Articles for Grade 3

Every summer, the beautiful coastal city of Vancouver, Canada hosts a “Car Free Day” Festival. On this day, neighborhoods close their streets to vehicles so artists and local businesses can showcase and sell their wares to the thousands of fairgoers that flock to the event. At this year’s festival on June 17, 2018, visitors seeking something unique and healthy were in for a special treat – unfiltered hot dog water!...

After breaking numerous records on Earth, retired Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt recently put his legendary speed to test in “space.” The “out-of-this-world” race, staged in a zero gravity environment aboard an airplane designed for scientific research, took place over France on September 13, 2018. It was a publicity stunt organized by champagne-maker G.H. Mumm, to showcase their newly-designed bottle created to make it easier for astronauts and future space tourists to enjoy the beverage while floating through outer space....

While elite athletes like Simone Biles and McKayla Maroney make it look easy, gymnastics is one of the hardest sports on the planet – both physically and mentally. It is, therefore, not surprising to hear that most gymnasts retire in their late teens or early 20’s. But don’t tell that to Oksana Chusovitina. The veteran gymnast, who has been in the limelight since winning her first major competition – the USSR’s junior national championships – at age 13, is still going strong at the ripe “old” age of 43!...

Vietnam’s Bà Nà Hills, which attracts over 2.7 million visitors annually, is home to many popular tourist attractions. These include the world’s longest non-stop single track cable car, a replica French medieval village complete with a faux castle, and the perfectly manicured Thien Thai gardens. However, none are as exquisite as the newly-built Cau Vang (Golden Bridge in Vietnamese) pedestrian bridge, which opened to the public in June 2018....

Researchers have always maintained that Triassic dinosaurs were small, chicken-sized critters, and that it was not until the Jurassic period — about 180-million years ago — that massive herbivorous sauropods, like the Diplodocus and Brachiosaurus, emerged. However, the discovery of a new dinosaur species in Argentina suggests that the animals achieved gigantism during the late Triassic period, about 30 million years earlier than previously believed....

There are numerous meteor showers throughout the year. However, few are as popular, or as reliable, as the Perseids. The celestial show, which occurs when Earth passes through the path of Comet Swift-Tuttle, usually starts in mid-July and continues until the last week of August. This year, the best time to view the event will be between August 11 to 13, when our planet traverses through the densest comet dust and the meteors are the brightest and most frequent....

The hundreds of thousands of people who suffer from motion sickness have a long list of activities they dread — and often avoid altogether. This includes long-distance airplane travel, road-trips, carnival rides, and, in the more severe cases, even certain movies and video games. However, if the French company Boarding Ring has its way, motion sickness sufferers will soon have nothing to worry about, provided they are willing to wear the goofy-looking Boarding Glasses!...

Though wildfires are a common occurrence during California’s hot, dry summers, the state’s biggest fires don’t usually strike until August. However, this year, the season started early, in February, with the Pleasant Fire that took about six weeks to contain and scorched over 2,000 acres. Since then, there have been over 20 blazes across the state. However, none have been as terrifying as the Carr Fire that is currently wreaking havoc in Northern California’s Shasta County....

With an estimated 100,000 marine animals being choked, suffocated, or injured by plastic every year, the danger posed by the trillions of pieces of polymer floating in our oceans is well-known. However, given that most of the microplastics measure less than 0.5mm in diameter, collecting them is a challenging task. Now, some Dutch environmentalists have devised a way to not only capture plastic waste before it reaches the open seas and disintegrates, but to also use it to create a public park and wildlife sanctuary....