Who discovered gravity?

Try to jump as high as you can. Bend your knees. Now jump! No matter how hard you try, or how high you jump, you always come back down again.

Something called gravity pulls you back down. Gravity holds you down on Earth. Without gravity, you would fly off into space. You would jump up and just keep on going. That might sound like fun, but you could not live very high up. For one thing, you need to breathe air. The higher you go, the less air there is. You need gravity to keep you down on Earth.

UFO Still be a Mystery

You’re watching the sky after dark. It’s a clear night. Many stars are visible. Suddenly you see a streak of light. Perhaps it’s a shooting star. As you watch, it slows down. Now it’s a moving point of light. Maybe it’s a plane or a space shuttle. You see it slow to a stop.

Half a minute passes. Just when you think you’re looking at an ordinary star, it suddenly speeds away. In seconds, it disappears over the horizon.

Have you seen an unidentified flying object? Most certainly. Was it a spaceship from another planet? Almost certainly not.

Sir Isaac Newton was a famous scientist

Isaac Newton was always wondering about the things he saw around him. What holds the Moon and planets in the sky? How does a rainbow form? He uncovered basic laws of nature. He used mathematics to explain these laws and predict how objects would behave. He became one of the greatest scientists of all time.

Newton was born in Woolsthorpe, England, on December 25, 1642. He loved to build mechanical models, but he was not a good student. His mother took him out of school so that he could help run the family farm. Newton did not like farming. He liked to read and study on his own. A former teacher knew that Newton was very smart and helped him go to the University of Cambridge.

Albert Einstein was a genious person

Dents in space, light in bundles, and matter that turns into energy sound like science-fiction fantasies. However, Albert Einstein said they were real. Other scientists proved through observations that Einstein’s theories were right. Einstein revolutionized the science of physics and helped bring in the atomic age.

Albert Einstein was born in Ulm, Germany, on March 14, 1879. He grew up in Germany, Italy, and Switzerland. Einstein taught himself geometry when he was 12 years old. School bored him because it required endless memorizing and reciting. He often skipped classes to study on his own or to play his violin. Yet he graduated from college in 1900 and earned a Ph.D. degree in 1905. From 1902 to 1907, Einstein worked as a clerk in the patent office in Zürich, Switzerland. His job left him plenty of time to think.

The Beatles were a Rock Music Sensation

The Beatles were a rock music sensation in the 1960s and 1970s. Everyone had a favorite among the four. For some people, it was Paul McCartney, the sweet one, or John Lennon, the funny one. For others, it was George Harrison, the mystery man, or Ringo Starr, the bouncy drummer. The Beatles changed popular music for all time, with their songs and their sparkling personalities.

All four Beatles were born in Liverpool, England. All four loved music, especially American rhythm-and-blues and rock music. Lennon and McCartney were the main songwriters, with Harrison as their brilliant guitarist. When Starr joined up in 1962, the group began rocking with the songs “Love Me Do,” “Please Please Me,” “I Want to Hold Your Hand,” and “She Loves You.”

Himalaya: The Highest Mountains on Earth

The name Himalaya means “home of snow” in the ancient language of Sanskrit. It’s a fitting name. The Himalayas are the highest mountains on Earth. Snow and ice cover much of this impressive mountain range year round.

The Himalayas rise in southern Asia the world’s biggest continent. They form a chain that stretches nearly 1,600 miles (2,600 kilometers). The mountains separate the plains of northern India from the high plateau of Tibet, in China.

The Himalayas contain nine of the world’s ten highest peaks. One of these, Mount Everest, is the highest mountain on Earth. It rises to a height of 29,035 feet (8,850 meters).

Who was Plato?

Plato was a very original thinker who lived in ancient Greece. He asked questions that nobody had asked before. He even tried to explain how the human mind works.

Plato was born about 428 BC in Athens, Greece. He became a pupil of Greek philosopher Socrates. Then he set up a school in 387 BC. He called his school the Academy. Pupils studied astronomy, biology, mathematics, politics, and philosophy at the Academy.

Plato wrote dialogues debates that he imagined taking place between teachers and pupils. He hoped these dialogues would help students understand his ideas.

Plato investigated many topics, from friendship to the heavens. But his most important work was a study of knowledge.....

Great Wall of China

Imagine a huge wall stretching for thousands of miles across the land. The wall winds through hills, climbs mountains, and crosses deserts. If you visit China you can see a wall like this. The Great Wall of China, as it is known, is the longest structure ever built.

The Great Wall of China zigzags across parts of northern China. It was built section by section over centuries. In fact, there are many gaps between the sections, so the Great Wall isn't a single, solid wall. But if all the sections are measured, the wall is about 4,000 miles (6,400 kilometers) long!

Since ancient times, Chinese people have built walls to protect their borders. Some walls were built between parts of China that were fighting each other. Other walls protected China from outside invaders.....

Pyramids from Egypt

Grand tombs and gateways to the afterlife, the pyramids of Egypt are among the world’s most magnificent monuments. Their massive size and simple shape fascinate people.

Ancient peoples in the Americas and the Middle East also built pyramids. But the largest and best known were constructed in Egypt more than 3,500 years ago. Around 100 pyramids still stand on the west bank of the Nile River.

Pyramids were lavish tombs built only for royalty and other high-ranking people. The ancient Egyptians believed that the spirits of dead people could live on only if their bodies survived. So they preserved dead bodies by making them into mummies. Mummies are dried-out bodies wrapped in linen bandages. The ancient Egyptians buried the mummies securely inside pyramids.

Many treasures were buried with royal mummies. The ancient Egyptians believed that all of the items a person used in life would also be needed after death. They buried thousands of items with pharaohs and other important people. These items were made of the richest materials, such as gold and jewels. Some mummies even had coffins made from solid gold!.....

The Mighty Amazon

A dense, green forest lines the riverbanks. Monkeys chatter in the trees. Off to the side, a big crocodile sticks its eyes and nose out of the water. This is what a boat trip on the Amazon River can be like. Be careful not to fall overboard! Fish called piranhas may be swimming near the boat. A group of piranhas can gobble up a large animal in minutes.

The Amazon is a long river in South America. The river starts in snow and tiny streams, high in the Andes Mountains in Peru. It flows east through Brazil. After 4,000 miles (6,400 kilometers), the Amazon empties into the Atlantic Ocean.

Antartica is The Coldest Continent

You are on the highest and windiest continent on Earth. It is also the coldest. Even in summer you need to wear a parka and thick gloves. Almost nothing lives here, although some penguins might waddle past on their way to the sea. You are on Antarctica. Antarctica is a large ice covered continent that surrounds the South Pole. The Southern (Antarctic) Ocean surrounds this frozen land.

Antarctica lies at the bottom of the southern half of the globe. Summer begins there in December and winter in June. In midsummer, the sun shines day and night. It never sets. In midwinter, the sun never rises above the horizon. It is dark day and night.

Antarctica is the coldest place on Earth. It is warmest along the coast, but you would still find it plenty cold. Summer temperatures along the coast reach the freezing point 32° Fahrenheit (0° Celsius). You don’t need ice for your lemonade. If you set it outside, it will freeze. In winter, temperatures inland fall as low as -110° Fahrenheit (-80° Celsius) in the winter.

Caribbean Islands is Beautiful Place

What would you see if you took a cruise to the Caribbean Islands? Palm trees and coconuts? White beaches and clear, blue ocean? Colorful corals and even more colorful fishes and birds?

You bet. There are thousands of islands in the Caribbean Sea. They are famous for their warm, tropical climate and great natural beauty.

The Caribbean Islands form a chain that separates the Caribbean Sea from the rest of the Atlantic Ocean. They’re like a long necklace that stretches between North and South America. Many of the islands were formed by the eruption of ancient volcanoes. Others are low-lying coral islands that gradually rose from the ocean.

The Caribbean Islands are known by several names. The earliest name used by Europeans is the Indies, later changed to the West Indies. The explorer Christopher Columbus called the islands the Indies in 1492 because he thought he was near the coast of India. Later, Spain and France called the islands the Antilles.

Socrates: The Ancient Greece Philosopher

What is love? What is truth? What is justice? Socrates, a philosopher in ancient Greece, asked big questions like these and tried to make people think. Socrates was born in Athens, Greece, in 469 BC. He devoted his life to philosophy. He taught students, made speeches, and debated with anyone who would listen to him.

Socrates wanted to find out the best way to live. He wondered why some people behaved well and others behaved badly. He thought that bad behavior resulted from ignorance. He believed that once people knew what was right, they would choose to behave well. Behaving well, Socrates claimed, was the best way to live.

Socrates’ beliefs made him urge fellow citizens to think hard about what they were doing. Was it right? Was it honest? Was it permitted by law? Through questions like these, he hoped to help people recognize their mistakes. This knowledge would bring them closer to the truth and help them lead better lives.

The Apartheid Law

Apartheid, policy of racial segregation formerly followed in South Africa. The word apartheid means “separateness” in the Afrikaans language and it described the rigid racial division between the governing white minority population and the nonwhite majority population. The National Party introduced apartheid as part of their campaign in the 1948 elections, and with the National Party victory, apartheid became the governing political policy for South Africa until the early 1990s. Although there is no longer a legal basis for apartheid, the social, economic, and political inequalities between white and black South Africans continue to exist.

The apartheid laws classified people according to three major racial groups white; Bantu, or black Africans; and Coloured, or people of mixed descent. Later Asians, or Indians and Pakistanis, were added as a fourth category. The laws determined where members of each group could live, what jobs they could hold, and what type of education they could receive. Laws prohibited most social contact between races, authorized segregated public facilities, and denied any representation of nonwhites in the national government. People who openly opposed apartheid were considered communists and the government passed strict security legislation which in effect turned South Africa into a police state.

Nelson Mandela is a Hero

Nelson Mandela, a boy from an African village, grew up to become the first black president of South Africa.

Before he became president, Mandela led a long and difficult struggle against segregation in South Africa. Under segregation, black and white people were kept apart. Segregation denied blacks many basic rights. Mandela spent many years in prison for trying to end segregation in South Africa.


Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela was born in 1918 in a small village in the Transkei region of South Africa. His father was a chief of the Thembu tribe. Mandela’s parents named him Rolihlahla, an African word that means troublemaker. Little did they know how fitting his name would be!

At the age of seven, Mandela became the first person in his family to go to school. At school, Mandela was given the name Nelson. He went on to attend college and earn a law degree in the city of Johannesburg.

Who Invented Democracy?

When you play with friends, who gets to choose the game? Do you all decide together? Do each of you play a part in the decision? If so, you and your friends are a democracy.

Usually, when we speak of a democracy, we mean a country. In a democratic country, the people choose how they will be governed. Most of the time, they do this by electing leaders who run the government.


There is more than one type of democracy. In a pure democracy, elected leaders simply carry out the wishes of the voters. But this is not easy to do. Voters must get together often to tell elected leaders what they want. They must take part in many, many decisions.

Most democratic countries are republics, not pure democracies. In a republic, elected leaders are supposed to do what they think is best. Then, if the voters don’t like it, they can elect new leaders.

Julius Caesar The Brilliant Soldier

Was Julius Caesar mostly interested in serving the people whom he ruled? Or was he only interested in grabbing power? People who met the Roman statesman could not agree. Caesar was a brilliant soldier and a clever, capable ruler. But he was also extremely ambitious.

Caesar was born in 100 BC, to one of Rome’s most famous families. But his family had many enemies, and Caesar thought it best to leave Rome. He trained as a soldier and went to study in Greece. But he hoped for a political career.

Caesar returned to Rome in 73 BC and made plans to run for office. He worked on the election campaigns of army general Pompey and Crassus, a very rich noble. The men were running for consul, which was then the highest office in Rome. To win support for the candidates.