Beavers live both on land and in water. On land, beavers are very uncomfortable. The front legs of beavers are very short, so they cannot walk fast. They cannot run away from their predators on land, but in water they are excellent swimmers. When in the water, beavers swim beautifully and fast. [Read More]
Did you know that a space station is similar to a house? It has showers, kitchens, and living areas. But it also has a control center where astronauts , or cosmonauts as they’re known in Russia, can work.
The International Space Station (ISS) is the largest space station that took a team effort to build. Sixteen countries contributed to the effort. Specifically, it took the cooperation of the U.S., Russia, Japan, Canada, Brazil, and 11 European countries. The station was built on Earth and sent piece by piece into space and put together by the shuttle’s robot arms. [Read More]
If you see a king cobra, you should probably run away! King cobras are able to raise their heads off the ground enabling them to look directly at an adult’s eye. This isn't the only frightening fact about them, in fact, the king cobra’s venom is so deadly that it can kill 20 people, or even an animal as big as an elephant with one bite.
Luckily for us, there are no king cobras in the United States. King cobras live in rainforests, rivers and plains of southeast Asia and in India and China. They usually eat other snakes, venomous and non-venomous alike. [Read More]
Except for humans, wolves (Canis Lupus) are the largest land mammals most commonly found all over the world. Some wolves were tamed for the first time in East Asia 15,000 years ago; they are the ancestors of dogs and are the largest members of the dog family.
Gray wolves can live in the wild for six to eight years. Their body sizes range from 36 to 63 inches while they weigh from 40 to 175 pounds. Their tails measure from 13 to 20 inches and their height is about three feet. [Read More]
Did you know scientists estimate that there are currently only 25,000 polar bears left in the world? And, due to global warming, some scientists have predicted a large portion of the polar bear population will be gone by 2100. The increasing temperatures are melting arctic sea ice, which affects the polar bears in various ways. They are not great swimmers, so they rely on the ice in order to hunt seals for food and also to find their mates. [Read More]
What are tsunamis? In Japanese, tsunami means “great harbor waves” Tsunamis happen when the earth’s crust moves and the tectonic plates rub together. This causes the ocean to send shock waves near cities and land. They are powerful, destructive, and can reach up to 100 feet high.
A tsunami starts pretty calm, but then, can end up becoming more aggressive. A tsunami begins moving slowly, but they can move up to 500 miles per hour. [Read More]
The Ringling Brothers Circus was one of the best circuses ever, and it all began right in Baraboo, Wisconsin!
Founded in 1884, the Ringling Brothers Circus was a circus of seven brothers: Albert, Alfred, Charles, Gus, Henry, John, and Otto. In 1882, as children, they started as a five-brother backyard circus. The two youngest brothers, Gus and Henry, joined the family business in 1884. They were inspired to start a circus after seeing one in Iowa. [Read More]
Polar bears and black bears are part of the same family, although they live in different parts of the world. Polar bears are giants that live in the Arctic Circle, while black bears live in the forests of Canada, the United States and Mexico.
Polar bears are skilled hunters. They need a lot of food to survive in the far North, so they eat a lot of meat, especially seals. They also eat beluga whales by jumping on their backs and attacking them. During the summer polar bears eat plants, small mammals, birds, and bird eggs. [Read More]
Do you know what’s in the brain and how it controls our whole body? There are billions of microscopic cells and other parts that make up the human brain.
A nerve is made up of pieces called neurons. A nerve has a central cell body. Threads called dendrites run off the cell body. Dendrites carry electrical signals to the cell body, while an axon carries them away to another neuron.
When you touch something really hot, a nerve sends a message to your brain, which signals how hot the object is. Motor nerves will carry a message from the brain to a muscle cell that will make your arm move when it is touching something hot. [Read More]
Many people grew up watching Disney Channel. Recently, the channel has changed a lot. Disney now airs more mature shows to attract more viewers.
Kids are growing up quickly these days, and Disney is taking notice. For example, a new show called “Andi Mack,” which first aired on Disney in April of 2017, is about a girl who got pregnant at a young age. The girl’s daughter grew up thinking her mom was actually her sister. This show can help viewers going through similar situations.[Read More]
The oceans are vast bodies of water holding many secrets. Submarines cannot handle all of the pressure in the oceans, so while we know some facts about them, there remains much to learn.
Oceans cover more than 70 percent of the Earth’s surface. Ocean floors are 13,100 feet deep, so no sunlight reaches the animals who live there. As a result, they have adapted to living with no light.[Read More]
Amelia Earhart was an aviator who accomplished many things and went against traditional gender stereotypes. Earhart was the first woman to fly across the Atlantic ocean. Before she disappeared, she was best known for her cross-ocean trip.
One of Earhart’s first jobs was as a red cross nurses aid. That was when she discovered flying. Amelia Earhart was determined to get her pilots license. When she did, just two days later she flew in her first flying exhibition.
Her adventures didn't stop there. She became the first woman to fly above 14,000 feet in 1922. In 1932 she became the first woman to fly across the Atlantic solo. But these records weren't enough, she was determined to fly around the world. [Read More]
Lions, cheetahs, and jaguars are often placed in the same category, but they are very different.
Lions live in groups, known as prides, in Africa, south of the Sahara desert. They hunt antelope, buffalo, and zebras they also eat smaller reptiles and mice. They leave impressive tracks as they are the largest of the African big cats. Lion bodies are eight and a quarter feet long and their tails are three and a quarter feet long[Read More]
Rosa Louise Parks was a woman who helped change the world. She was born on February 4, 1913. Rosa grew up in Tuskegee, Alabama and her family was quite poor.
Rosa Parks attended an all-girls private school, her family struggled with being African American in a time of segregation. Despite the family’s poverty they were able to send Rosa to a very good school. Rosa married Raymond Parks and they both became dedicated to the Civil Rights Movement. [Read More]
The giant panda is an endangered animal that lives in bamboo forests in China. There are only about 1,500 giant pandas left in the wild and their natural habitat is getting smaller, since they do not like living around people and there are fewer bamboo species in the forests too. [Read More]
Did you know there are about 1900 active volcanoes on Earth and most of them are on the Ring of Fire? The Ring of Fire surrounds the Pacific Ocean and it is a 40,000 kilometer horseshoe shape. [Read More]
Hurricanes are similar to tornadoes, but they form over water. While the official name for these types of storms is tropical cyclones, they are also called typhoons or cyclones, depending on where they occur. They cause damage to coastal cities and can kill thousands of people, and leave thousands of others homeless. [Read More]
Voices and body language are the two most important ways penguins communicate with each other. The type of call depends on the species of penguin and the message they want to communicate. [Read More]
When Harriet was an adolescent she went to the store and saw a slave that was escaping from the fields. The slave owner demanded Harriet to help stop the slave from escaping. Harriet refused, and the overseer got mad and hit her in the head. [Read More]
Is it possible that mammoths might make a comeback? Centuries ago, mammoths died due to lack of water, skilled hunters and climate change. But mammoths might be on their way back. [Read More]
There are different kinds of apes, including the bonobo and the chimpanzee. Both are considered great apes, a group that includes gorillas—and humans. [Read More]
For years, scientists have researched what lies within our solar system. Some objects they have studied are dwarf planets. [Read More]