Category archives for Culture
Posted by The National Museum of the Marine Corps invites kids in grades 3-12 to enter a poster contest celebrating World Geography Week. Those entering need to design a poster containing information on a location where a Marine might be stationed. There will be a winner selected from the elementary category (grades 3-6) and the secondary category (grades 7-12). The winning posters will be displayed a the Museum during National Geography Week, which is November 15-20.
The submissions deadline is November 5, 2010.
Learn more about the poster contest on the National Museum of the Marine Corps website.
Get the facts on countries around the world on National Geographic Kids.
Check out country profiles on National Geographic.
Today, October 13, is English Language Day, a day to celebrate the English language and the people who speak it. This year’s theme is the language of place. The English Project’s website is collecting nicknames for places in Great Britain.
Are there any fun nicknames for places where you live? Leave a comment and tell us!
Learn more about English Language Day on The English Project’s website.
Do you like word games? Play Dead Man’s Chest Hangman on National Geographic Kids!
A new exhibit opens at the National Geographic Museum today in Washington, D.C. The exhibit, Geckos: Tails to Toepads, features more than 70 live geckos from 18 different species. The visiting geckos arrived this week in plastic storage containers, packed in a large cooler for safety during their transport.
The geckos in the exhibit come in all shapes, sizes and colors, and different species have different personalities. Watch this behind-the-scenes video of a tokay gecko being released into its enclosure by zookeeper Colin Walker.
The geckos will be at National Geographic Headquarters through January 5, 2011.
Learn about the exhibit on the National Geographic Museum webpage.
Get the facts on geckos in the Creature Feature.
See more photos of the geckos featured in the exhibit on Nat Geo News Watch.
Photographs by Lyssa White
If you’re looking for something fun to do with your family this weekend, why not visit a local museum? This Saturday, September 25, is the sixth annual Museum Day.Visit the Museum Day website to print out a ticket. You and a guest will get free admission at participating museums.
Find a participating museum near you and print out a ticket on Smithsonian’s Museum Day website.
This Sunday, September 12, is National Grandparents’ Day. This holiday has been a national holiday since 1978. The day is all about celebrating grandparents! You can visit with them, make a card, play a game together, or if they live far away call them on the telephone.
Do you have a special nickname for your grandparents? How are you planning to celebrate Grandparents’ Day? Leave a comment below and tell us!
Create a card for your grandmother or grandfather! Learn how on National Geographic Kids.
Photograph by Stephen St. John
The wreck of the famous ocean liner R.M.S. Titanic was rediscovered by oceanographer and National Geographic Explorer-in-Residence Robert Ballard and photographer Emory Kristof on September 1, 1985. Last Wednesday marked the 25th anniversary of the find. New high-resolution pictures of the wreckage mark the anniversary.
The photographs were taken as part of Expedition Titanic. This expedition is using technology such as sonar imaging to virtually preserve the ship as it is now, and to estimate how long the wreck might last. In these pictures, people can get a good look at the decay of the wreck from “rusticles” and time.
See more pictures and learn about the wreck of the Titanic on National Geographic News.
Get to know Robert Ballard in this interview on National Geographic Kids.
Photograph courtesy Premier Exhibitions, Inc. and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
From July 26 to August 4, the Boy Scouts of America will celebrate their 100th anniversary! About 40,000 Scouts have convened for their centennial jamboree at Fort A.P. Hill near Fredericksburg, Virginia. There are plenty of outdoor activities at the jamboree–canoeing, rocket building with NASA, robot building with Lego, and mapping and photography tips from National Geographic!
Are you a Boy Scout or Girl Scout?
Visit the Boy Scouts online to learn more about the anniversary.
See more photos from the jamboree on National Geographic BlogWild.
Photograph courtesy of Ford Cochran
Spain may have won the 2010 FIFA World Cup, but the world is still talking about Paul.
Paul is a two-year old octopus living at Sea Life in Oberhausen, Germany and he was able to pick the winner for all of Germany’s matches, as well as the winner of the final between Spain and the Netherlands. Paul’s keepers put food into two clear boxes, each labeled with a competing country’s flag. Whichever box Paul opened first was predicted to win–and Paul was always right!
In honor of his achievement, Paul got his own tiny copy of the trophy as well. He is being retired from making predictions, but he can be visited at his home at Sea Life.
Read more about Paul on the Washington Post website.
How much do you know about the history of the World Cup? Quiz Your Noodle and find out.
Watch a video of an octopus squirting a curious bird on National Geographic Kids.
Photograph by Roberto Pfeil, AP Photo/dapd
Next week will be Kids Week on the TV game show Jeopardy!
(where
host Alex Trebek gives the answers, and contestants have to give him the
questions). Beginning on Monday evening, you can watch kids compete for
$15,000 and a trip with their families to Norway, Costa Rica, Mexico,
Alaska, or the Galápagos Islands.
On Wednesday, July 7,
Alex will present answers provided by National Geographic Kids!
How many of the
kids will be able to give the correct questions? Be sure to tune in to
find out!
After you have watched the show, post a
comment and
let everyone know how many of the questions you could answer.
Find out when Jeopardy! airs in your state on the Jeopardy! website.
Are you a trivia whiz? Check out the quizzes on National Geographic Kids.
The National Geographic Kids website has been nominated for a 2010 Webby Award! Grab your parents and ask if you can register and vote for NG Kids (kids.nationalgeographic.com), in the Website – Living – Youth category on the Webby Awards People’s Voice page.
Welcome to the Dog Bark Park Inn B&B
This doghouse isn’t just for the family pet. Sweet Willy is a 30-foot-tall (9 meters) beagle with guest rooms in his belly. Climb the wooden stairs beside his hind leg to enter the door in his side. You can relax in the main bedroom, go up a few steps to the loft in Willy’s head, or hang out inside his nose. Gotta “go?” Although you have a full private bathroom in your quarters, there’s also a toilet in the 12-foot-tall (3.6 meters) fire hydrant outside. You can find the Dog Bark Park Inn B&B in Cottonwood, Idaho.
Read about more of the world’s wackiest hotels in the February issue of National Geographic Kids magazine, on newsstands now.
Find out about cool vacation destinations on National Geographic Kids. http://kids.nationalgeographic.com/Stories/PeoplePlaces/Cool-vacations
The Global Bros stayed in some pretty cool locations during their year-long trip! Relive their adventure and read their blog. http://kidsblogs.nationalgeographic.com/globalbros/
Text adapted from the February 2010 issue of National Geographic Kids magazine
Photograph courtesy Dog Bark Park
The opening ceremony for the 2010 Winter Olympics tonight from Vancouver, British Columbia, kicks off over two weeks of winter sports competitions! Athletes from around the world will be compete in events such as skiing, figure skating, snowboarding, ice hockey, and more.
The spectacular opening ceremony welcome spectators and athletes to the 2010 Winter Games. Canadian culture will be featured in the performances tonight. The lighting of the Olympic Flame is the high point and symbolizes the official start of the Games.
The opening ceremony will be shown on NBC tonight at 7:30 p.m. Pacific Standard Time and at 10:30 p.m. Eastern Standard Time. See if you can stay up and watch!
Get information on your favorite events on the Vancouver Olympic Games website.
Check out the NG Kids GeoGames and try sports like the athletes will compete in: ice hockey, slalom skiing, and curling.
Photograph by Dale Matthews, Your Shot
Think big for a second. If you could do anything, what would you do? Google wants to know and is inviting K-12 students to get their creative imaginations working on what you’d do if you could do absolutely anything.
Your school must be registered by March 17 for you to be able to submit a design and all entries must be received by March 31.
Learn more about the Google 4 Doodle competition.
Feeling really artistic? Enter the Ocean Flag Design Contest on National Geographic Kids.
The world’s tallest building officially opened on Monday, January 4. The Burj Dubai, the tallest skyscraper in the world, is 200 stories tall and contains housing, offices, and a hotel. Standing at a height of over 800 meters (2,625 feet), the Burj Dubai stands about half a mile high. It will also be home to the highest swimming pool in the world!
Before the Burj Dubai, the tallest skyscraper in the world was the Taipei 101 in Taiwan. Taipei 101 is a little higher than 500 meters (about 1,640 feet).
Get more facts on the Burj Dubai from Reuters.
Quiz Your Noodle on inventions that changed the world on National Geographic Kids.
What an incredible year this has been! Take a look at these 9 lists recapping your favorite amazing videos, tips, games, and more from NG Kids in 2009.
President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama hosted their first State Dinner last night at the White House for Prime Minister Singh of India. To celebrate the visit, children of the Indian Embassy staff and Washington, D.C. public school students were invited to Blair House in Washington, D.C. for a “Taste of India.”
A young lady leads children and adults in performing a flying eagle, a hand gesture used in Indian dances.
Sesame Street‘s first episode aired on November 10, 1969. It was one of the first educational TV programs for kids. The idea behind Sesame Street was to help kids learn and to have fun while doing it. The show was specially directed towards inner-city kids who had fewer educational advantages. The Sesame Street set was designed to look familiar–it could be any street in New York City.
Today, 40 years later, kids are still watching Sesame Street, and in more countries than ever before. There are 140 different versions of Sesame Street broadcast around the world. Each edition is specially adapted reflect the lives and cultures of kids living in that area.
Do you watch Sesame Street, or did you when you were younger? Who is your favorite character?
Visit the Sesame Street website on PBS.
Learn more about Sesame Street around the world on National Geographic News.
Even Sesame Street is going green! Learn more on National Geographic News.
Photograph by Scott J. Ferrell/Congressional Quarterly/Alamy
San Francisco’s crooked Lombard Street was sugar coated this week to became a gigantic version of the board game Candy Land to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the game.
Photograph by Marcio Jose Sanchez/AP
On hand to play the game were kids from the University of California at San Francisco Children’s Hospital and several adults appeared in costumes of game characters, Princess Lolly,
Princess Frostine, and King Kandy.
National Geographic Kids Website has been nominated for a Webby Award! Grab your parents and cast your vote for NG Kids, kids.nationalgeographic.com, in the Website – Living – Youth category on the Webby Awards People’s Voice page.
Uh-oh! The groundhog saw its shadow this morning, which means six more weeks of winter are on the way. Tradition says that if Punxsutawney Phil sees his shadow on February 2, winter will last another six weeks. However, if Phil does not see his shadow, there will be an early spring.
Learn more about groundhogs, also known as woodchucks, on National Geographic.
Today is the Chinese New Year! According to the Chinese horoscope, each year is represented by a different animal. There are a total of 12 animals. This year is the Year of the Ox.
Find out which animal you are!
Learn more about China.
