Kids News - Social Studies for Kids

Tornados in the Midwestern and Southern United States have always been a troubling yet fascinating phenomenon - just think of Dorothy's whirlwind adventure in the Wizard of Oz! Occurring predominantly in the area east of the Rocky Mountains dubbed 'Tornado Alley', they form during severe thunderstorms called supercells that occur when cold dry polar air comes in contact with warm moist tropical air....

In 1937, America's beloved aviatrix, Amelia Mary Earhart, set out to break yet another record by embarking on a 29,000-mile flight around the globe. However, her plane disappeared over the South Pacific without a trace, giving birth to one of the biggest mysteries in the history of aviation. Seventy-seven years later, her namesake, Amelia Rose Earhart set out to attempt the same feat. Fortunately, she was successful!...

Most homeless resort to panhandling to make ends meet. However an enterprising young South African man has come up with an interesting alternative - he spends his days spreading the joy of reading and selling books written by his favorite authors. Meet Philani Dladla aka 'Pavement Bookworm'....

On June 9th, even the most rushed traveler at Hong Kong's International airport paused to admire the mesmerizing sight of 1,600 pandas, each the size of a human baby, some sitting, others standing - all eager to be whisked away to the city's numerous landmarks. As you may have already guessed, they were not live animals but replicas made from recycled materials by French sculptor, Paulo Grangeon....

While most of us don't need an excuse to devour one or even a few scoops of ice cream, it is always nice to have one. And what better reason than helping fulfill one's civic duty, which is what United States residents will be doing when they eat the creamy treat this month. That's because July happens to be National Ice Cream Month!...

With the increasing popularity of text messaging and social media sites like Twitter, which allow limited characters, people have become increasingly innovative with conventional English words. Laugh out loud has transformed into lol and even the simple ok is now better recognized as just k. It is therefore not surprising to hear that HarperCollins, one of the world's largest publishers has decided to start legitimizing the new language by adding it to the 12th print edition of the Collin's English dictionary....

The fact that dogs and cats dislike each other is no secret. Now the results of this new study may evoke a similar feeling between the animal owners. That's because it asserts that cat owners are generally smarter than dog owners!...

Judging by their looks, one would never guess that New Zealand's national bird - the tiny flightless kiwi and the colossal African elephant bird that roamed Madagascar until the 17th Century, had much in common. While the kiwi is roughly the size of a modern chicken and weighs between three to seven pounds, the elephant bird loomed a massive ten feet tall, and could weigh as much as 600 pounds! In addition to the difference in size, the two species lived 7,000 miles apart, making any connection between the two almost impossible....

For most kids, the end of a school year means the opportunity to start creating a back-to-school shopping list that includes amongst other things, a new backpack. However for many students in rural India where parents can barely afford school fees, owning even one backpack is a luxury that very few can indulge in....