasons differ from kingdom to kingdom…"

ORDOVICIAN KINGDOM

"Millions of years ago, the Ordovician (Or-dor-vi-she-in) was the largest Kingdom known. It had many different yet very small invertebrate animals and simple plants. All the citizens of this time built their homes on the shallow parts of the ocean floor. Living here was fun especially for the children; the warm temperatures meant they could go to the beach every day.

The climate of the Ordovician was so great that many animals wanted to live in that kingdom. So there were a few years where the elders and rulers allowed for many families to move in. The fish family was the most rare but popular during the Ordovician Explosion. This is because it was the first time vertebrates lived in the kingdom.

Even though there was a lot of buzz around the fish family, there was still a very special group of animals. The Mollusca (Moll-us-ka), Anthropoda (An-thro-po-da) and Brachiopoda (Bra-ki-yo-po-da) families are the animals that ruled over the Ordovician Kingdom.

They had hard shells as homes and would carry them wherever they went. Being able to swim with a shell home was an advantage because they could protect themselves from harm.

The coral population was the dominant plant family during this time. They would form on the ocean floor forming beautiful mats of bright colours.

Peace within this Kingdom was suddenly disturbed when one day they all woke up and it was not as warm. After that day and for millions of year's things were never the same. Temperatures started to drop and it was too cold. The ocean water started turning into ice and sea levels started to decreased. Parents were filled with panic and tried moving their children to comfortable areas. Unfortunately a large number of families died along the way. It was the first time something like this had happened and no one knew what to do.

Over many years the Earth quickly warmed up again and sea levels started to rise because of melting sea ice. Many of the animals and plants that had lived through the cold period did not survive the warming period. This was because they did not have enough time to adapt to the new environment.

Too many animals and plants died during the Ordovician extinction, the kingdom lost all it's power and fame. Today the hard shells the ruling families carried around as homes can be found in rocks."

DEVONIAN KINGDOM

The Devonian (Di-vo-nee-in) is another one of the very large kingdoms that are very important in the Earth's history. The warm and dry climate of this time allowed for animals and plants to live anywhere in the world. There was great excitement as many plants had left the ocean and started growing on land. Animals were still living in the sea, but had planned dominate the land soon. In preparation for this, those who were brave enough started breathing using their noses and lungs instead of their gills.

During the "Age of Fish", the most avoided predator of the time was the Placodermi (Pla-ko-der-me) fish. This family had sharp bones as teeth that could crush anything that came close to their mouth, especially prey! The sharks that you would find in the ocean today were still small. They had not evolved in to the scary giants we know today. This family is called the Cartilaginous (Car-ti-lay-jin-is) fish family, and they also ruled during the Devonian.

During the Devonian, fish could be found in sea and river water. The Ray-finned and the Lobe-finned fish families moved into the kingdom and were made rulers because of their unique talents.

They both had bone skeletons and the Rays used gills to breathe while the Lobes had a little nose to breathe. The ability for the Lobes to breathe air made them the bravest and most famous ruler during the time.

Over many years more fished moved into this kingdom and there was less food. The Lobe family grew very tired of this and being prayed on by the Placodermi family. They finally decided to leave the sea and lived on land but close to the sea. This is because they still wanted to be close to their friends and needed water to drink.

Many of the plant rulers that were in the ocean moved onto the land. There was a lot of space for them to live and they took advantage of this. These families used the gas that keeps the Earth warm called carbon dioxide to make food. As the plant families were growing fast together, they became one giant forest and used more this important gas. Now you know what they say… Greed is bad and it can kill! The gas to keep the Earth hot was so little that the Earth went cold.

The cool temperatures were very different from the hot and dry climate that the animals and plants were used to. Many of them tried to adapt to the cold weather but they could not. This brought the Devonian Kingdom to it's sad end because there was many of them who died. Today the bones and teeth of the ruling families of the Devonian Kingdom can be found in rocks."

"Lefika I hope you are listening closely!" Gogo exclaimed with a lot of excitement. "I am going to tell you about two very important Kingdoms."
"Why are they so important Gogo?"
"Well these Kingdoms came to an end because of volcanoes. I enjoy telling the story about them because my grandson gets to learn about the dangers of large volcanoes." She says this while tickling his small nose.
"Haibo Gogo!" He shouted in disbelief. "The volcanoes igneous rocks come from?"
"Yebo Mntanami! The eruption of magma from volcanoes is very dangerous." Gogo continues…

PERMIAN KINGDOM

"Then came the Permian (Per-me-yin) Kingdom and it's famous animals and plants turn to be powerful. This was a great time to live because all the citizens of the kingdom could choose where they would like to live. Even though there were many who chose the land, there was still more families living in the ocean. Everyone of the Permian also noticed that the more they moved out of the ocean, the more complex animals and plants became both in the land and sea.

Plant rulers of this time were nothing like before! The Gymnosperms (Jim-no-sperms) were a whole new level of plant families. They had seeds and water could travel inside them. This made it easier for them to reproduce and survive being far away from water.

In the oceans sharks were the most feared predator! Remember they are part of the cartilaginous family and know they were bigger and better at finding prey.

On land, the Synapsid (Sy-nap-sid) and Sauropsid (Saw-rop-sid) families dominated. Both rulers had four strong legs when they were born. The Synasid members would keep these legs and become mammals, while the Sauropsids would grow to have shorter front legs becoming dinosaurs.

In just a few hundred years, many of the animals and plants that lived in the Permian Kingdom were no longer there. This was all because of a very big volcanic eruptions that happened over many years. When volcanoes release magma, the gas that keeps the earth warm (which this is called carbon dioxide) is released as well.

There was so much magma out pouring and carbon dioxide being released that the Earth became too hot. Conditions that were dry and hot before became worse turning Earth into a desert.

Citizens of the Permian Kingdom living in the ocean and rivers were able to keep cool using water. It is unfortunate that those living on land could not survive. Until today, the loss of the animals and plants of the Permian is the largest known mass extinction and is also called 'The Great Dying'. It was nothing like I have ever seen before!

TRIASSIC KINGDOM

The Earth was very quiet for a while. I did not trust that life would be return to the land and seas, but the animals and plants of the Triassic (Try-as-sik) Kingdom rose to dominate the world. After the desert like environment that brought an end to the Permian Kingdom, temperatures decreased. The climate was very dry, very hot during summer and cold during winter.

Plants of this kingdom were not too big; many of them grew to be shrubs. This was because of the dry conditions; there wasn't water for them to grow taller.

A very few of the families living in the ocean survived the end of the Permian Kingdom. It was a difficult time and citizens had had decisions to make. Many did not know what would happen after the sad ending of the Permian, you could feel the worry especially of those living on land. Some of the animals took the safe option of returning into the sea to be in cooler conditions and have water to drink.

The Archosaur (Ar-ko-saw) family dominated the land. This family was made of members such as birds, crocodiles, walking and flying dinosaurs. That is why this time is also called the 'Age of Reptiles'. Most of these animals were carnivores and a few of them were herbivores. This meant that there was a lot of competition for food. Unfortunately those dependant on grass and small trees to eat were always at danger of being someone else's meal!

Yet again, the peace in this land was disturbed by the release of carbon dioxide from volcanoes. This gas trapped a lot of heat on Earth making it drier. Many of the families that had decided to stay on the land instead of move back into the sea regretted this decision. The conditions were too hot to live in, so slowly many of them died. Fortunately the volcanic eruptions were not as massive as the ones that ended the Permian Kingdom, but they were large enough to cause great damage.

CRETACEOUS KINGDOM

This is the last and most famous kingdom that came to an end because of a mass extinction is the Cretaceous (Kree-tay-shis) Kingdom. This time is well known by many people as the 'Age of the Dinosaurs'. The warm and wet climate of the Cretaceous made life within the kingdom easy. It was the most exciting and dangerous time to live in because of the large variety of animals.

For the first time in the Earth's history, plants were flowering! These flowers with beautifully coloured petals are part of the Angiosperm (An-geo-sperm) family. The growth of pollen plants came with an increase in insects and bees.

The dinosaurs lived and ruled over the Earth during the Cretaceous. Animals had grown bigger and more predator like through time. Those who preyed on other animals had teeth were big and scary! The T- Rex was the most feared of them all, they would walk around in search of food destroying all they land on with their huge feet. Other Cretaceous would work very hard to protect their eggs from being eaten, this sometimes meant being eaten.

The Age of the Dinosaurs was brought to an end when one day a big ball of fire and rock hit the earth. This gigantic ball is called a meteorite (mee-tea-o-rite) and it came from out of space. It was the first time anything like this had ever happened to Earth. The animals and the plants did not know what to day as dark set in. A lot of the trees were on fire because of the ball and a dark black cloud of smoke blocked the sun for many years. Plants died slowly because they couldn't make food without the sun.

This was just the beginning of many events that would end the Cretaceous Kingdom. Smaller animals that lived close to the ground slowly started dying out because of all the smoke. Bigger families like the T- Rex family lasted a while longer because of their big size. They started falling numbers one by one because they were hungry and the animals they would normally prey are no longer alive."

Gogo seemed sad that this would happen, she took a deep breath and said, "I have seen a lot my child."
"I can see Gogo you really have! Do you think rocks will ever have a mass extinction?" He asked with great concern in his face.
"Lefika, if I could live to tell the story of the five mass extinctions I don't think I'll ever go away. All I can do is weather away as you sit on my lap." She said this is a smile.

"Well at least you have me to keep you company for millions of years to come!" He was excited about what other stories Gogo would tell him in the future.
Gogo Matshe while slightly nodding and humming said, "You are right my child, you are right." With that she closed her eyes and slept.

Lefika could not his first day as a rock and how blessed he was. He stayed up for the rest of the night thinking about the cool families that his grandmother spoke about. He also thought of the exciting mass extinctions he would see in the future.