Tag Archives: Earth

Gardenia

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Gardenia

Named after a ‘Garden’.

  • Gardenia are small evergreen trees or shrubs, and grow between 1-15 meters (3.3-49 feet) tall.
  • 142 species have been discovered in the gardenia family.
  • Gardenia are native to Africa, Australasia and Oceania tropics.
  • Gardenias belong to the coffee plant family, ‘Rubiaceae’.
  • Gardenia flowers have a strong, pretty, sweet smell.

Gardenia, Australia, White Flowers, Pretty, Garden, Ten Random Facts

  • The gardenia flower is the national flower of Pakistan.
  • The gardenia was named after Dr Alexander Garden, a famous botanist, who was also a zoologist and physician.
  • The fruit of the gardenia is sometimes used in Chinese medicine.
  • If water touches gardenia flowers, the flowers will turn a coffee coloured brown.
  • Flowers of the gardenia are typically white or pale yellow.
Bibliography:
Gardenia 13 November 2012, Wikipedia, <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gardenia>

Niagara Falls

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Niagara Falls

Pretty but dangerous.

  • The Niagara Falls is a group of three waterfalls: the Horseshoe Falls, the American Falls and the Bridal Veil Falls and sits on the border of the US state of New York, and Ontario, Canada.
  • The Niagara Falls are very wide and at their highest point are 51 meters (167 feet) in height.  They are most significant due to the enormous volume of water that falls over the edge, on average approximately 110,000 m3 (4 million cubic feet) per minute.
  • The Niagara Falls produces large amounts of  hydroelectricity power for the surrounding cities.
  • The Niagara Falls erodes easily, and is estimated in 50,000 years there will be no falls at all.
  • The name ‘Niagara Falls’ is from the American-Indian tribe the Mohawks.

Niagara Falls, America, Ten Random Facts, Free Digital Photos, Ontario, Canada, waterfall,

Niagara Falls
Image courtesy of George Stojkovic/ Free Digital Photos
  • Fifteen people have intentionally gone over the falls; some jumped, some were protected by barrels; some died, some survived with injuries.
  • The first person to go over the Niagara Falls was a 63 year old school teacher from Michigan, Annie Edison Taylor, in October, 24, 1901, in a barrel.
  • A number of people have tight-roped over Niagara Falls, the first was Jean François ‘Blondin’ Gravelet.  Tight-roping and going over the falls is now banned and is illegal.
  • Niagara Falls as been featured in many movies, including ‘Superman II’.
  • In 2009, it was estimated 28 million people visited the Niagara Falls that year.
Bibliography:
Niagara Falls 31 December 2012 , Wikipedia, <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Niagara_Falls>

New Year’s Day

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New Year’s Day

Welcome to 2013 and have a refreshing, new year!

  • New Year’s Day is the first day of the first month, of every year.
  • New Year’s Day is officially celebrated on the first of January in most places around the world, due to it being the first day of the year on the widely used Gregorian calendar.
  • New Year’s Day is celebrated by having parades, going to sport matches, having parties and viewing fireworks.
  • New Year’s Day celebrations were widely celebrated in Rome on the first of January, earlier than 46 BC, which they had dedicated to the Roman god Janus, for the start of a new year.
  • It is said that in 1362, Ukraine, Lithuania and Belarus, started celebrating New Year’s Day as the first of January, although the Gregorian calendar was not created until 1582.

New YEars Day, Party, Wine, Champene,, Yellow Glen Jewel,confetti, Ten Random Facts

  • Thailand, in 1941, was the most recent country to officially celebrate New Year’s Day as the first of January.
  • One of the pacific islands of Kiribati, which is uninhabited, is the first to welcome New Year’s Day every year.
  • One unusual  New Year’s Day celebration is performed throughout Canada – a polar bear plunge.  People swim or plunge themselves in icy cold water, usually to raise money for special causes.
  • Babies born on New Year’s Day (first of January) are often called New Year babies.
  • It wasn’t until 1752 that England, Wales and parts of the United States adopted the first of January as the beginning of their new year. Prior to this, March 25 marked the beginning of a new year.
Bibliography:
New Year’s Day 30 December 2012, Wikipedia, <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Year’s_Day>

Christmas Tree

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“Oh Christmas tree, Oh Christmas tree!”

  • Traditionally, the Christmas tree symbolises the Christian belief of eternal life and was also thought to have been used in pre-Christian winter rites.
  • The original Christmas tree can be traced down to 15th-16th century, in early modern Germany and the first decorated trees were used in the years 1441, 1442, 1510, 1514, in the historic region of Livonia.
  • The Christmas tree is traditionally an evergreen tree which is normally pine or fir and were originally decorated with edible food.  The artificial Christmas tree was invented in Germany in the early 18th century and are now made in numerous shapes and sizes, using many different materials.
  • In the 18th century, candles were used to decorate Christmas trees which then led to electric lights being used.
  • In the 19th century, the Christmas tree tradition spread to many countries.  The first Christmas tree introduced in North America was in 1781 when Brunswick soldiers had a Christmas party.

Large, Outdoors, Christmas Tree, Shopping Center, Ten Random Facts

  • By the early 19th century, royalty started to take on the tradition of Christmas trees and since the 19th-20th century, Christmas trees have been used in churches. In the early 20th century, Christmas trees were being displayed in public at parks and streets.
  • In Russia the Christmas tree was banned not long after the October Resolution but the tree was introduced again, as the New Year fir tree, in 1935.
  • The traditional Christmas tree decorations are tinsel, baubles, Christmas lights, angel or star topper and sometimes homemade decorations, and public trees are often decorated with items and foods that wildlife like.
  • Approximately 33-36 million Christmas trees are produced per year in America and England produces 50-60 million per year.  By 1998, there were about 15,000 American growers of evergreen Christmas trees.
  • Between 2001-2007, Christmas tree sales in the United States went from 7.3 million sales up to a huge 17.4 million sales.
Bibliography:
Christmas tree 6 November 2012, Wikipedia, <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christmas_tree>

Grand Canyon

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Grand Canyon

Big, large and rocky!

  • The Grand Canyon is located in the state of Arizona, in the United States of America and has some of the cleanest air in the US.
  • The Grand Canyon is one of the natural wonders of the world and has been most notably carved by the flow of the Colorado River.
  • The Grand Canyon is 466 km (277 miles) in length, up to 1,800 meters (6,000 feet) deep, and in places up to 29 km (18 miles) in width.
  • The Grand Canyon was first discovered by Europeans in September, 1540.
  • The former United States president, Theodore Roosevelt, started the Grand Canyon National Park, which protects the wonder.

Grand Canyon, Top Side view, rocks, Free Digital Photos, Ten Random Facts

Grand Canyon
Image courtesy of Paul Martin Eldridge/Free Digital Photos
  • In the periods of 2003-2011, mining in the Grand Canyon was requested due to the large amount of uranium underground.
  • Temperatures at the Grand Canyon can reach up to 38°C (100°F) and can go as low as -18°C (0°F).
  • 1,737 species of plants and 34 mammals have been spotted or seen at the Grand Canyon.
  • On average, 5 million visitors visit the Grand Canyon every year.
  • Since the 1870s, 600 deaths have occurred at the Grand Canyon.  242 of those deaths were results of plane and helicopter crashes.
Bibliography:
Grand Canyon 8 December 2012, Wikipedia, <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Canyon>

Bushfire

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Bushfire

Hot, burning and destructive.

  • A bushfire is an out of control fire, which may have been deliberately lit, accidentally lit, or started by a natural cause.
  • Other names for  bushfires are wildfires, brush fires, forest fires, desert fires, grass fires, hill fires, vegetation fires and veldfires.
  • Bushfires occur on every continent except Antarctica.
  • In the United States of America, 60,000 – 80,000 bushfires typically occur every year.
  • The major natural bushfire starters are lightning, volcanic eruptions, rockfall sparks or, plainly, self heating.

Bushfire, Wildfire, Forest Fire, Fire, No leaves, trees, Ten Random Facts, Free Stock Photos

Bushfire
Image courtesy of Free Stock Photos
  • Bushfires are fuelled from vegetation which could be above or below the surface.
  • People help prevent bushfires spreading by clearing debris and vegetation.  A common form of clearing is back burning, where a controlled fire is burnt towards the fire threat to reduce the fuel load.
  • The smoke from bushfires normally contain carbon monoxide, sulphur dioxide and formaldehyde.
  • According to the Inquirer News, bushfires kill 339,000 people every year.
  • The worst bushfire recorded in the last 150 years was the Peshtigo fire in Wisconsin and Michigan in the US, killing at least 1200 people.
Bibliography:
Wildfire 6 December 2012, Wikipedia, <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wildfire>
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