MyKlexikon - the Wikipedia for children - User contributions [en]

Wasps

2020-02-07T03:36:00Z

Mie:

[[File:Vespula germanica Topview Richard Bartz.jpg|thumb|A wasp.]]
[[File:Nido di vespe.jpg|thumb|Wasps are working on a nest.]]

Wasps are insects that are closely related to bees. Originally, they only lived in Europe, Asia and North America. Through the years they have also been taken to South America and Australia.

One can distinguish all types of wasps by their black yellow patterns. If one looks closely, one can see that the patterns aren't just stripes. Because of the patterns, biologists can tell what type of wasp it is, since every type has a unique pattern.

==How do wasps live?==

Only the queen survives the winter time. In spring it begins building the hive and it lays its first eggs in the first cells. It reserves sperm from last fall in its seed bags. The queen eats insects and chews them to feed the larvae. The larvae then turn into female workers that continue to build the hive and take care of the larvae. Just like that the hive gets hundreds to thousands of new citizens.

Just like beehives, the hive is made of six-sided honeycombs. They are made when wasps chew pieces of wood and use their spit to make mush. They build the hive out of this mush. When it dries it's like paper. It's also as light but more fragile. Wasps build their nests in hedges and trees but also in attics.

Some larvae are fed better than others. From these the new queens awake. From the lesser fed larvae come the males, also called drones. They mate with a new queen but die afterwards. In winter the female workers and the old queen perish too. The new queens survive through hibernation and start building the nest again.

Adult wasps feed on nectar, pollen and stone fruit. That includes plums, peaches and apricots. The young ones eat trapped animals or their remains. The wasp’s biggest enemy is the wasp buzzard. It digs their nest open with its claws and feeds the larvae to its children. But wasps also get eaten by other animals such as birds, spiders and dragonflies.

==Are wasps dangerous?==

Wasps defend themselves and their queen with their stingers. It is enough if they feel trapped. An example is when a wasp is in our shirts. They can sting again and again spraying poison in the prey's skin. It burns a lot.

The biggest type of wasp is the hornet. A lot of people are afraid of it because there's a myth that says: "7 hornets kill a horse, 2 a child.". That is not true though and in real life their poison is just as harmless as any other wasp’s.

When being around wasps one should be still and not come near the nest. Then they won’t sting. They only sting if they need to protect themselves or their queen.

[[Category:Articles]]

Spring

2020-02-07T03:30:42Z

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[[File:Frühlingsblumen Schneeglöckchen.jpg|thumb|Snowdrops after winter]]
Spring is the season after winter, when temperatures rise. It gets warmer and summer is around the corner. Plants grow and flowers bloom. The landscape turns green again. Many animals give birth. The farmers mow grass to make hay.

==How long is spring?==

According to meteorologists (weather experts), spring begins in the Northern Hemisphere on the first of March and ends on the 31st of May, hence March, April, and May fall in this season. For astronomers, however, spring begins with the equinox. This is when days and nights are equally long, which takes place on the 21st or 22nd of March. Spring ends at the summer solstice, when the days are longest. Summer begins on the 20th or 21st of June.

In the Southern Hemisphere, the seasons are opposite those in the Northern Hemisphere, so spring starts on September 1st and ends on November 30th.

==What’s special about spring?==

People have always considered spring an important time of the year. Warm clothes are not necessary anymore and people can spend time outside. Therefore, the beginning of spring has always been cause for celebration in many cultures. It is said that people are more likely to fall in love in spring than in any other season.

<gallery>
File:Spring April 2010-3.jpg|Flowers in spring
</gallery>''Initially translated at the East Bay German International School (CA), USA''
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South America

2020-02-07T03:27:29Z

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[[File:Sinusoid-south-america.jpg|thumb|South America as seen from space. You can see the snow-covered Andes in the west and the green rain forest.]]

South America is the south part of the Americas. It is connected to [[North America]] by a small piece of land. To the west of South America lies the Pacific Ocean and to the east, it [[border]]s the Atlantic Ocean. The ocean to the north of South America is the Caribbean Sea.

A small part of South America lies north of the equator, but the bigger part of South America lies south of the equator. The southernmost point of South America, Tierra del Fuego, reaches all the way to the Antarctic. Because of big differences in landscape there are big differences in the weather. Some places are very hot, for example, the rain forest or the desert, other places are very cold, for example, the mountains.

The Andes mountain range reaches all the way from the north to the south point of the continent, all along the west coast. They are the highest mountains in South America and the second-highest mountains in the world just behind Mount Everest. The Andes reach a height of 6961 meters above sea level. In the Andes, there are a lot of volcanoes, some of which are covered with ice throughout the whole year, especially the ones in the south. The surface of the glacier is 11 times the size of the glaciers in the Alps.

The biggest river in South America is the Amazon, it is also the biggest river in the world. In the mountains, forests, and deserts, there are a lot of different types of animals and plants. One of the most famous bird species is the condor, a very large bird. Another well-known animal is the llama which is part of the camel family. People use llamas to carry things and also keep them for their milk and fur.

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Shark

2020-02-07T03:19:39Z

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[[File:Dharavandhoo_Thila_-_Whale_Shark.jpg|thumb|The whale shark, which is the longest and heaviest of all sharks.]]

Sharks are fish. They live in every ocean of the world. Some also live in lakes. Sharks are predators: most of them eat fish and other animals in the ocean. When sharks are swimming on the surface of the water you can see their triangular fin. Sharks have existed for the last 400 million years, which is why they are one of the oldest still existing animals on the planet.

The dwarf shark is the smallest shark as it is just 25 centimeters long. The whale shark is the biggest shark, measuring up to 14 meters. The whale shark is also the heaviest shark: it can weigh up to 12 tons. That’s as much as 5 big cars. There are about 500 types of shark.

Sharks have a special jaw: behind their first row of teeth they have another one, so when they fight and one row gets knocked out they still have one more. Because of that they use up to 30,000 teeth in their life. The skin of a shark is not normal fish skin. Their skin is made out of the same material as their jaw. From the head to the back fin the skin feels very smooth. The other way it feels very rough.

==How do sharks live?==

Sharks aren't researched very well yet, so people don’t know much about them. However, one thing that is known about them is: Some sharks must always be moving so that they don't sink to the bottom of the ocean.

Most shark types feed on fish and other larger sea animals. But especially some larger shark types feed on plankton as well. Plankton are little animals or plants that let themselves be pushed by the currents.

Sharks also have enemies: smaller sharks are eaten by larger sharks, stingrays and seals. The biggest enemies of sharks remain humans. Mostly in Asia people eat shark meat as it is a delicacy. About five humans are killed by shark attacks per year.

==How do sharks breed?==
The reproduction of sharks takes a long time as they must be 30 years old to mate for the first time. Some shark types lay their eggs on the ocean floor and then keep on swimming. Some other shark types carry their babies in their wombs for up to two years. They have about five babies in their stomach and usually, they eat each other. Only the strongest one will be born. Most babies are eaten as eggs or babies. When baby sharks are born, they are up to half a meter long. Most shark types are threatened with extinction. This isn't only because of humans and other natural causes it is also because they need to be older to mate.

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Revolution

2020-02-07T03:04:36Z

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[[File:Bundesarchiv_Bild_183-1989-1104-437,_Berlin,_Demonstration_am_4._November.jpg|thumb|In 1989 people demonstrated for their freedom in the GDR. It’s called a peaceful revolution because people protested without violence.]]

A revolution is a big change. The word revolution comes from the Latin language and means “rotation”. People started using the word towards the end of the Middle Ages. Back then the word was used in Astronomy. It meant that the planets rotate around the sun.

Later the word revolution was used for a change in politics when a new leader or an entirely new group came to power. Rules were added and changed. Sometimes people also had different views about how a country should be ruled.

The word revolution is also used outside of politics. In the 20th century when more and more factories started appearing all over [[Europe]], this was the Industrial Revolution. Today the word revolution is also used in advertisements. For example, if there is a new product, they could say it’s “revolutionary”.

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Refugee

2020-02-07T03:03:14Z

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[[File: Zaatari refugee camp, Jordan (9660905321).jpg|thumb|A refugee camp in Zaatari, Jordan. The United Nations is helping people who fled their country.]]

Refugees are people who need to leave their home country even though they don't want to. Many refugees flee a war, you call those refugees war refugees. Others are being persecuted, either by the government or other countrymen, who don't accept different religions, different languages or a different political opinion. Therefore, refugees often fear for their lives. That's when they have no other option than fleeing their country.

Other people flee from drought or hunger. Other people may be allowed to live in their country, but they are looking to earn more money, you call those refugees economic refugees. Refugees belong to the broader group called migrants who are people who leave their country.

For refugees, it is hard to leave their homeland and to bring their belongings with them on their trip. The journey can be risky and dangerous, they can be threatened by criminals, or boats that the refugees use to travel across the sea can sink due to the number of refugees on the boat. Sometimes they are not allowed to cross the border, therefore, they must return to their homeland even if it puts them at risk or danger.

Finally, the refugees arrive in a new land but don’t always know if they can stay and manage their living conditions. Many people say that they want asylum. If the country accepts the request, the refugee gets to stay in that country and receives help. Whether they do or do not get asylum depends on the rules in the country.

The refugees who don’t get accepted into the country must go back to their homeland, but many stay, which then makes them “illegal immigrants”, meaning they are breaking the law. In the countries where refugees are accepted many discuss who is actually a refugee, whether one must fear for their life or if economic refugees are really refugees.

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Panda

2020-02-07T02:55:05Z

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[[File:Giant Panda 2004-03-2.jpg|thumb|A big panda in a zoo]]
[[File:Ailuropoda melanoleuca Schoenbrunn 07-2008.jpg|thumb|A panda mom with her 10 month old cub.]]

When one talks about pandas one usually means the giant panda or the panda bear. Pandas used to be called bamboo bears. There are also names for the little ones, mostly known as “cat bears.” The panda is a mammal and belongs to the family of bears.

From the nose to the butt they can get up to one-and-a-half meters long. The panda is usually recognized by its black-white spot pattern. The tail is a little bump so you don't notice it too much. They can weigh from 80 to 160 kilograms. That is about as heavy as two adult men. Pandas only live in a very small place in China. This makes them an endemic. An endemic is an animal or plant that only exists in certain locations. There are barely 2000 pandas left on earth, which is why they are strongly protected. So that pandas don't go extinct, they are bred in zoos.

Pandas sleep in caves and cracks in cliffs during the day. During the night they are awake and search for food. They mostly eat bamboo leaves but they also eat other plants, caterpillars, and vertebrates. In zoos they get used to eating honey, eggs, fish, fruits, melons, bananas, and sweet potatoes. To eat, the panda sits down like a human.

Pandas are loners. They only meet to mate in spring. The males walk off right after. The mother carries the babies for about two months in her belly. Then she gives birth to one to three cubs. The baby panda weighs about 100 grams so about as much a chocolate bar. The female raises the baby pandas by herself. For about eight months the babies stay with their mother, drinking her milk. A little while before the baby wanders off, the baby starts eating bamboo leaves as well. After one-and-a-half years the cub walks off. Only after the panda is 5-7 years old it is fully sexually mature. A panda usually gets up to 20 years old.

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North America

2020-02-07T02:49:38Z

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[[File:North_America_satellite_globe.jpg|thumb|Map of the North American Continent.]]
[[File:Bear_Digging_and_Denali_(11330360484).jpg|thumb|The highest mountain on the continent of North America: The Denali in Alaska.]]

North America is the northern part of the Americas. The [[border]] of North America and [[South America]] is between Panama and Columbia. Columbia is a country in South America. In North America, you can find almost every landscape, from the deserts in Mexico and the United States of America to the Arctic in Canada.

There are 23 countries on the continent of North America. Most of them are small ones like Panama or the islands in the Caribbean. 450 million people live in North America. Only [[Africa]], [[Europe]] and [[Asia]] are more populated.

A lot of people think of North America as the USA and sometimes maybe Canada. That is because English is spoken in the USA and Canada. In Mexico and almost everywhere else the people speak Spanish.

In the last ice age, the first human settlers walked across Alaska to North America. They were the ancestors of today’s Native Americans. One of the ancient civilizations in North America were the Mayas who lived in Mexico. The first Europeans in North America were the Vikings.

<gallery>
North america.svg|The countries of Northern America
</gallery>

[[Category:Articles]]

Martin Luther King

2020-02-07T02:45:29Z

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[[File:Martin Luther King Jr NYWTS.jpg|thumb|Martin Luther King]]

Martin Luther King, Jr. was born in 1929 in the USA. He was a pastor in the 1950s and 1960s. He fought for all people to have the same rights no matter what skin color they have or what religion they belong to. Back then people with black skin color in the USA didn’t have the same rights as people with white skin.

His father, Martin Luther King, Sr., was also a pastor. Although their names were originally Michael, after a visit to Germany, King's father began calling himself and his son Martin Luther after the famous reformer.

As a kid, because he had black skin, Martin Luther King was not allowed to, for example go to the same school as his best friend because his best friend had white skin. In buses people with black skin had to stand up when a person with white skin wanted to sit down. Also in a lot of places people with black skin were separated from people with white skin and were treated unfairly. That is called racial segregation. Because of that, people with black skin didn’t get the same chances as people with white skin. People who didn’t agree with this were sometimes hit, captured, taken away, or even killed by racists.

Martin Luther King wanted to finally stop this unfairness. Above all, he wanted to make his dream come true, to have everybody have the same rights and he wanted to do that in a peaceful way. So he demonstrated and soon he had more than 250,000 people with him. In Washington D.C., he gave a speech and the most famous phrase was: "I have a dream." This phrase became known worldwide. More and more black people and also white people believed in his dream and then in the year 1964 the USA decided that everyone should be treated equal. That was a big victory for Martin Luther King. In the same year he got the Nobel Peace Prize which is a very important prize.

But not all people thought his idea was good. Even though he always fought peacefully for his ideas, he sometimes had to go to jail. In 1969 he was killed by a white racist, but his dream lives on and continues to improve life for black people in the US.<gallery>
File:Martin Luther King, Jr..jpg|Martin Luther King, Jr.
File:Civil Rights March on Washington, D.C. (Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Mathew Ahmann in a crowd.) - NARA - 542015 - Restoration.jpg|Civil Rights March on Washington, D.C.
File:Martin Luther King - I Have a Dream.jpg|Martin Luther King, Jr. during his famous "I Have a Dream" speech
File:Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial in DC.jpg|Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial in Washington, D.C.
</gallery>
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Los Angeles

2020-01-31T01:56:42Z

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Los Angeles is a city in California, a state in the United States of America. Almost 4 million people live in Los Angeles, and in the area around Los Angeles almost 18 million. In the U.S., only New York City is bigger. In Los Angeles there are a lot of airports and a port.

Los Angeles is located in the west of the USA, at the Pacific Ocean. The climate in the city is hot in the summer and mild in the winter. Almost all of the precipitation falls in the winter, which is a lot of rain and some snow. In the summer it is almost always dry. The streets in the city run parallel to each other and cross at right angles, like in a lot of other American cities. Seen from above it looks a bit like a chessboard. In some parts of the city you can find huge skyscrapers. All over the city there are houses that are one or two stories high.

Los Angeles was founded in 1781 by Spaniards. The name in Spanish is “El Pueblo de Nuestra Señora la Reina de los Ángeles del Río de Porciúncula”. That is Spanish for “The Town of Our Lady the Queen of the Angels at the River of Porciúncula”. That lady is the Virgin Mary. The city is still called the City of Angels. Los Angeles is often abbreviated as L.A.

Until the year 1848 Los Angeles belonged to Mexico, after that it belonged to the USA. Today, many immigrants from Mexico and other Spanish-speaking countries live there. Other residents come from Asia or other parts of the world.

==What is there to see in the city?==
In Los Angeles there are a lot of attractions. The first movie theater in the USA opened in 1902 in Los Angeles. A famous thing in Los Angeles is Hollywood, where movies are made. You can visit some movie studios, like Universal Studios. A lot of stars live in Hollywood.

You can relax at famous Venice Beach. A lot of musicians, artists, and painters meet along the beach. The theme park Disneyland opened in 1955. Disneyland has a lot of attractions for kids and adults.

In 1932 and 1984 the summer Olympics took place in Los Angeles. Ever since 1984, the Los Angeles Marathon takes place there as well. It is one of the biggest marathons in the world. Many participants and spectators travel from all over the world for it.

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Judaism

2020-01-31T01:49:04Z

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[[File:Jerusalem IMG 6765 (6190648136).jpg|thumb|A Jew worshipping at the Western Wall in Jerusalem.]]

==What is Judaism?==

Judaism is a religion. The Jewish believe, like the Christians and the Muslims, in one God. The Jewish call God Jahveh. Being Jewish also means following a certain culture, ideas, and customs and finding them important.

The Jewish religion is not very different from other religions, but the differences are important. For example: the most important day of the week is Saturday, on which Jewish people go to the synagogue. This is their place of worship. They have many holidays during the year like Hanukkah and Sukkot.

Jewish men and boys who strongly follow the religion wear a kippah (a round cap that covers the back of the head). Higher holy people also wear hats, some of which have a lot of fur. Women and girls usually wear skirts.

==How did Judaism come about?==

The story of Judaism is written in the Old Testament. This is the first part of the Bible, but this is, like the Bible, no ordinary history book; it is a book of lessons and stories that teach us how to act. The Bible starts with the Book of Genesis with Adam and Eve in Paradise, a beautiful land. Later, Noah is mentioned in the story of the flood, then Abraham is introduced. It is said that Abraham immigrated from Iraq to Iran, modern-day Israel. God had ordered him to immigrate to these places.

Abraham’s first son was called Ismael, but his mom wasn’t the wife of Abraham; the mother was his maid, Hagar. Islam, a popular Muslim religion, was started by Ismael. Abraham's second son was Issac. Issac’s mom was Sarah, Abrahams’s wife. The Jewish religion originates from Issac’s teachings. God had told Abraham to cut off the foreskin of the male genitalia of his two sons and himself. This process is called circumcision. Jewish and other cultures still do circumcision.

Issac’s son was Jacob. Jacob had 12 sons. These sons formed the 12 tribes of Israel. One of the many sons was Juda. That’s where the name Judaism originates from. The Jewish needed to flee to Egypt but they were enslaved. With a lot of persuasion, Moses brought them back to Israel. This is what the Old Testament tells us. Nobody really knows if this is exactly how everything happened.

In 600 BC, the land where the Jewish lived was conquered. During the invasion, their temple was destroyed, and the people were sent to Babylon. Around 80 years later they returned home and rebuilt their temple.

Back in the time when Jesus lived, the Romans ruled over Israel. About 70 years later the Romans destroyed their temple and chased the Jewish people out of Israel. After that the Jewish people didn’t have their own state; they lived scattered around the world.

==Where do most Jewish people live today?==

Jewish people worship in a synagogue. The word comes from the Greek language and means “coming together."

Today many Jewish people live in Europe, the Middle East and America. Some call themselves Zionists; Zion is another word for Israel. Around 1900, they wanted to establish a new state, where they had lived for almost 2000 years. They feared that they would not be able to live in freedom elsewhere.

Before and during the Second World War the Nazis murdered 6 million Jewish people in Europe. That is called the Holocaust. The Nazis along with their leader Adolf Hitler believed that the Jewish religion was degenerate. A hate like the Nazis had would be called Anti-Semitism.

Today Jewish people live around the world. Also the land of Israel has existed since 1948.

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Freedom

2020-01-30T03:03:26Z

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[[File:Statue-de-la-liberte-new-york.jpg|thumb|The Statue of Liberty in New York holds in her left hand the Declaration of Independence. At her feet lies a broken chain. The statue is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.]]

Freedom is when a human can do what they want. Ever since ancient times, people have argued about what the meaning of the word “freedom” is. They also asked themselves if everyone should be free or just some. After all, slavery existed back then. Slaves were never free.

Philosophers and religious people often wonder: Can a human be free or unfree in different ways? When it comes down to God or the mind, then a human is free. One should also have the freedom to decide what's right. Or else one would only be a toy in the hands of God. But humans are unfree in the world of mankind because they have the duty and responsibility to take care of others.

Freedom is a common topic when it comes to politics. The idea of human rights is that people should be free. Freedom means people can choose what they say, where they live, and what jobs they have, whether they believe in God or not and so on. But there are boundaries, for example, you can't say everything you want. It is not allowed to insult somebody, threaten somebody with violence, or to cheat somebody.

Freedom today means that people are “free from something”. The government can't do anything cruel or unfair to you, can't deny you everything and must protect you from others. Many philosophers and politicians say that people must have the chance to do something. People must have enough money to live. Otherwise, they couldn't benefit from their freedom.

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Europe

2020-01-28T01:50:22Z

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[[File: Europe_satellite_globe.jpg#filelinks|thumb|Satellite view of Europe]]
[[File:Map of Europe with flags.svg|thumb|This is a map of Europe and all the European flags.]]
[[File:Flag of Europe.svg|thumb|The Flag of the European Union]]

Europe is a continent. Even though it consists of more than 40 countries Europe is the second smallest continent. The Atlantic Ocean is situated to the north and west of Europe; to the south you will find the Mediterranean Sea. In the east, Europe is connected to [[Asia]]. The [[border]] is a big mountain range called the Ural Mountains.

The European continent has a lot of coastal landscapes. It has a lot of islands, peninsulas, and inland seas. An inland sea, like the North Sea and Baltic Sea, is a part of the ocean that is almost landlocked. In contrast to China, there was never one empire ruling all of Europe. This may be because of all the islands, peninsulas and inland seas, where it was easier to defend against enemies.

Since the modern age, so since about 1,500 years ago, European nations have had many different colonies on other continents. A colony is a piece of land that was bought or conquered by another country. Therefore almost the entire world used to belong to Europe. That’s why people in South America mostly speak Spanish and many people in Australia and the United States speak English. However, between 1920 and 1960, most of the countries lost their colonies.

==How united is the continent?==

The people of Europe speak many different languages. If you count Russia as part of Europe, the most common language is Russian and the second is German. English is the language most people use to communicate with each other. Many European languages have their roots in the Latin language.

Europe has a lot of countries and that won't change very soon. However, many countries decided to work more closely with each other. They became members of the European Union. The European Union creates many rules that are valid in every European country.

[[Category:Articles]]

Dolphin

2020-01-28T01:40:24Z

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[[File:Tursiops truncatus 01-cropped.jpg|thumb|The common bottlenose dolphin]]

Dolphins are part of the whale family and are mammals. They can be between one and a half and four meters long. The orca is the biggest dolphin and can even get to be eight meters long. The most well-known dolphin is probably the bottlenose dolphin.

Many people think that dolphins are fish. Three things show that they are not fish, but mammals: They drink milk from their mother, they need to breathe air, and they don't have scales, but skin.

==How do dolphins live?==

Dolphins live in all of the earth’s oceans. However, some dolphins live in rivers too. Dolphins swim very fast, up to 55 kilometers per hour. Dolphins swim very far every day, so it's unnatural and cruel to keep them in a small enclosure.

Dolphins eat fish and crabs. They are fast meat-eaters. They have a special organ in their head: the "melon". The melon sends an echo out that bounces off things such as prey. That's how dolphins know what's close to them.

Dolphins, like other whales, live in groups, or pods. They communicate by vocalizing. With dolphins, only one half of the brain sleeps at once. The other half controls the dolphin’s breathing. Also, one eye stays open and looks around.

Dolphin mothers carry only one baby at a time. Like other whales, they spray milk into their baby’s mouth because the baby has no lips to suck. After a few months, the pup can look for its own food. It stays with its mother for about six years.

==What are the biggest threats to dolphins?==

The biggest danger to dolphins is fishing nets. They can get stuck in them and drown. Mostly the fishermen don’t want to catch dolphins, but tuna. In some places like Japan, though, people eat dolphin meat. Other dolphins die because people catch them. They don't survive being caught because of the way they are transported, or they die in captivity.

There are also soldiers who train dolphins to fight in the water or to find mines. Most dolphins are caught to serve as attractions in zoos. A natural danger is the depth of the water or mud on the ocean floor. Mud prevents dolphins from receiving their own echoes. As a result, they get washed up on land. Their natural predators are orcas and sharks. Also, dolphins can catch diseases or get infected by fungi.

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Demonstration

2020-01-28T01:33:54Z

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[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 183-1989-1106-405, Plauen, Demonstration vor dem Rathaus.jpg|thumb|This demonstration in Germany helped to bring down the Berlin Wall in 1989.]]

During a demonstration, a lot of people gather together to say that they are for or against something. With a demonstration, they want to influence others. Someone who demonstrates is called a demonstrator.

In a democracy, you can organize a demonstration but you have to tell the government that this demonstration is going to happen. Another rule is that the demonstrators are not allowed to bring weapons.

If rules are not abided by, then the police can stop the demonstration. This happens mainly if a demonstration turns violent or demonstrators start destroying things.

A well-known demonstration happened in Germany in 1983, where around 500,000 people demonstrated against new missiles. In 1989, about half a million people from the GDR demonstrated for freedom of speech in Berlin. In Austria, in 1993 about 300,000 people demonstrated to say that immigrants should be treated equally.

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Carnivorous plant

2020-01-28T01:30:06Z

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[[File:Dionea in action.jpg|thumb|A Venus Flytrap: It caught a fly with its leaves. You can still see the head of the fly]]

Carnivorous plants don’t really eat meat. However, they catch insects or small spiders, because there aren't enough nutrients for them in the soil. There are over 600 different types of these plants.

Carnivorous plants grow everywhere in the world, except for Antarctica. They need more sun and water than other plants, so there aren't as many in the rainforest or the desert. They grow in soil that is too acidic or doesn't have enough nutrition for other plants, such as swamps. Otherwise, carnivorous plants wouldn't stand a chance against other plants, because carnivorous plants grow rather slowly.

Carnivorous plants have traps for small animals or insects. An insect falls into a kind of hollow space made of leaves. It can't get out because the walls are so smooth. Other carnivorous plants have sticky places that the prey gets stuck on.

<gallery>
File:Drosera capensis bend.JPG|
File:Flytrap.jpg|
</gallery>

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Border

2020-01-28T01:27:53Z

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A border is where something ends and something new begins. Usually, when you think of a border you think of a border between two different areas. That can be a border between two countries, for example, Germany and Austria.

If you travel from Germany to Austria, you cross an international border. You are not in the German territory anymore, where German laws apply, but in Austrian territory, where you need to follow Austrian rules. Germany and Austria are both part of the European Union. A lot of laws apply to both countries. People can easily travel between both countries.

On other borders, the state watches who or what crosses the border. Maybe criminals are trying to escape from the police. In foreign countries, the police can't chase them anymore, unless they ask the police in the other country for help. Many states don't want goods to get in without being regulated because in some countries, goods are cheaper than in others. Meat is cheaper in Germany than in Switzerland. If you bring a big amount of meat from Germany to Switzerland, you need to pay for customs.

==How can you recognize a border?==
[[File:Border Mexico USA.jpg|thumb|The border between the USA and Mexico. On the right hand side you see the Mexican city Tijuana, on the left hand side the US-American side.]]
There are borders that are so well protected that you cannot miss them, for example, the US-Mexico border. This border has big fences and at some points, it is fortified with walls. This is because many people from Mexico would like to get into the US. The Soviet Union was also well protected but in a different way. Their borders were there to keep people inside the country.

It is common that there is a street that crosses the border, but these streets have barriers and you have to pass through a checkpoint to enter the other country. Oftentimes, you need to show your passport.

An officer might ask you if you have anything in your belongings worth mentioning. If so, you might have to pay a bill for these objects. It is also possible that you need a visa to cross a border. A visa is a paper that allows a person to travel to another country, for example, for three months, then you have to leave again.

The German phrase "Grüne Grenze" (Green Border) means a border that is in nature. If you look on a map, you can see the border, in real life, you can’t see the border.

Often there is a landscape feature that makes borders more visible, like rivers and mountains. For example, the Rhine in Germany is a massive river that separates Germany from France. There are also borders that are on the sea. These borders belong to nearby countries. But lots of countries argue about these borders because they are unsure about where the borders lie.

[[Category:Articles]]

Blue whale

2020-01-28T01:18:59Z

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[[File:Anim1754 - Flickr - NOAA Photo Library.jpg|thumb|A blue whale from above. You can only see its back in this picture.]]
[[File: Image-Blue Whale and Hector Dolphine Colored.jpg|thumb|A blue whale in comparison to a human and a dolphin.]]

The blue whale is the biggest animal on Earth. Like all other whales, it is a mammal. It can grow to 33 meters in length and can weigh 200 tons. The heart itself already weighs as much as a small car (600 to 1000 kilograms) and pumps 100 liters of blood through its body.

Like other whales, the blue whale has to breathe every couple of minutes. When it breathes it releases a giant spurt of water, like a geyser, that's called blow. The blow can tower up to nine meters in the air.

Blue whales live in all seas. They migrate to warmer areas during winter and colder areas during summer. In colder areas, blue whales find a lot of little shrimp and plankton. A different word for the little shrimp is krill. Blue whales eat 3 to 4 tons of them per day and build up large fat reserves. Blue whales need this fat because they don't eat during winter.

Blue whales cannot chew their food, because they don't have teeth. Instead, they have a substance called baleen. Baleen works like a filter that keeps everything edible in the whale's mouth.

When blue whales search for food, they swim very slowly, like a human going on a walk. When they swim longer distances they go as fast as 30 mph. Male blue whales usually travel alone, and females travel in groups with other females and their kids.

Blue whales reach sexual maturity after 5 to 6 years. The blue whale mother carries her babies in her belly for up to 11 months. When the babies are born, they are about 7 meters long and they weigh about 2.5 tons. That's about as heavy as a heavy car. The mother feeds the calf for about 7 months. Then it is about 13 meters long.

[[Category:Articles]]

Asia

2020-01-28T01:11:31Z

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[[File:Asien-klein.png|thumb|Map of Asia]]
[[File: Mount Everest as seen from Drukair2 PLW edit.jpg|thumb|The highest mountain on earth: Mount Everest]]

Asia is the biggest continent in the world and has the highest population: 4 billion people, that’s almost two-thirds of the world. China and India alone have more than 1 billion inhabitants. The biggest country on Earth, Russia, is mostly in Asia. In the west, Asia [[border]]s [[Europe]] and in the southwest it borders [[Africa]]. If you take the water route going southeast you will get to Australia.

The biggest mountain in the world, Mount Everest is in the Himalayan mountain range. It is 8848 meters (29,029 ft) tall. The Aral Sea was once the third-largest sea until the people pumped too much water out. Lake Baikal is 1642 meters (5,387 ft) deep. Usually, only oceans are that deep. The Dead Sea is particularly far below the sea level, even though it is not that deep itself.

The word “Asia” comes from the Assyrian language and means “Sunrise”. The Assyrians were a very large culture in the near east. Other big cultures were the Indus civilization in today’s India and China. Asia doesn’t only have densely populated areas but also deserts like the Gobi Desert. Through the Gobi Desert runs a piece of a trade route from Asia to Europe.

[[Category:Articles]]

Arctic

2020-01-21T20:52:39Z

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People call the Arctic the area around the North Pole, it is the point that lies furthest to the north. While the South Pole lies on the continent Antarctica, the North Pole only consists of water. The Arctic Ocean is frozen throughout the whole year.

It's hard to say exactly were the Arctic is located. A lot of researchers think that there is a Pacific border: The Arctic ends where even in July it doesn't get hotter than 10 degrees Celsius. That is about as cold as a fall day in Germany. The border doesn't only go through the Pacific Ocean, but also part of North America, Europe and Asia.

In the Arctic it gets really cold. There is snow almost everywhere, but only in the southern part of the Arctic the snow and the ice melt away in the summer. There is only a small number of plants in the Arctic and there are also not many animals or humans.

For a long time, people in Europe didn't know about the Arctic until around the 19th century people started to venture further north with sleds and boats. In 1909, a group of North Americans claimed that they reached the North Pole. You cannot prove that this happened though. But in 1937 a Russian explorer flew to the Arctic and he landed. This was the first time that people knew that someone went to the Arctic.

Global warming is strongly affecting the Arctic; a lot of ice is melting there. Because of that the sea level is rising all over the world. A lot of small ice chunks are floating all over the water. That makes it a lot harder for polar bears and their cubs to move around freely on the ice. The global warming also affects a lot of other animals.

[[Category:Articles]]

Africa

2020-01-21T20:49:01Z

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[[File: Africa satellite plane.jpg|thumb|Africa as seen from space.]]

Africa is the second biggest continent in the world. Africa is situated south of Europe. The Atlantic Ocean borders it in the West, the Indian Ocean in the East. The first people probably came from Africa, that is why the continent is also called the cradle of humanity.

Along the Nile, the longest river in Africa, the Egyptian kingdom was created over 5000 years ago. A lot of other groups in Africa were small and had no writing. That is why we know very little about the original story of Africa.

Near the end of the Middle Ages, European countries started to conquer areas of Africa. In the beginning, they only succeeded along the coast. Throughout the 19th century, almost all of Africa had been colonized by European countries. That changed from 1920 through 1960. Since then, most countries in Africa were free but mostly very poor. In Africa, there are 55 countries that are independent.

When you look at Africa you see three parts. The North is mainly the Sahara Desert. The Arabs and the Berbers and most of the people believe in Islam. The middle of Africa belongs to the Tropics and has a rainforest. It is warm and moist there. The people there have a dark skin color and believe in Christianity or an African religion. There is more desert in the south or colder places. Some of the people who live here are families from Europe or Asia.

==What are the outer points of Africa?==
[[File:STS054 STS054-94-32-north-south orientation-.jpg|thumb|This satellite picture shows the westernmost point, called Cap-Vert]]
The northernmost point of Africa is the Ras al Abiad in Tunisia. It is located about 11 kilometers (6.8 miles) west of the city Bizerte. The whole landscape is also called “White Cape”, the land here is flat.

The easternmost point of Africa is the cliff cape Guardafui. That is ancient Italian for “look and escape!” In ancient times, people called it “Elephant cap”. It is located in Somalia. The whole area is also called “The Horn of Africa”.

The southernmost point of Africa is Cape Agulhas. At least, if you look at it closely enough. The name is Portuguese for “Cape of the Needles”, that probably comes from a lot of coral reefs and cliffs. The southernmost point is called the Cape of Good Hope. That is the cliff that is located more to the west. The first sailor that went around this cape was Portuguese, he was called Bartolomeo Diaz. He named the cape “cape of the storms”.

The westernmost point of Africa is the Cap-Vert or the “Green Cape”, it is located on a peninsula together with Dakar in Senegal. The ground there is lava rock and only a little sand that the wind brought there. That is why there are not a lot of plants there.

[[Category:Articles]]

Antisemitism

2020-01-21T20:43:32Z

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[[File:Berlin.Gestapo Museum 024.JPG|thumb|An antisemitic poster from 1941.]]

Antisemitism is enmity against Jews. Those who are anti-Semites think that Jews are evil people. Some anti-Semites only have a bad opinion of Jews; other anti-Semites demand that Jews should be killed.

The term antisemitism comes from the word "Semite". According to the Bible, Noah had three sons. One of them was called Sem, and he allegedly became the ancestor of the Jews. In linguistics, the term "Semitic" is known in certain languages: in addition to the Hebrew of the Jews, this is also Arabic, for example. "Anti" is a Greek word that means "against".

People have held prejudices against Jews since the Middle Ages. Their opinion was that Jews are not tolerant of other gods because the Jews only wanted to recognize one god. In the Middle Ages, Jews were accused of not being Christians. The Jews had different customs and laws.

Antisemites have said that Jews poison wells, and that they kidnap and drink the blood of children. These rumors are false.

After the 18th century another reason to be against Jews was added. People claimed that Jews were an entirely different species and that they were dangerous as they wanted to rule the world. This type of antisemitism is called racial antisemitism. One of the most famous antisemites was Adolf Hitler. His Nationalists governed Germany from 1933 till 1945. First, they started mistreating German Jewish people, then they murdered 6 million Jewish people all over Europe. This crime is known as the Holocaust.

[[Category:Articles]]

Antarctic

2020-01-21T18:11:17Z

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The Antarctic is the area around the South Pole. The area is made up of the ocean around the land, the Antarctic Ocean. The actual continent is named Antarctica and is almost one and a half times as big as Europe.

Almost the whole continent is covered with ice. That’s how the Antarctic is the biggest desert in the world. While the Antarctic is the southernmost area in the world, the Arctic is the northernmost part of the world. The southern Polar Circle, the area around the South Pole, is on the Antarctic continent.

==How did we learn about the Antarctic?==
[[File:Antarctica_6400px_from_Blue_Marble.jpg|thumb|The Antarctic in a satellite image]]

Already in antiquity and in the Middle Ages, scientists suspected that there was land in the far south of the world. But they didn’t know what it looked like. They thought that if there was land in the north, there should be land in the south to balance the world out.

Only after sailors had already circumnavigated Africa, America and Australia, did Europeans dare to travel very far to the south. In the year 1820 they saw the cost of the Antarctic. In 1911, the group of Roald Amundsen was the first to reach the South Pole. Around 15 years later, people started to explore the Antarctic with an airplane.

Now there are almost 100 stations where scientists work and live. Half of these stations are only used in the not so cold season. When it’s summer in the Antarctic, it’s winter in the northern part of the world. When it’s summer, its dark during daytime in the Antarctic.

==What does it look like in the Antarctic?==
It’s very cold in the Antarctic. In the middle of the continent people measured the temperature and it was 90 degrees below freezing. On average, the temperature is minus 55 degrees. Along the coast, the average temperature in the winter is minus 18 degrees, and in the summer around 0 degrees. Because it’s so cold in the winter, almost the whole land and part of the ocean is covered with ice. On average, the ice is 2000 meters thick. Only on the coast, there are some areas that is not covered in ice. There are a lot of snowstorms in the middle of the continent.

==Do animals live in the Antarctic?==
There aren’t many animals in the Antarctic. They only have very few plants to live off of. Other than a few seaweeds and moss, not many plant species are known. Above all, the interior of the continent is a desert in which only very small animals can survive.
On the coast and the islands you can often see birds. The best known are the penguins, who can swim but can’t fly. They come ashore to hatch their eggs. There are also seals on the coast. These include the leopard seal and the sea elephant. More life can be found in the sea: many fish, but also whales.

==What is the Antarctic Ocean like?==
The Antarctic Ocean is the sea around the Antarctic land. The border runs where the cold water meets the warmer waters of the Atlantic, the Pacific, and the Indian Ocean. This limit shifts depending on the season and lies between the 40th and the 60th latitude. The Antarctic ocean has different names: the southern ocean, the Antarctic ocean, or the southern ice sea.

In the winter many things freeze. This ice is called "pack ice". The sea is very deep, 5805 meters. In the sea there is less and less salt, because a lot of ice melts and this fresh water gets into the sea. In addition to the mainland, there are several larger and smaller islands. The Antarctic Ocean does a lot to stop climate change. It traps a lot of heat that brings the current to the mainland. It also traps a lot of CO2: the plankton come to get the CO2. When the plankton die they sink to the sea floor. The bacteria turn them in to dirt but the CO2 stays at the bottom of the sea. The most important creatures are tiny shrimp called krill. They eat plankton. Many animals eat krill like wales. In the Antarctic Ocean there is already pollution even though pretty much no one lives there: in the Ocean there is micro-plastic. The current takes the microplastic to the beaches. That hurts plants and animals a lot. The scientists thought until now that the Antarctic ocean would not be polluted.

[[Category:Articles]]

Africa

2020-01-21T17:39:35Z

Mie:

[[File: Africa satellite plane.jpg|thumb|Africa as seen from space.]]

Africa is the second biggest continent in the world. Africa is situated south of Europe. The Atlantic Ocean borders it in the West, the Indian Ocean in the East. The first people probably came from Africa, that is why the continent is also called the cradle of humanity.

Along the Nile, the longest river in Africa, the Egyptian kingdom was created over 5000 years ago. A lot of other groups in Africa were small and had no writing. That is why we know very little about the original story of Africa.

Near the end of the Middle Ages, European countries started to conquer areas of Africa. In the beginning, they only succeeded along the coast. Throughout the 19th century, almost all of Africa had been colonized by European countries. That changed from 1920 through 1960. Since then, most countries in Africa were free but mostly very poor. In Africa, there are 55 countries that are independent.

When you look at Africa you see three parts. The North is mainly the Sahara Desert. The Arabs and the Berbers and most of the people believe in Islam. The middle of Africa belongs to the Tropics and has a rainforest. It is warm and moist there. The people there have a dark skin color and believe in Christianity or an African religion. There is more desert in the south or colder places. Some of the people who live here are families from Europe or Asia.

==What are the outer points of Africa?==
[[File:STS054 STS054-94-32-north-south orientation-.jpg|thumb|This satellite picture shows the westernmost point, called Cap-Vert]]
The northernmost point of Africa is the Ras al Abiad in Tunisia. It is located about 11 kilometers (6.8 miles) west of the city Bizerte. The whole landscape is also called “White Cape”, the land here is flat.

The easternmost point of Africa is the cliff cape Guardafui. That is Latin for “look and escape!” In ancient times, people called it “Elephant cap”. It is located in Somalia. The whole area is also called “The Horn of Africa”.

The southernmost point of Africa is Cape Agulhas. At least, if you look at it closely enough. The name is Portuguese for “Cape of the Needles”, that probably comes from a lot of coral reefs and cliffs. The southernmost point is called the Cape of Good Hope. That is the cliff that is located more to the west. The first sailor that went around this cape was Portuguese, he was called Bartolomeo Diaz. He named the cape “cape of the storms”.

The westernmost point of Africa is the Cap-Vert or the “Green Cape”, it is located on a peninsula together with Dakar in Senegal. The ground there is lava rock and only a little sand that the wind brought there. That is why there are not a lot of plants there.

[[Category:Articles]]