My Science School

A neighbourhood is a place where people live together. Every neighbourhood is special to the people who live there.

Do you live in the middle of a busy city or in a tiny farm town? Are you in a suburb in Australia or do you live in the African desert? No matter where you live, you have neighbours. They might be very close by, or they may be miles away.

Do you know your neighbours? How are they like you? What do you do together? How do you help one another? Some people live in the desert in Africa. They live in tents that are easy to take down and move. A whole group will move together, neighbours and all. Many people in Australia live on ranches raising cattle and sheep. Ranches in Australia can be many miles apart, so people don’t see their neighbours often.

In towns and small cities, families live near each other. Neighbours are always nearby. People who live in big cities live close to their neighbours and see people all the time.

Neighbours keep things lively in every kind of neighbourhood. What do your neighbours do?

Many people in Newfoundland and Labrador live near the ocean and fish for a living. Some boys from Tanzania in eastern Africa help their families farm cattle on the grasslands. The Amish are religious people in the U.S.A. who live together in farm communities. When an Amish farmer needs a new barn, all the Amish neighbours come together to build it.

 

Picture Credit : Google

What do your clothes say about you? They're not talking? Are you sure? Clothes tell a lot about who you are and where you live.

Many people wear folk costumes for religious festivals and ceremonies. Different cultures have different folk costumes.

Women from Kenya, Africa, wear clothes with bright colours and bold patterns. On holidays in Scotland, men dress in kilts-knee-length, pleated wool skirts. Each kilt is woven in a special plaid called a tartan. Each Scottish clan, or group of families, has its own tartan. Women in Guatemala weave all the colours of the rainbow into their traditional clothing. The silver ornaments and jewellery of these people on the island of Borneo in Malaysia show that they are important in their village. They are dressed for a special celebration. On special days, Japanese people wear silk kimonos with beautiful embroidery. American teenagers spend a lot of time together. They usually wear clothes that are very much like the ones that their group of friends wears.

People everywhere dress to protect themselves from the weather. They also dress to look good.

Clothes aren't needed in the steamy forests of Brazil. But jewellery is very important. Forest dwellers in Brazil make beautiful jewellery out of treasures found in the jungle-stones, bones, teeth, claws, and feathers. For colourful ear ornaments, they may use the bright feathers of the toucan.

In Kenya, Africa, the Masai people wear necklaces and head-dresses made from hundreds of brightly coloured beads. They thread the beads together in patterns.

People have worn jewellery since prehistoric times. Sometimes they thought jewellery could bring good luck. Sometimes it was worn to show how important a person was or as part of a religious ceremony.

Jewellery is most often used as a decoration. When you wear a new watch or tie beads in your hair, your jewellery shows the world who you are and how you feel.

Egyptians long, long ago placed gold jewellery and precious gems in the tombs of their kings, who were called pharaohs. This was to help the pharaoh have good fortune in the afterlife.

 

Picture Credit : Google

Throughout the world, people have different traditions for marking the passing of years.

In Europe and the U.S.A., one tradition is to blow out candles on a birthday cake and make a wish.

In China, everyone adds a year to their age at the same time on the Chinese New Year, which is between the end of January and the end of February.

In the Philippines, birthdays are celebrated when a child is 1, 7, 14, and 21 years old. In some Native American tribes, a special ceremony is held when children are given their tribal name at around 4 years of age.

Many people have traditions to mark the end of childhood. A Tamil girl of Sri Lanka is allowed to wear a sari, the beautiful dress of a woman, when she is about 13.

When a Jewish boy is 13, he has his bar mitzvah. A Jewish girl has her bat mitzvah at age 12. Both boys and girls read from holy books and answer religious questions.

In Brazil, Mexico, and other Hispanic countries, a girl's 15th birthday is very special. The family holds a big coming-of-age party. This is called a quinceañera.

The idea of putting candles on birthday cakes goes back to ancient Greece. The Greeks worshipped many gods and goddesses. Among them was one called Artemis. Artemis was the goddess of the moon. The Greeks celebrated her birthday once each month by bringing special cakes to her temple. The cakes were round, like a full moon. And, because the moon glows with light, the cakes were decorated with lighted candles.

 

Picture Credit : Google

People use traditions to mark important days. On special days for your family, there will be certain ceremonies, special foods, and maybe even presents. These are your traditions.

Family traditions mark big life changes and smaller ones, too. Some families have traditions for the first or last day of each school year, including eating special meals or wearing special outfits. School and college graduations are big days for many families. People celebrate them with photographs and parties.

Traditions welcome new babies to the world. Some Christian families take their babies to church to be baptized. The ceremony marks their entry into the Christian faith. In Japan's Shinto religion, a mother takes her baby to a shrine to "show" it to the gods and give thanks for its life.

In Swaziland, Africa, parents burn animal hair and animal skins. Then they hold a new baby in the smoke to give it lifelong protection from wild animals. Among the Lao of Southeast Asia, it is a tradition to rub a baby's body with salt to protect it from evil.

Weddings are also filled with traditions. An Arab bride arrives at her wedding hidden in a tent on top of a camel. The groom pretends to run away, and his friends catch him. Then the wedding ceremony begins.

At a Shinto wedding in Japan, the bride wears a kimono and covers her face with white powder. The bride and groom must take nine sips of rice wine together.

In many Western countries, some brides wear "something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue". In many Western countries, brides traditionally wear a long white dress and veil. In India, brides wear red and cover themselves with gold jewellery.

Traditions also help us say good-bye and show respect when someone dies. In Western countries, a dead person's body may be placed in a coffin and buried. Sometimes the body is burned rather than buried. The person's ashes may be placed in a vase, or urn.

In the Hindu religion, tradition calls for a body to be burned. In India, the ashes are thrown into the holy River Ganges.

At a funeral in Western countries, people often wear black to show respect and sadness. In China, people wear white for mourning.

 

Picture Credit : Google

Families work, learn, grow, and have fun together-each in its own way. Everywhere in the world, family members love and help one another.

Many children help cook for their family. Children in many families care for their younger brothers and sisters. 

Many families worship together. Families play and explore together in all kinds of ways. Some may visit faraway places. Many families work together. They grow crops and take care of their homes. In families, people teach and learn from each other.

Cleaning the house can easily be made into fun family activity. Put on some nice music, put the baby in the baby carrier and clean the house together. Making this a weekly routine, rewarded with coffee and cake or popcorn and a movie. When your children get older they will learn to participate in the household chores and they will learn to work in a team. Making cleaning and tidying into a fun activity and a weekly tradition, will create positive memories.

Early on you should start playing age appropriate board games and do puzzles together. This will help your child’s development and practice solving tasks and train the brain. Board games and Puzzling develops hand and eye coordination and fine motor skills. It also develops attention, concentration and thinking skills such as recognizing, remembering, matching and sorting.  

 

Picture Credit : Google

Are you Alex? Sophie? David? Maria? Naomi? Abi?

The English name John is Ivan in Russian, Juan in Spanish, lahaja in Turkish, Johann in German, and Sean in Irish.

The name Mary is Marie, Moira, Miriam, and Maria in different languages.

You've worn your name since you were born. How does it fit you? Almost every name has a meaning behind it. What about yours? The name Alfreda means "wise adviser". Helen means "light".

The name Thang means "triumph". Thuy is "gracious". Abdu is "Servant of Allah Allah is the Muslim name for "God". Kossi means boy born on Sunday

Henry is "master of a house". Richard means "harsh king". Eric means "royal".

Hannah means "grace". Wendy is a "wanderer". George is a "farmer". Louis is a "great warrior Barbara means "stranger". Ellen means "bright".

Look up your name in a book of baby names. You'll find one at the library. Look up the names of your family and friends. Some meanings may fit, some may seem funny!

 

Picture Credit : Google

Your first name is the name people call you. Your family chose it for you when you were born. Your last name is called your family name. Where did that name come from?

The earliest people had only first names. Their family and friends knew them by those first names.

About 800 years ago, kings and other royal people in Europe began to use last names to show that they were special. Soon, everyone in Europe took a last name.

How did people choose a family name? Sometimes people's names described where they lived. Castle, Castillo, Castello, Zamecki, Burke, Borg, and Burris are names in several languages that meant a person lived near a castle. Names like Wood, Woods, Atwood, Smallwood, Boyce, DuBois, Holt, Shaw, and Silva meant a person lived near a forest.

Can you guess what the names Streeter, Lane, Strass, and Estrada meant? They meant someone who lived by a road.

Sometimes people's names described what they looked like. If people had light-coloured hair, they might be named White, Wise, Weiss, Whitehead, Whitlock, Whitman, Blanchard, or Bannon. And if they had red hair, their name might be Reed, Reid, Roth, Russell, or Flynn.

Bliss, Blythe, Froh, Merriman, Blaha, or Allegretti are names that mean "happy".

A person who's as smart as a fox might be called Fox, Fuchs, Todd, or Volpe. A brave person might be called Lion, Lyon, Lyons, Loewe, or Leon.

Some names described what people did or where they were from. A baker might take the name Baker, Baxter, Fournier, Piekarz, or Boulanger. A blacksmith who makes horseshoes might be called Smith, Schmidt, Lefevre, Ferraro, Kowalski, Kovacs, or MacGowan.

Robert's child might take the name Roberts. John's son becomes Johnson, Nels' son is Nelson. Davey's, Harry's, and Will's children take the names Davis, Harris, and Wilson.

Some "son" names end in -sohn, -wicz, -vich, or -ak. Mac-, Mc-, or Fitz- means "the son of".

Some children were known by their father's name. So, people called the son of Will, Will's son. Later, this name became Wilson,

A new person in town might be Newman, Newcomb, Doyle, Doran, or Dowell. They all mean "new man".

A person new to town might take the name Doyle, which means "new man".

 

Picture Credit : Google

Look around you. Who are the people who care for you? They are your family. Families are people who love and help each other, whether they live together or in different places.

Families can include mothers, fathers, children, grandparents, brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles, cousins, and friends. A family can be any size—just two people, or twenty, or more.

Some children live with two parents, some live with one parent. Some children live with grandparents or with a foster family. Other children live with a parent and a stepparent and other children.

Do you have brothers or sisters? Do you live with your aunt or your cousins? There are all kinds of families, and no two are exactly alike.

Some Inuit families in northern Canada spend most of their time together. In the summer, families hunt and fish together.

On kibbutzim in Israel, all the parents once lived together in one house while all the children lived together in another. Today, children live with their parents and go to school with other children. But they still sometimes help their parents work on the community farm.

An Ashanti boy in Ghana, Africa, lives with many mothers. He lives in a house with his mother, his grandmother, and his mother's sisters and their children. All the children are like brothers and sisters to him. The boy's father comes to visit, but he lives in his own mother's house.

In Japan, grandparents often live with their oldest son and his family. The grandmother helps care for the children. In Norway, many farms have two houses. One house is for the grandparents, and one is for their son or daughter and their grandchildren.

On the tropical island of Borneo, all the people in a Dayak village live together in one long house. Each family is also part of the village family.

Families come in all sizes and styles. Wherever they live, families are people who care for and help one another.

 

Picture Credit : Google

The northern half of Africa stretches down from the fertile coast bordering the Mediterranean Sea, through vast areas of desert and savanna, into the forests of the west and central Africa. Apart from the Atlas Mountains, the Ethiopian Highlands and Saharan ranges, much of the region is a level plateau.

In the far north of Africa, the countries bordering the coast benefit from natural resources of oil and gas. They also rely on tourism and the manufacture of textiles and carpets. The population is mostly Arabs. Berbers, an ancient native people, live in the uplands of Morocco.

South of the Sahara, agriculture is the primary industry of many countries. Rivers such as the Nile, Niger and Senegal provide essential water with which to irrigate crops. However, in many countries such as Mauritania and Mali, drought is a recurrent problem. In the driest areas, nomadic cattle-herders travel vast distances in search of good grazing.

There are many different peoples living in Northern Africa. Conflict between them often leads to long and devastating wars. The combination of war, drought and widespread poverty has led to terrible famines in Ethiopia and Sudan.

West Africa has a wetter climate, and crops such as coffee, bananas, cocoa, groundnuts and citrus fruits are grown. For many years, timber has been an important product of countries such as the Cote d’Ivoire, but this was carried out at such a rate that vast areas of the forest have now disappeared. Mining of oil and metal ores is a rich resource, but due to poor government and frequent wars, many countries are still impoverished.

Many people in Northern Africa live in small towns or villages, producing just enough food and goods for themselves. Others crowd into the cities, looking for work. They often have to live in very poor conditions on the outskirts of the city.

Picture Credit : Google

The Congo basin covers much of central Africa. Here, the mighty Congo River winds through dense rainforest, where animals such as the rare mountain gorilla and a host of bird species live.

 To the south and east are high plateaux, with a cooler, drier climate. Much of the land is flat grassland, called savanna, where animals such as giraffes, elephants and lions roam. In the southwest, the savanna gives way to areas of hot, dry desert. In the east, deep valleys, high volcanic mountains and huge lakes have formed along a split in the Earth’s crust, known as the Great Rift Valley.

Southern Africa is rich in natural resources such as oil, metals (particularly copper and gold) and diamonds. Mining is therefore a vitally important industry. Tourism is also important to the savanna regions, where large national parks have been set up to protect the wildlife. In the eastern highlands, crops of tea and coffee are grown for export. Cattle are farmed for their meat and dairy products.

Outside South Africa and the Copper Belt (southern Congo and northern Zambia), large industrial areas are scarce. Countries such as Angola and Mozambique, with fertile land and rich resources, are nevertheless poverty-stricken due to years of civil war. Many people are farmers, and produce only enough food for themselves.

There are many hundreds of different tribal groups in Southern Africa, with many different languages and customs. Violent clashes between rival groups are frequent. In the worst affected regions, millions of people have fled to neighbouring countries to escape the conflicts.

Picture Credit : Google

The second largest continent after Asia, Africa is almost completely surrounded by water, apart from the narrow point at which it joins on to Asia. The north of the continent is mostly hot, barren desert, edged with coastal areas that are cooler and wetter in winter.

Further south, the desert gives way to areas of flat grassland. The Equator runs right through the centre of Africa. The countries on or close to the Equator are dominated by the largest area of tropical rainforest outside South America. Here the climate is hot and wet.

The rainforest is home to many different plants and animals, including gorillas and chimpanzees. Many rivers weave their way through central Africa. To the east and south are large areas of open grassland scattered with trees, known as savanna. Animals such as elephants, zebra and wildebeest, roam the savanna, along with predators such as lions, wild dogs and hyenas.

AFRICAN PEOPLES

North of the Sahara desert, the people of Africa are mainly Arabs and Berbers, who follow the religion of Islam. South of the Sahara, most people are black. They follow a variety of religions. Much of Africa was at one time controlled by Europe, and today people of European descent still live there, mostly in the south.

Africa exports its natural resources of metals and oil, as well as crops such as coffee and cocoa. However, many African countries are poor compared to the rest of the world. Few have established manufacturing industries. Most people live in the countryside, and rely on producing only enough crops, or farming enough cattle to support their families. They suffer from frequent droughts, floods and periods of starvation. Wars between and within countries also threaten their lives.

SAHARA DESERT

The world’s largest desert, the Sahara stretches across an area of Northern Africa that is almost the size of the USA. It is constantly growing larger as the sparse grassland at its edges dies away. The Sahara is a hot desert, where rain may fail to fall for years on end. During the day, temperatures can reach over 50°C in the shade, but nights are often cold. There are areas of sand that often drift into large dunes, but much of the Sahara is made up of rocky ground and mountains.

Despite these harsh conditions, the Sahara desert is not without life. Animals that are specially adapted for life with little water and intense heat can survive there. Many take shelter in burrows during the day, coming out at night to feed.

People also live in the Sahara desert. Small towns are able to survive around oases in the desert. Groups of nomads also travel across the harsh landscape to trade in the town markets. For thousands of years, they carried their goods and supplies by camel, an animal that can cope extremely well with desert life. It also provided the nomads with milk and meat. Today motor vehicles are more often used to cross the desert.

Picture Credit : Google

A part from a long range of mountains running down its eastern side, most of Australia is flat, hot and dry. It is rich in natural resources such as coal and minerals including gold, copper and iron. The vast interior, or outback, is mostly desert, or dry scrublands. To the east, this gives way to open grassland - stock-raising country, where Australia’s sheep and cattle ranches, or “stations”, are situated. With its millions of sheep, Australia is the world’s largest producer of wool.

Most Australians live around the coasts, where the climate is cooler and the land fertile. Crops such as wheat and tropical fruits are grown for export, and vineyards produce world-famous wines. A high proportion of people live in the largest cities, such as Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne. The cities have modern manufacturing industries.

About 200 years ago, the British and other Europeans began to arrive on the shores of Australia. They routed many of the native Australians already living there, and seized their land. Today, much of Australia’s population is of European descent, although there are substantial numbers of immigrants from Asia. The small numbers of native Australians that remain are working to reclaim some of their land and sacred sites.

NEW ZEALAND

Like its neighbour, Australia, New Zealand is a prosperous country. It farms huge numbers of cattle and sheep, producing large quantities of wool, meat and dairy products for export. Its fertile land and warm climate also make it ideal for vineyards and fruit and vegetables. The power of New Zealand’s many rivers, and also the underground heat from volcanic activity on North Island, are harnessed through non-polluting electricity schemes.

The native peoples of New Zealand are the Maoris, who originally came from Polynesia. They still make up about nine per cent of the population, and have retained much of their culture and traditions.

Picture Credit : Google

Lying off the east coast of mainland Asia, Japan is made up of four large islands, where most of the population live, and thousands of smaller ones. The four main islands are Honshu, Hokkaido, Kyushu and Shikoku. Much of Japan is covered with mountains, some of them volcanic. It is also densely forested. Winter is cold in the north, but the south of the country has mild winters and hot summers.

With limited land available for farming, and a lack of natural resources, Japan has turned to industry and technology for its livelihood. Today, it is a leading producer of cars, ships and electronic goods such as computers, televisions and cameras. It is also a powerful financial centre. Most people live in the cities, several of which have a population of over one million. Their buildings are designed to withstand the earthquakes that frequently occur.

Picture Credit : Google

Stretching across a vast region of the Pacific Ocean, Oceania is made up of the large island of Australia (almost a continent in itself) together with New Zealand, Papua New Guinea and thousands of small Pacific islands.

Much of Australia is covered with hot, dry desert and flat, open grassland known as the outback. Most people live in towns and cities near the coasts, especially the south coast. Papua New Guinea, in contrast, is a country of high mountains and dense rainforests. Many tribes of native peoples live in mountain valleys so isolated that they have only recently come into contact with the outside world.

New Zealand is made up of two islands, the north of which is warm and volcanic, while the south island is cooler, with mountains and forests. The grassy lowlands are fertile, and ideal for farming. The remote position of New Zealand, and also of Australia and Papua New Guinea, means that they are home to animals that are not found anywhere else in the world.

The Pacific islands are the remains of volcanoes that have erupted beneath the ocean. Some islands, such as Hawaii, still have active volcanoes. The islands are grouped together into nations. Some of these are independent, while others, such as New Caledonia, are colonies of European countries or the USA. Many Pacific islands are very beautiful, with rich vegetation and a warm climate. This makes them popular tourist destinations, and also, gives them plenty of fertile land for farming crops.

Picture Credit : Google

The third largest country in the world, China also has the highest population - more than one-fifth of all the people in the world today. The west of the country is mountainous, with bleak deserts and grassland plains or steppes. The deserts are freezing cold in winter. The highest point is Mount Everest, which lies on the border between Tibet and Nepal. Tibet used to be an independent country, but has been occupied by China since the 1950s.

In contrast, the eastern part of China has a warm climate, with fertile soil and river valleys. Great rivers, including the Yangtse and the Huang He, or Yellow River, wind their way from the western mountains to the sea. The Grand Canal, the world’s longest waterway, stretches for 1790 kilometres. Most of the population of China lives in the east. China is a major producer of tea, wheat and sweet potatoes as well as rice, which is grown in the flat, flooded paddy fields of the south. Pigs and poultry are kept everywhere.

Many Chinese cities have populations of more than a million people. Most people live in apartment blocks. China has natural resources such as coal and oil, and also heavy industry such as steel and chemical plants. It is an important producer of textiles, clothing and electronics. Though many people in China are poor, it is a rapidly developing country.

MONGOLIA AND KOREA

Mongolia occupies the grassy plains between the mountains to the north and the Gobi desert to the south. Many people still live a nomadic life on the central plains. Mongolia has coal and oil resources.

North and South Korea are both mountainous and forested, but while North Korea has little contact with the outside world, and relies on enormous state-controlled farms, South Korea has thriving, modern industries and many trade links.