Merry Christmas- Bells – Colouring Page

Learn how to draw with our Drawing for kids lessons.

Merry Christmas Bells – Free printable online colouring page for kids. Colour online Merry Christmas Bells colouring page using our colouring palette and download your coloured page by clicking save image.

How to colour this colouring page

Have fun colouring our Merry Christmas Bells colouring page and many more colouring pages, by following some simple instructions:

  • Go through our collection and choose an image you want to colour.
  • You can click on the “felt pen” or “crayon” and use it to colour the image.
  • Click on “size” and choose how big you want your stroke to be.
  • Click on the range of colours on the bottom left and go nuts!!
  • In case you don’t like what you did, you can always click the “eraser” and erase all the strokes you don’t want. How cool is that?!?
  • Once you are done with your masterpiece, don’t forget to “Save Image” and show it off to all your friends!
  • Click on “Download Activity,” in case you want to take a print out of the activity itself.

Note: Don’t forget to check out the Christmas Story video and other Christmas articles and activities.

Merry Christmas- Gifts – Colouring Page

Learn how to draw with our Drawing for kids lessons.

Merry Christmas Gifts – Free printable online colouring page for kids. Colour online Merry Christmas- Gifts – Colouring Page using our colouring palette and download your coloured page by clicking save image.

How to colour this colouring page

Have fun colouring our colouring pages, by following some simple instructions:

  • Go through our collection and choose an image you want to colour.
  • You can click on the “felt pen” or “crayon” and use it to colour the image.
  • Click on “size” and choose how big you want your stroke to be.
  • Click on the range of colours on the bottom left and go nuts!!
  • In case you don’t like what you did, you can always click the “eraser” and erase all the strokes you don’t want. How cool is that?!?
  • Once you are done with your masterpiece, don’t forget to “Save Image” and show it off to all your friends!
  • Click on “Download Activity,” in case you want to take a print out of the activity itself.

Note: Don’t forget to check out the Christmas Story video and other Christmas articles and activities.

Merry Christmas- Church – Colouring Page

Learn how to draw with our Drawing for kids lessons.

Merry Christmas Charch – Free printable online colouring page for kids. Colour online Merry Christmas- Church – Colouring Page using our colouring palette and download your coloured page by clicking save image.

How to colour this colouring page?

Have fun colouring our colouring pages, by following some simple instructions:

  • Go through our collection and choose an image you want to colour.
  • You can click on the “feltpen” or “crayon” and use it to colour the image.
  • Click on “size” and choose how big you want your stroke to be.
  • Click on the range of colours on the bottom left and go nuts!!
  • In case you don’t like what you did, you can always click the “eraser” and erase all the strokes you don’t want. How cool is that?!?
  • Once you are done with your masterpiece, don’t forget to “Save Image” and show it off to all your friends!
  • Click on “Download Activity,” in case you want to take a print out of the activity itself.

Note: Don’t forget to check out the Christmas Story video and other Christmas articles and activities.

Christmas Decoration Ideas

Note: Don’t forget to check out the Christmas Story video and other Christmas articles and activities.

It’s time to make Christmas decorations! Here are 5 simple Christmas tree decoration ideas.

Dot streamers

Use self adhesive white dots.
Colour them.
Stick them (back to back) on strong thread and string them on your Christmas tree.

Paper bulb ornament

Cut 4 pieces of cardstock in 1 inch wide pieces.
Keep two pieces 10” long, and cut another two of 8” and one of 6.75” respectively.
Take a 10” long piece, and put a 8” inch piece below it, followed by the 6.75” piece. Then, add the other 10” and 8″ pieces.
Hold it in place with a paper clip.
Staple or glue this end.
Repeat for the other end.
Punch a hole ½” from the top, so that you can hang your ornament.

Button tree ornament

If you have a small tree and you can use a needle and thread, try this. Thread a needle and tie a knot.
Slide some brown small buttons on for the base.
Add large buttons for the tree’s bottom, medium buttons for the tree’s center, and small buttons for the tree top.
Loop the string to tie your ornament to the tree.

Ribbon ornaments

Put embroidery thread through a needle and knot one end.
Thread a bead.
Then, push the needle through a 1” wide paper strip.
Thread another couple of beads and loop the paper.
Again put the needle through the paper.
Repeat until the whole paper has been looped.
Finally, push the thread twice through the top bead, so that you have a loop to tie your ornament to the tree.

Shooting star ornament

Cut a circle from paper. You can trace it from a coffee mug’s bottom.
Start from the edge and cut a spiral that goes to the circle’s center.
Decorate with felt pens or glitter.
Cut a small star, 1’’ wide. Poke a small hole at the top of the star. Decorate it too. Stick it on to the spiral to form a shooting star.
Tie it to your tree with a thread.

We have a huge collection of free and downloadable craft ideas for kids.

Tree Decoration – Colouring Page

Learn how to draw with our Drawing for kids lessons.

Tree Decoration – Free printable online colouring page for kids. Colour online Tree Decoration colouring page using our colouring palette and download your coloured page by clicking save image.

How to colour this colouring page

Have fun colouring our Tree Decoration colouring page and many more colouring pages, by following some simple instructions:

  • Go through our collection and choose an image you want to colour.
  • You can click on the “feltpen” or “crayon” and use it to colour the image.
  • Click on “size” and choose how big you want your stroke to be.
  • Click on the range of colours on the bottom left and go nuts!!
  • In case you don’t like what you did, you can always click the “eraser” and erase all the strokes you don’t want. How cool is that?!?
  • Once you are done with your masterpiece, don’t forget to “Save Image” and show it off to all your friends!
  • Click on “Download Activity,” in case you want to take a printout of the activity itself.

Note: Don’t forget to check out the Christmas Story video and other Christmas articles and activities.

Christmas Tree – Colouring Page

Learn to draw – How to draw step by step for kids.

Christmas Tree – Free printable online colouring page for kids. Colour online Christmas Tree colouring page using our colouring palette and download your coloured page by clicking save image.

How to colour this colouring page?

Have fun colouring our Christmas Tree colouring page and many more colouring pages, by following some simple instructions:

  • Go through our collection and choose an image you want to colour.
  • You can click on the “felpen” or “crayon” and use it to colour the image.
  • Click on any of the “size” and choose how big you want your stroke to be.
  • Click on the range of colours on the bottom left and go nuts!!
  • In case you don’t like what you did, you can always click the “eraser” and erase away all the strokes you don’t want. How cool is that?!?
  • Once you are done with your masterpiece, don’t forget to “Save Image” and show it off to all your friends!
  • Click on “Download Activity”, in case you want to take a print out of the activity itself.

Christmas Festival Facts!

Why do we celebrate Christmas?

Christmas is observed on the December 25 to mark the birth of Jesus of Nazareth. Although Christmas is a Christian holiday, it is celebrated the world over by people from different religions .The word Christmas is derived from Old English where Christ refers to Jesus and mass refers to a gathering of people. Christmas day falls on the same day every year and was made uniform by historians of the Catholic church who concluded that he would have been born on this date given other information surrounding the event.

The story of the birth of Jesus

During the time of Jesus’ birth, the Romans were conducting a census of their empire. It was required for citizens to register in their home towns and so Joesph and his wife Mary, who was pregnant at the time, traveled to Jerusalem. Because of the census Jerusalem was packed with people so there was no place for them to stay. A woman from a local inn offered the couple a place in the inn’s stables where Mary gave birth to a baby boy.

It is believed that a star shone over the stable on the night of his birth, attracting shepherds and travelers who had heard of the coming of a prophet, who would later become Jesus the preacher and source of Christianity. Amongst these visitors were also three wise men or the three kings who came bearing gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh.

On the evening of the 25th, Christians gather for the Christmas mass where they are reminded of the story of the birth of Jesus. Since Jesus was born in a stable and is believed to be the son of God, the prayers remind its followers of humility of humankind and also the importance of family.

Christmas morning is a fun time especially for children who believe that Father Christmas, or Santa Claus came to their house in the dead of night to leave presents for them either under the Christmas tree or in stockings that they hang up in their homes. During the day, families distribute sweets to their neighbours and have a large feast which they share with family and friends.

Project –

Did you get a present for Christmas? Did it come in a box? Fill one of the empty boxes you got a present in with old clothes or something you don’t use anymore. Give this as a gift to someone in need.

Note: Don’t forget to check out more Christmas articles and activities.

Stages of Mitosis – Cell Division

What is Mitosis?

Mitosis is a form of cell division, which produces two daughter cells. Each of these two cells possesses equal number and similar kind of chromosomes as the parent nucleus, typical of ordinary tissue growth. In case of actively dividing animal cell, the entire process takes one hour to complete.

What are the 6 Stages of Mitosis?

1. Prophase:

In this stage the nuclear membrane breaks down resulting into formation of several small vesicles and the nucleolus disintegrates. Centrosome (a structure) duplicates itself. Two daughter centrosomes are formed, which migrate to opposite ends of the cell. The centrosomes help to produce microtubules. Microtubules form spindle fibres, the constituent of mitotic spindle. Chromosomes condense and give rise to compact structures. Each of the replicated chromosome are found to be consisting of two similar chromatids or sister chromatids. These are held together by centromere.

2. Prometaphase:

The chromosomes move to the equatorial plane in the mid line of the cell, at right angles to the axis. This region of the mitotic spindle is called the metaphase plate. It is formed by the centrosomes.The spindle fibres bind to kinetochore (a structure associated with the centromere). In prometaphase chromosomes continue to condense.

3. Metaphase:

In this phase chromosomes are found to align themselves along the metaphase plate of the spindle apparatus.

4. Anaphase:

In Anaphase, the centromeres divide. The sisters chromatids of chromosomes are detached. They are pulled by spindle fibres attached to the kinetochore regions and move to the opposite ends of the cell. These chromatids are known as daughter chromosomes.

5. Telophase:

In this final stage, nuclear membrane is formed once again around the chromosomes, which are grouped at either pole of the cell. Chromosomes uncoil and become diffuse. Spindle fibres are no longer visible.

6. Cytokinesis:

It is the process of final cellular division. Here, two new cells are formed. Then the cell enters the interphase.

Read more about the different Stages of Meiosis – Cell Division.

Stages of Meiosis – Cell Division

What is Meiosis?

Meiosis is a type of cell division which produces four daughter cells. Each of these cells consists of half the number of chromosomes present in the parent cell, as in the production of gametes and plant spores.

A. Meiosis I:

Here, the pairs of homologous chromosomes are separated and a special cell division takes place reducing the cell from diploid to haploid.

Meiosis I is also divided into the following stages,

  1. Prophase I
  2. Prometaphase I
  3. Metaphase I
  4. Anaphase I
  5. TelophaseI

1. Prophase I:

In Prophase I homologous chromosomes pair and exchange DNA and recombinant chromosomes are formed.

Five Phases of Prophase I:

  1. Leptotene
  2. Zygotene
  3. Pachytene
  4. Diplotene
  5. Diakinesis

2. Prometaphase I:

In prometaphase I formation of spindle apparatus takes place and chromosomes are attached to spindle fibres by kinetochores.

3. Metaphase I:

Here, the homologous pairs of chromosomes are arranged in a double row along the metaphase plate. These chromosomes are randomly arranged along the metaphase plate.

4. Anaphase I:

In this phase separation of pair of homologous chromosomes occur and they migrate to the opposite ends of the cell.

5. Telophase I:

In the final stage of meiosis I, chromosomes become diffuse and reformation of nuclear membrane occurs.

6. Cytokinesis:

Here, cells are finally divided to form two new cells, followed by Meiosis II. The Haploid cells (newly formed) consist of one copy of each chromosome.

B. Meiosis II:

Two chromatids are formed by separating each chromosome in Meiosis II.

Note: Meiosis generates Genetic diversity.

To know more about the different Stages of Mitosis, click here.

Seahorse Facts and Information

The seahorse is a tiny fish that has a horse-like head and curled tails. Seahorses can be found swimming in groups, always in an upright position. Unlike the other fish, their bodies are covered with bony plates instead of scales.

How fast can seahorses swim?

Although they are fish and have fins that help them to move forward in the water, the seahorses are not great swimmers. In fact, they prefer to rest in one place, holding onto corals or seaweeds with their tails for days together.

Seahorse physical characteristics

Adult seahorses can measure up to 1 to 30 centimetres in length. They feast on tiny shrimps, fish and planktons. Since seahorses are toothless creatures, they have to suck in the live food through their long snouts.

How do seahorses give birth?

It is interesting to note that in the case of seahorses, it is the males that give birth to the young ones! The male seahorse has a small pouch on his tummy. The female lays over 2,000 eggs into the male’s pouch. These eggs are then fertilized inside the pouch itself. About 2 to 6 weeks later, the eggs hatch and baby seahorses come out of the pouch.

Are seahorses endangered?

Seahorses have a number of enemies in their surroundings, like crabs, tunas and other large fish, but their existence is also threatened by human activities. They are caught and killed for use in aquariums or in science laboratories. The seahorse population is rapidly declining around the world because of their huge demand in the Asian medicine trade, habitat destruction and sea water pollution. To prevent them from getting extinct, they are now protected by law.

14 Interesting Facts about Seahorses

  1. The Seahorse is called Hippocampus in Latin which means ‘Horse Caterpillar’.
  2. Seahorses can be found throughout the world in shallow tropical and temperate waters.
  3. Seahorses generally have two patterns on their body- zebra stripes and spots.
  4. The average lifespan of a seahorse is from 1 to 5 years.
  5. Seahorses are even slower than snails! They are only able to cover a distance of around 5 feet in one hour.
  6. Seahorses have excellent eyesight and their eyes are able to work independently on either side of their head. This means that they can look forwards and backwards at the same time!
  7. Seahorses can change colour to mingle with their surroundings. They do so by enlarging or squeezing the pigment cells in their skin.
  8. Seahorses have a small crown on their heads that is known as a coral net. It is unique for each individual animal.
  9. A group of seahorses called a herd.
  10. Seahorses do not have a stomach, and thus, the food passes through their bodies very quickly. It is because of this reason that they have to eat almost continuously.
  11. The male and the female seahorse perform a special dance and also change colours to impress their partners.
  12. Seahorses love to swim together in pairs, side by side, holding tails!
  13. Seahorses cannot bend their tail backwards.
  14. Seahorses make strange clicking sounds while eating and communicating with other seahorses.

Learn how to draw a seahorse in a fun and interactive way.

Life Cycle of a Silkworm

Where does silk come from?

Silk is an expensive and beautiful piece of fabric that used to be worn by only kings and royalty in the past. It comes from the silkworm. The lifecycle of a crawling worm into a moth goes through several stages.

5 Important Stages in the Life Cycle of a Silkworm

Stage 1: The Egg

This is the first stage of a silkworm’s life cycle. The female moth lays eggs which are the size of a small ink dots! The female can lay more than 350 eggs at a time. These eggs remain dormant till springtime when the warmth in the air arouses them to hatch. This happens once a year. But due to human intervention the breeding of silkworm and hatching of eggs takes place at least thrice a year.

Stage 2: Larvae

When the eggs crack there emerges a hairy silkworm. This larva stage is the one where growth takes place. Upon hatching, a silkworm is 1/8th of an inch. They feed on tender mulberry leaves. They consume large amount of these leaves for 20 to 30 days and go through four stages of molt or skin changes. The first molt is when the silkworm sheds all its hair and attains a smooth skin.

Stage 3: Cocoon

At this stage the silkworm spins a protective cocoon around itself. It is made by a single thread of silk and it the size of a small cotton ball. This, it does to protect itself from predators. This is the stage where the second molt takes place when the lava turns into a pupa inside the cocoon.

Stage 4: Pupa

This stage is the motionless stage just before adulthood. It is at this stage when people take the cocoon and plunge it into boiling water to kill the pupa and unwind the silk thread. But if they don’t the pupa rests peacefully for 2-3 weeks after which it metamorphoses into an adult moth.

Stage 5: Adult moth

The pupa changes itself into a beautiful adult moth. These moths are flightless and do not have a mouth so they are unable to consume food. Once the adult moth comes out its sole purpose is to find a mate. Within 24 hours of mating a male moth dies while the female lays eggs and then even she dies. Thus the lifecycle of a silkworm begins again.

4 Interesting Facts about Silkworm

  1. Normally silkworms reproduce only once a year but in countries like India and China they can do so round the year because of the weather.
  2. Silkworms is the term used for the worms called Bombyx Mori.
  3. The salivary gland of the silkworm larvae produces the silk thread for the cocoon.
  4. One cocoon will contain raw silk thread of 300 to 900 meters in length.

More about Life Cycles –

Origin of Guinness Book of World Records

Who founded Guinness Book of World Records?

It was Sir Hugh Beaver, the managing director of the Guinness Brewery, who founded Guinness Book of Records.

How did the Guinness Book of Records start?

Once he attended a shooting party in North Slob in County Wexford, Ireland (May 4, 1951). There he got involved in an argument on the fact which was the fastest game bird in Europe. Later, he realized it was a difficult task to find the answer in reference books. Then the idea of creating a book containing such answers came into his mind.

First Edition of Guinness World Records

The first edition of the “Guinness Book of Records” was bound on August 27 in 1955. It consisted of one hundred ninety seven pages. The book was placed on the top of the British best-seller list by Christmas.

Top 11 Guinness World Records

  1. A Great Dane named Zeus was the lankiest canine. It was 1.12 metres or 44 inches tall.
  2. The Gardner Tony Glover cultivated the heaviest onion 8.5 kg or 18 lb 12 oz in Leicestershire.
  3. A group of eight British criminals with an average age of 57 pleaded guilty to counterfeiting charges in 2009. The oldest member of the group was 83.
  4. Nick “The Lick” Stoeberl from California has the longest tongue. It measures 10.10 cm from tip to lip.
  5. Carlton Williams, a super-fit 50-year-old Welsh builder complete an incredible 2,220 press ups in an hour.He broke his own previous record of 1,874 press ups.
  6. Robert Pershing Wadlow from Illinois 2.72m (8ft 11in) tall.
  7. Jeanne   Calment lived upto 122 years 164 days.
  8. The world’s largest pocket knife was designed by Telmo Cadavez of Bragança, Portugal, and handmade by Virgilìo, Raúl and Manuel Pires of Portugal on January 9, 2003. The 122 kilograms (268.9 pounds) knife was 3.9 meters (12 feet, 8 inches) long when open.
  9. The heaviest lemon in the world is 5.265 kilograms (11 pounds, 9.7 ounces). It was grown by Aharon Shemoel on his farm in Kfar Zeitim in Israel.
  10. Sam Wakeling covered 453.6 kilometers (281.85 miles) on a unicycle in 24 hours at Aberystwyth, Wales, United Kingdom, (September 29 to 30, 2007)
  11. Lee Redmond held a Record for having more than 28 feet long finger nail.

Are we running out of water?

The water crisis!

The world is running out of water- underground or freshwater; the water crisis has hit the world population. In almost a decade, North India will run out of groundwater and there will soon be agriculture crisis. Pollution of the available water resources, changes in global temperatures, shortage of fresh drinking water are actually the basic reason for water shortage around the world.

Will the Earth ever run out of water?

The Earth will never run out of its entire water content. Water content will remain the same, only its form will keep changing. But, we will run out of clean water. Most of the water on Earth is salt water and almost 77 percent of fresh water is frozen at the two poles of Earth. The rest of the water content is trapped in soil or underground aquifers. Even the frozen water, due to global warming of glaciers, is melting and getting mixed with sea water. Humans are also exposing and finishing up the underground aquifers. This leaves very little water for drinking, washing and agriculture.

Population growth and water demand

As the earth’s population grows, the number of people who use water for drinking and washing grows. The amount of water used and wasted by people also grows with this.

How humans are responsible for water pollution

Many human activities like factories dumping their waste pollute fresh streams and rivers. Thus leaving almost no fresh water to be used for drinking. Safe drinking water is not available in many parts of the world and millions of people and children die every year due to the lack of safe drinking water.

Water Scarcity and Agriculture

  • The water shortage will hit the agriculture lands mostly. Famine will cause a country to run out of food. People will drink water from dirty sources and this could lead to water borne diseases to spread. This will not only lead to death of humans but also of cattle and animals.
  • With the range of technologies available scientists are trying to make the dirty and polluted water clean. Even sea water can be used for drinking and other purposes once its salty content has been removed. This requires high technology, good inventions and a willing government of a nation.

Charles Dickens Biography

Who was Charles Dickens?

Charles Dickens, the renowned British author was born in Portsmouth, located on the southern coast of England (February 7, 1812). His father John Dickens was a naval clerk. Dickens’ mother name was Elizabeth Barrow. He was the second child of his parents and had seven siblings. He married Catherine Hogarth also known as Kate. He had ten children. Later, in 1858 they were separated. Dickens had a stroke and he died at the age of 58 (June 9, 1870), leaving his novel The Mystery of Edwin Drood unfinished.

The Life of Charles Dickens

Charles Dickens belonged to a financially weak family. From young age, his education was greatly hampered due to the poor financial condition of his family. His father was imprisoned in the year 1824 for unpaid debts. He had to discontinue his studies at the age of 12. He began to work in a boot – blacking factory and earned six shillings a week. This is how he provided financial support to his family.

Charles Dickens – The Author

He began to work as a freelance reporter at the law courts of London. Few years later he started working for two major newspapers in London. In 1833, he submitted several sketches to different magazines and newspapers under the pen name “Boz.” His clippings were published in his first book titled Sketches by Boz in 1836. In the same year, he began to publish The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club. He also published a magazine named Bentley’s Miscellany. Then; in 1842, Dickens and his wife Kate went on a lecture tour in the United States for a period of five months. After returning home, Dickens wrote a sarcastic travelogue titled American Notes for General Circulation. In it he strongly criticised American culture and materialism.

List of Works by Charles Dickens

  • Oliver Twist
  • A Christmas Carol
  • The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby
  • The Old Curiosity Shop
  • Barnaby Rudge
  • David Copperfield
  • The Life and Adventures of Martin Chuzzlewit
  • A Tale of Two Cities
  • Great Expectations
  • Dealings with the Firm of Dombey and Son.
  • Bleak House
  • Hard Times
  • Little Dorrit
  • Our Mutual Friend

Apart from the novels, there are several short stories written by Charles Dickens.

  • The Haunted House
  • A House to let
  • The Long Voyage
  • A Message from the Sea
  • Mugby Junction
  • The Signal-Man

9 Famous Quotes by Charles Dickens

  1. Dignity, and even holiness too, sometimes, are more questions of coat and waistcoat than some people imagine. (Oliver Twist)
  2. There are books of which the backs and covers are by far the best parts. (Oliver Twist)
  3. Grief never mended no broken bones (Sketches by Boz)
  4. It is a far, far better thing that I do, than I have ever done; it is a far, far better rest that I go to, than I have ever known. ( A Tale of Two Cities)
  5. We lawyers are always curious, always inquisitive, always picking up odds and ends for our patchwork minds, since there is no knowing when and where they may fit into some corner. (Little Dorrit)
  6. Consider nothing impossible, then treat possiblities as probabilities. (David Copperfield)
  7. The things that never happen, are often as much realities to us, in their effects, as those that are accomplished. ( David Copperfield)
  8. I’ll tell you … what real love is. It is blind devotion, unquestioning self-humiliation, utter submission, trust and belief against yourself and against the whole world, giving up your whole heart and soul to the smiter – as I did! (Great Expectation)
  9. I will honor Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year.( A Christmas Carol)

What are Factors and Multiples?

Definition of Multiple

A multiple is the result of multiplying a number by an integer, not a fraction.

For example
18 is a multiple of 3, because 3 x 6 = 18
Similarly, – 12 is a multiple of 3, because 3 x -4 = 12
7 however is not a multiple of 3.

Difference between Factors and Multiples

Factors and Multiples – Both of these are related to multiplication.

While factors are what you multiply to get a number, multiples on the other hand are what you get after multiplying a number by an integer.

What are Factors?

Factors are numbers which are multiplied together to get another number.

For example

3 x 4 = 12 (Number 3 and 4 are therefore factors of number 12)

And if you did not know, negative numbers also can be factors. So if 12 was the chosen number, -1, -2, -3, -4, -5, -6, -12 could also be factors of 12.

What are Multiples?

A multiple as you know is the result of multiplying a number by an integer.

Let us look at an example.

Multiples of 3
12 is a multiple of 3, because 3 x 4 = 12
-3 is a multiple of 3, because 3 x -1 = -3

So you know now, that you have to multiple by an integer, but the number that is multiplied can be anything.

Changes in States of Matter

The terms melting, boiling and evaporation are the processes associated with the change of state of a substance.

What do we mean by ‘change of state’?

Transformation of a substance into another form is called change of state. Example: Ice melts into water if heated.

What happens in the process of Melting?

Melting or Fusion is a process by which a substance in the solid state is converted into liquid state. To simplify, when a solid is heated, it melts down.

How does solid change into Liquid?

It happens because a substance while changing into liquid state absorbs heat without a rise in temperature. A substance changes from a solid to liquid state at a fixed temperature. This temperature is known as melting point of the solid and remains constant throughout the process of melting. The quantity of heat required to change unit mass (1gm) of the substance at its melting point from solid to liquid state without changing the temperature is termed as latent heat of fusion of solid.

What happens in the process of Boiling or Ebullition?

A liquid if heated continuously under a given superincumbent pressure releases vapour from its surface. Eventually vaporisation takes place throughout the mass of the liquid in a rapid and vigorous way. This stage is known as boiling of the liquid. If the superincumbent pressure does not change, the temperature of the liquid remains constant as long as it’s boiling. This constant temperature is called boiling point of a liquid.

Factors which govern boiling point:

  1. The boiling point varies depending upon the increase or decrease in the superincumbent pressure on the liquid.
  2. The presence of any dissolved impurity increases the boiling point. Boiling point of a solution is always greater than that of the pure solvent.
  3. The boiling point also depends on the material of the boiler, its roughness and the degree of cleanliness of its inner surface to some extent.

What is Evaporation?

Evaporation is the gradual and slow change of a substance from liquid to a vapour state, which takes place at the surface of the liquid at all temperatures.

Factors which govern Evaporation:

  • The temperature of the liquid.
  • The nature of the liquid.
  • The removal of air over the liquid surface.
  • The pressure of air.
  • The area of exposed surface.
  • The pressure of vapour in contact with the liquid.

Notes:

  • The word ‘latent’ means hidden.
  • The word ‘superincumbent’ means lying or resting on or above something.
  • Melting point of solid such as naphthalene can be determined by two methods; cooling curve method and capillary tube method. It should be noted that naphthalene expands on melting.
  • The melting and boiling point of different substances varies from each other.
  • The change of a substance from the liquid to the vapour or gaseous state is called vaporisation.

To know more about the States of Matter click here.

Why do Bees Buzz?

Is it their style of talking to each other or are they singing sweet songs in their own language?

Well, the buzzing of bees is produced because of different reasons. The buzzing sound generally comes when bees flap their wings in a super fast speed. Sometimes, the buzzing sound is also generated by a bee’s breathing—bees breathe in air through the tiny openings on their bodies which can produce a buzzing sound.

Buzzing Factors

The buzzing sound depends on the size of the insects’ wings and the speed with which they flap their wings. Insects having small wings can push very little air, so they have to beat them faster while flying. The insects having larger wings do not have to take the trouble of beating their wings rapidly; they can easily push a lot of air to move ahead while flying and have almost soundless flights.

Difference in Buzzing Sounds – Bees, Mosquitoes and Butterflies

A mosquito has small wings and usually beats them between 400-450 times per second, which creates that annoying buzzing sound whereas other insects like butterflies have bigger wings which move at the speed of just about 6 times per second. The sound that is produced by beating wings at this speed is extremely faint and you are not able to hear it at all. Bees have medium-sized wings and they flap them more than 200 times per second. That is why you can hear them buzzing loudly.

Some bees, especially bumblebees, are also sometimes found buzzing loudly while sitting over the flowers. Why do they do so? These bees vigorously vibrate their wing muscles and middle parts of their body while visiting the flowers to shake the pollen grains from the flowers. These pollen grains stick onto the bodies of the bees and when they visit other flowers, some pollens get deposited on them, resulting in pollination. The bees take back the remaining pollen grains home to feed their larvae.

3 Interesting Facts about Bees Buzz

  1. When bumblebees vibrate their bodies and wings to release pollens from flowers, the buzz is much louder.
  2. The larger the insect, the slower is the speed with which it beats its wings and the lower is the pitch of the resultant buzz.
  3. It is not just the bees that buzz; some other insects like wasps, flies, mosquitoes and beetles make buzzing sounds by flapping their wings rapidly.

Looking for more biology articles and videos? Go to: Biology for Kids.

How Glue is made?

What is Glue?

Glue is the sticky liquid substance that we use to make fun crafty projects and repair the things we ought not to have broken. Every object has dents and gaps on its surface, on where the glue seeps in and settles down. When exposed to air, this liquid hardens to form a solid that securely attaches the two objects. There are innumerous types of glue that are available in the market; and now glue is made non toxic so that it does not harm the little kids who might accidentally put it in their mouths. But what is glue made from my curious mind asks?

How was it made?

Traditionally glue was made from animal products like the skin and bones. The bones are first boiled and the fat is separated. Further cleaning and boiling leads to the animal matter or the collagen protein being transformed into gelatin. This is dried and made into a cake; and boiled in hot water before use. This glue was used to make Egyptian caskets for the pharaohs, wooden furniture in the Roman Empire, violin making in the 16th century, book binding in the 19th century and today it is used in making medicine capsules. Tar and beeswax was also combined to form glue. Egg whites, acacia gum and honey was mixed to form special glue that was used in making musical instruments.

From where is it extracted?

Glue is also extracted from trees. The Red Manjack Tree which is found in India gives fruit to red berries which look like tomatoes; which contain the edible and sticky glue that is commercially used today.

Casein glue derived from the Latin word meaning cheese; is hydrophobic and is made from milk products. You can try making this glue at home. When you add vinegar to hot milk, the milk separates into whey and curd. If you add hot water and baking soda to the curd and dissolve it; you will have the glutinous substance called glue.

Starch is the carbohydrate that is found in trees, potatoes, wheat etc. Potatoes are smashed and the starch is derived from the dead potato cells. Low gooey temperature and high stickiness make it a sister of glue. The glycerin is mixed to make it thicker. Starchy glue is commercially very popular and safe to use.

The Discovery of Glue

  • Charles Goodyear experimented and discovered that when rubber is heated with sulfur; it forms glue. This is used in the automobile industry.
  • Dr Harry Coover discovered the glue substance called cyanaocrylate which was later formulated to make the popular Krazy glue.

What is Glue made of Today?

Hot glue is made of thermoplastics that are heated and used for effective sticking between various materials. This type of glue is liquid and hardens on cooling and thus forms a strong adhesive.

Today thermoplastic glue is more efficient and effective in moist and humid climates; where other glues dissolve and loosen the materials bound together.

But the best way to make glue is at home. Mix one cup of flour, 1 ½ cups of water, 1/3 cup of sugar and 1 tsp of vinegar together. Heat it slowly and when the mixture becomes thick, store it in an air tight container and use it when cooled. This will keep the little babies busy for hours.

Today different types of glue are made for different applications. You will find paper glue, wood glue etc. Everything leads to being more constructive and creative.

3 Interesting Facts about Glue

  1. The first recipe of glue was written in 2000 BC.
  2. The 5200 year old Iceman found in Austria, in a glacier; was seen with axes which were bound together with glue called pitch.
  3. The first US stamps were adhered on mailing envelopes with starch glue in 1840.

What is Cellular Respiration?

Introduction to Cellular Respiration

Our human body contains trillions of cells, which perform the various functions in our body, like breathing. Cells need to work around the clock and they need to be replenished with energy continuously; or else our body won’t function. Imagine, if your dog did not have energy, then she would not have been able to wag its tail or play “fetch the ball” with you. Cellular respiration is a biological process where cells reload themselves with energy.

How do these Minute Organisms do it?

When you chomp food, your body changes the food into a special kind of sugar (like the unique sugar coating on candies) called glucose. Glucose is like the gas your father pumps into the car to keep it running. The insulin hormone transports this glucose to those hard working cells.

Steps of Cellular Respiration

This glucose which contains six carbon atoms is split in the cell through Glycolysis. This process is anaerobic as without the help of oxygen, 2 molecules called pyruvate and 2 energy molecules called ATP (explained later) are formed. Think of inserting a dollar bill into a vending machine to generate quarters to be used as your bus fare in your ride to the zoo.

Cells also need the most important ingredient which is oxygen. We breathe in oxygen. The more oxygen we breathe in, the more energy we produce. That is why when you are exercising, your sports teacher always asks you to breathe more and more consciously.

In the aerobic process, the oxygen is used with this pyruvate ( remember the molecules formed from the fuel like component called glucose) to produce the energy molecules ATP.

The first part is called the Kreb’s cycle, which is a succession of enzymatic reactions, where the acetate, from the pyruvate, is oxidized and changed into energy molecules and carbon dioxide and water are released.

The Electron Transfer Chain also is a series of chemical reactions, where electrons are shuttled down, and energy from the oxygen atoms are converted into hydrogen atoms, which produce ATP.

This energy is stored and used through molecules called adenosine triphosphate (ATP) in a special compartment called the mitochondria. They are called the power boosters of the cells, as they supply energy to the cell. They look like sausages. They keep unwanted particles out of the cells.

They also regulate the water amounts in the cells and crumble proteins etc. When your mother tells you to eat fish and drink lots of milk, she is doing this for your own good and not hers. Your body needs proteins for again those laborious cells; which are producing energy to keep you kicking the football to the goalpost every time. The protein is further broken down into amino acids that are used in restocking the cells and manufacturing new cells.

Cellular Respiration can be summarized as
Glucose + Oxygen= Carbon Dioxide + Water + ATP (Energy)

Cellular Respiration in Plants

But in plants, cellular respiration is slightly different. Here through a simple process called photosynthesis, plants use sunlight to turn carbon dioxide and water into glucose. Also, photosynthesis occurs only when there is sunlight.

Fun Facts about Cellular Respiration

  • Anaerobic cellular respiration produces only 2 ATP molecules compared to Aerobic cellular respiration which produces 38 ATP molecules per cell.
  • If we don’t breathe in more during exercises, our body produces lactic acid which causes the terrible pain in our muscles and joints.

How to Make a Witch Hat?

Witches are wicked… witches are shrewd… witches are helpful… witches know magic… witches can be good or bad. When you think of a witch what picture comes to your mind? An old lady with a long nose, black robe, sitting on a broom with a long hat on her head?

A Homemade Witch Hat

Well, all witches may not be old…all witches may not wear robes; all witches may not want to eat you up. But all witches have one thing in common. They accessorize themselves with a long pointed hat. Do you want to try and become a witch and caste magic spells or brew up some magical potion? We will give you the magical steps to make your own witch’s hat.

13 Easy Steps to Make a Witch Hat

  1. Gather the following items: Black chart/craft paper, scissors, wire, tape, ribbon, some embellishments like plastic spider or a nice bow
  2. Measure your head around your forehead and add about ½ or 1 inch to the circumference of the brim of the hat that you want to cut
  3. Make a wide circle on the paper. It should be as wide as you want the brim to be. Cut it.
  4. Inside the wide circle make a smaller circle with the above measurement of your head
  5. Take another craft paper and make a triangle or a slant line with a marker. This will be the top of your hat and the line can be as tall as you want the top to be.
  6. Cut along the slant line so that you have a nice triangle with a rounded base. Basically you have a cone
  7. Take the wire and place it in the center of the cone lengthwise. Paste it with the tape.
  8. With the wire as the center, round the cone into a pointed top. Stick both ends with the tape.
  9. Take the brim of the hat and flatten it completely first either by placing some heavy books on top of it
  10. Now take your scissors and cut the inner circle that you have made. It will make a hole of your head size. Place it on your head to see if it fits properly.
  11. Now you have to place the cone on top of the brim. Use glue or tape to attach the cone on the brim. You can cover the tape or glue with black ribbon or feathers.
  12. Once the cone is attached, bend it a little from the top to give it a worn out look.
  13. Attach the plastic spider or the bow or anything you like to the witch hat.

Your witch hat is ready and you can now go around throwing spells and making frogs of people!

Get into the mood of Halloween, read a fun comic story about Smelly witch and Rebecca.

Creep Out – Halloween Story

Moco Star

Name : Akshaj Mehta
Age : 9 years
Grade : 4
School Name : Star Academy , Natomas Charter School, Sacramento, California, USA

CREEP OUT!!!

PART I
One day, my friends and I were reading a book together about scary Halloween night. The book was about a group of scientists that believed that once in 400 years on 31st October in the dark and stormy night, a dinosaur comes alive and roams in the woods…” There was another group, who did not believe this.

Part II
My friends and I decided to go on camping in the woods on the Halloween night, to see if the above is a MYTH or FACT.

So, here we were, in the middle of jungle trying to make our tents in the woods and all of sudden we heard a large growl at us, exactly right at that point a thunderstorm started, and we realized that lighting coming out of clouds was made of electricity power.

We heard a large breathing sound; we spun around to see what?

A Dinosaur was standing right in front of us.

Could it be true that this was the dinosaur, which comes out once in 400 years on the Halloween night?

We all wanted to scream badly but our voice was numb, we could not speak, walk or move. The dinosaur looked at us mischievously; it seemed he would charge on us. For a moment we thought it was the end of all of us. We all were thinking that We had to do something!!

Could you guess what we did?

We didn’t run, hide or scream, we just stood there as if we were blocks of ice.

Suddenly, we saw the dinosaur turning and going towards the city to destroy it, BUT right then bolt of lightning stuck on the dinosaur and it disappeared, never to be seen again.

We were saved by our presence of mind and GOD.

After this incident, I and my friends know for a fact that there is a Dinosaur which is still alive and he comes to scare people on the Halloween night!

SO BEWARE!!!!!!

Why are Forests Dying?

Why are Forests important?

Forests cover almost a third of world’s land surface. Many of them are so vast that the only way to map and study them is from space. Forests are not only valuable sources of wood and fuel, but they are also home to many types of plants and animals.

Rainforests once covered 14% of the earth’s land surface; now they cover a mere 6% and experts estimate that the last remaining rainforests could be consumed in less than 40 years. Small scale deforestation was practiced by some societies for tens of thousands of years before the beginnings of civilization.

Effects of Deforestation

Massive deforestation brings with it many ugly consequences – air and water pollution, soil erosion, malaria epidemics, the release of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere and the loss of biodiversity through extinction of plants and animals. Fewer rainforests mean less rain, less oxygen for us to breathe, and an increased threat from global warming.

Why are Rainforests being destroyed?

Humans are the main cause of rainforest destruction. Some of the reasons we are cutting down forests are:

a. Wood for both timber and making fires
b. Agriculture for both small and large farms
c. Land for poor farmers who don’t have anywhere else to live
d. Grazing land for cattle
e. Pulp for making paper
f. Road construction
g. Extraction of minerals and energy.

Developing countries also have a massive effect on deforestation as there is a huge need for raw materials which come from the forests. As the population swells, new homes need to be built. For that to happen, space is required, and that is when, more and more trees are cut.

PROJECT

  1. As a project, why not go out and plant a tree? Make sure that you water it and watch it grow?
  2. Not using a plastic bag helps in a great way, when it comes to saving the forests. Stop using plastic bags and use a cloth bag instead.
  3. See if you can find out the names of a few animals that are now extinct because of deforestation.

Inside a Chimney

It is quite dark in here… I am inside a vertical tube like structure.

Oh look! I can see the sky from here. Hmmm… so one opening brings me to the outside world. Where does the other end lead?

These walls on both sides seem like brick walls but they have some sort of lining on them.

It smells like something has been burnt here and both the sides of the walls are dark like charcoal. Now this tube like structure has some wider chamber from which I can smell the smoke.

Aaaghhh!! I just slipped on to this basement floor. And I am all dark with ash!

Oh well!

I was Inside a Chimney!

I better hurry and take a bath now. I wonder how Santa does it every year at every house he visits…

What is inside a Chimney?

  • A fireplace chimney is a complex structure and can contain as many as 22 parts inside it. Let us look at the simpler parts of a regular chimney.
  • The top of the chimney which is visible from the roof has a chimney crown which protects the chimney from water, dampness and deterioration.
  • The vertical passage that connects the chimney from the roof to the smoke chamber is called the Flue. It can be a duct or a pipe on smaller chimneys. The flue has a flue lining so that it is not a fire hazard. The lining is to avoid any inflammable debris.
  • There is a smoke chamber that compresses by-products of combustion into smaller pieces and sends it up the chimney. There are chimney dampers which are doors within the chimney that can be closed when the fireplace is not in use.
  • The smoke shelf behind the chimney damper catches rain water debris and rain water and helps in carrying large smoke out through the chimney.
  • The ash dump and ash pit lie below the smoke shelf and collect ash. There is a clean out door used to clean the collected ash form the ash dump.
  • There is a footing which is the horizontal surface below the ash pit and is made of concrete to hold the chimney securely in its place. The lowest part of the chimney is the foundation which is made of strong bricks and is exposed really hot ash from the fireplace.

Halloween Theme Party

Creative Ideas for Halloween Theme Party

Invitation Card

Make creative invitations for your party using owls, or a message in a bottle, or glow in the dark invitation. You could also make a skeleton shaped invitation card or a spider themed card. Ask your friends to dress up as their favorite character.

Halloween Decoration Ideas

  • Cover your house with spider webs (using black strings), white milk bottles with faces painted on them, pumpkins, black witches and black cats, skeletons etc. Everything should be black and orange and spooky.
  • Get branches and insert them inside a brown bag (which has vertical lines cut on it) and fill it with goodies.
  • Play squeaky sounds for music.

Halloween Party Food

  • Color apples in black food coloring
  • Make green colored muffins and place chocolate cones inverted on them and decorate them to look like witches.
  • Cover juice boxes in tissue papers to make them look like mummies.
  • Decorate cakes to look like scary characters.
  • Get cheese sticks and make them look like fingers by painting a thumb print on the top.

Game Ideas

  •  Stick orange colored balloons on the wall in the shape of a pumpkin. Ask your friends to throw a dart from far, to burst a balloon.
  • Get pumpkins and challenge everyone to carve the scariest pumpkin.
  • Fill a bucket with gross ingredients like plastic eyeballs. Ask everyone to guess what is what.
  • Bobbing for apples- Fill a large bucket with water and let lots of red apples float on them. Ask your friends to take out as many apples as they can with their mouth while their hands are tied behind their backs.
  • Hang a curtain and make a small hole in the middle. One by one, let your friends stick their nose in it and ask everyone to guess whose nose it is.
  • Get white sheets and cover your friends in them. Now ask a person to guess who is who.

Related Article :

Do you know what is Halloween?

London Bridge

London Bridge is falling down, falling down, falling down. Well, no. It isn’t which is good because I’m there right now!

History of London Bridge

Spanning the river Thames and connecting the traditional city of London to its creative and more relaxed bankside, the London Bridge is the bridge with the longest history in London. The first timber bridges that spanned the river Thames were built way, way back by the Roman founders of London. Then in 1176, Henry II commissioned a stone arched bridge that lasted for over 600 years! Over the centuries it underwent several upgrades and refurbishments. The bridge that stands today replaced the stone arched bridge. It was designed and built due to the combined efforts of the architect Lord Holford and engineers Mott, Hay and Anderson. It was inaugurated by the Queen Elizabeth II in 1973 and was opened to traffic in the year 1974.

Nursery Rhyme: London Bridge is Falling Down

The London Bridge is one of the oldest known bridges across the Thames, and is so popular worldwide that it has a nursery rhyme dedicated to it. In medieval times, the bridge often displayed the heads of traitors to the throne on spikes above its stone gatehouse. It was a way for the monarchy to keep its subjects in check.

4 Interesting Facts about London Bridge

  1. Today, however, it is a place that not only offers a spectacular view of the city but has several interesting attractions to boot.
  2. The London Bridge is always bustling with activity thanks to the many restaurants, hotels and tourist attractions in the areas around it.
  3. It’s a place well known for its food and drinks as well as the excellent medical services of the London Bridge Hospital and Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust.
  4. It is also the most well connected places in the city with excellent public transport links.

If you’re the daring type (like I am), you must give the London Bridge experience a shot. I won’t give away the details, but it’s a terrifyingly fascinating experience, to say the least. The Borough market area across the London Bridge Station is UK’s oldest food market and boasts of over 70 stalls selling everything from fresh produce to lip-smacking delicacies.

It goes without saying of course, that if you’re here, you cannot miss taking a walk across the river!

Diwali Diya Decoration

How to Make Diwali Diya Decoration

What you need –

  1. Diyas
  2. Acrylic colours
  3. Rhine stones/ Kundan
  4. Glue
  5. Sparkle glue

How to make-

  • Choose an acrylic colour and use it to paint two coats on the diya.
  • Wait for the coats to dry.
  • Use sparkle glue to make a simple design like a zig-zag on the outer rim of the diya.
  • Let the sparkle glue dry too.
  • Stick rhine stones using normal glue on the diya in any pattern you like.
  • After the stones are stuck, you can outline them too with sparkle glue if you want.
  • Have fun making diyas of different colours and patterns!

Note: Don’t forget to check out our video Ramayana : Story of Diwali
Clay Lanterns for Diwali : https://mocomi.com/make-clay-lanterns/

How to Make Clay Lanterns

Clay Lanterns for Diwali

What You Need

  • Clay (any kind and any colour)
  • Cutting tools and a mat to work on.
  • Stamp, stencils or anything else you want to make an impression of.
  • Cling wrap (to protect the mat)
  • Bottle (of the size and shape you want for your lantern)
  • Sandpaper
  • Needle
  • Check that the clay is not flammable.

16 Steps to Make Clay Lanterns

1. Roll out the clay.

2. Take a hunk of clay and roll it out to about 0.5cm(1/4 in) thickness.

3. Cut the top and bottom edges in a straight line with the desired height (in my case I made it about 9cm(3.5in)).

4. Check that it is long enough by loosely wrapping it around the bottle and trim the edge.

5. Make an impression.

A Christmas ornament is used here to make an impression on the clay, stamps work nicely for this too. Or if you have a steady hand you can draw something yourself. Try to add even pressure and don’t push too hard that it goes through to the other side.

The cup is being made large enough here, so that two impressions of the dove could be made on it.

6. Poke holes.

With a needle or something with a pointy end (a seam ripper is used here) poke holes all the way through the clay along the pattern you made with the impression.

7. Space them roughly 2mm apart and make sure the needle enters the clay vertically, not at an angle.

8. A stencil is used here to add more holes since some areas looked a bit bare.

9. Make a cup.

Loosely wrap the clay around the bottle and connect the two ends together.

10. With the clay I used I just wet the clay and blended the edges together.

11. To make the bottom, roll out some more clay to about the same thickness as the sides.

12. Place the cylinder piece on top and trim around the edges

13. Connect the bottom piece by blending the edges of clay together. Allow to dry.

14. Sand and finish

15. Once the clay has dried you can sand it to smooth out the edges at the rim as well as along the seams.

16. Drop a tealight in and you’re done!

More Information about Diwali Festival

Different Celebrations of Diwali

Diwali is one of the most celebrated festivals in the world. Apart from India, it is celebrated in Mauritius, Nepal, Trinidad, Singapore, Malaysia, and Fiji, which have large Indian immigrant populations. Some of these migrations happened so long ago that Diwali is a major holiday while in the more recent ones like in the United States of America, Australia, and the UK, the celebrations are limited to the people who have moved there recently. Here are a few different ways in which the same festival is celebrated by different people.

Kaunria Kathi – Odisha

The state of Odisha has a unique history. Owing to its tribal heritage, people in Odisha celebrate Diwali a little differently. They celebrate it to ask the ancestors for blessings. One unique ritual performed as part of the Diwali celebration is the ‘kaunria kathi.’ It is believed that the ancestors reside in the part of the sky most visible as the sun begins to move towards the Tropic of Capricorn. People burn stems of jute to invite the ancestors to descend from the spiritual sky and bestow blessings upon them.

Diyari – Sindhi

The Sindhi community celebrates the customs and traditions similar to others but have developed some of their own ritual worship of their own. They also call it by a different name– Diyari. During the Lakshmi puja they wash gold and silver coins in unboiled milk. After the puja, each person picks a coin and lightly taps it against their teeth. They chant the phrase “Laakshmi aayi, danat vaai,” meaning Lakshmi has returned and poverty has left. After all you can’t eat money, can you?

Hari Diwali – Malaysia

There are many different Hindu communities that are part of Malaysia’s diverse culture. They come from different ethnic backgrounds like Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Kerala. Hari Diwali, as they call it, is a national holiday there and is celebrated with much pomp. People take a traditional oil bath before breakfast. People who celebrate this festival invite their Malay and Chinese friends into their homes for a meal.

Divali – Trinidad

Between 1845 and 1917 about 1,43,000 Indians were shipped from modern day Bihar and Orissa to the Caribbean island of Trinidad. They went there to work on the sugarcane plantations after all the slaves were emancipated in the British Caribbean in 1838. The Indo–Trinidadians (people who are from Trinidad whose families are from India) celebrate Divali like it is celebrated here. In 1966 the government declared it a national holiday and from then on people have begun to worship for the whole 9 days.

Bali Pratipada – Bali

It is interesting to note how legends and myths take form in different cultures. You may have heard about the festival Onam. Bali celebrates Diwali as the return of the demon king Bali Pratipada to his earthly realm every year. Sounds familiar? Think South India.

Tihar – Nepal

Diwali is celebrated as ‘Tihar’ in Nepal. It is celebrated to honour the goddess of wealth, Lakshmi and god of prosperity, Ganesh.

After a yagna performed by Bali, Vishnu appears to the king as a brahmin named Vamana and asks him for the amount of land he can cover in three steps. After taking his true form, Vishnu takes two steps and covers all of heaven and earth. Bali offers his head as a place for Vishnu to place his third step. In doing so, he is cast into patalaloka. As a reward for his devotion, Bali is allowed to return to earth for 1 day every year. The Hindus of Bali believe that by lighting lamps they are dispelling evil and the same ignorance that led their beloved king into the netherworld.

This is the same story behind Onam, a festival marking the new year in Kerala. However they celebrate it with flowers and a grand luncheon.

Project

Can you find out where else they celebrate Diwali? Like countries with more recent immigrants and ones that may not be on this list.

Note:  Don’t forget to check out the story of Diwali

How do firecrackers pollute the environment?

Why celebrate special occasions by polluting the environment?
Is poisoning the air and water a patriotic way to celebrate Diwali? Or New Year?

Fireworks pollute and damage our planet in many ways. This Diwali, make a conscious choice to celebrate in different ways that don’t involve bursting crackers.

5 Ways fireworks damage the environment

1. Manufacturing

Fireworks use plastic, paper and cardboard – which are not eco friendly and are made at factories that pollute the environment and often engage in child labour.

2. Transportation

Fireworks sustain the transport industry in a big way. From distribution by planes, boats and and trucks to local collection at retail stores, fireworks contribute to the pollution caused by vehicles. And don’t forget that the consumer drives to purchase the fireworks, sometimes hundreds of miles to another state to bypass local restrictions.The waste generated by non-biodegradable accessories used during the worship.

3. Air Pollution

The smoke from fireworks consists mainly of fine toxic dusts (particulate matter) that can easily enter the lungs. This represents a real threat for people with asthma and for children. Additionally, in this time where the issues of climate change and global warming are being presented with a sense of urgency, we need to be concerned about the greenhouse gases fireworks produce, which include Carbon dioxide (CO2) and ozone.

4. Water Pollution

Fireworks fallout can contaminate water supplies and residue on the ground can be carried away by rain and end up in our lakes, rivers, or oceans.

5. Noise Pollution

Fireworks are loud and the vibrations can travel far. These sounds are not only annoying to humans but also affect animals and pets.

Suggested Activity : Take a Stand against Fireworks

  • Refuse to celebrate your festivals with crackers.
  • Do not attend outdoor fireworks displays and encourage others to do the same.
  • Educate others by sharing the polluting dangers of fireworks.

Vitamins and Minerals

You all have heard your moms say ‘Do not forget to take your vitamins and minerals. They are important for your health’. Yes, vitamins and minerals make your bodies work properly. Everyday your body produces blood to carry nutrients to all parts, make your nerve system work properly, your brain to function properly. All this requires raw materials- provided in the form of vitamins and minerals.

What do Vitamins and Minerals do for the body?

They boost the immune system by helping the body battle infections, heal wounds, convert food into energy, repair cellular damage, keep deficiencies away and help develop bones, muscles, skin and organs.

What are Vitamins?

Vitamins are organic substances made by plants and animals. There are two types of vitamins– fat soluble and water soluble. Fat soluble are found in fatty foods and animal products like eggs, vegetable oils, milk and dairy. Vitamin A, D, E and K are fat soluble. You don’t need them every day as they are high in fat content and are stored in the body for long.

Water soluble found in fruits, vegetables, grains are not stored in the body; so much of this is needed. This vitamin content are easily reduced or destroyed by cooking or boiling. Vitamin C, B and folic acid are water soluble.

What are Minerals?

Minerals are required for building strong bones, teeth; controlling body fluids and turning the food we eat into energy. Essential minerals are calcium and iron. Though there are many other minerals like zinc, potassium etc. Minerals are found in meat, cereals, fish, milk, vegetables and dry fruits.

What is the difference between Vitamins and Minerals?

  • The basic difference between vitamins and minerals is that vitamins are organic and can be broken down by heat, air or acid.
  • Minerals on the other hand are inorganic and cannot be broken easily as they hold on to their organic structure.
  • You can get vitamins directly from eating plants and meat of certain animals. You can get minerals from plants and water directly.
  • This means that the minerals found in soil and water can be easily absorbed in our body through the plants, fish, animals or fluids we consume. But it is tough to get vitamins from food and other sources because processes like cooking, storage or exposure to air can make these vitamins inactive.

Diwali Theme Party

Creative Ideas for Diwali Theme Party

Hey folks! Would you like to host a diwali party for your friends and enjoy?
If yes, then here is how you can have a party filled with light, colors and sweets.

Location

The ideal location for diwali party can be in your house garden, a nearby park, a club house or even your home.

Invitations for Diwali Theme Party

  1. Your invites can have some awesome pictures or prints of diyas, or rangoli designs on a two fold card.
  2. Even paper bags full with candy and chocolates can go along with an invitation note.
  3. Or it can be simple sweet boxes.

Decoration Ideas for Diwali Theme Party

  • Decorate your floor with a colorful rangoli.
  • For night, you can hang colorful lanterns and lights.
  • You can also decorate diya’s around the dinner table.
  • You can place candles at the wall railings, and around rangoli.

Diwali Activity Ideas

  1. Musical games like antakshari, or musical chairs can be played to add fun.
  2. Rangoli competitions.
  3. Floating lanterns.
  4. Burning crackers in the presence of an adult.

Related Articles :

Diwali Crackers – Anar – Colouring Page

Diwali Crackers – Anar – Free printable online colouring page for kids. Colour online Diwali Crackers – Anar colouring page using our colouring palette and download your coloured page by clicking save image.

How to colour this colouring page?

Have fun colouring our Diwali Crackers – Anar colouring page and many more colouring pages, by following some simple instructions:

  • Go through our collection and choose an image you want to colour.
  • You can click on the “feltpen” or “crayon” and use it to colour the image.
  • Click on “size” and choose how big you want your stroke to be.
  • Click on the range of colours on the bottom left and go nuts!!
  • In case you don’t like what you did, you can always click the “eraser” and erase all the strokes you don’t want. How cool is that?!?
  • Once you are done with your masterpiece, don’t forget to “Save Image” and show it off to all your friends!
  • Click on “Download Activity,” in case you want to take a print out of the activity itself.

Note:  Don’t forget to check out the Ramayana Story video and other Diwali articles and activities.

Diwali Crackers and Bombs – Colouring Page

Diwali Crackers and Bombs – Free printable online colouring page for kids. Colour online Diwali Crackers and Bombs colouring page using our colouring palette and download your coloured page by clicking save image.

How to colour this colouring page?

Have fun colouring our Diwali Crackers and Bombs colouring page and many more colouring pages, by following some simple instructions:

  • Go through our collection and choose an image you want to colour.
  • You can click on the “feltpen” or “crayon” and use it to colour the image.
  • Click on “size” and choose how big you want your stroke to be.
  • Click on the range of colours on the bottom left and go nuts!!
  • In case you don’t like what you did, you can always click the “eraser” and erase all the strokes you don’t want. How cool is that?!?
  • Once you are done with your masterpiece, don’t forget to “Save Image” and show it off to all your friends!
  • Click on “Download Activity,” in case you want to take a printout of the activity itself.

Note:  Don’t forget to check out the Ramayana Story video and other Diwali articles and activities.

Happy Diwali! – Colouring Page

Happy Diwali – Free printable online colouring page for kids. Colour online Happy Diwali! – Colouring Page using our colouring palette and download your coloured page by clicking save image.

How to colour this colouring page

Have fun colouring our colouring pages, by following some simple instructions:

  • Go through our collection and choose an image you want to colour.
  • You can click on the “feltpen” or “crayon” and use it to colour the image.
  • Click on “size” and choose how big you want your stroke to be.
  • Click on the range of colours on the bottom left and go nuts!!
  • In case you don’t like what you did, you can always click the “eraser” and erase all the strokes you don’t want. How cool is that?!?
  • Once you are done with your masterpiece, don’t forget to “Save Image” and show it off to all your friends!
  • Click on “Download Activity,” in case you want to take a printout of the activity itself.

Note:  Don’t forget to check out the Ramayana Story video and other Diwali articles and activities.

Diwali lamps – Colouring Page

Diwali Lamps – Free printable online colouring page for kids. Colour online Diwali lamps – Colouring Page using our colouring palette and download your coloured page by clicking save image.

How to colour this colouring page?

Have fun colouring our colouring pages, by following some simple instructions:

  • Go through our collection and choose an image you want to colour.
  • You can click on the “feltpen” or “crayon” and use it to colour the image.
  • Click on “size” and choose how big you want your stroke to be.
  • Click on the range of colours on the bottom left and go nuts!!
  • In case you don’t like what you did, you can always click the “eraser” and erase all the strokes you don’t want. How cool is that?!?
  • Once you are done with your masterpiece, don’t forget to “Save Image” and show it off to all your friends!
  • Click on “Download Activity,” in case you want to take a print out of the activity itself.

Note:  Don’t forget to check out the Ramayana Story video and other Diwali articles and activities.

Loris wishes you a Happy Diwali! – Colouring Page

Loris wishes you a Happy Diwali! – Free printable online colouring page for kids. Colour online Loris wishes you a Happy Diwali! – Colouring Page using our colouring palette and download your coloured page by clicking save image.

How to colour this colouring page?

Have fun colouring our colouring pages, by following some simple instructions:

  • Go through our collection and choose an image you want to colour.
  • You can click on the “feltpen” or “crayon” and use it to colour the image.
  • Click on “size” and choose how big you want your stroke to be.
  • Click on the range of colours on the bottom left and go nuts!!
  • In case you don’t like what you did, you can always click the “eraser” and erase all the strokes you don’t want. How cool is that?!?
  • Once you are done with your masterpiece, don’t forget to “Save Image” and show it off to all your friends!
  • Click on “Download Activity,” in case you want to take a printout of the activity itself.

Note:  Don’t forget to check out the Ramayana Story video and other Diwali articles and activities.

Diwali – The Festival of Lights

The Significance of Diwali Festival

Diwali or Deepawali, is also known as the ‘festival of light.’ It is an Indian festival celebrated by Hindus, Jains, and Sikhs with great enthusiasm but for different reasons. In each of the three beliefs the common attribute is a celebration of the triumph of good over evil. Lights illuminate all corners of India during the Diwali season and it is a time for community. The spiritual significance behind Diwali is ‘inner awareness’, an idea that all three religions follow. Lighting lamps is symbolic to shedding light on ignorance in an effort to illuminate one’s self on the way to a greater consciousness.

Hinduism

The central event behind Hindus celebrating Diwali is to mark the day that Rama returned to Ayodhya after 14 years in exile with his wife Sita. To welcome their return, the people of Ayodhya lit diyas (ghee lamps) to guide them from the dark forest into the city. Another event that is associated with Diwali is a passage from the Puranas that says it was during this time that Krishna’s wife Sathyabhama, an incarnation of the earth goddess Bhumi, killed the powerful demon Narakasura that was terrorising his subjects.

Jainism

Diwali is also significant to the Jains because it marks the day after Lord Mahavira attained nirvana in 527 BC. It is said that he was released from his worldly body on the night of the full moon. So the people of Pavapuri, where he attained nirvana, lit lamps in their doorways as a symbol of their guru’s enlightenment.

Sikhs

For Sikhs, this festival is important because it celebrates the release of Guru Hargobindji along with 52 Indian kings who were imprisoned along with him at the Gwalior fort by Emperor Shah Jahan in 1619. For this reason, the festival is known to the Sikhs as Bandi Chorr Diwas meaning the day of deliverance from prison. As Dussehra marks the beginning of the harvest season, Diwali marks its end. It is a time of plenty and farmers give thanks for the bountiful harvest and pray for a year of plenty. They offer their prayers to Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth, prosperity, and wisdom, by doing the Lakshmi Puja. Houses are cleaned thoroughly to prepare for the puja and rangolis are drawn at the entrance of houses to welcome Lakshmi into their homes. On this day and during the entire Diwali season people light firecrackers.

Project –

Many religions and traditions use fire and light in their traditions. Can you find 3 other examples of festivals where light plays a central role in the festivities?

Note:  Don’t forget to check out Diwali articles and activities.

Types of Maps

8 Different Types of Maps

1. Political Map

  • A political map shows the state and national boundaries of a place. A political map does not have any topographic features.
  • It also shows the location of cities, with respect to each other.

2. Physical Map

  • A physical map is one which shows the physical features of a place or country, like rivers, mountains, forests and lakes.
  • The physical features are usually shown in different colors.
  • Rivers and lakes are shown in blue, places of low elevation are shown in dark green and as the elevation increases, the color becomes light green and eventually orange.
  • Mountains are shown in brown.

3. Topographic Map

  • Topographic maps are similar to physical maps, which show the physical features of an area. Although in topographic maps, differences in elevation and changes in landscape are shown with the help of contour lines and not colors.

4. Climatic Map

  • A climatic map shows the information about the climate of different areas.
    For example it shows areas which receive more rainfall or snow, or which have dry weather.
  • It uses colors to depict areas with different climate.

5. Economic or Resource Map

  • Economic or resource maps show the different resources present in the area or economic activity prevalent.
  • They show the kind of crops that are grown and the minerals found in places.
  • Symbols and letters are used to depict the activity or resource present in the area.

6. Road Map

  • Road map is the most widely used map which shows different roads, highways or railways present in the area.
  • It is a very detailed map and is generally used for direction purposes.
  • Road maps are usually made individually, city-wise.
  • There are road maps present for an entire country too, but they cannot be made very detailed.

7. Scale of a Map

  • The scale of a map shows the relationship between the distances on the map with respect to actual distances on the Earth. For example if the scale of a map is 1 cm to a kilometer, that means 1 cm on the map is equivalent to 1 kilometer on actual ground.
  • Using a scale you can quite accurately measure the distance between 2 places.

8. Symbols

  • On maps different symbols represent different things, for example black dots represent cities, circled stars represent capitals.
  • Different types of lines represent roads, highways and railways.
  • Trees and forests are depicted in green, mountains in brown and rivers and lakes in blue.
  • This done for making it easier for us to spot these features and study the map.

Related Article:
Read and download the World Map with Country Names.

Jellyfish Lake, Palau

Where is Jellyfish Lake located?

I’m swimming alongside jellyfish! I’m in the southern lagoon of Palau in Koror, in what is called the “Jellyfish Lake”, a marine lake that is packed with beautiful jellyfish.

Interesting Facts about Jellyfish Lake

The Jellyfish Lake is one of the marine lakes on the Eil Malk island here in Palau. There are around 70 other marine lakes around here, but this is the only one that is open to tourists. And boy is it awesome that this lake is open to tourists. Imagine watching millions of jellyfish swarm across the lake, every day! That’s what occurs here – everyday, millions of jellyfish migrate horizontally across the lake, presumably to feed.

The Jellyfish Lake is 12000 years old, apparently, and is quite isolated from the others. It is, however, connected to the ocean through fissures and tunnels in the Miocene reef. The isolation has caused the species living in the lake to have evolved significantly different from their cousins residing in the nearby lagoons.

How many different kinds of Jellyfish are there?

The Jellyfish Lake is populated chiefly by two species of jellyfish – the moon jellyfish and the golden jellyfish. Both the species of jellyfish migrate daily across the lake, though their migration patterns do differ. The golden jellyfish is the more active of the two, and is on the move nearly throughout the day, resting only at night. The golden jellyfish have an organized migration pattern, and they move to certain specific locations in the lake at specific times of the day. Isn’t that interesting? The moon jellyfish do not have an organized pattern and migrate at night, coming to the surface, presumably to feed.

It’s a treat to swim around with these jellyfish, and thankfully, their stingers are too small to cause any damage to visitors. Although snorkeling in the lake is permitted, scuba diving is not, because it proves to be dangerous to the visitors as well as causes damage to the eco-system. That’s okay though. Snorkeling here is awesome enough.

In recent times, there have been reports of dwindling jellyfish numbers, which is a huge cause for concern. Scientists think that this could be due to climate change, and could be indicative of bigger changes to come in the ecosystem. I really hope not; this place is just too beautiful!

To know all about the Immortal Jellyfish, visit https://mocomi.com/immortal-jellyfish/

Steve Jobs Biography

Steven Paul Jobs, the chief founder of Apple Computer, was born in San Francisco, California (February 24, 1955). His parents were Joanne Schieble, who later came to be known as Joanne Simpson and Abdulfattah “John” Jandali. Both of them were students at University of Wisconsin. They gave their son up for adoption. His biological parents married soon after Jobs was adopted by Clara and Paul Jobs. They had another child named Mona Simpson. He came to know about his biological parents at the age of twenty seven. Clara was an accountant by profession. Paul was a United States Coast Guard. The Jobs family resided in Mountain View, California (from 1961 onwards), within the area which later named as Silicon Valley. Steve Jobs suffered from pancreatic cancer and died in 2011.

Early life of Steve Jobs

In his childhood, Steve Jobs worked on electronics with Paul in the family garage. His father showed him how to take apart and reconstruct electronics. This is how his interest in electronics grew up. He was a brilliant student in school. Later, he studied in Homestead High School in Silicon Valley and Reed College in Portland, Oregon. During this time he was introduced to Steve Wozniak, his future partner. He was attending the University of California, Berkeley.

Steve Jobs Career

In the year 1974 Steve Jobs joined as a video game designer in the company named Atari, where he worked for several months. Then he left the company in order to find spiritual enlightenment in India.

How Apple got started?

Steve Jobs traveled and experimented with psychedelic drugs. Later in 1976, Jobs and Wozniak started Apple Computer (in his family garage). Jobs was only 21 years old at that time. Jobs and Wozniak sold Volkswagen bus and scientific calculator respectively to collect fund. It was they, who brought a revolutionary change in the computer world by inventing improved technology and introducing machines much smaller in size, cheaper, intuitive and accessible to daily consumers. Wozniak coined the idea of a series of user-friendly personal computers. Jobs took the charge of marketing. Apple I was sold in 1976.The very next year saw the success of Apple II, which was followed by advent of Macintosh in 1984. Apple Computer became a publicly traded company in 1980. Jobs appointed John Sculley, the marketing expert of Pepsi- Cola as the CEO of Apple. He left Apple in 1985. Then he founded NeXT, a computer platform development company.

Steve Jobs’ Greatest Achievements

  • Steve Jobs was posthumously honored as a Disney Legend in 2013.
  • He received Grammy Trustees Award in 2012.
  • He was named as the most powerful person in business by Fortune magazine in 2007.
  • Steve received Jefferson Award for Public Service in the year 1987.
  • Jobs along with Steve Wozniak received National Medal of Technology in 1985.

8 Inspiring Quotes by Steve Jobs

  1. Being the richest man in the cemetery doesn’t matter to me. Going to bed at night saying we’ve done something wonderful, that’s what matters to me.
  2. “I’m convinced that about half of what separates successful entrepreneurs from the non-successful ones is pure perseverance.”
  3. “My favourite things in life don’t cost any money. It’s really clear that the most precious resource we all have is time.”
  4. “My model for business is The Beatles. They were four guys who kept each other’s kind of negative tendencies in check. They balanced each other, and the total was greater than the sum of the parts. That’s how I see business: Great things in business are never done by one person, they’re done by a team of people.”
  5. “Sometimes when you innovate, you make mistakes. It is best to admit them quickly, and get on with improving your other innovations.”
  6. “Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking. Don’t settle. As with all matters of the heart, you’ll know when you find it.”
  7. “Innovation distinguishes between a leader and a follower.”
  8. “Bottom line is, I didn’t return to Apple to make a fortune. I’ve been very lucky in my life and already have one. When I was 25, my net worth was $100 million or so. I decided then that I wasn’t going to let it ruin my life. There’s no way you could ever spend it all, and I don’t view wealth as something that validates my intelligence.”

Do you know?

  • Steve Jobs is the authorized biography book of Steve Jobs.
  • Stay Hungry Stay Foolish is a book written by Rashmi Bansal on Steve Jobs.

What are Natural Resources?

Imagine life without air, water, sunlight, forests and minerals. It would be difficult right.

Well, all these things mentioned are our natural resources. Natural resources are natural elements that form a part of the earth and are needed and valued by humans.

Types of Natural Resources

There are three types of natural resources.

1. Perennial:

Perennial resources are resources like sunlight, winds and tides that are always available to us.

2. Renewable:

Renewable resources are resources like plants, soil, oxygen, water, forests that do not get exhausted easily. They can be renewed and replenished.

3. Non – Renewable :

Non – renewable resources are resources like petroleum, natural gas and minerals that can get exhausted and cannot be replenished. This is because it takes millions of years to replenish these resources and hence we should be very careful while using them.

Natural Resources Found in India

List of major natural resources found in India.

1. Soil:

India has six types of soil namely black soil, red soil, alluvial soil, mountain soil, laterite soil and desert soil. Each soil is good for growing a particular kind of crop.
For example: black soil is good for growing cotton.

2. Water:

In India we have perennial and non-perennial rivers flowing through the country. Water is used to produce electricity.

3. Minerals:

Our country has a rich deposit of minerals such as iron, coal, natural gas especially in the plateau region.

4. Forests:

In India we have evergreen forests , deciduous forests, desert and alpine vegetation. Trees like sal, eucalyptus, babool, sandal etc are found in these forests.

We must be careful while using our resources and try and conserve them. This can be done through reducing their usage, recycling them and reusing them.

How to make a Paper Bag?

Paper Bag Origami

Paper bags are widely used for carrying gift items, dresses and others. These could be simple or decorated and vary in sizes. Infact, plastic bags are now replaced by paper bags. If you are a creative person and passionate of art of paper folding or origami, then you are the right person to make it within few minutes!

Material Required

Papers used for the purpose could be newspapers, coloured papers and so on. You can use paper according to your own choice. Besides, you need a scissor, scale, pencil, glue, colours, ribbons, and other decorative items as per requirement.

10 Steps to make a Paper Bag

  1. Place the cut out paper in front on a flat surface.
  2. The paper should be placed in landscape orientation or long sides up and down; short sides to the left and right. Decorated papers should be faced down.
  3. Then the bottom edge of the paper should be folded (2inches).
  4. The fold should be creased sharply. This end would become the bottom of the bag when unfolded.
  5. The next step is to locate the centre points of the top and bottom edges. Here, you must maintain the landscape orientation. Bring the short sides together as though you were folding the whole thing in half. You pinch the top and bottom of the portion to be folded and mark the centre of each long side with a pencil. Then mark a half inch to the left and right of each centre point. In total there should be six points of which three lies in the centre of one long edge and rest on the other.
  6. Now fold the sides of the bag into place. You must bring the right edge of the paper to the left – most marked lines and then fold. Crease the fold and unfold it. Repeat the process inversely on the opposite side. You flip the paper over and re-fold its left and right sides downward towards the centre. Glue them at the place where they overlap. Then you fold along the same lines as before (but note that the folds will be inverted. Let the glue dry completely.
  7. Then you flip the bag over .The glued side should be down. It should be placed in such way so that one of the open ends points toward you.
  8. You fold the side and creases inward to give an accordion effect. Make the sides so that it becomes a rectangle when it opens up. Then mark 1.5 inches inwards from the left- hand side of the bag. You push the left side crease of the bag inwards towards the interior of the bag. Do this until the left hand mark made previously sits on the outer edge where the paper is bending. First you press and fold the paper downwards so that the mark lines up with the new folded edge. Keep the top and bottom edges symmetrical at the time of pressing the paper down. Repeat the process on the right hand side. Then the body of the bag should be folded inwards on either side like a grocery shopping bag.
  9. Now you make the bottom of the bag. First determine which end is the bottom by looking at the crease lines and keep the bag flattened. You fold the bag up (4 inches) from the bottom and crease it along this line. You must see that the inward flaring creases should pop open and forms a square edge. Inside, you will find a triangle of folded paper on either side. You fold few sides to the centre by using triangular shape. Bottom should be closed off properly.
  10. Make holes and add handles.

We have a huge collection of free and downloadable craft ideas for kids.

History of Native Americans

Who are Native Americans?

Christopher Columbus discovered America, but people lived in America long before his discovery. These people who lived before the arrival of Europeans to America were known as the Native Americans. They lived in North America, Central America, South America and the Caribbean islands.

Who are Red Indians and Why they are called so?

One theory states that Christopher Columbus was travelling to the West. He thought he was going to India. Instead he landed in America and thus Native Americans are sometimes referred to as Indians. Though, calling them Red Indian is wrong, since that is a name of a specific tribe who used to paint their face and bodies with red ochre colour.

Another study states that long before the ice age happened, the Indians journeyed from Asia into Alaska. They came across the west coast of North America and settled there. As early as 1000 B.C the Indians covered almost the entire continent and their descendants were known as the first Americans who arrived and settled in America. They are also known as indigenous people as they were the first people to live in America.

Native Americans lived throughout North and South America. They inhabited Alaska, Hawaii and there came into existence different tribes and cultures across America. From one coast to another there were hundreds of Native American cultures.

Native American Tribes and Culture

The Native Americans were grouped into tribes and groups on the basis of the areas they lived, their culture, the language they spoke and their customs. Sometimes smaller tribes were part of a bigger tribe or they merged into a bigger tribe. When Columbus arrived, there were hundreds of tribes spread across America. Some well known of the tribes were Apache, Cherokee and Navajo. All Native American tribes had one thing in common- they lived off the land by gathering food during their early stages and later by cultivating food. Once the tribes began cultivating, they thrived into villages. The tribes hunted and domesticated animals. Meat, fur and skin of animals were used. Bones were used to make weapons. Corn or maize was the most common Native American food crop. Squash, potato, rice, pumpkin, avocados were also grown. Most Native Americans preferred to eat their food fresh, without adding lot of spices.

Spirituality and religious customs were an integral part of Native Americans. They had many Gods. They believed in a relationship with nature and so worshipped the Sun as God. They also had a rain God. Most elements of Nature were worshipped as God and every tribe had a medicine man called ‘Shaman’.

Native American Fall

The Native American tribes began to diminish when settlers from other countries, mostly Europeans, tried to capture their land. Slowly they were moved away from their own lands into what was called reservations. Many died during epidemics and diseases like smallpox and measles brought by Europeans and unknown to Americans. Europeans started colonizing Americans. They also had horses and guns which overpowered the bows and arrows of the Native American tribes. These times were terrible for these early settlers and one would have believed that they might disappear.

Native Americans Today

Today many descendants of the original Native Americans still live on reservations. The reservations are areas specifically assigned for Native Americans, to protect their culture and heritage. But only 30% of Native Americans live on reservations. The rest can be found all around America and around the world, earning their livelihood like any other citizen.

Mark Zuckerberg

Mark Elliot Zuckerberg is only 32 years old and is the CEO and Co-founder of the most famous and popular social networking website- Facebook. He is one of the youngest billionaires in the world!

Childhood and Early Life

Mark was born on May 1984 in New York to a dentist father and a psychiatrist mother. He was the youngest and had three elder sisters and grew up in a Jewish household. Mark excelled in school and high school. He won many prizes in Science, Math and astronomy. He was also a language expert and could read and write French, Hebrew, Latin and ancient Greek.

He began using computers and writing software in his middle school. His father taught him basic programming and also hired a tutor to teach Mark. The tutor considered Mark as a computer prodigy in programming.

Harvard University and CourseMatch

Mark was accepted at Harvard University. By that time he was known as the internet whiz kid who had created many messaging systems. He studied psychology and computer science at Harvard. But he always wanted to make a programme that could connect people. So he created CourseMatch- a programme that helped students at Harvard connect with and form study groups and pick courses that suits their needs.

This became instantly a hit and there was a demand for students to connect with each other more. But Mark thought why only limit this to a University? He started working on new software and in February 4, 2004, Mark, from his dormitory room launched the Facebook.

Overnight the social networking site became famous and attracted people from all over the world. This started the career of Mark Zuckerberg as an entrepreneur, internet celebrity and the owner of a billion dollar website.

‘Facemash’ became ‘Facebook’

In Universities the students have books called Facebooks which have pictures of all students and names of people who lived in dorms. Facemash was the name that Mark had earlier thought of and went with this name for a weekend. It was built for fun, but it became so famous that the college had to shut it down. Due to the heavy load; it caused the Harvard servers to crash. Some students did not like the idea of the website using their pictures without permission and Mark was forced to apologize for his actions. Facebook has currently 1.44 million users every month!

Mark Zuckerberg is currently has a net worth of 36 billion dollars and is regularly featured on the Forbes 400 list.

After Facebook:

  • Mark Zuckerberg has faced several lawsuits for rights of his networking website. One includes from one of the co-founders of Facebook itself.
  • Mark Zuckerberg and his wife have given 99 percent of the shares of Facebook for various charitable purposes. They regularly contribute to social causes and make donations to ‘Newark Public schools’, San Francisco General Hospital and also to help victims of the Ebola disease in West Africa.

Awards and Achievements

  • The Times Magazine named Zuckerberg the ‘Person of the Year’ in 2010.
  • ‘The Jerusalem Post’ an Israeli Newspaper named Zuckerberg as the ‘Most influential Jew’ in 2011.

What is Moisture?

Definition of Moisture

Moisture is presence of water in the air. Water is a combination of two molecules of hydrogen and one molecule of oxygen. This bond is so strong that even after billions of years, it will remain intact.

Facts and Importance of Moisture

  • 70% of the Earth is covered with water. Moisture or water in the form of gas is a crucial and necessary element in our Earth’s atmosphere.
  • Moisture is everywhere. It causes humidity, making us feel sticky and hot.
  • It creates clouds due to which rainfalls occur and also hail storms and sleets which make driving impossible. The presence of excessive moisture can result in severe damage by triggering strong storms like Hurricane Katrina; which uprooted houses and had cars flying.
  • In deserts, plants wither up due to minimal presence of moisture in the air. In rain forests, moisture content is high; leading to intensive growth of vegetation.
  • Moisture is a form of water vapor. Water through the process of evaporation gets absorbed as moisture in the air. Imagine feeling hot and sweating; your body emits water molecules which are absorbed in the air as moisture and during that process a small amount of heat is gathered from your body making you feel cool. But there is a limit to how much moisture the atmospheric air can hold. After a while, the air gets crammed with moisture resulting in the air being saturated. When it is windy, the air expands and can take in more moisture. Thus we always love windy days, as the moisture makes us feel cool.
  • Humidity is defined as the amount of moisture in the air. When we say a city like Kolkata has 80% humidity, we mean that the air contains 80% moisture.

What is Condensation?

Condensation or the conversion of moisture from gas to liquid takes places. The water droplets get accumulated on leaves and window sills and on the grass that you walk over on morning walks. The temperature at which this occurs is called dew point.

The moisture in the air gets stored in white and airy clouds floating in the sky. Often we look at the clouds, like from an airplane; and wonder whether it looks like a giraffe or maybe a bunny chasing another bunny.

Different forms of Moisture

Fog is another form of a cloud which is moisture gathered lower in the atmosphere. Fog causes low visibility delaying flights and sometimes driving to mountainous regions.

Snow is the formation of water vapor directly into solid state. We play with snow, make snowmen or throw snow balls at each other as it is light and soft. Sleet is the liquid form of snow. Freezing rain is caused due to the atmosphere being cold. We usually observe the droplets frozen on street lamps /electrical wires.

Did you know:

On any given day, 50% of the Earth’s sky is covered with clouds.

Mississippi River Facts

The Mississippi River is the most musical river, with innumerous songs being composed and sung over it, over the ages.

Which way does the water flow on the Mississippi River?

The Mississippi flows through the states of Louisiana, Mississippi, Arkansas, Kentucky, Tennessee, Missouri, Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota and Wisconsin in United States of America.

Length of the Mississippi River

The river is the fourth longest river with a length of 3,730 km; and flows at an average of one third of human walking speed.

Discovery of the Mississippi River

  • De Soto discovered this river in 1541. In the last Ice Age, the river was formed from melting glaciers.
  • The Ojibwe Indians founded the name Mississippi from “mee-zee-see-bee” meaning father of the waters.
  • River was the primary mode of transportation before roads and airplanes were invented. US President Jefferson had ordered to find a water route from the Mississippi to the Pacific Ocean; for trading and shipment of goods. This journey was called the Corps of Discovery.

Historic Landmarks in Mississippi

  • The first bridge was built over the Mississippi river in 1855. It started from Rock Island in Iowa and ended in Chicago in Illinois.
  • The Eads Bridge was the first railroad bridge built over the river in 1874 with a length of five hundred feet. It started in St Loius, Missouri. It was the first bridge to use steel in its structure. It was designed to become a trading center between various states.
  • During the US Civil War, for 47 days war was waged over who would gain control over the river. President Abraham Lincoln had said “The war can never be brought to a close until that key is in our pocket.”

Features and Uses : Mississippi River

  • A watershed is an area which collects all the rainfall and the water from streams and lakes, and pours it into the river. The Mississippi Watershed collects more than half of the rainfall United States receives.
  • Agricultural business flourishes near the river, with ninety two percent of the country’s crops being produced here. Oil, petroleum products, paper, coal, coffee etc are all exported over this river. Sixty six percent of grains like soya beans are exported over this river.
  • Two hundred and forty one species of fish are found in this river which is one fourth the type of fishes found in the continent of North America. Sixty types of mussels are found in this river. Recently a larger variety of catfish has been discovered which is devouring all other fishes.
  • Three hundred and twenty six species of birds migrate over this river regularly.
  • 243 million tones of goods have been exported over the river in 1999, which is the largest port, and is located at LaPlace, Louisiana.
  • Eighteen million are dependant on the river for water. It is the third largest watershed.
  • The Great River Road is the largest network of roads and highways along the river. Beautiful scenic views encompass this 3000 miles road.

People can experience the four seasons across the Upper Mississippi River Valley. They can enjoy a warm cup of hot chocolate while watching the snow fall on the river and people fishing; or listening to the robins sing again in Spring while the beautiful wild flowers bloom; or eating ice cream and listening to the various concerts along the river in summer; or watching the trees turn into majestic red and yellow in fall while sipping on apple cider by the river.

10 Interesting Facts about the Mississippi River

  1. Children can walk over this river in Minnesota where the river is not deep.
  2. Water skiing was introduced at the Lake Pepin section of this river.
  3. Mark Twain’s “Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” talks about stories and adventures that took place near the Mississippi river. For the main characters of this story, the river showcases and inspires freedom, adventures and relief from life and slavery.
  4. “So in two seconds away we went a-sliding down the river, and it did seem so good to be free again and all by ourselves on the big river, and nobody to bother us.” From Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.
  5. Martin Strel, a Guinness book marathon swimmer, had swum the entire length (3274 miles) of this river. It had taken him sixty six days and at an average of 10 hours each day.
  6. If a droplet of rain fell at the starting point of the river, it would reach the end point, at the Gulf of Mexico, in ninety days.
  7. Poker used to be played on the boats on the river in 1834, and Jonathan H. Green had called it “the cheating game.”
  8. At the intersecting point of north, south, east and west of the river in Memphis is Graceland, the home of famous musician and rock star Elvis Presley. Over six hundred thousand people pay a visit here every year.
  9. The only McDonalds restaurant which floats on a river is on the Mississippi river in Minnesota.
  10. The earthquake in 1811 had altered the course of the river, making it move in the reverse direction.

Related Article:
Click here to know all about the Nile River!

Speed, Velocity and Acceleration

Look around you and observe what you see. You might see people, flowers, birds, cars, buses and many more things. Can you say what is common in everything that you see around? It is motion or movement. Everything in this Universe is moving. The rate of movement of every object around you is different. Some may be moving very fast while others may be moving really slow. But a definite movement is visible in everything around you. You might say that some objects in your room or buildings that you see are not moving, or if you are standing still, you are not moving. But observe that you are living on planet earth which is constantly moving around the sun. The moon is moving around the earth, the sun and planets are moving around the galaxy. Light is moving from one place to another and even a tiny particle of an atom is constantly moving.

Difference between Speed, Velocity and Acceleration?

This movement and the speed of movement have been given some basic terms in Physics. It is known as the Physics of Motion and has terms like Speed, Velocity and Acceleration. Let us take a look at them one by one.

What is Speed?

The terms Speed and Velocity are often used to mean the same thing in everyday life, but both are very different from each other. Speed is the measurement of how fast or slow an object is moving. Speed is a scalar quantity because it can be measured into a numerical value. We know that:

What is the formula for Speed?

Speed= Distance/ Time.

What is Velocity?

Velocity, on the other hand, is the direction in which the object is moving. It is the rate at which the object is changing its position. Velocity is a vector quantity, meaning it consists of two fundamental characteristics. It can be described by both- a numerical value as well as by the direction.

What is the formula for Velocity?

Velocity= (Change in distance) / (change in time)

Let us take an example: A car is going on the highway at the speed of 60 km/hr. Maybe at this particular time the car is being driven at this speed, but it may change its speed later. But here, we do not know the direction at which the car is being driven. But if we say that the car is moving at 60 km/hr in a northern direction, then we know that the Velocity is 60 km/hour north.

What is Acceleration?

Here comes a twist in the story- Acceleration. Acceleration is the measurement of how much the Velocity of an object changes at a certain point of time, which is usually in 1 second. Thus, the Velocity of a moving object can either increase or decrease over time.

So, the car is moving at a speed of 60 km/hour north. The driver pushes down on the gas pedal and the car starts moving faster and faster. This is the change in Velocity and is known as Acceleration.

What is the formula for Acceleration?

Acceleration= (change in velocity) / (change in time)

Let us look at another example. Suppose you are riding a bicycle. You start off by pushing the pedals slowly and after some time you begin to push the pedals really fast. So you are accelerating to increase your speed.

Acceleration is measured in meters/ second squared.

So if you have the Velocity in meters per second and time in seconds, you can calculate the Acceleration by using the formula. Acceleration, like Velocity, is also a vector since it has a numerical magnitude in meters/ second and also has a direction.

When we have an object that changes velocity by a constant amount of time, it is called constant acceleration. Here the object in motion keeps gaining speed or constantly increases its velocity. Suppose you throw a ball onto a slope, it will keep moving downwards, faster and faster every second. On the 1st second the Velocity is 10 m/s, on the 2nd second its Velocity is 15 m/s and on the 3rd second its Velocity is 20 m/s. Thus there is a Constant Acceleration of 5 m/s.

When we have an object that changes its velocity by slowing down or decreasing, it is called Negative acceleration or Deceleration. Suppose you are riding your bicycle and you stop pushing the pedals, the tires will start going slower and slower. This is Negative acceleration. Here the Velocity of a moving object keeps decreasing.

5 Interesting Facts about Speed, Velocity and Acceleration

  1. Gravity is an important cause of acceleration. The Earth’s gravity that pulls a falling object towards it speeds up the acceleration of a falling object. So, if you are diving from a swimming board, you will start at a low speed but speed accelerates each second because of gravity.
  2. Galileo was the first scientist to measure speed.
  3. The fastest possible speed in the entire Universe is that of light. The speed of light is 299,792,458 m/s.
  4. Newton found that the Kinetic energy of a moving object is linear with its mass and the square of its velocity. The mass of an object can change the velocity of the object. The gravities of other planets are different from the Earth’s gravity because they have different masses.
  5. The term ‘Escape Velocity’ is used for the minimum velocity a body must have in order to escape from the gravitational pull of the earth.

Navratri Festival

Festivals are for fun and food, friends and family, and of course- holidays!!

India has festivals to mark seasonal changes, seeding and harvesting, family occasions – just about everything!

What is Navratri?

Navratri – as the name indicates –is a nine day festival or a nine-night festival.

When is Navratri celebrated?

Navratri is celebrated twice a year in India.

Ram Navami

The earlier one falls roughly in April, and ends in Ram Navami, where all Hindus celebrate the birth of Ram, the king of Ayodhya famed for his scrupulous justice. Typically, people fast for the nine days. They don’t stay hungry for the entire time- they eat a variety of grains and cereal, except for wheat and rice. The change of diet is a good practice to ensure the health of the digestive system.

In many parts of North India, there is a ‘jagran’ or ‘awakening’ for the entire period. People stay awake all night, singing ‘bhajans’ or devotional songs together. Pop stars are roped in to keep everyone awake! On Ram Navami the birth of Ram is celebrated with worship and feasting.

When Navratri is celebrated again in October, the nine-day fast is dedicated to King Ram. Ram had spent fourteen years in exile. Around the middle of that time a demon king Ravana kidnapped his wife, Sita and carried her off to his kingdom in Lanka.

After much searching he found her and attacked the 10-headed king with the help of his friend Hanuman. He had slayed Ravana, and restored the balance of good and evil in the world. Navratri celebrates this triumph of good over evil.

Ram Leela

In all the northern states of India, Ram Leela – a nine-evening traditional drama eulogising the life of Lord Ram –also concludes on Dasshera, the tenth day. Huge effigies of Ravana are burnt down to much merriment and bursting of crackers and feasting.

Huge fairs emerge in cities and towns across the country where all kinds of food and curio stalls offer their fascinating wares. People enjoy themselves late into the night, gorging on traditional sweets and savouries. In Gujarat, people step out and dance the Dandiya all night long, symbolising goddess Durga’s fight with the demon Mahishasur.

Navratri

Navratri in October is also important in West Bengal and the seven north-eastern states of India. Here it is called Durga Pooja. For ten days, everyone in West Bengal is on a holiday – no school, no office! The militant and fiery Goddess Durga is venerated during this time. Worshippers fast for nine days and pay obeisance to huge effigies of Durga slaying the wicked demon Mahishasur.

It is a time when the rich literary and artistic tradition of Bengal is brought out on stage. There’s dancing, drama, painting competitions and so on. Food and fun is high on the agenda of this colourful and culturally rich festival.

Why do we celebrate Navratri?

The purpose of this festival (and many others around the world) is to tell us all that good wins over evil and each of us is meant to chase away wicked thoughts and replace them with good ones.

Project:

The entire story of Ram, Sita and the triumph of good over evil is in the epic Ramayana. Find a family member and ask him or her to tell you about why Ram was exiled in the first place. There are also many other sources online and in books where you can find the information if someone in your family doesn’t know.

Gorilla Facts and Information

A Gorilla looks just a human with its two arms, two legs, and petite ears on either side of the head, eyes that look straight and 32 teeth! They make loud wailing sounds when they cry; but do not have tears. They laugh just like us and can feel anger, sadness etc. They even pick their noses like us! Hanno, an explorer, who met them first, thought they were savage women with hairy bodies!

Physical Characteristics

Don’t make the mistake of thinking the half sized gorilla to be a gorilla’s baby. It is a female gorilla. A male gorilla grows to 5 and ½ feet tall and weighs a whopping 400 pounds. Their body is covered with brown and hairy hair.

Lifestyle of Gorillas

Gorillas are very shy. Male gorillas are called silverbacks simply to show the silver fur growing on their back. Their lifestyle is simple- eat, play and sleep. Female gorillas spend their time in grooming themselves and male gorillas. They find this activity to be very soothing and relaxing. They live in groups called troops, and the female gorilla leaves the group at 8 years to find a new mate.

How do Gorillas Communicate?

Gorillas send out foul odors to communicate! When they are not using this ugly method of communication; they communicate by chest-slapping or beating their chests with open hands, in tremendous excitement or furious wrath. They can understand what you are saying to them and can reply back in sign language! They have difficulty in locating their friends in the dense woods, hence they have developed 20 forms of vocal sounds; that include grunting like pigs, howling like wolves, snorting, and howling like dogs.

Gorillas use their knuckles to walk, as their arms are longer than their feet.

What do Gorillas eat?

Gorillas can eat a gigantic lump sum of 30 kilograms each day which consists of bamboo, ripe fruits, leafy stalks and shoots. They might venture out and eat an insect as a special treat. But they are scared of getting bit by the black ants, so they shake the ground at first to scare it.

Baby gorillas stay with their mothers till the time it is for you to attend nursery school, which is 3 years. Babies learn from other members of the group on how to hunt for food and mingle with others peacefully. Baby gorillas play raucously in the mountains of Africa under the vigilant eyes of their mothers. They can be naughty and pull their mother’s hairs for fun.

Where do Gorillas live?

Gorillas live in Central Africa in countries like Uganda and Rwanda, in forests and lowlands. They live up to 50 years. But sadly they are becoming an endangered species.

10 Amazing Facts about Gorillas

  1. When a baby gorilla is taken away forcefully by humans for use to display in the zoos, the mother gorilla and other gorillas who try to defend back; are killed.
  2. Gorillas are hunted for their meat by humans. We humans also are destroying their natural habitat.
  3. Gorillas are not only hunted by humans, but also by alligators and cheetahs. Fortunately the gorilla cannot swim, and hence the alligator has to attack it on land.
  4. Shockingly, only 5000 gorillas remain in the wild today!
  5. Gorillas DNA matches to humans at 98%!
  6. A gorilla can contract pneumonia just like us, in the frosty winters.
  7. Gorillas will never sleep in the same nest for more than one night!
  8. A female gorilla gives birth to 3 babies only in her lifetime.
  9. A gorilla can be identified by its unique finger print, like humans.
  10. A gorilla does not have a tail like its other primates!

Karva Chauth

Karva chauth is an annual Hindu festival celebrated by Hindu and Sikh women where ladies who are married fast from sunrise to sunset. Karva is a word for an earthen pot used to keep water cool and that is also used in the ritual of the ceremony and chauth comes from the fact that it is celebrated on the 4th day after the full moon in the month of Kartik (Diwali is also celebrated in this month).

The earliest reference to Karva chauth is found in the Mahabharata when Draupadi, while her husband Arjuna was on a pilgrimage to the Nilgiri hills, was struck with many problems. Fearing that her husband would not return, Draupadi invoked the Lord Krishna for advice. Krishna reminded her of Parvati, who in a similar situation sought Lord Shiva’s guidance and was instructed to fast on Karva Chauth. Once she followed his instruction and observed all the necessary rituals, the Pandavas seemed to overcome the problems they were facing.

Before India formalised the legal age of marriage, women were made to marry at a very young age. Communication took a long time and distances were vast, and a young newly-wed would find herself in her husband’s home with no female companionship. Therefore, a young bride would ceremoniously befriend a woman who belonged to her husband’s house. The bride would maintain this sanctified bond throughout her life and the two would consider each other sisters. Karva chauth is said to be a celebration of these bonds that women have within the traditional Hindu family structure. The tradition where a woman offers the intention of her fast to the health of her husband is a secondary but logical progression of the bond between that two women began on the wedding day. By incorporating the husband into the ritual they are celebrating the reason that brought the two women together in the first place.

It is unclear as to why Karva chauth is predominantly a north-eastern ritual. The most important ritual is the fast where the married women of the house rise before dawn to share a communal meal. If a woman lives with her mother-in-law or other married women of her family, it is tradition for the eldest woman to prepare the meal for all the ladies of the house.

Typically, women do not do any household duties during the day. They instead dress in their finest and exchange gifts. Most of their time is spent engaging in activities that strengthen the bonds between them such as applying mehendi, or sing traditional songs. They also offer prayers to the goddess Gauri, an incarnation of Parvati and the protector of women.

In the evening, the lady of the house narrates the story of karva chauth and the women then give thanks and pray for the well-being of their husbands. They only break their fast once they sight the moon, and their first morsel and sip of water is fed to them by their husbands.

To read more interesting festivals for kids, click HERE

Dussehra Festival Facts

What is Dussehra?

Dussehra (Vijayadashami, Durgotsav) is a Hindu festival that marks the culmination of a 9 day period of festivities called navratri (nine nights), with Dussehra being the 10th. Generally speaking, Dussehra is a celebration of the triumph of good over evil but is also the beginning of the harvest season in India and so people invoke the Mother Goddess to watch over the new harvest season and rejuvenate the fertility of the soil.

This festival is celebrated in all regions of India but different communities choose to observe it in different ways. The dates of this festival are determined according to the lunar calendar and hence it falls on a different date of the Gregorian calendar every year.

What is the story behind Dussehra?

Ancient Hindu mythology extensively deals with the struggle between good and evil, that is the struggle between the asuras (daemons) and devas (gods). The navratri story is of one such asura called Mahishasura, who invaded heaven defeating Indra and driving the devas out of heaven. The gods decided to combine all their powers to create a powerful being that would be able to destroy Mahishasura. The powerful being they created was called Durga and they bestowed upon her their super-weapons. Navratri is said to be the 9 days of battle between Durga and Mahishasura where the goddess finally destroyed the daemon on the 10th day.

It is also believed that on this day Ram, along with Hanuman and an army of vanaras (monkey-like humanoids) defeated the daemon Ravana. They waged this battle in order to rescue Ram’s wife Sita, whom the evil rakshasa had cunningly kidnapped and imprisoned in his palace on the island fortress of Lanka.

How do we celebrate Dussehra?

Durga Puja –

Durga Puja is a prayer service offered to the goddess Durga and is the primary form of how this festival is celebrated. The largest celebrations of Durga Puja happens in Bengal where worshipers set up elaborate pandals and install an effigy of the goddess within it. During the 6 days preceding Dussehra, people give offerings in the form of prayers, and flowers. On the 7th day these idols are submerged in a water body to symbolise the return of Durga to her husband Shiva, who lives in the Himalayas.

Dandiya Raas –

Dandiya Raas is another way in which people celebrate Dussehra. Dandiya is a traditional dance played by men and women who wield short sticks in each hand, hitting them together to the beat of a dhol. It is nicknamed ‘the sword dance’ because this dance form is a mock-staging of the battle between Mahishasura and Durga. It originated in the state of Gujarat but has become popular all over India.

Ramlila –

In most parts of northern India and some parts of Maharashtra, a popular way of observing Dussehra is a re-enactment of the Ramayana called the Ramlila. Since the Ramayana is an epic, only the highlights of the Ram’s life is featured and is timed such that the battle scene between Ram and Ravana, with the ultimate defeat of evil occurring on Vijayadashami. On the last and final day of Dussehra tall effigies of Ravana, along with his son and brother are burned with much pomp and show.
Project –
The gods from all ancient religions have super-weapons. Find out the names of super-weapons wielded by gods from other ancient religions and what their special powers are.

Leander Paes Biography

Childhood

Leander Adrian Paes, the famous Indian Tennis player was born in Kolkata (Calcutta) on June 17, 1973. His father’s name was Vece Paes and mother was Jennifer Paes. Both of his parents were sports persons.

Education and Early life

He studied at la Martiniere School and St. Xavier’s college in kolkata. Later he was enrolled in Britannia Amritraj Tennis Academy in Chennai. Leander was coached by Dave O’Meara.

He is the direct descendant of the great Bengali poet Michael Madhusudan Dutta (19th century) through his mother. He had a live- in relationship with Rhea Pillai in the year 2005. Paes has a daughter named Aiyana.

Career

At present he is the sport ambassador of the state Haryana. He plays in World Team Tennis for the Washington Kastles. In 2010 he joined the Board of Directors of Olympic Gold Quest. Besides, he also acted in the film Rajdhani Express, a socio – political thriller by Ashok Kohli.

Professional Career

Leander Paes began his Davis Cup career at the age of 19 in 1990. He partnered Zeeshan Ali in doubles and won against the Japanese team. He is one of the top Davis cup players with a record of 89 -32 overall (July 2015).

He played a vital role in the Indian Davis cup team. The team reached the World Group (1991-1998). Leander was part of the Indian Davis Cup team which reached the semi finals of the 1993 Davis Cup. The team won against Switzerland and France. So far playing style is concerned he is considered as one of the best volleyers and a very talented dropshotter. He learnt the volleying techniques from former Indian player Akhtar Ali.

Life Achievements and Awards

  • Leander Paes won eight doubles Grand Slam titles.
  • Paes became the oldest grand slam title winner.
  • He won the mixed doubles Wimbledon title 2010.
  • He won Rajiv khel Ratna (1996-97).
  • He received Arjuna Award in the year 1990.
  • He received Padma Shri in 2001.
  • He received Padma Bhusan in 2014.
  • He won Bronze Medal in Atlanta Olympic Games in 1996.
  • Leander Paes had 42 victories in Davis Cup doubles.
  • In 1990 Leander Paes won Wimbledon junior title.
  • Leander won Malaysian Open men’s doubles with Marcin Matkowski in 2014.

For more interesting sports people biographies for kids, CLICK HERE.

IRNSS Programme by ISRO

Launch of series of Seven Navigation Satellites from Indian Regional Navigational Satellite System.

Series developed to ensure accuracy of the GPS service for Indians and for defence purposes

  • First launched on April 28, 2016 from Sriharikota
  • Total Cost Rs.1420crores
  • The navigation system has an accuracy of more than 20mtrs
  • To be offered as a Standard Positioning Service and superior coded military Restricted Service
  • Restricted service is an encrypted service provided only to the authorised users
  • All the satellites of the constellation configured identically – with I-1K Bus, compatible for launch on-board PSLV

Several major applications of the IRNSS system

  • Terrestrial, Aerial and Marine Navigation
  • Disaster Management
  • Vehicle tracking and fleet management
  • Integration with mobile phones
  • Precise Timing
  • Mapping and Geodetic data capture
  • Terrestrial navigation aid for hikers and travellers
  • Visual and voice navigation for drivers

Rigorous stabilization, testing, and verification over the next few months for optimum performance and put to use only post intensive testing

PM Modi present at launch of final satellite.

  • Announced that NAVIC is the name of the seven satellites
  • Dedicated to Indian mariners and anglers, for safer navigation when out at sea

India now one of the five countries with an Independent Navigational System

  • PM said the system now ensures freedom from dependence on others for navigation systems
  • Ensures accurate and easy landing of aircraft and better disaster relief
  • Other countries could use our system – covers an area of 1500kms beyond the India border
  • Seven countries currently relying on navigation technology from other countries, could use the Indian technology

APJ Abdul Kalam

APJ Abdul Kalam is also known as the Missile man of India. APJ Abdul Kalam was the 11th President of India and a great scientist.

Early Childhood

Abdul Pakir Jainulabudeen Abdul Kalam, born on 15th October 1931 and later known as APJ Abdul Kalam was the son of a boat owner who ferried Hindu pilgrims from the Rameshwaram Temple in Tamil Nadu. His father was also an imam at the local mosque and his mother was a housewife. Little did they know that their son would one day become the first man of India.

Kalam worked as a paper boy to support his father. He had four brothers and one sister. He was not the brightest student in his school but was very hard working. He went on to study Physics and graduated from Madras University. He wanted to become a fighter pilot. He studied aerospace engineering and also completed a PHD in physics to become a scientist.

Career and Work

After completing his PHD Kalam took the post of chief scientist at the Aeronautical Development of Defence research and Development but he was not satisfied with his job.

Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO)

He shifted to Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) as a project director. There he led many projects and was extremely successful at each of them. In 1970, Kalam directed two projects- Project Devil and Project Valiant which were to develop missiles from the successful technology of SLV programmes. Rohini 1 was launched in space using the SLV rocket.

Integrated Guided Missile Development Programme (IGMDP)

Missiles under the mission Agni and Prithvi were launched under Kalam’s leadership and all were successful. He was also appointed as the Chief Executive of the Integrated Guided Missile development programme.

Pokhran II Nuclear Tests

From the year 1992 to 1999 Kalam was appointed as the Chief Scientist advisor to the Prime Minister of India and the Secretary of Defence and Research. During this time Kalam also served as the Chief Project coordinator for the Pokhran II nuclear tests. After this he was known as the Missile man of India.

In the year 2002 Kalam succeeded K. R. Narayan as the 11th President of India and served till 2007.

Achievements and Awards

  1. Kalam was the proud recipient of Padma Bhushan, Padma Vibhushan and the Bharat Ratna awards from the Indian Government.
  2. He was also awarded the Indira Gandhi National Award for National Integration.
  3. Not only by the Indian Government, Kalam was awarded medals from the government of USA.
  4. Kalam had received doctorates from 40 Universities. In addition to his work, he had also authored a number of books. Amongst them ‘India 2020’ was the most appreciated and widely read book. ‘Ignited minds’, ‘Mission India’, ‘Inspiring thoughts’ are some of his other books. He also used to give lectures at many reputed colleges across the globe.

Death

Kalam breathed his last while giving a lecture at IIM Shillong. The entire world was saddened by the death of a simple, humble and great man.

You may also like Dr. Abdul Kalam Azad Speech.

Rhinoceros Facts and Information

The rhinoceros or the rhino is an interesting animal famous of its thick skin, horns, weight, speed and also their laziness. Rhinos are herbivores living in grasslands and forests. Rhinos are one of the endangered species on earth. Today there are only five species of Rhinos left on the planet – two African and three Asian. Here are some interesting rhino facts for you:

13 Interesting Facts about Rhinoceros

  1. The word Rhinoceros comes from the Greek word ‘rhino’ meaning nose and ‘ceros’ meaning horn. Most rhinos have two horns while some species only have one. Rhino horns have healing properties and thus they are used in medicines. Sadly, because of this many rhinos have been poached.
  2. If a Rhino accidentally breaks its horn, it can grow a new one!
  3. There are five different species of Rhinos. The Black Rhino and white Rhino are African natives. Then we have the Indian Rhino, the Javan Rhino and Sumatran Rhino belonging to Asia.
  4. The white Rhino is the least endangered species of all. Both- the white and black rhino are actually steel gray in colour. They are different in their lip shape. The black rhino has a pointed upper lip while the white rhino has a squared lip.
  5. When left alone a Rhino can live for up to 40 years in the wild.
  6. All Rhino species can weigh up to 1000 kg. The white rhino can weigh up to 3500 kg! Thus, rhinos are considered as the second largest mammals in the world after the elephant.
  7. Rhinos have very thick, protective skin. An adult rhino’s skin can be 5cm or 2 inches thick. But their skin is very sensitive and prone to sunburn and insect bites. Thus rhinos love to be in the water and mud and when the mud dries it acts as protection to their skin.
  8. Rhinos can run real fast. The white rhino can run at a speed of 50 kmph while the Indian rhino can run 55 kmph. The fastest is the black rhino that can run at a speed of 58 kmph.
  9. Rhinos can grow over 6 feet tall and more than 11 feet in length.
  10. Rhinos have a large body but they have really small brains.
  11. Rhinos use their horns not only to battle for their territory but also to protect themselves from lions, tigers and hyenas.
  12. Male and female rhinos fight during their courtship period. Sometimes they even get wounds from hitting each other with their horns. The females keep their babies in the womb for 14 to 18 months. When a rhino calf is born, it can eat vegetation just after one week of birth.
  13. Rhino species go back 50 million years ago when there were woolly rhinos like the woolly mammoths!

Inside a Whale’s Heart

Looks like a big cave. What is this sound? Is there something behind… ohh.. its a giant wave of water!! Awww…

Humph…Humph… how long till I reach the end? I have swam through all the four chambers with this deafening sound of ‘dubb dub’ every ten seconds!

Here comes a gush of blood….swoop! And here comes another…these massive arteries are pumping blood at a jet speed. Do you know these arteries are so big that they can fit a fully grown man inside them?

Inside the Heart of the World’s Largest Animal!

Oh, looks like I am inside the heart of the world’s largest animal- the Blue Whale. Thankfully they don’t eat people but I better hurry and find a way out or I might be pumped into some other organ along with the blood!

The Blue Whale is the largest living animal in the world. Everything about the Blue whale is humongous. And so is the whale’s heart.

3 Amazing Facts about A Blue Whale’s Heart

  1. A blue whale’s heart can weight approximately 180 kilograms, as much as a tractor tyre. Legend has it that the arteries are so huge that a fully grown person can swim inside them! The main artery or the aorta alone is over 9 inch long.
  2. The whale heart pumps 220 litres of blood per beat as compared to 5 to 7 litres of human blood in a minute. A Blue Whale’s heart beats every ten seconds and the beat is so loud that it can be heard at least two miles away!
  3. In the news: Recent research in a museum in Canada has shown that a Blue Whale’s heart is the size of a mini golf cart, not a car as it was believed to be; after they dissected the body of a dead Blue whale who dies in an ice trap. They also say that the aorta can fit a human head inside and not a full grown human.

CHECK OUT 13 Interesting Facts about Whales

What is Heredity?

Definition of Heredity

Have you ever wondered why your grandmother says that your eyes look like your mother’s, or that you have inherited your father’s athletic traits? Have you ever thought why they say “like father like son?” A trait is a unique characteristic that describes a person, like his personality or his physical feature. Your teacher could say that you have a trait of being shy. Traits are inherited qualities which we get from our parents. Your shyness could have come from your mother also being shy when she was of your age. If both of your parents have peanut allergies, then you will also have the trait of being allergic to eating peanuts. The passing on of mental and physical traits from one generation to another is defined as heredity.

For example, parents with black hair will likely give birth to children with black hair, just as parents with long noses will have kids with long noses.

What is DNA and Chromosomes?

Humans have two complete sets of 23 chromosomes, which are microscopic, thread like parts in each cell, containing a protein and an acid called DNA. These carry the hereditary information from one generation to another in the form of genes. Genes is the smallest unit of heredity, which is passed from a parent to their child. The sperm cell however, has one set of chromosomes which combines with the egg cell from the mother, which also has one set of chromosome, and they form a zygote. The zygote develops into the child. Chromosomes are distributed randomly from the parents, resulting in a unique combination of traits in the child. For example, the first child could inherit his father’s above par sense of road directions, while the second child could inherit her mother’s graceful ballet skills.

Father of Genetics

Gregor Mendel, often called the “father of genetics”, had wondered why two pea plants did not look alike like in their pea pod structure and color. His experiments with breeding or pollinating different pea plants, led him to discover dominant traits and recessive traits. For example, brown hair is a dominant trait over blonde hair. So if someone inherits a blonde hair gene from the mother and a brown hair gene from the father, he will have brown hair.

Heredity gives you a chance to explore your heritage. You can discover amusing facts about your parents and what embarrassing behaviors they have, which you also tend to display in front of your friends. If you think your voices is hoarse and loud, then look at your parents, and see who also talks loudly. Make a family tree, and see which fun qualities your parents have inherited from their parents. You will be surprised to see how many of these qualities have been passed down to you also.

Lord Ganesha – 2 – Colouring Page

Give Lord Ganesha some colour with the help of this colouring sheet. Download other Ganesha colouring sheets, and colour away at leisure.

How to colour this colouring page?

Have fun colouring our colouring pages, by following some simple instructions:

  • Go through our collection and choose an image you want to colour.
  • You can click on the “felpen” or “crayon” and use it to colour the image.
  • Click on any of the “size” and choose how big you want your stroke to be.
  • Click on the range of colours on the bottom left and go nuts!!
  • In case you don’t like what you did, you can always click the “eraser” and erase away all the strokes you don’t want. How cool is that?!?
  • Once you are done with your masterpiece, don’t forget to “Save Image” and show it off to all your friends!
  • Click on “Download Activity”, in case you want to take a print out of the activity itself.

Watch our video to know how to draw Lord Ganesha.

Don’t forget to watch our cool Colouring Pages for kids.

Mother Teresa Biography

Mother Teresa or Agnes was born on 26 August 1910 into a Kosovar Albanian family. But she considered August 27 to be her “true birthday” as she was baptised on that day.

Family

The family lived in Skopje the present capital of the Republic of Macedonia. At that time it was part of the Ottaman Empire. She was the youngest member in her family. Her parents were Nikolle and Dranafile Bojaxhiu. She lost her father at the age of eight.

Childhood and Early Life

She was fascinated by the stories of the lives of missionaries and committed to live a religious life at the age of 12. However; she took final resolution on 15 August 1928. Agnes left her family (1928) when she was only 18 years old and joined the Sisters of Loreto at Loreto Abbey in Rathfarnham, Ireland to learn English.

Blessed Teresa of Calcutta

She arrived in India in the year 1929 and began her novitiate in Darjeeling where she learnt Bengali and taught at St. Teresa’s School. She took her religious vows as a nun on 24 May 1931. She was also known as “Blessed Teresa of Calcutta”. Her authorised biography was written by Indian civil servant Navin Chawla and published in 1992. In 1979 Teresa received Nobel Peace prize.

Mother’s Missionary Works

Mother Teresa began her missionary work in 1948. She became Indian citizen and spent few months in Patna where she received basic medical training in the Holy Family Hospital. Then she started working for the poor. Later in the year 1949 a group of young women joined her leading to the formation of a new religious group working for the benefit of the poor section in the society.

Missionaries of Charity

She received Vatican permission in 1950 to begin the diocesan congregation which turned into Missionaries of Charity. The aim of the organisation was to care those who were found to be neglected and unwanted in the society. In 1952 she opened the first Home for the Dying in Kolkata. She received support from the Indian officials to convert an abandoned Hindu temple into Kalighat Home for the Dying. Teresa renamed it as Nirmal Hriday or Home of the Pure Heart. She also opened homes for other purposes. Some of them are Shanti Nagar or City of Peace, Nirmala Shishu Bhavan, Missionaries of Charity Brothers and Missionaries of Charity Sisters. At present Missionaries of Charity have its branches all over the world.

Ganesh Chaturthi

Vinayak Chaturthi

The festival of Ganesh Chaturthi, also known as Vinayak Chaturthi, is celebrated with great enthusiasm all over India. On this day Lord Shiva declared his son Ganesha as superior to all other gods and so this festival came to be. Ganesh Chaturthi falls between 19th August and 15th September and lasts for 10 days.

How was Ganesha born?

Mythology tells us that Ganesh was created by the Goddess Parvati when she sculpted him out of sandalwood paste and brought the figure to life. She then sent him to guard her door while she bathed. When Lord Shiva returned he was denied access into the chamber by this boy whom he did not recognise. So he severed Ganesh’s head in a fit of anger.

Upon finding out that Ganesh was his son, Shiva was overcome with remorse. He resurrected his son by attaching an elephant’s head onto Ganesh’s body and that’s how Ganesh came to be the elephant headed God.

Ganesh Chaturthi Celebration

The festival starts with colourfully decorated statues of Ganesha being installed in homes. The pandals are adorned with garlands and lights and the idol is worshipped in homes for 10 days. On the 11th day it is carried through the streets and immersed in a river or sea. This represents a ritualistic send-off for Lord Ganesh as he travels to his home in Kailash, taking with him the sorrows of his devotees. The main dish eaten during this festival is the modak. Other dishes such as kudumu, vrundallu, panakam and vadapappu are offered to Ganesha along with modaks.

Project

Go green: Traditionally, the statues of Ganesh were made out of clay. In order to produce cheaper statues, they are often made of plaster of Paris (POP). This material pollutes water bodies when the POP dissolves.

If your family follows this tradition of immersing a statue of Ganesh in a large water body, encourage them to get one that’s made from clay instead of POP.

To read and download more Lord Ganesh related articles, free wallpapers, greeting cards and coloring pages please visit this page.

For more interesting festivals for kids, visit: https://mocomi.com/learn/culture/festivals/

Lord Shiva and Lord Ganesha – Colouring Page

Learn to draw using our step-by-step drawing lessons.

Lord Shiva and Lord Ganesha – Free printable online colouring page for kids. Colour online Lord Shiva and Lord Ganesha – Colouring Page using our colouring palette and download your coloured page by clicking save image.

How to colour this colouring page?

Have fun colouring our colouring pages, by following some simple instructions:

  • Go through our collection and choose an image you want to colour.
  • You can click on the “felpen” or “crayon” and use it to colour the image.
  • Click on any of the “size” and choose how big you want your stroke to be.
  • Click on the range of colours on the bottom left and go nuts!!
  • In case you don’t like what you did, you can always click the “eraser” and erase away all the strokes you don’t want. How cool is that?!?
  • Once you are done with your masterpiece, don’t forget to “Save Image” and show it off to all your friends!
  • Click on “Download Activity”, in case you want to take a print out of the activity itself.

Don’t forget to watch our cool Colouring Pages for kids.

Lord Ganesha – Colouring Page

Ganesha – Free printable online colouring page for kids. Colour online Lord Ganesha – Colouring Page using our colouring palette and download your coloured page by clicking save image.

How to colour this colouring page?

Have fun colouring our colouring pages, by following some simple instructions:

  • Go through our collection and choose an image you want to colour.
  • You can click on the “felpen” or “crayon” and use it to colour the image.
  • Click on any of the “size” and choose how big you want your stroke to be.
  • Click on the range of colours on the bottom left and go nuts!!
  • In case you don’t like what you did, you can always click the “eraser” and erase away all the strokes you don’t want. How cool is that?!?
  • Once you are done with your masterpiece, don’t forget to “Save Image” and show it off to all your friends!
  • Click on “Download Activity”, in case you want to take a print out of the activity itself.

Watch our video to know how to draw Lord Ganesha.

Don’t forget to watch our cool Colouring Pages for kids.

Nile River Facts and History

Why is the River Nile so famous?

Rivers are water bodies, bigger than a stream or lake and flow into the ocean. River bodies and water bodies are plenty all around the earth. The river Nile is the longest river in Africa and the entire world. It is 4,135 miles long that is about 6,670 km in length.

Where is the Nile located?

Mostly the river Nile is associated with Egypt. But it is interesting to note that only about 22% of this river runs through Egypt. The source of River Nile is at Lake Victoria in Uganda where it is called White Nile and at Lake Tana in Ethiopia where it is called Blue Nile.

Where does the Nile river flow through?

It passes through Kenya, Eritrea, Congo, Burundi, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia. The Blue Nile and the White Nile meet in Khartoum, Sudan from where they move on their long journey towards the Mediterranean Sea.

Ancient Egypt and Nile History

The River Nile has a long association with ancient Egypt. Most of the ancient Egyptian historical sites like Luxor or Cairo are located at the banks of the Nile River. The Nile river had deserts to it’s east and west, while the southern part to the Nile had mountains. The River Nile is shaped as the lotus flower. The lotus has been the symbol in much ancient Egyptian art. The Nile was the main source of irrigation for the ancient Egyptians. But many a times it was also the source for floods. As the days passed the flood water would recede and the river bed would be full of black, rich and fertile soil; which the Egyptians named the ‘Gift of the Nile’. They used to call the river ‘Ar’ or ‘Aur’ meaning ‘black’ because of the black soil left behind. Nile was also the main source of transportation and trade. Even today steam ships are used in Egypt and Sudan for transportation of goods. The bank of the Nile was used to grow papyrus weed which was used to make paper. Not only that, the Nile also provided the ancient Egyptians with building materials and cloth- thus making the ancient Egyptians one of the most accomplished ancient civilizations. The River Nile also gave the Egyptians food. They used spears and nets to catch fish and birds. Hapi was considered as the Nile God and was worshipped and honored for bringing fertility to the desert land.

The Nile River Delta

The Nile River Delta is extremely vast. It drains almost an area of 1,293,000 miles. Due to the vastness of this area, different climatic conditions can be seen. Towards the North, in Egypt and Sudan, rainfall is scarce. Moving to the south, along Ethiopia, there is heavy rainfall due to which the floodwaters move downstream and create fertile soil. The Nile River delta has varied species of animals ranging from crocodiles t turtles, baboons and about 300 species of birds. The Nile valley Sunbird is the most famous.

5 Facts about River Nile:

  1. The Aswan Dam that was built in 1970 on the River Nile has been a huge success in controlling the flooding of the River and nearby areas.
  2. The White Nile Expedition began in 2004 and was started to navigate the entire length of the river. The expedition took 4 months and 2 weeks to complete.
  3. The northern edge of Lake Victoria has water pouring over a waterfall, known as the Ripon falls. Some believe River Nile begins from here.
  4. The Nile River is measured from the Kagera River, a tributary of Lake Victoria.
  5. The period between June and September is known as ‘akhet’ or inundation by the Egyptians, because of the flooding of the River Nile during that time.

How do Animals See in the Dark?

Mother Nature has intrigued us in various ways by bestowing every creature with the necessary adaptations for their survival. Some animals have been gifted with the ability to see in the dark. This unique ability comes in handy when they have to hunt in the dark or successfully hide from those who want to hunt them.

What animals can see in the dark?

Contrary to the popular belief that all nocturnal animals can see well in the dark, many of them actually have poor eyesight. Animals can see in the dark to a certain degree depending on two aspects: the spectral range of light they can see and the structure of their eyes. The thing to remember here is that there is always some light available to use unless there is pitch darkness like that in a cave.

1. Spectral Range

The electromagnetic spectrum is a map of all the types of light that we can see and identify. The electromagnetic spectrum separates all the types of light by their wavelength that depends on how energetic a particular wave is. Waves that are more energetic have shorter wavelengths while waves that are less energetic have longer wavelengths. Human vision is restricted to a small portion of the electromagnetic spectrum; there are many kinds of electromagnetic waves that we cannot see. Nocturnal animals, on the other hand, have access to the wider sections of the spectrum and can see the infrared or ultraviolet spectrum as well.

2. Structure of the Eyes

The eyes of nocturnal animals are designed in a way that gives them the ability to sense very small quantities of light. Some of the special features include large eyeball, large lens, wider and much sensitive pupil, more rods in the retina, presence of additional tissue layers, etc. Many nocturnal animals do not have the ability to move their eyes but they have extraordinary rotational ability of the neck. For instance, owls can rotate their neck to almost 270° that augments their night vision. Those who cannot move their eyes or neck much have a spherical lens and large cornea to make up for reduced eye movement. So they can see better in night even without moving the head.

Rods and Cones in Nocturnal Animals

The eyes of nocturnal animals are made up of basically two types of photosensitive cells known as rods and cones. Rods are elongated cells mostly present in the peripheral region of the retina and act as the light receptors, i.e. they receive the available light and send it to the brain where it gets processed. A nocturnal animal’s eyes have far greater number of rods than a human eye, and can therefore receive more of the light available which aides the animals to see better in low light situations. Rods are extremely sensitive to light—their sensitivity being around 500 times greater than that of cones. Merely one photon of light is enough for a rod to be stimulated to send a signal to the brain. Rods have a photosensitive pigment called rhodopsin. Rhodopsin is extremely sensitive to light and plays a vital role in the night vision.

Cones are pointed cells present in the central part of the retina that help the animals to differentiate between colours. Many nocturnal animals have relatively few cones, and are generally colour-blind. This is a sacrifice they have to make for the boon of excellent night vision.

Why animal eyes glow in the dark?

Nocturnal animals have an additional tissue layer at the back of their eyes known as ‘tapetum lucidum’ which reflects light back through the retina. This increases the amount of light entering into the retina and since they have more rods and cones, they can use the available light better than anyone else to see. So, what might be too dark for humans could be just dim light setting for these animals. There is no tapetum lucidum in the human eye. Have you ever observed how the eyes of cats and dogs shine when your car’s headlight falls on them? It makes them look really scary! Well, it is the tapetum lucidum that makes the eyes of dogs and cats shine in vehicle head light. When there isn’t a lot of light in a room, tapetum lucidum works like a mirror and reflects any light available back towards the front of the nocturnal animal’s eyes. It’s almost like these animals get to use the light twice!

Fast Facts about Nocturnal Animals

  1. During the day time, a snake’s vision depends on the movement of prey. At night, snakes sense infrared rays using pit organs. Pit organs can detect infrared heat signals from the warm objects in their surroundings.
  2. Some fish can also see infrared wavelengths. They have a large number of rods in the retina which help them to detect the dim bioluminescence of their prey in the ocean depths.

So, perhaps these animals do not see the world as humans do with all the colours and their hues, but they certainly beat us hands down when it comes to finding way in the dark!

For more such biology articles and videos, visit: https://mocomi.com/learn/science/biology/

What is Interest?

Definition of Interest

The amount of money or a percentage charged by the lender (Banks) to the borrower (You) is known as Interest.

Money does not come for free, and therefore when you borrow money, not only is that money to be returned, but an amount is charged for borrowing too.

These charges are different around the world.

Interest on Money Example

Ram wants to borrow rupees 1000 (principle amount) from a bank for a year. The bank tells him that to borrow this amount, he will have to pay an interest of 10% at the end of the year.
How much would that amount to?

To convert this percentage into an amount, all we need to do is divide the interest amount with the borrowed amount or principle amount.

1000
——- = 100
10

After dividing, we get the numbers 100. This Rs. 100 is the 10% interest the bank is charging Ram.

Therefore, when Ram returns the money, he would have to pay Rs. 1000 (the borrowed amount), as well as an addition 100 rupees (1000 + 100 = 1,100) charged by the bank as interest for its lending (loan) services.

For more interesting Maths worksheets and lessons, go to : https://mocomi.com/learn/maths/

Raksha Bandhan Facts + How to Make a Rakhi

The festival of Raksha Bandhan celebrates the bond between a brother and his sister. This sacred festival marks the vow of a brother to protect his sister.

The sister ties a thread around her brother’s wrist and prays for the well- being of her brother.

Raksha Bandhan is celebrated on ‘Shrava Purnima’ every year.

History of Raksha Bandhan

There are many stories that revolve around this festival. Indian history and mythology have various legends attached to it.

One famous story is that of Rani Karnavati and Emperor Humayun. Muslim invaders of the medieval period often attacked the Rajputs . In one such invasion the King of Gujarat, Bahadur Shah attacked Chittor. Rani Karnavati, the widowed queen, to save herself sent a bejewelled Rakhi as a sisterly gesture to the Mughal Emperor Humayun asking him to protect and save her from the clutches of Bahadur Shah.

Brothers usually give gifts to their sisters, sweets are eaten and the festival brings forth love and brotherhood.

How to Make a Rakhi

What You Need

  • Paper Ribbons 2-3 Colours
  • A pair of scissors
  • Glue stick
  • Stapler with pins
  • Satin Ribbon
  • A small strip of black paper

6 Steps to Make a Rakhi

Step-1

  • Take a paper ribbon of your favourite colour and roll it with your fingers as shown in the picture.

Step-2

  • Cut a piece of hard paper in circle of about an inch diameter.
  • Paste it on the Satin Ribbon in the centre.
  • Paste a quilled paper ribbon as shown in the picture.

Step-3

  • Prepare about 8 to 9 petals to make a pretty flower design.

Step-4

  • Arrange the petals in the order you choose to have the colours.

Step-5

  • Now paste the petals carefully on earlier prepared base of Rakhi.
  • So now you have created your own Rakhi.

Step-6

  • You can make several other designs like in this picture and tie the Rakhi on the hands of your dear brothers who are always special to you!

For more interesting festivals for kids, visit: https://mocomi.com/learn/culture/festivals/

Raksha Bandhan

Family in Indian culture and history has always been of great priority and significance. Festivals that highlight this auspicious bond are celebrated throughout the year. One such festival is Raksha Bandan which is celebrated on Purnima or full moon of the month of Shraavana in the Hindu calendar. It celebrates the bond between a brother and a sister and has proven to not limit itself to blood siblings, but cousins, trusted neighbours and friends also. On this day, the sister ties a band around her brother’s wrist and in return, her brother presents her with a gift and the promise of protection.

The Story of Raksha Bandhan

This tradition has been followed through Indian history and comes from Hindu mythology. In the Mahabharata, Draupadi (the wife of the Pandavas) aided Krishna in his time of need. On seeing him bleed profusely from a battlefield wound on his wrist, Draupadi tore a strip of her silk sari and tied it around his wrist as a bandage. Touched by her act of concern, Krishna promised to return the favour to her when she would most need it.

When Yudhishthira wagered and lost Draupadi to the Kauravas in a round of gambling, Krishna repaid the debt during her Cheer-Haran. When the Kauravas were trying to disrobe her, Krishna extended her sari through divine intervention in such a way that the length of her sari kept increasing. Her sari, in process, could not be removed and in the end, Draupadi’s honour was kept intact.

Significance and Importance of Raksha Bandhan

In history, the significance of rakhi has been brought about as well. When Rani Karnavati’s empire was under threat from Bahadur Shah of Gujarat, the queen sent a rakhi to the Mughal Emperor Humayun to aid her in her time of need. Although Humayun was too late to save the Queen from her ultimate death, he succeeded in slaying Bahadur Shah. He restored the kingdom to Karnavati’s son, Vikramjit Singh. During the Partition of Bengal in 1905, Hindus and Muslims tied yellow rakhis on each others’ wrists to show their undying unity.

By showing their affection for one another in a traditional manner, the ceremony of Raksha Bandhan has strengthened the bond between brothers and sisters across the country.

Project –

The tradition of Raksha Bandhan is age-old. Can you try and find out about the Rakhi story of Roxana, the wife of Alexander the Great, and Porus, the Katoch king?

To read more interesting festivals for kids, click HERE

Rajinikanth – Shivaji Rao Gaekwad

Early Life and Education

Shivaji Rao Gaekwad or Rajinikanth, the famous Tamil film Actor was born in a Marathi family at Bengaluru, India. His parents were Ramoji Rao Gaekwad and Ramabai. He has two elder brothers and a sister. Rajinikanth lost his mother at the age of nine. He had his primary education in Gavipuram Government Kannada Model Primary School. Later he was enrolled in Ramkrishna Math.

11 Facts about Rajinikanth

  1. Rajinikanth was born on December 12, 1950.
  2. He received Centenary Award for Indian Film Personality of the year.
  3. He won Filmfare Best Tamil Actor Award.
  4. He received Padma Vibhushan ( 2016)
  5. He received Padma Bhushan (2000)
  6. At present he resides in Bangalore.
  7. He began his career by acting in plays.
  8. In his early life he worked as a bus conductor.
  9. He is married to Latha Rajinikath and have two children.
  10. He is also a philanthropist and spiritualist.
  11. He worked as producer and screenwriter as well.

8 Life Transforming Quotes from Superstar Rajinikanth

  1. Meditation is the key to energy.
  2. I will die poor but not as a coward.
  3. God gives a lot of things to bad people, but he will let them fail eventually. God tests good people a lot, but he will never let them down.
  4. You won’t get anything without hard work. What you get without hard work will never fructify.
  5. Where there is a creation, there should be a creator.
  6. Whether you have Maruti or BMW, the road remains the same. Whether you travel economy class or business, your destination doesn’t change. Whether you have a Titan or a Rolex, the time is the same. There is nothing wrong in dreaming a luxurious life. What needs to be taken care of is not let need become greed. Because needs can always be met, but greed can never be fulfilled.
  7. A greedy man and an angry woman have never lived prosperously.
  8. I cannot be an ordinary man, move around like people do, go out eat in a restaurant or take a walk. Perhaps, this is what I have lost.

His debut film was in Tamil named Apoorva Raagangal (1975). Some of his renowned films are Kabali (2016), Enthiran (2010), Baasha (1995) Lingaa (2014), Sivaji (2007), Muthu (1995), Padaiyappa (1999).

Read more interesting biographies of the world’s top movie stars, actors and directors.

Inside a Cockpit

This is a small cube like room and has few chairs inside. Hmmm….wow! Here are so many gadgets and buttons to play with! The chairs are surrounded by these buttons and instruments. These look like a control to some sort of a machine.

Not only are the seats surrounded by these gadgets, so is the ceiling. I wonder who can control so many buttons at the same time! Some are just buttons while some look like levers and there are also screens to monitor.

Oh and just above these cool gadgets there is a huge glass window. Let me just climb on top of one of these seats and have a look.

Hey! This is a runway… so I must be inside the cockpit of an aeroplane! Isn’t that awesome?

What is a Cockpit?

A cockpit is the enclosed area inside an aircraft from which the pilot controls and flies the aircraft. It is also called a flight deck and is right in front of an aircraft.

The cockpit contains an instrument panel which contains electronic flight instruments and controls which enable a pilot to fly the aircraft.

Introduction to Cockpit Components

  1. MCP or mode control panel, a long narrow panel located in front of the pilot’s seat and used to control take-off, landing, speed, altitude and navigation.
  2. The PFD or primary flight display is located centrally on either side of the panel and is used to indicate digitized presentation of altitude, air speed, vertical speed and others.
  3. The ND or navigation display shows the route and navigation.
  4. The ECAM or engine crew alert system allows the pilot of monitor fuel, electrical system, cabin pressure, temperature and so on.
  5. The FMS or flight management system is used by pilots to enter and check speed, flight plans and navigation.
  6. The backup instrument is a battery operated standby instrument which is used in case of failure of main instruments.

Importance of Health and Hygiene

What is Health?

Health as scientists describe is a state of complete well being both physically and mentally. A healthy person is one whose mind and body are completely fit. Hygiene refers to habits or practices that ensure good health and a clean environment.

We consume a variety of foods everyday. Food is necessary for all living things. Plants and animals both need food to grow. Plants make their own food whereas animals depend on others for their supply of food. We all begin our day with a good breakfast and have at least two more big meals in the day – lunch and dinner.

Where does food come from?

The food we eat comes from plants and animals. Different parts of the plant are eaten by us as food. We eat the leaves of some plants like spinach, seeds of some plants like corn, flowers of some plants like broccoli, stems of some plants like potato and roots of some plants like carrots. Food from animals are eggs, milk and milk products like butter, ghee etc, We also eat the flesh of some animals like chicken, fish, goat etc. The food that we eat can be thus divided into five types based on their usefulness to our body These types of food provide energy, build our body, protect it from diseases and keep us healthy and strong.

Components of Food:

The five types or components of food are:

  1. Carbohydrates
  2. Fats
  3. Proteins
  4. Vitamins
  5. Minerals

What are Carbohydrates?

  • Carbohydrates are also known as energy giving foods.
  • We need energy to do our daily activities like running, walking, cycling etc.
  • Carbohydrate rich foods are potatoes, bananas, corn, sugar, cereals etc.

What is Fats?

  • Like carbohydrates, fats are also considered as energy giving foods. Excess or extra carbohydrates are changed and stored as fat in our bodies.
  • Foods rich in fats are meat, ghee, vegetable oil, milk, butter, cheese, dry fruits.
  • Although fatty foods are necessary for the body but an excessive intake of these foods leads to weight problems like obesity leading to heart problems.

What is Proteins?

  • Protein rich foods are those foods that help in the growth and repair of muscles and tissues in our body. This is one of the most important food groups. It builds muscles and repairs worn out tissues in our body.
  • Foods rich in proteins are milk, chicken, eggs, fish, soya bean etc.
  • Now, can you tell me if a coolie or a porter should eat the same diet as an office going person who does a desk job?
  • No, a coolie has to do a lot of physical work everyday. He carries heavy luggage for which he needs a lot of energy and so his diet should be rich in carbohydrates, which are energy giving foods. An office person sits at his desk all day and hardly does any physical activity hence he needs foods rich in proteins which are body building and tissue repairing foods.

Vitamins and Minerals

  • These are foods that are needed in small quantities by the body to keep our body healthy, help in normal functioning of the body and protect it from diseases.
  • There are 13 important vitamins needed by our body.
  • Besides performing the above functions, minerals also help in strengthening the bones and maintaining a normal heart-beat.
  • Important minerals that our body needs are iron, calcium, phosphorus and iodine.
  • Foods rich in minerals are fruits, eggs, milk and vegetables.

Why should certain fruits and vegetables like tomatoes carrots, cucumbers be eaten raw?
This is because cooking of these vegetables leads to loss of some essential vitamins present in them.

Water and Roughage

  • Our body is mostly made up of water and this is the reason why water is very important for us.
  • We need to replenish the water we lose from our body through our sweat and urine by increasing our intake of water.
  • We must drink atleast 8 to 10 glasses of water a day. Certain fruits and vegetables contain water in them.
  • Water helps in flushing out the toxins in our body and keeping our body clean and healthy.
  • Roughage is the fibre present in food, it is that part of the food which is not digested by our system and helps in eliminating waste materials from our body.
  • Roughage is necessary to stimulate digestive juices in our body and thus help in digesting food.

Balanced Diet

  • When we eat any meal, we do not eat only one component of food in it. What we eat is a meal that has a little of all five components which are necessary for us and perform different functions for our body.
  • As the name suggests a balanced diet is a diet which contains the right or adequate amounts of different components of food which are required for the normal functioning of our body.
  • Eating a balanced diet ensures proper growth and development of our body, gives us energy and also protects us from diseases, as it contains all the components of foods mentioned above.

Exercise

  • Just eating away is not going to keep us healthy. Imagine if we were to eat all day without doing any physical activity like running, walking, swimming cycling etc. Our body would become lethargic and our growth would get affected.
  • So, like it is necessary to eat healthy and the right kinds of food, it is also necessary to exercise so that we are able to digest the food we have eaten.
  • Regular exercise improves blood circulation in our body.
  • Yoga is an ancient system of exercise that has been practiced in India. Yoga improves our posture and keeps us healthy and fit. It keeps us calm and wards away many diseases.
  • Playing outdoor games like football, basketball, cricket etc is also considered as exercise.

What is Hygiene?

Hygiene is nothing but maintaining cleanliness through good habits and practices. Good hygiene prevents various diseases from spreading.

Steps to maintain a good Hygiene

  • Have a bath daily. Dust particles stick to our body when we play or sweat. These dust particles attract disease causing germs. Bathing daily keeps these germs away.
  • Wash your hands before and after every meal. When we play, the germs present in soil and mud get transferred to our hands and can enter our body causing illnesses.
  • Take care of our teeth, brush twice a day and floss regularly to remove food particles that are trapped or stuck between our teeth and are hard to remove.
  • Trim your nails regularly.
  • Keep hair clean and lice free.
  • Take good care of your eyes and ears. Avoid reading in bad light and wash your eyes with cold water regularly.
  • Keep our surroundings clean always. Throw garbage in dustbins, do not collect water in drums and buckets as water is the breeding ground for mosquitoes which can cause diseases.
  • A recipe for a fruit salad can be inserted.

The Ring of Fire

What is the Pacific “Ring of Fire”?

The Ring of Fire is the geographical area around the edges of the Pacific Ocean. It is called so because it is shaped as a horseshoe and it has more exploding, active volcanoes and earthquakes than any place on the earth. It stretches for 40,000 kilometres and has 755 of the world’s volcanoes. 80% of the world’s earthquakes occur in this area.

Where is the Ring of Fire located on the world?

A stretch of almost 452 volcanoes are found here starting from the southern tip of South America, up along the coast of North America and across the Bering Strait. It goes down through Japan and then straight into New Zealand. The ring closes in Antarctica where there are many active and dormant volcanoes.

What is the cause of the Ring of Fire?

The ring of fire was caused by the movement of the tectonic plates. These plates are nothing but enormous slabs of the Earth’s crust which move, break and then fit into each other like pieces of a puzzle. Tectonic plates are constantly moving and most tectonic activity occurs in the Ring of Fire region. These plates crash into each other, causing stress on the surface, break, slip, gets stuck, build pressure causing earthquakes and volcanic activity.

World’s Most Active Volcanoes

Most of the active volcanoes are found on the Western edge of the ring of fire. They range from the Kamchatka peninsula in Russia through the islands of Japan, South East Asia and then into New Zealand. Mount Ruapehu in New Zealand is one of the most active volcanoes. Mount Fuji, Japans most famous mountain is an active volcano. Popocatepetl in Mexico is the most dangerous active volcano.

How do Earthquakes occur?

Earthquakes happen when two tectonic plates scrape against each other. The plates are forced underneath each other. The down going plate bends downwards causing the surface to break. The Pacific plate is quite enormous and thus it interacts with a number of small and large plates and cause earthquakes. The South America subduction zone, off the coast of Chile, created the largest known earthquake in 1960.

What is a Smart City?

Global population is increasing at a rapid pace and so more and more people are moving to the cities to find better jobs and housing facilities. Urbanisation is on an increase and with the increase in urban population our cities also need to get smarter. It is believed that the migration from rural to urban areas is so fast that by 2050 almost 70 percent of the rural population will be living in urban areas. Thus there is a need to make smart cities.

What are Smart Cities exactly?

A smart city is an urban area which is highly advanced in terms of infrastructure, real estate or housing facility, markets, communication and commuting facilities. It is a city where information technology is high and all essential services are easily available for the residents. A smart city has systematic plan, good citizens, business opportunities, sustainable environment, efficient traffic management and good government. It provides assured water and electrical supply, sanitisation and waste management, safety and security of citizens.

Smart Cities in the World

It all started in 2008 when there was a global economic crisis. By 2009 the concept of ‘smart city’ had interested many nations. Countries like South Korea, UAE and China began investing heavily in smart city development. Some of the smart cities in the world are Vienna, Aarhus, Amsterdam, Cairo, Lyon, Malaga, Malta, the Songdo International Business district near Seoul, Verona, Toronto, London, Paris, New York, Hong Kong, Barcelona etc.

Smart Cities in India

In India, there is an ongoing proposed smart city project. It includes cities like Kochi, Ahmedabad, Aurangabad, Manesar, Khushkhera, Krishnapatnam, Ponneri and Tumkur. Many of these cities need special tax structures and special economic zones to make it attractive for foreign investors. Much of the funding for smart city projects have come from private developers based abroad.

Some of the smart cities in India are Lucknow, Warangal, Shimla, Chandigarh, Bhagalpur, Panaji, Port Blair, Imphal, Ranchi, Agartala, Faridabad, Raipur and New Town Kolkata.

Smart Cities Mission

India’s smart city project aims at making Indian smart cities the most sought after and populated cities by 2030. They will be the most sought after cities by global manufacturers and service providers. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has an ambitious plan to make 100 smart cities in India.

How do Smart Cities succeed?

The success of such cities depends on its residents, government, investors who become actively involved in the progress and implementation of new technologies. Such cities can take around 20 to 30 years in the making.

Lion Facts and Information

Characteristics of the Lion

Lion or “The king of the jungle” is found in savannas, grasslands, dense bush and woodlands. They vary in colour. But mostly they have sport light yellow- brown coats. Mature male lions possess brown or black manes encircling their necks, which protect them while fighting. Lions live in large groups known as “prides”. Each pride consists of about 15 lions. In a pride the number of females and their young are more than the males. A single male, or group of 2 to 3 males join a pride for about 3 years. It has been found that lions within a pride are quiet affectionate in nature. They enjoy company of one another by touching, licking, purring and head rubbing.

Types of Lion

Asiatic Lion

They are also known as Indian Lion or Persian Lion. Asiatic lion is a lion subspecies which exists in Gujarat. They are considered as one of the five big cats found in India. They possess less developed manes and larger tail tuft.

African Lion

They are the biggest of the African carnivores and are tawny to sandy brown in colour. They possess long tail with distinctive black tuft at the tip. The adult males possess manes of varying colours (tawny to black). They have large heads with a heavy muzzle.

9 Interesting Facts about Lions

  1. The scientific name of lion is Panthera Leo.
  2. Lion is the only social member of the cat family Felidae.
  3. Lions feed on both large (Ex. Zebra, Giraffe, Buffalo, Rhinos) and small (Hares, Birds and Reptiles) animals. Their choices vary depending on the availability of food.
  4. Hunting is mainly done by the females. They are nocturnal and move in groups for prey.
  5. The African lion population has reduced by half by early 1950s. At present; the lion population in Africa is less than 21,000.
  6. The roar of a lion is usually heard over five miles away.
  7. They are the second largest living feline species next to tigers.
  8. Young cubs are often attacked by other animals such as black-backed jackals, hyenas and leopards.
  9. Though the cubs begin hunting at age of 11 months but they continue to live with their mothers for at least two years.

Learn How to draw a Lion with the help of our step-by-step drawing video.

Neil Armstrong Biography

Neil A. Armstrong from Wapakoneta, Ohio, was the first man to create world history by walking on the moon on July 20, 1969.

Early Life and Education

He was born on August 5 in the year 1930. At the age of 16 he earned student pilot’s licence. Neil Armstrong did his Bachelor’s in aeronautical engineering at Purdue University. He availed a U.S. Navy scholarship.

Career

From 1949 to 1952 he served in Korean War as a naval aviator. Later in 1955 he joined the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA). He began his career with the NACA Lewis Research Center in Cleveland. He worked as an engineer, test pilot, astronaut and administrator for the aforesaid organisation and its successor agency named National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).

Later Life and Death

On January 28, 1956 he married Janet Shearon. He had a son named Eric (born in 1957) and a daughter Karen (born in 1959). Unfortunately he faced lots of turmoil in his personal life. His daughter passed away in January 1962. Armstrong divorced his wife in 1994. Later he married Carol. Rest of his life he spent in Indian Hill located at Ohio. Armstrong passed away at the age of 82 on Aug. 25, 2012.

Achievements & Honours

  • Neil Armstrong was a member of the National Academy of Engineering and the Academy of the Kingdom of Morocco.
  • He was a member of the National Commission on Space (1985-1986),
  • He became the Vice-Chairman of the Presidential Commission on the Space Shuttle Challenger Accident (1986),
  • He was the Chairman of the Presidential Advisory Committee for the Peace Corps (1971-1973).
  • He received Fellowship of the Society of Experimental Test Pilots and the Royal Aeronautical Society.
  • He became the honorary fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics and the International Astronautics Federation.
  • He became the Professor of Aerospace Engineering at the University of Cincinnati (1971-1979)
  • Armstrong became the chairman of Computing Technologies for Aviation, Inc (1982-1992)
  • He received Presidential Medal of Freedom
  • He received Congressional Gold Medal
  • He received Congressional Space Medal of Honor
  • He received Explorers Club Medal
  • He received the Robert H. Goddard Memorial Trophy
  • He received the NASA Distinguished Service Medal
  • He received Harmon International Aviation Trophy
  • He received Royal Geographic Society’s Gold Medal
  • He received Federation Aeronautique Internationale’s Gold Space Medal
  • He received American Astronautical Society Flight Achievement Award
  • He received Robert J. Collier Trophy; the AIAA Astronautics Award
  • He received Octave Chanute Award
  • He received John J. Montgomery Award.

Human Feelings and Emotions

Very often we feel so many things, but are unable to express what exactly is happening to us or is bothering us. We do know from our behaviour that we are not our usual self. People around us do realise the same but we don’t know how to handle it as children.

Let us today understand some of these feelings that we experience in our day to day life and help ourselves overcome it.

What are Feelings?

Feelings are something that we feel from within or inside ourselves. Feelings never remain the same for too long, they keep changing. There are different kinds of feelings that we experience. Sometimes we feel happy, sad, worried, lonely and so much more.

Types of Feelings

What happens when we feel some of the above?

What is Sadness?

  • Sadness is a feeling wherein we feel upset and may want to cry. It often makes us feel drained and tired. Even though it is not a very good feeling, it is normal to experience it.
  • When we are sad we may not feel like playing with our friends and wish to be left alone, without being disturbed.
  • We tend to feel sad when we have had a hard day at school, when someone is rude or mean to us, or if we see people around us argue.
  • It is not good to stay sad for too long. When we feel sad we must talk to someone and tell them about it. Never worry or bother what the other is going to think of you.
  • If you don’t wish to tell someone, then you can do something fun and that which you enjoy doing. You will immediately feel the difference and begin to feel happy gain.

What is Shyness?

  • Shyness too is a feeling, where you find it hard to converse with people you don’t know well.
  • When we feel shy we feel like hiding or running away from the person or situation. We may feel hot or may blush.
  • Many people feel shy when they have to perform in front of an audience, make new friends or introduce themselves in a group.
  • Children who feel shy, must try and talk to someone they trust and are close to, in order to help them overcome this feeling. You must make an effort to interact in a group and try and talk to those you are comfortable with. It is absolutely normal to feel shy and many children outgrow this as they grow older.
  • You can help children who feel shy or are new in your neighbourhood or school. Be kind to them, make them comfortable, talk to them, ask them to join you when you play. You will make it easier for them to come out of their shyness.

What is Worry?

  • We worry when we fear something bad is going to happen. Worrying makes us feel sick and uneasy. Sometimes when we worry we feel our heartbeat race and we tend to lose sleep.
  • We worry when we have not finished our assignment for school or if we are moving to a new environment.
  • Worrying is not good as it stops us from thinking logically. We stop enjoying ourselves because we feel worried from within.
  • You can easily identify a family member or friend who is worried from their behaviour. They may lose appetite or snap easily over small and petty issues.
  • If you want to help a person who is worried, the best thing for you to do is be a good listener.

What is Loneliness?

  • This is a very common feeling amongst young and old. When we feel lonely we feel like we have no one around us or that no one wants to be with us.
  • Loneliness often makes you want to cry and you feel sad, bored and angry.
  • When you shift to a new home or school and don’t know the children around you, you may feel lonely for a few days till you settle.
  • Whenever you feel lonely tell an adult. You can ask them to take you out for a walk or a drive. You can join some art or dance class. It is easy to identify a lonely person, they usually look sad or upset and sit all by themselves.
  • You can help a lonely person by inviting them over to play or sitting with them and talking to them.

Types of Water Bodies

We all know how important water is to us. 3/4 of the earth’s surface is covered with water. This water is distributed throughout the planet in various forms and shapes, called the various water bodies. These water bodies differ in size, right from huge ones like oceans and seas to the small ones like ponds. Thus the various water bodies we see on the earth’s surface are in the form of oceans, seas, lakes, rivers, ponds, waterfalls etc.

Different Bodies of Water and their Characteristics

Let us travel the earth and learn about these various water bodies found only on our beautiful planet.

Oceans:

  • The oceans are vast and deep bodies of water. Usually, it is these oceans that separate continents from one another. The oceans are bodies of salt water.
  • We have five oceans in our world. They are the Pacific Ocean, the Atlantic Ocean, Indian Ocean, Arctic Ocean, the Southern Ocean or Antarctic Ocean.
  • The largest and deepest ocean in the world is the Pacific ocean, covering one-third of the earth’s surface.
  • This is followed by the Atlantic ocean and the Indian ocean in order of size.
  • Oceans are home to a variety of plants and seaweed and thousands of sea creatures like the sea urchins, whales, sharks, octopus, a variety of fish, snakes, squids etc.
  • In fact, oceans also contain millions of tiny dead animals called coral polyps which form the beautiful coral reefs, Australia being the largest coral reef in the world.
  • Oceans are useful to us in many ways as they are a rich source of minerals, they provide energy and valuable fuels like petroleum.
  • They work as an important channel of transportation.

Seas:

  • Seas are also big water bodies but are definitely smaller than oceans. They are partly enclosed by a land mass and open into the ocean.
  • We see many seas eventually connecting to the oceans. For example we have the Mediterranean Sea which is attached or joins the Atlantic Ocean.
  • Some of the seas are the Red Sea, the Black Sea, the Arabian Sea, Caribbean Sea and the Mediterranean Sea.
  • The Red and the Black Sea, have got their names because the Red Sea has millions of red tiny plants growing at the bottom and the Black Sea because of the thick black mud that lies at its bottom.
  • Under the seas we find huge plains, high mountains and even deep valleys, interesting isn’t it, that these various landforms are also present under the sea.
  • The largest of the seas is the South China Sea which is supposed be holding hundreds of islands in its waters .
  • The sea, like the oceans is useful to us in many ways.It is a rich source of food providing us with various kinds of sea food.
  • It also works as a channel for transportation.
  • Like oceans, seas are a source of food, and are also usually used extensively as transport lanes for ships.

Lakes:

  • A lake is a water body surrounded by land on all sides. It is actually the opposite of an island, which is a piece of land surrounded by water on all sides.
  • Lakes can be salty or fresh water lakes. Salty lakes are due to a lot of evaporation taking place.
  • Some famous lakes are-Lake Superior, Caspian Sea, Lake Victoria, Lake Aral and the Dal Lake .
  • In fact the Caspian Sea is the world’s largest salt lake, it is so big that it is referred to as sea.
  • Lake Superior is the biggest fresh water lake.
  • The Dead Sea is a salt water lake.
  • It is said that nothing can survive in the Dead Sea because it is very salty.

Rivers:

  • Rivers are large streams that flow over the land. They are hence large flowing water bodies, they usually end up in an ocean or sea.
  • Rivers are fresh water bodies which generally originate in mountainous areas or elevated areas.
  • We have basically two kinds of rivers which are, the Snow-fed rivers and the second is the Rain-fed rivers.
  • Snow-fed rivers find their source in the snow capped mountains, where the snow melts, flowing down forming rivers, rain-fed rivers as the name suggests are formed in areas where it rains a lot giving rise to these rivers.
  • The place where a river starts its journey, is called the source and the place where it ends its journey , is called the mouth of a river.
  • Rivers again are very useful as we have seen in history,that most civilizations were formed near the banks of the rivers, like the Egyptian Civilization on the banks of the River Nile, the Indus Valley Civilization on the banks of the River Indus.
  • This is because the rivers deposit a lot of fertile soil called silt which is excellent for the growing of crops.

Gulf:

  • A gulf is a large area of an ocean or a sea that is partially enclosed by land.

For Example the Gulf of Mexico.

Bay:

  • A bay is a body of water, which is again partially enclosed by land. It is a wide mouth opening of land, where the water is surrounded by land on three sides and is joined to the sea on the fourth side.

For example the Bay of Bengal

Lagoon:

  • A lagoon is a lake separated from the open sea by sand or rocks.
  • Lake Chilika in Orissa, India is an example of a lagoon.

Starait:

  • A strait is a narrow stretch of water which joins two larger water bodies.

For example: Palk Strait joining the Bay of Bengal and the Indian Ocean.

Waterfall:

  • Water falling from a height is usually called a waterfall. A waterfall is formed when a river flows over an edge of hard rocks and falls from a great height.
  • Waterfalls make beautiful tourist spots and are helpful in generating hydroelectric power.
  • The Angel falls in South America are the world’s highest waterfall.

Animals in Space Facts

In the early days of rocket science, the scientists were clueless about the effects of the space environment on humans. So, they had to send animals into space to test the safety and viability of launching humans into space and bringing them back unharmed.

10 Animal Astronauts in Space

Let us learn about some animals that have got the honour of being astronauts.

1. Fruit flies

On February 20, 1947, the United States sent some fruit flies into space to study radiation exposure at high altitudes.

2. Dogs

Laika, a stray Russian stray dog, went to space on November 3, 1957. Soviet scientists assumed that a stray dog would have already learned to endure harsh conditions of hunger and cold temperatures.

3. Monkeys

Albert I was the first monkey astronaut to be launched into space. He left for his historical space trip from a NASA space station in New Mexico on June 11, 1948. After Albert I, three more of his cousins—Albert II, III and IV—also got a chance to visit space in the following year. Gordo, a squirrel monkey, orbited the Earth in the year 1958 and Able, a Rhesus monkey, set out on his journey into the stars on May 28, 1959.

4. Cats

It was not only the Russians and the Americans that were sending animals into space; in the 1960s, the French scientists were also planning to send a stray cat called Felix into space. But, perhaps Felix got cold feet on hearing about her impending trip to space and ran away from the space station. So, another cat called Felicette was trained to go into space and was launched on October 18, 1963 to orbit the Earth. She was the first kitty in the cosmos.

4. Spiders

The United States sent a European garden spider couple named Arabella and Anita to visit the space on July 28, 1973. The scientists wanted to study the effect of being in the Earth’s orbit on their web-spinning abilities.

5. Bull frogs

In 1970, NASA sent some bull frogs to space to collect information about the effects of weightlessness on the brain.

6. Rats

Some rats have also had the privilege of getting decorated as astronauts. Hector, the rat, was launched in the 1960s by France. Albino rats were a popular choice for space travel in the 1980s.

7. Tortoises

The first tortoises to holiday in the space were a pair of Russian tortoises that were launched in 1968.

8. Rabbits

The first rabbit in space was Marfusha, a Russian rabbit, who went into space with two of her canine in-flight companions. These animals left for their space mission on July 2, 1959.

9. Newts

In 1985, the USSR launched some newts with amputated forelimbs into space to study the process of regeneration. Newts are amphibians that belong to the salamander family and closely resemble lizards. They have the unique ability to re-generate their limbs, if severed accidentally.

10. Chimpanzees

The first chimp in space was Ham, who was launched on January 31, 1961, riding an American Mercury capsule.
Many more animals like fish, jelly fish, guinea pigs, wasps, beetles and cockroaches have also been sent into space for studying the effects of the space environment on these organisms. Without these organisms, it would have been really difficult to find out what is it like to go into space and make the space flights safer for humankind. These animals are truly the unsung heroes and heroines of the space programs.

Hemispheres of the Earth

How would you react if someone tells you that his birthday falls in the month of December during the nice and warm summers? You would think that either he is quite at sea in Geography subject and does not know anything about the seasons, or is just lying blatantly. Before jumping to any conclusion, ask him where he lives! Such a ‘miracle’ is experienced in real life by those who live in the southern hemisphere of the Earth, for example, in Australia. Now the question arises—what is a hemisphere?

What is a Hemisphere?

‘Hemi’ means ‘half’ in Greek language and ‘sphere’ means ‘a round object’. Hemisphere, thus, means half of the Earth that is spherical in shape. Geographers have divided the Earth into four distinct hemispheres—Eastern, Western, Northern and Southern—each representing one half of the Earth.

How many Hemispheres does the Earth have?

Geographers divide the Earth into the North and South Hemispheres separated by the equator, and into the East and West Hemispheres separated by the Greenwich Meridian. But, these four regions are not clearly demarcated from each other and also overlap sometimes. So, for the ease of studying, the Earth is divided into only two distinct and non-overlapping hemispheres: the Northern Hemisphere and the Southern Hemisphere.

Northern Hemisphere

The Northern Hemisphere comprises of all of North America, northern parts of South America, around two-thirds of Africa, all of Asia except some parts of Indonesia, and all of Europe.

Southern Hemisphere

The Southern Hemisphere comprises of most of South America, one-third of Africa, some parts of Indonesia, all of Antarctica and all of Australia/Oceania.

Why is the climate in both the Hemispheres different?

The climate of the Northern Hemisphere is different from that of the Southern Hemisphere because of the Earth’s seasonal tilt towards and away from the sun. All of you know that the Earth is slightly tilted on its axis, and depending on the time of the year, one of the hemispheres is tilted toward the Sun, while the other half is, obviously, tilted away from the Sun. And thus, when one hemisphere experiences the cold conditions of the winter season, the other hemisphere experiences the warm conditions of summers.

4 Interesting Facts about Hemispheres

  1. The Northern Hemisphere is made up of 90% land, and contains most of the human population.
  2. The Southern Hemisphere is made up of 90% water and is rather uninhabitable.
  3. Though the two hemispheres differ drastically in climate, they have one thing in common—the sun rises in the East and sets in the West in both hemispheres.
  4. The Northern Hemisphere is ideal for deep-space observation. Due to the clarity of the sky, the stars are far more visible and seem much brighter.

To know a few more interesting facts about the planet Earth, visit: https://mocomi.com/interesting-facts-about-earth/

Common Cold Facts – Causes & Prevention

Once, a man in a small village caught common cold. He went to consult the village doctor. The cunning village doctor just wanted to sell his medicines, so he told the innocent man, “I have the cure for your cold. If you take my medicines, you will get cured in just seven days. However, if you don’t, it may take a week for you to become well again.” The gullible man purchased a whole lot of medicines from him and was thus totally befooled by the scheming doctor. The fact is there is no cure for the common cold as of date!

What is Common Cold?

The common cold is a viral disease which infects the lining within your nose. It is the most common illness on the planet, and the worst part about it is that: Nothing cures it! Over the years, many remedies have been touted as possible cures for the common cold, but all they do is offer temporary relief.

Can we cure Common Cold?

Till date a huge amount of money has been invested in the research for finding an effective cough and cold medications, but there is no headway as yet. So, what could be the reason? May be because the illness is relatively harmless, mild and self-limiting, meaning whether you do anything to cure it or not, it will go away on its own in about a week’s time. The other reason and more important reason is that there are literally more than 200 different viruses that cause cold. It is not possible for our scientists to develop a vaccine or medication to kill one or even a few of these viruses, as it just would not be enough!

There are many a medicines in the world that are touted as the “cure” for the common cold, few of them being Vitamin C, zinc and Echinacea. But, the recent studies have shown this is just wishful thinking!

However, there are certain things that you can do to feel better if you ever catch a cold. You can have hot tea with ginger, do gargles, and have hot chicken or garlic soup to get some respite from the cold. Taking hot water bath and steam will also help in reducing the nasal congestion.

How to keep a Cold at bay?

If you really hate getting sick, here are some quick pointers for you to keep this ‘invincible’ (as on date) viral disease at bay:-

  • Wash your hands for at least 30-40 seconds with warm water and soap to get rid of the invading germs. This is the most important step to preventing the spread of disease and staying healthy. You can also use an alcohol-based hand rub (hand-sanitizer) that is easily available in the market, to kill germs.
  • Eating a well-balanced diet, including fresh fruits and vegetables, getting regular exercise will strengthen your immune system so you will be less likely to get sick.
  • Drink plenty of water. Proper hydration is vital for a strong immune system and will help you feel better as well.
  • Common cold is a contagious (infectious) disease. So, you must stay away from the people suffering from cold and cough.
  • Do not touch your eyes and nose frequently to avoid infecting yourself with germs that you may have picked up from your surroundings.
  • If despite of taking all the above mentioned precautions, if you have somehow gotten infected, please do not inflict one’s cold on others! Cover ones nose and mouth with a tissue or handkerchief when coughing or sneezing, and then wash your hands. Avoid shaking hands with people.

So what if it is not possible to cure the common cold, we can certainly keep it at bay by taking these simple precautions. It is after all, prevention is always better than cure!

For more such biology articles and videos, visit: https://mocomi.com/learn/science/biology/

What is Rain Harvesting?

Rain Harvesting is a process of collecting and storing rain water using different technologies. Systematic collection and recharging of ground water has become a feasible and easy way to check hydrological imbalance and to meet the water requirement during crisis period.

How does Rainwater Harvesting work?

Rain is harvested by collecting run-off from rooftops, local catchments, capturing seasonal flood water from streams and conserving water through watershed management. The collected water is stored in soil or man made dams, tanks and containers.

Types of Rainwater Harvesting System

Rain harvesting is of two types namely, in situ and ex situ harvesting. During heavy rainfall the undeveloped lands has the capacity to hold certain amount of rainwater in soil (in situ harvesting). The excess water gradually drains away in rivers or streams. In developed areas where rain falls on roofs of houses, concrete and tarmacs, water drains away straight into rivers. The water level rises and flood occurs. In these areas rain has to be collected in containers (ex situ harvesting) to avoid flood.

Why harvest Rainwater?

Rain harvesting offers a reliable source of clean drinking if maintenance measures are followed properly. It has been found that less than three percent of freshwater is stored as ground water in the world’s aquifers. The total renewable water resources of India are about 1,897 sq. km/annum. It has been said that by 2025 a large part of India would face water crisis.

Benefits of Rain Harvesting

Ecosystem offers provisioning, regulating, cultural and supporting services. Rain harvesting benefits all of them in several ways. It helps to increase crop productivity and food supply; water and fodder for livestock and poultry; rainfall infiltration; and improves biodiversity.

Apart preventing floods and supplying water during droughts, it reduces soil erosion. It also supports spiritual, religious and aesthetic values and helps to flow support nutrients including water purification in landscape.

Why does water crisis takes place? Do we harvest rain in India?

Water crisis occurs due to the unavailability of sufficient amount of portable and unpolluted water in a particular region. In India, rain harvesting began long ago in states such as Rajasthan and Gujarat. It has now gained importance in other parts of the country. It is common in Shillong, Meghalaya, Chennai, Bangalore and Kerala.

Monsoon in India

Indian Monsoon Season

India receives monsoon rain in two cycles. One directly after the summer that ends in early September and then a second cycle that blows south from northern India. It is caused by a reverse of the weather conditions that bring the southwest monsoons. It is also named after its point of origin, which is the northeast of the Indian subcontinent.

What is a Northeast Monsoon?

  • By the month of September the land begins to rapidly cool off as the sun moves into the southern hemisphere.
  • Since the Indian Ocean is the last to get heated during this retreat, the high pressure created from the rapidly cooling land causes winds to blow southwards.
  • Cold winds from the Indo-Gangetic plain sweep to the south of the Deccan plateau, once again picking up moisture off the Bay of Bengal and delivering rains to the Eastern Ghats along the Kanyakumari and Coromandel coasts.
  • This is also known as the retreating monsoons.
  • For many millennia Arab merchants have relied on the cycle of the monsoons to trade with India.
  • They would ride the trade-winds ahead of the southwest monsoons bringing their precious cargo during the summer months and return with fresh finds from Indian kingdoms, using the northeast monsoon winds to take them back home.
  • It is no wonder that the word ‘monsoon’ comes from the Arabic word ‘mausim’, meaning season.

Project for Kids

Find yourself an outline map of India and mark on it the regions that are affected by the northeast monsoons. These are: The Kanyakumari and Coromandal coasts of the Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu. It includes Sri Lanka and the Andaman and Nicobar islands.

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Ice Cream Facts and History

I scream…you scream…we all scream for Ice Cream!

Yes, Ice creams have been a favourite among people of all age groups. Have you ever wondered where did ice creams come from or who discovered this delicious treat?

Ice cream is a sweet snack or a desert made from dairy products. It is often combined with fruits or has different flavours. It can be eaten with or without syrup or biscuits. Yummy!

How was Ice Cream invented?

Ice Cream Evolution in Ancient Greece

But before we had milk based ice creams in the world, ice creams were introduced in the 10th century and were made of pure ice. Way before that, during the 5th century in ancient Greece; people ate ice mixed with honey and fruits. Alexander the great enjoyed snow flavoured with honey and nectar!

Ice Cream Evolution in China

In 200 BC a frozen mix of milk and rice was introduced in China and had as ice creams.

Ice Cream Evolution in Asia

In Asia it was in the sixteenth century that the Mughal Emperors used to run their horses to bring fruit sorbets from Delhi. Until the 1800’s ice cream remained a delicacy enjoyed only by the rich.

Ice Cream Evolution in United States

The production of ice cream from dairy products began in 1851 in Boston, United States. America produced ice creams to send it to their troops during the World War II. It was the perfect summer treat and was readily accepted worldwide.

Technological advances made more ice cream production and flavours possible. Today the total frozen dairy production only in the United States is more than 1.6 billion gallons a year! Not only that the flavours of ice cream ranges to thousands. You name a flavour and you have an ice cream for it. From all fruit flavoured ice creams today you even get green tea flavour ice creams. Most favourite flavours are vanilla, chocolate, choco chip, raspberry, strawberry, butterscotch, coffee, mint, rainbow sprinkles ice cream etc.

4 Interesting Facts about Ice cream

  1. Ice cream cones were invented in 1904 in World fair in St. Louis. There was a huge demand for ice creams and the vendors had to rush to nearby waffle stands to get help. Thus, together they made ice creams in cones and it still continues.
  2. There is also a hot dog flavoured ice cream, created in Arizona, US. Most unusual!
  3. Sunday is the most profitable day for ice cream sellers.
  4. Chocolate syrup is the most favourite ice cream topping!

Discovery of Smallpox Vaccine

Who discovered Smallpox Vaccine?

The smallpox vaccine was discovered by an English scientist Edward Anthony Jenner from Berkeley, Gloucestershire. Jenner was born in England on the 17th of May 1749.
The disease smallpox created misery as it was fatal and there was no cure for it. It is thanks to Edward Jenner that we are able to live today without the fear of this disease which has been eradicated.

Where did the Smallpox come from?

How this disease came about has been lost in the prehistoric period but it said to have appeared around 10,000BC. It is said to have spread into India through Egyptian merchants. Skin lesions resembling smallpox have been found on Egyptian mummies.

Smallpox was known to have affected all levels of society and a large number of people lost their lives to this fatal disease.

How did Edward Jenner find the Vaccine for Smallpox?

Jenner had heard that milkmaids were protected from the disease smallpox after having suffered cowpox which was prevalent then. He thus concluded that cowpox could help stop the spread of smallpox.

He used matter from the lesions of a maid suffering from cowpox and inoculated an 8 yr old boy. The boy developed mild fever and some discomfort. Nine days later he felt cold, lost appetite but improved and became much better the following day. Two months later Jenner inoculated the boy again from a fresh smallpox lesion but the boy did not develop the disease.

He communicated his observations to the Royal Society which rejected them. He then published a small booklet privately and called his new procedure vaccination.

Jenner’s vaccination received public acknowledgement in 1802 with the British Parliament granting him sums of money. He received many honours but was subjected to ridicule as well. This did not deter him from working with his vaccination programme. His was the first scientific attempt using vaccination to control an infectious disease.

First person to Vaccinate against Smallpox

Benjamin Jesty is being considered as the first person to vaccinate against smallpox. Jenner they say was not the first to vaccinate but gave the vaccination its scientific recognition. Jesty to protect his family from smallpox used material from the udders of cattle that he knew had cowpox and transferred the material into his wife’s arm.

Click here to know more about What is a vaccination and how does it work.

Dead Sea Facts and Information

What is the Dead Sea?

The Dead Sea is not a sea but a saltwater lake! Yes, the Dead Sea is the second saltiest water body in the world with a salt content of 33% as compared to 2 or 3% of the other Seas around the world.

Why is the Dead Sea so salty?

Ever wondered why the Dead Sea is so salty? There are no rivers originating from the Dead Sea. All the rivers and streams from nearby mountains come and drain in the Dead Sea but there is no outlet. Thus the only source of reduction is evaporation and salt does not evaporate, so it is left behind. The rate at which water evaporates from the Dead Sea is much higher than the rate at which it is replenished by rains.

Where is the Dead Sea?

The Dead Sea borders Israel, the West Bank and Jordan. The Dead Sea has a heavy and dense salt content that animals and marine life cannot flourish in it. There is no marine life and no fish in the Dead Sea. So, even birds who feast on fish do not come near the sea. Larger animals that prey on birds also do not come here. Because the Dead Sea environment is so harsh for animals and any fish that accidently come here from the streams, die- thus it is known as the Dead Sea!

How was Dead Sea formed?

The Dead Sea is almost 3 million years old! At that time a rift formed between two tectonic plates that spread apart. This made the earth crust to spread apart and to become thinner and thinner. This created a rift valley and the Dead Sea was created right along this valley. Where the earth’s surface became thin that part sunk downwards and is still sinking, almost 13 inches per year!

3 Interesting Dead Sea Facts

  1. You can actually float on the Dead Sea like a cork floats on water. This is because of its heavy salt content that makes the water so dense. It is deadly because if one is swimming face down it will be difficult for one to use their feet and roll over, making one drown. Another reason to name it Dead Sea?
  2. The Dead Sea salt is extremely bitter in taste
  3. The Dead Sea Salt is filled with minerals like calcium, iodine, saline, potassium and bromide- all which are found in a human body.

History of Toys and Games

Toys and games changed little through the centuries. But while the children in earlier times had to make do with simple toys like wooden dolls, toy soldiers, wooden animals with wheels, balls, marbles, spinning tops, today there is no scarcity of toys and games available for you in the market.

Popular Toys and Games from the Past

Here is how some of the most popular toys and games for children were invented:

1. Jigsaw Puzzles

John Spilsbury, a British mapmaker, made the first jigsaw puzzle in 1767. Actually, he was trying to teach his students geography by cutting maps into pieces. People found Spilsbury’s idea pretty interesting and started making jigsaws for the entertainment of children.

2. Play-Doh

Play-Doh was invented by Noah McVicker, a soap manufacturer based in Cincinnati, as a cleaning product for removing coal dust from the walls.

3. Meccano

In 1900, Frank Hornby invented the toy construction system ‘Meccano’ to teach his kids the basics of mechanics. Meccano was earlier known as ‘Mechanics made easy’.

4. Slinky

Slinky was invented by a Naval engineer called Richard James. One day, he accidentally knocked a spring off a shelf. To the amusement of James, the spring did what a toy slinky does—it hopped from a stack of books to the table, from the table to the floor, and from the floor it lodged itself into a cylinder. James knew that it would make a great toy for kids one day, and he was right!

5. Rubik’s Cube

Rubik’s cube was the brainchild of Ernő Rubik, an architect. Rubik had originally developed the cube to help his students understand the concept of 3D objects.

6. Laser Guns

In the 1970s, the US Armed Forces developed a special training program for soldiers to practice firing. The soldiers were asked to use laser lights to hit the targets. The laser lights carried no risk to the soldiers’ lives and saved the cost of live rounds as well. This technology was later used to develop the recreational game of laser tagging for kids.

7. Barbie

The Barbie doll was designed by a woman named Ruth Handler in the 1950s. Ruth named the doll ‘Barbie’ after her daughter, Barbara. It was first introduced at a toy fair in New York on March 9, 1959. This day is celebrated as Barbie’s birthday all over the world.

8. Scrabble

Scrabble was invented by an American architect, Alfred Butts, in 1933 while toying around with a word game in his idle time. Scrabble was earlier known by many names such as Lexico, New Anagrams, Alph and Criss-Crosswords.

9. Monopoly

The game of Monopoly was discovered in 1934 by Charles Darrow, an unemployed youth from Pennsylvania. He liked his invention so much that despite a financial crunch, he produced the game himself and sold over 5,000 handmade sets to a Philadelphia toy store. As Darrow had rightly anticipated, his game quickly became a big craze among children as well as adults.

10. Chota Bheem Toys

Chhota Bheem is an Indian cartoon series for kids that was created by Rajiv Chilaka the CEO of Green Gold Animation. Since its launch in 2009, the character of Chhota Bheem has endeared himself to kids and teenagers alike. Looking at the tremendous success of the series, the producers decided to launch a wide variety of toys, games, books, puzzles and surprise bags based on it.

Top 10 Weirdest Animals in the World

List of the Strange Looking Creatures ever!

1. Venezuelan Poodle Moth

Have you seen something between a dog and a month? Well, check this guy out! A Venezuelan poodle moth is a mysterious creature that confuses everyone and very little is known about it. From the looks of it, this insect is a great blend between a large moth and a bright, fluffy white poodle! How weird is that?

2. Red-lipped Batfish

This fish not only looks really weird but is a very bad swimmer too! It uses its pectoral fins to walk at the bottom of the ocean rather than swim! Oh oh.

3. Panda Ant

These ants look cute, right? But mind you, these sting really hard. Found in Chile, these ants have extremely painful stings, hence the common name cow killer or cow ant.

4. Harp Sponge

This creature lives at the depths of 10,800–11,500 feet and was first discovered at off the coast of California. Though this creature looks like a humble instrument, it is a carnivore and will eat just about anything it likes.

5. Star-nose mole

Look from the front and this creature will surely freak you out. This mole has a an odd tentacle-type nose. In reality, these 11 pairs of appendages on the snout are quite amazing. These tentacles have over 25,000 sensory receptors. It is believed that this sensory apparatus can detect seismic waves as well.

6. Blobfish

This thing by far is the most ugliest of the lot. The jelly like flesh of this fish is less dense than water so they tend to just float above the sea floor without doing much. These guys are not great at hunting as well. So they just hang around till food comes to them.

7. Squid with Teeth

This one is right out of anyone’s nightmare. Here is a squid with actual teeth! Promachoteuthis Sulcus is an extremely rare deep sea squid that has a mouth that looks just like it belongs to a real human. Gross, right?

8. Saiga Antelope

This Antelope is one of the world’s most ancient mammals! Believe it or not, this animal has shared the world with saber-toothed tigers and woolly mammoths, 250,000 years ago! May you keep living forever Saiga Antelope!

9. Giant Coconut Crab

This crab is known as the robber crab or the palm thief. It is also the largest of its kind and weighs up to 4.1 Kilograms. This crab is so strong that it can break open coconuts with its pincers!

10. Christmas Tree Worm

Let’s sum-up this list on a happy note. Here’s a cool Christmas tree worm that lives on tropical coral reefs and is found around the world. Each worm is about one and a half inches long and has two fir tree-like protrusions, cause the more the merrier, right?

Similar Article : Check out the list of 10 Tiniest Animals in the World.

Types of Computer

One of the most amazing inventions mankind has ever made is- Computers. Thanks to computers we can now store and process huge amount of information, while our human brains can rest for a while. Since its inception, computers have taken many physical forms. Earlier computers were the size of one large room and consumed huge amount of electricity. With changes and advancement in technology, computers have now shrunk in size. We now have computers the size of a watch!

Classification of Computers

Basically computers can be classified into two main types- Analog and Digital. Analog computers solve problems by constantly changing data. Computers which tell us the temperature, pressure, voltage are Analog computers. Digital computers compute using binary digits (0, 1). They recognize the ‘On’ and ‘Off’ stage. They are easier to maintain and store data than the Analog ones.

Another type of computer is Hybrid computer which is a combination of Digital and Analog.

5 Types of Computers

1. Mainframe Computers

These computers are used by large organizations for critical applications and huge data processing. These are mostly used by the government and large scale businesses. They are kept in climate controlled rooms and have multiple operating systems.

2. Super Computers

The highly calculative and extremely intensive tasks are handled by super computers. They are capable to process trillions of calculations per second. They have the best memory capacity among all computers. They are used for weather forecasts, quantum physics, space programs etc where trillions of data is calculated and stored.

3. Mini Computers

Mini computers were very popular during 1970-1980. They were used widely by medium and small scale businesses like school offices. They were called the third generation computers and took up the space that a refrigerator would take and were useful for storing small amount of data.

4. Personal Computers

With changes in technology and companies like IBM and Apple making entries, computers became personal and people kept desktops and laptops for their personal use. Such computers are used for personal works, used in offices and schools for learning process.

5. Professional Workstations

With the popularity of personal computers, professional workstations are becoming less necessary. These needed more power than a PC and were lower in cost. They are still used by scientists, graphic artists, architects etc.

Click here to read more about the History of Computers.

What is a Wind Vane?

What is a Weather Vane?

A wind vane, also known as the weather vane, is one of the earliest invented meteorological tools used to show the direction of the wind. It has a pointer that freely rotates on the top of a fixed vertical rod and shows which way the wind is blowing. It was designed to swing easily and point to the direction from which the wind was blowing.

Weather Forecast

Information about wind and weather has always been vital for the shipping fleets, armies, fishing and farming since the days of yore.

Earlier, neither were there any advanced techniques or gadgets of weather forecast nor there were any sophisticated means of communication like television, mobiles and computers that could have conveyed the timely information regarding the weather to the masses.

During the early 1900s, people relied on first-hand observation, experience and folk wisdom to predict the weather and wind condition. A common practice was to toss a blade of grass into the air, to find out the direction of the wind.

What is a Wind Vane made up of?

The wind vane consists of two parts, a pointer and a fixed cardinal directional marker, pointing toward the north, south, east and west. The pointer is shaped in such a way that the mass of each end is even but each end has different volumes.

How does a Wind Vane work?

When the wind catches the thick end of the pointer, it swings it around and the arrow points towards the direction in which the wind is blowing. If the arrow points towards the ‘North’ marker on the weather vane, it indicates that the wind is blowing from the north direction to the south direction. A weather vane will not work if the weights are not equal or the volume of each side is the same.

The arrow design is the most popular design for the weather vanes because of its accuracy, simplicity and affordable cost.

Where is it found?

In modern times, weather vanes find their use as ornamentation for many buildings. You can still find expensive and aesthetically designed weather vanes majestically perched on the rooftops of some buildings in India as well as abroad.

3 Interesting Wind Vane Facts

  1. The large weather vane installed at the airports is known as the ‘wind tee’. At the airports, wind direction may also be shown by a cone-shaped bag known as the wind cone, wind sock, wind sleeve.
  2. Some of the popular ornaments on wind vanes include galloping horses, roosters, fish, mermaids, angels, and ships.
  3. Meteorologists use a device known as an aerovane that shows the direction of the wind and can also measure the wind speed.

Sea Level Rise

What is Sea Level Rise?

The rising temperatures are melting the ice and warming up the oceans. Global warming is affecting the sea levels in many ways. Ice is shrinking and melting, adding to the rising water level in the oceans.

Warm water takes up more space than frozen. So as water gets warmer, it expands, little by little, so much so that it results in the rising sea levels by inches. In the past 100 years the average sea level has risen to up to 7 inches. The last ice age was 36,000 years ago when much of the oceans were frozen. But the rise in temperature over the years has resulted in glacier melting, adding to warmer water to the oceans.

6 Causes of Sea Level Rise

  1. The major cause is the melting of glaciers and it is directly related to global temperature changes as Earth’s temperature continues to rise
  2. Eustasy- This is the term used for changes in sea level due to changes in the amount of ocean water
  3. Isostasy- Changes in Earth’s geology. The tectonic plates of the Earth are moving in a slow pace constantly. This changes the structure of the Earth and increases or decreases the height of land above and below sea level.
  4. Thermal expansion- Warm water expands and then water takes up more space. This increases the ocean water levels.
  5. Ice loss from Greenland and West Antarctica- These places had massive ice sheets which are now melting. Melting water from above and sea water from below is seeping below the ice sheets of these areas. This is causing the ice to move more quickly into the oceans.
  6. Adding greenhouse gases to the atmosphere is making the temperature rise rapidly and adding to global warming.

5 Effects of Sea Level Rise

  1. Low lying areas will have more flooding and might even wash out completely
  2. Rising sea levels will harm important coastal ecosystem like the mangroves and coral reefs. Sea water is saline and will cause destructive erosion and contamination of soils
  3. Many living organisms cannot survive in saline water. Thus sea level rise will ruin the birds and plants. Not only that, fishes will lose their habitat and die. As the earth gets warmer, plants and animals that live in cold regions will not be able to survive
  4. When storms hit the land, a higher sea level will cause extremely powerful storms and the water will destroy everything in its way
    Low lying islands will be submerged completely
  5. Scientists predict that warming of earth will continue and is likely to accelerate. By 2100 scientists say that oceans might rise up to 6.5 feet! This is enough to sweep off many small cities along the Unites States.

Titanic Facts and History

How big was the Titanic Ship?

The Titanic was one of the largest passenger ships of that time. It was 882 feet long and 175 feet in height; almost as long as three football fields and as tall as a 17 storey building. The engines of the Titanic were given power by steam pressurized from 800 tons of burning coal, each day. Initially the Titanic had three boiler stacks or chimneys on top to let the smoke and steam out. Later a fourth one was added to make the design look better. Titanic made stops at France and Ireland before moving on towards New York. The Titanic carried 2200 passengers. It could carry 3,457 passengers. But sadly, it did not cater for the saving all of them. Only 700 passengers survived. It was supposed to have 64 lifeboats on board, but they had only 16 since the rest were removed to save space.

How was the Titanic different from other ships?

The Titanic was the first ship to have electric lights and telephone systems in all its rooms. It was luxury on sea. It had four elevators, a gym, two libraries and a heated swimming pool along with a first class lounge, a grand staircase and a first class dining saloon. Since the journey was supposed to be for one long week, the crew catered for food for all its 2200 passengers. It included 86,000 pounds of meat, 40,000 eggs, 36,000 apples, 1000 loaves of bread and gallons of water. Every day the passengers and crew used around 14,000 gallons of drinking water.

The Accident of Titanic

Titanic is well-known for the most famous ship wreck in history. The Titanic started off on its maiden voyage on April 10, 1912. It was supposed to sail from Southampton England to New York City. The Titanic was considered to be the most luxurious of all passenger ships. It was also considered to be unsinkable. But 4 days after it embarked on its voyage, the ship hit an iceberg on 14th April and it sunk at the early morning hours of the next day. Almost 1500 people died in this tragic incident, but it made the Titanic famous and the most sought after ship wreckage in history. The remains of the wreckage were discovered in 1985.

Titanic’s collision with the Iceberg

On 14th April the Titanic collided with an iceberg at 11:40 p.m. Since the previous two days the Captain was receiving warnings of icebergs. The Captain changed the course of the ship but did not reduce its speed. A crewman spotted the iceberg just before the titanic hit it. The Captain reversed the engines turning the ship sharply but it hit the iceberg which carved a 300 foot hole in the ship. As soon as it hit the iceberg, some chunks of ice fell on the forward deck where passengers started playing with them. But shortly afterwards, everyone realized the danger as water started taking on the Titanic. People started boarding the lifeboats. Water flooded in five of the ships compartments. At 2:20 a.m. the Titanic split in half and minutes later it sinks deep down below the sea. The Titanic sank more than 2.5 miles into the ocean floor. The shipwreck was later discovered 12400 feet below the ocean.

5 Interesting facts about the Titanic

  1. In order to save some money, cheap building materials were used by shipbuilders, which led to the sinking of the unsinkable.
  2. The night the Titanic sank, the weather condition of the sea was perfect. It was a calm moonless night, with no wind and no waves.
  3. During the night the Titanic sank, the temperature of the ocean was 28 degrees Fahrenheit or -2 degrees Celsius.
  4. The members of the Titanic’s band continued to play music till the last breath.
  5. The Titanic cost $7.5 million to build.

Hacking and Viruses : Facts

What is a Computer Hacker?

The term ‘hacker’ refers to a skilled programmer, who is competent in computer operating systems.

These people could basically solve any kind of problem arising in any computer system. These hackers (a few of them), also became experts in accessing computers that were protected by passwords and they were then called crackers. This was way back in the 1990s. Today anyone who performs any kind of computer sabotage is called a ‘computer hacker’.

What is Computer Hacking?

These crackers use small programs, that exploit the weakness in a computers operating system, transforming them into zombies.

Computer hacking involves violation on the privacy of others by invading their network security and causing damage to the software.

Computer hacking is a practice in which the computer hardware and software are altered, causing damage to important data or leading to stealing of secret information.

Hackers usually target computers connected to the internet. The hacker breaks into the computer security and invades user privacy.

Personal information like bank account details, credit card numbers, social security numbers etc. are exposed.

Hacking of computers leads to an identity theft, where a person could pretend to be another, by using his identity and gaining access to an individual’s personal details. He could even be misusing the other persons account for illegal activities.

When a computer is hacked, the user may receive a program which calls for activation. These programs could appear as picture files, MPEG or some other format that the user may recognize. But when the user runs the programs, there may be nothing significant happening. This should not be taken lightly by the user.

Meanwhile, the activated program attaches itself to an element of the user’s operating system, so that every time the user turns on his computer, the program becomes active.

If the user runs the program, it enables the hacker access the user’s system and enable him to do whatever he likes.

Today there are a large number of hackers, who with their wicked ways are able to affect any computer, whether he be a simple house-user, student, e-mailer, net user etc.

We see at least more than a hundred thousand known viruses affecting our systems.

What is Spam?

Very often, you must have opened your mails and found a lot of your emails as junk mails. This comes from networked zombie computers. It does not come from one centralised source making it difficult to track down the source.

These spam mails deliver computer virus or Trojan programs to many computers at a time. It also ends up sending messages and getting personal information about the system owner.

It is difficult to assess if the sender is a single user sending out spam or the computer is being controlled remotely.

What is a Virus?

  • You often hear computer users use the word “virus”. So, what is this virus?
  • This term was used to describe a machine code command, that when inserted into a computer’s memory can on execution, copy itself into other files and programs on the computer.
  • If the hacker desires he can pose serious problems in this manner.
  • A virus actually exploits a user, as it is in simple terms a piece of software or a command sequence that causes an unintended behavior in the computers operating system or application.
  • To protect your system, you must install and use a software that can be trusted and ensure that you always delete all unknown mails that you receive.
  • If there is any doubt about any software function, you must be very careful and not install the same. Always make sure you delete the emails that you receive from unknown senders or random people, don’t be curious to open these emails you receive as you could be targeting your system to a virus. You must remember that adult websites are a hacker’s paradise, so avoid them.
  • Another way of protecting your system is to not open advertisements that often pop-up while you use the internet. An easy way for a virus to get transferred from one computer to another is by sharing USB hard disks and CDs.

Types of Viruses

1. Trojan Horse

  • Trojan horse, in computers is a program, wherein harmful codes are contained which control data and ruin file allocation tables on the hard disk. It is considered a virus if redistributed.

2. Logic Bomb or Time Bomb

  • In this there is an erasure of data from hard disks or there is a corruption of key programs. It contains a virus that begins to destroy the system once the set time lapses hence it is also called a time bomb.

How to protect your Computer from Viruses and Trojans?

  • We can protect our computers by installing an anti-virus software.
  • These anti-virus software programs search for evidence by checking the behaviour that is typical of these virus, worms, bombs etc.
  • When the software finds a problem, it quarantines the infected files. These anti-virus software programs are not very expensive. There are some that can be downloaded or are available free of charge (for a specific trial period).
  • An anti-virus program needs frequent updating to avoid any threat to your systems. You can even set your systems to update the anti-virus program automatically. The same is true for your Windows Operating System.

How do we know that our computer has been hacked?

  1. It is actually very difficult to know if your computer has been hacked because nothing changes or shows on your system to this effect.
    You could look out for the following :
  2. Sometimes, you may find some new programs or files that are in your computer. If you are the sole user of your computer, this could be an indication that the computer has been hacked.
  3. To know if the hacker has invaded your system, you could look out for Backdoor and Trojans which are the most common programs that get installed after a computer has been hacked. These are programs that enable a hacker to get access to your system.
  4. Change in Password- A change in password can be done by the hacker, who can change the password of your online account. In this case, you must contact the service provider if you are unable to check your e-mail account.
  5. Another possibility of a hack is, if your password to log in to your computer system has changed. This is something that cannot happen on its own and hence you must check and change your systems password.
  6. A hacked computer shows a slower internet connectivity. This is because when the hacker takes charge of your computer, he remotely connects to your computer and a remotely connected computer signifies that it has been hacked.
  7. If you notice the computer doing things as if someone else is in control, it could be an indication that the computer has been hacked.

Hacking is a serious threat to society and is considered as a criminal offense.

Silverfish Bug Facts

What is Silverfish?

Silverfish are small wingless insects that are found in almost every corner of the world. They have a fish-like appearance and their bodies are covered with shiny silver scales, because of which they are known as ‘silverfish’.

Length and Vision

Silverfish are 13–20 mm long and have a pair of long antennae at the front and three tail-like structures at the rear. They also have two miniscule eyes that are too small for us to see with the naked eyes. Some species, however, are completely blind.

Location and Eating Habits

They love to dwell in damp and dark areas in your houses. You can find them living in your basements, laundry rooms or under the kitchen sinks. They love to eat anything that has starch in it like books, articles made of paper, flour, oatmeal and other kitchen wastes.

Life Cycle of a Silverfish

Unlike most of the insects that go through four stages of life, the silverfish goes through only three stages of life:

  1. Egg – Silverfish insects lay eggs all year round. The eggs take twenty to forty days to hatch.
  2. Nymph – The nymph is the smaller version of the adult insects.
  3. Adult – The silverfish insects reach maturity in just three to four months. These insects are white initially and turn silver only after reaching adulthood.

Are Silverfish harmful?

Silverfish bugs can cause a lot of damage to the household goods, especially books. To keep the silverfish insects at bay, you must vacuum your house thoroughly to eradicate the eggs and nymphs right away. All the holes or little opening near pipes and wires in the house should be carefully blocked. You must always keep your books and goods made of paper in a dry area in your home. Flour, sugar and other starchy food items should be stored in airtight containers. But, hold on! If you think it is easy to get rid of the silverfish in your house, think again! These annoying little insects can survive up to one year without food! If the infestation increases, you may even have to call pest control professionals to get rid of the silverfish for you. They can kill the silverfish once and for all with certain chemicals especially designed to kill these pesky insects.

5 Interesting Facts about Silverfish

  1. The average life span of silverfish bugs is 4 years.
  2. Silverfish insects are also known as ‘fish moths’.
  3. The most favourite food of silverfish is the glue in the binding of your books. If you have yellow stains on your books, you may have silverfish infestation in the house.
  4. Silverfish insects abhor the smell of citrus fruits like lemons and oranges.
  5. The silverfish insects are fantastic runners and it is very difficult to catch them red-handed eating your books or kitchen wastes.

What is a Galaxy?

What are Galaxies?

Galaxies are sprawling space systems composed of dust, gas, and countless stars.

Galaxies consists of a large number of star systems, clusters and interstellar clouds.

It is believed that galaxies were formed due to a big cosmic bang billions of years ago. Just few milliseconds after the massive explosion took place the clouds of gases began to collapse and compress under the gravity, forming galaxies.

Nearly all stars belong to a group of galaxies.

Different Shapes of Galaxies

We have galaxies of different shapes. The most common shape is the elliptical galaxy, then we have the disk shaped galaxy called the spiral galaxy and finally the galaxies with an unusual or irregular shape called irregular galaxies. Galaxies which consist of less than a billion stars are considered as small galaxies.

1. Spiral Galaxies

The most beautiful type of galaxies are Spiral Galaxies. Its spiral arms are circling waves which form new stars. This shaped galaxy consists of a flat disk with a bulge in the center and spiral arms. This flat shape disk includes stars, planets, gases and dust particles which revolve around its center. It appears like a cosmic pinwheel.

For example :- Our Milky Way

2. Elliptical Galaxies

As the name suggests this shape is generally round but is stretched longer along one axis than the other. They consist of around one trillion stars but very little dust. These stars are generally older or evolved stars. In elliptical galaxies the stars orbit in random directions along a common center. The largest known galaxies are of this shape.

For example :- Maffei 1

3. Irregular Galaxies

Galaxies which are not spiral or elliptical are known as irregular galaxies. These galaxies seem to have no shape and lack distinct form. This is because they fall under the gravitational influence of close by galaxies.

For example :- Sextans A

What Galaxy is the Earth located in?

We are part of the spiral galaxy called Milky Way. It contains our Solar System. The name Milky Way has been derived from its appearance. It appears like a “milky” glowing band across the night sky. The naked eye cannot distinguish individual stars. It is called the Milky way because they say on a clear night it looks like milk spread across the sky. The Milky way consists of about 200 billion stars including our Sun.

Our galaxy is spiral in shape and has three main components :-

  • A disk in which our solar system exists
  • A central bulges
  • A halo

Galaxies often crash into one another. Even our own galaxy has had others pass right through it.

Don’t worry though, galaxies can pass through each other quite safely. Stars are so far apart that the chances of them colliding is very unlikely.

There are two galaxies close to our galaxy, the Andromeda and the Triangulum, both of which are Spiral galaxies.

Indira Gandhi Biography

History of Indira Gandhi

Indira Gandhi was a famous Indian politician and the third Prime Minister of India. She was the daughter of the first Prime Minister of India, Pandit Jawarharlal Nehru. Her charismatic personality and intelligence made her a powerful statesperson and extremely popular amongst the common people.

Birth and Early Life

Indira Gandhi was born on 19 November 1917 in Allahabad to Kamala and Jawaharlal Nehru. Since Indira was born in a family that had roots in politics, she was exposed to politics right from a tender age. Many important leaders, including Mahatma Gandhi, used to visit her house in Allahabad. Indira often used to interact with Mahatma Gandhi and was deeply influenced by his ideologies.

College and Marriage

She garnered her initial education from Pune University and was then sent to Rabindranath Tagore’s educational institute, Shantiniketan, in West Bengal. Later, she went abroad to pursue her higher studies. In 1936, Indira came back to India and joined the Indian National Congress. Here, she met Feroze Gandhi, a young Parsi boy, who was also an important member of the Youth Wing of Congress. In 1941, despite Pandit Nehru’s objections, she married Feroze Gandhi. In 1944, Indira gave birth to Rajiv Gandhi and two years later, Sanjay Gandhi, her second son, was born.

Involvement in Politics

After independence, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru became the first Prime Minister of India. During this time, Indira remained busy in taking care of her family and became a little less active in politics. Thereafter, one tragedy after another hit her: on 8 September 1960, Feroze Gandhi passed away after suffering a major heart attack and in 1964, Pandit Nehru passed away. After the sudden demise of her husband and father, Indira decided to join the active politics. She contested the next elections and won with a comfortable margin over her opponents. She was appointed as the Information and Broadcasting Minister under the then Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri.

After the death of Lal Bahadur Shastri on 11 January 1966, the Congress high-command unanimously selected Indira as their leader and she thus became the Prime Minister of India. In 1971, in order to stop the infiltration of Bangladeshi refugees, Indira Gandhi extended military support to East Pakistan and helped it achieve freedom from West Pakistan. India’s victory in the 1971 Indo- Pakistan war augmented the popularity of Indira Gandhi as a far-sighted and wise political leader.

In 1975, Indira faced severe resistance and criticism from the opposition over the issues of unchecked corruption, growing inflation and other irregularities in the government set-up. A ruling of Allahabad High Court was released ordering her to vacate her seat with immediate effect. In view of the growing political chaos, on 26 June, 1975, Indira Gandhi declared ‘political emergency’. During this period, her political rivals were arrested, constitutional rights of the citizens were taken away and the press was kept under strict scrutiny. In 1977, fearing military coup, Indira Gandhi called for general elections and, as anticipated, she lost them by a big margin.

Later Life and Death

Indira Gandhi came back to power in 1980 and started working for the welfare of the country.  In September 1981, a Sikh terrorist group demanding a separate state of ‘Khalistan’ entered into the sacred premises of the Golden Temple, Amritsar. Indira Gandhi ordered the army to launch ‘Operation Blue Star’ and barge into the holy shrine in a bid to take out the militants. This action deeply hurt the sentiments of the Sikh community.

On 31 October 1984, Indira Gandhi was assassinated by her own bodyguards and we lost a great leader. Indira Gandhi will always be remembered for her praiseworthy efforts towards the development and progress of science, space exploration, agriculture and implementing several important policies related to the country’s economy.

3 Facts about Indira Gandhi

  1. Indira Gandhi’s middle name was Priyadarshini.
  2. Indira Gandhi was the only woman Prime Minister of India.
  3. In her last public address, Indira had said, “I don’t mind if my life goes in the service of the nation. If I die today every drop of my blood will invigorate the nation”.

Dubai Miracle Garden

I’m in a garden with around 100 million flowers!! I’m at the Miracle Garden in Dubai, and I have never seen so many flowers in one place!! Located next to Dubai Land in Al Bashra, the garden is spread over 72000 sq.mt and is the largest flower garden in the world.

Facts about the Dubai Miracle Gardens

When I entered the place, I felt like I had somehow been transported to the world of Oz! This place is a riot of colors and scents! Everywhere I go, I see extravagant and creative arrangements of flowers. I cannot decide what I like more – the blooming pyramids and igloos, the floral heart archways, or the archways with a ceiling of colorful umbrellas! It’s like an exhibition of glorious botanical art. There are more than 70 varieties flowers here, most of them rare, and new to the Middle East.

You can see here statues upon masterfully sculpted statues, adorned with beautiful flowers, of birds, bees and cartoon characters alike. Believe it or not, there’s even a botanical Burj Khalifa here, in this fantasy land of flowers. It’s almost as if the flowering plants here decided to mimic the outside world.

Who made the Dubai Miracle Garden?

The garden was built by Al-Ain based Akar Landscaping and Agriculture Company as an outdoor attraction for residents and tourists alike. And the place is a major crowd puller, around 30,000 on weekends!

The place is also known for its kilometer long flower wall. I haven’t even mentioned the butterfly garden yet. Would you believe it? Domes full of live, colorful fluttering butterflies! Need I say more?

The most interesting thing about the garden isn’t the amazing display of flowers though. One would expect a place such as this to consume water and energy on a massive scale. Although by no means a minimal consumer of water and energy, the attraction has a sub-surface irrigation system that recycles waste water via drip irrigation while avoiding evaporation and saving up to 75% of water and energy! That’s like icing on the cake!

I’m telling you, coming to this place is like literally walking into a miraculous oasis in the desert!