Why was the Eiffel tower built?

The Eiffel Tower is a huge tower in Paris, France.  It was built for the Paris Universal Exhibition (a world’s fair), held in that city in 1889.

The tower, named for its designer, Alexander Eiffel, was intended to be the symbol and main attraction of the fair, just as most world’s fairs have one structure to symbolize the particular fair.

When the fair ended, the tower was left standing.  Today it is the most famous landmark of the French capital.

The tower rises 984 feet in the air and contains 7,000 tons of iron and steel.  At the time it was built, it was taller than anything else anyone had ever built.  Now the Empire State Building is nearly 300 feet higher than the Eiffel Tower.

If you take an elevator to the top, you can see all over Paris.  You will also find a restaurant in the tower, as well as a weather station.  There is a tall TV antenna on top that sends programs al over the city. – Dick Rogers

Why do sunsets look red?

During the evening, when the sun is near the horizon we may see a beautiful sunset.  The reds and oranges of a sunset are caused by the filtering action of the sky.

Sunlight, as we know, is made of many colors.  We can see the colors that make up sunlight when we look at a rainbow.  As sunlight passes through the atmosphere, the different colors are scattered by the air.

During the day, when the sun is directly overhead, its rays do not have to travel through as much of the atmosphere to reach the earth.  The sunlight is scattered in such a way that we see more of the blue rays.  But at sunset, when the sun is low in the sky, the light rays must travel through much more of the earth’s atmosphere to reach the viewer.

As a result, the shorter blue rays are soon scattered out and we can see more of the longer orange and red rays of sunlight – and we have a reddish sunset.  The red color of sunrise is caused the same way. – Dick Rogers

How are rocks made?

Rocks are found almost everywhere.  Very small rocks are called sand.  Rocks bigger than sand have other names, like pebbles, or stone.  Big rocks are called boulders.  In fact, almost all the earth – the mountains and the ground itself – is made of rock.

Rocks are made of minerals.  A few are made of just one mineral, but most rocks are made of many minerals, of magma, that lies under the earth’s crust.  As the magma pushes to the surface of the earth.  It cools and hardens into such rocks as granite, basalt and lava.

Some rocks are formed from bits and pieces of older rocks that pile up in layers and harden into rocks we know as sandstone and limestone.  Still other rocks began as one kind of rock and later were changed into other kinds of rocks.  Some limestone, for example, was changed by hear and pressure deep down in the earth into marble.

What makes a waterfall?

On its way to the sea, a river or stream may plunge over a steep cliff.  If it does, there is a waterfalls in mountains than anywhere else.  Many waterfalls were caused when ancient glaciers of earthquakes created a sharp-edged cliff in the path of a stream or river.  

Often, waterfalls are caused as the river carves away at the riverbed as it flows downstream.  Over the years, a softer place in the riverbed wears down and becomes a steep cliff.

Giant waterfalls are called cater acts.  Where the water does not drop straight down, but rushes down steep slopes instead, it is called a cascades.  If a riverbed slopes even less steeply, it is often called a rapids.  

As far as anyone knows, the highest waterfalls in the world is Angel Falls in Venezuela.  It is a silvery ribbon of falling water that plunges over 3,000 feet down the face of a cliff. – Dick Rogers

How does a blimp stay in the air?

A blimp is an airtight bag that is able to rise in the air because it is filled with light gases.  A blimp is a small, balloon-like airship.  Unlike the heavier-than-air airplane, the blimp remains aloft because it is lighter than air.  

It needs only small motors to push it forward.  Blimps are descendants of the simple balloon. The blimp's lift comes from a lighter-than air gas that raises the blimp in the same way a balloon is lifted.

A balloon rises because the gas inside the balloon is much lighter than the air round it, and so it floats in the atmosphere, in much the same way a ship floats on water.  The gas inside the blimp expands and fills out the blimp.  Its gasbag has no framework inside, and collapses when the gas is taken out.

Some airships, such as the dirigible, have an inside framework that supports the sides, and do not depend on the pressure of the lifting gas to maintain their shape.  During World War II, blimps protected ships by spotting enemy submarines.  

They were also used for observation, photographing enemy positions and for rescues at sea and on land.  Today, blimps with signs painted on their sides are used mostly for advertising and sightseeing. – Dick Rogers

What were the Egyptian pyramids built for?

The Egyptian pyramids were built as tombs for ancient Egyptian kings.  Perhaps the first thing you would look for if you visited the United Arab Republic would be the ancient Egyptian pyramids near the Nile river.  

Each pyramid was build as a tomb to protect the body of an Egyptian king.  The Egyptian thought that a man’s body had to be protected and preserved so his soul could live forever.

When a king died, the people “mummified” (dried and wrapped) his body and buried it in a secret chamber deep inside an enormous pyramid, built of stone blocks to last a long time.  

It was built large to tell the world how great the king was.  Many treasures of gold and precious objects were buried with the king so that his spirit could enjoy them. Food and other necessities wee also put in the pyramid for the king in his future life.  

After the king’s mummy was placed in the pyramid, the inner passages were blocked. It took millions of stones to build a big pyramid.  Many of the blocks weighed more than a ton apiece.  A big pyramid meant the work of thousands of slaves for many years. – Dick Rogers

What causes thunder?

Thunder occurs when a flash of lightning heats the air in its path.  The heated air expands, for wing a sound wave which we hear as thunder.  What makes the loud clap of thunder that often follows a flash of lightning?  

Lightning is a big electrical spark.  During a thunderstorm, electrical charges are built up in the clouds.  If the charges become great enough, a flash of lightning occurs. As the lightning bolt jumps across the sky, it quickly heats the air in its path.  

The flash comes from a hot glowing gas in the lightning channel.  The heated air quickly expands outward as violently as if there had been an explosion.  This causes a great wave of air (or sound wave) which we hear as thunder.

Each part of the zigzag bolt causes an air wave, so you often hear, thunder as a short, sharp clap followed by a series of rumbles set up by the part of the lightning bold that is farthest away.  Thunder crackles when lightning forks out into many branches.  It takes about five seconds for the sound of thunder to travel one mile. – Dick Rogers

How Did Badminton Get Its Name?

Badminton is a game somewhat like tennis, because in both games an object is hit over a net with rackets.  But the badminton racket is lighter than a tennis racket and a feathered shuttlecock, or “bird,” is hit instead of a tennis ball.

Badminton is a present-day version of an earlier and simpler game called “battledore and shuttlecock,” which was first played several hundred years ago in India and other Eastern countries.

A group of Englishmen brought it to England. It was played so much at a place in England called Badminton that it was named after this place.

The object of the game is to bat the shuttlecock from one player to the other without allowing it to fall to the ground or bounce as a tennis ball does.

A badminton shuttlecock is often called a “bird” because it has real feathers tied to a piece of cork.The feathers guide the shuttlecock when you hit it over the net.

The “bird” often used in badminton today has a plastic crown, instead of the old feather crown. – Dick Rogers