Kids News - Social Studies for Kids

We all do our share in helping reduce global warming with small things like generating less trash, taking shorter showers or turning off unnecessary lights. However, very few of us do anything that can make an impact on the entire world, only because we believe we can't do it alone....

On Thursday, March 22nd, sleepy commuters rushing to catch a train from New York's Grand Central Station were jolted from their reverie by a scary sight - A 2,500 pound, 48 foot long Titanoboa snake. Fortunately, it was not real, but a full-sized replica of the one that slithered on earth, 65 million years ago!...

Happy St. Patrick's Day! The one day of the year when you can pinch your friends (not wearing green) and get away with it, run around the school yard in search of four-leaf clovers for luck and, seek out leprechauns to lead you to the elusive pot of gold. So who was this saint and how did all these fun traditions begin on the day of his death anniversary? Read on . . . ....

For those of you still waiting for the snow, this may come as a bit of shocker - Winter is over! This weekend, most of us living in the United States, as well as, a majorityof the countries in the Northern Hemisphere will 'Spring Forward', by moving their clocks ahead by an hour. Also referred to as Daylight Saving or British Summer Time, this age-old tradition dates all the way back to World War One....

Festivals are the mainstay of the Indian culture - Not a month goes by without a celebration. However, none are as fun as Holi, the festival of color. Held annually at the beginning of spring on the day after a full moon, this year's festival was celebrated by Indians all over the world, on March 8th, 2012....

2012 is special - And it's not because the world's coming to an end, but because it happens to be a Leap Year. This event, which occurs every four years means that instead of the normal 365 days, we will enjoy 366 days. That extra day, happens to be tomorrow, February 29th, 2012....

If you ever visit La Gomera, one of the small islands that make up the Canaries, you are guaranteed to hear some sweet nightingale like whistling sounds. While some may emanate from the golden-voiced bird itself, chances are most of what you are hearing is coming from the residents, who believe it or not, are tweeting actual words to each other in a language they call Silbo Gomera (Spanish for 'Gomeran Whistle') or El Silbo (the whistle)....

A University of Pennsylvania paleontologist and a team of Chinese researchers recently stumbled upon an amazing discovery in Northern China - A perfectly fossilized forest that dates all the way back to the Permian Period, when the Earth's plates were still moving towards each other to form the super continent Pangea....

It seems as though Europeans love good old-fashioned fights - food fights that is. First there is Spain's La Tomatina, where brave souls pelt each other with tomatoes and now italy's Battaglia delle Arance or Battle of the Oranges, where, you guessed it . . . . Thousands of people toss rotten oranges at each other....