Kids News - Articles for Grades 2-3

Now celebrating its fifteenth year, The Best Illusion of the Year is a fun contest hosted by the Neural Correlate Society in collaboration with the Museum of Mind. The competition encourages scientists and artists to showcase their ingenuity and creativity by submitting their best illusion through a short video. Here are this year's top 3 illusions selected by fans from the top 10 finalists in an online vote on December 13, 2019....

Winter lovers, rejoice! Saturday, December 21, 2019, is the winter solstice — the astronomical start of the chilly season for residents of the Northern Hemisphere. Even more exciting, the longest night of 2019 will coincide with the peak of the Ursids meteor showers, giving fans ample time to view the spectacular shooting stars!...

Hanukkah is one of the most anticipated and joyous of all Jewish festivals. Although the celebration always begins on the 25th day of Kislev, the ninth month on the Hebrew calendar, that date can fall anywhere between late November and late December on the Gregorian calendar. This year, the eight-day festival will begin at sundown on December 22, 2019, and continue through December 30, 2019....

Time Inc.'s "Person of the Year" tradition began in 1927, when the magazine commemorated 25-year-old aviator Charles Lindbergh for the first nonstop solo flight across the Atlantic Ocean. Though the media franchise has since recognized several young people for their global influence, it has never given the important distinction to a teenager. But then again, few teens are as passionate about their mission as 2019's "Person of The Year"— 16-year-old Swedish climate change activist Greta Thunberg....

It is often said that "a picture is worth a thousand words." That is certainly true of the mesmerizing images of fleeting moments of nature submitted by international ecologists and students for the British Ecological Society's (BES) annual photography competition. Here are a few of 2019's winning entries, announced on November 28, 2019....

While America's highest office — the presidency — remains elusive to women, Finland has just elected its third female premier. Even more impressive, 34-year-old Sanna Marin, who was sworn into office on December 10, 2019, is the youngest prime minister in Finland's history, and the world's youngest sitting government head. Prior to this, that honor belonged to New Zealand's Jacinda Ardern, who was 37 years old when she took office in October 2017....

While dogs openly demonstrate joy or displeasure through grins and grimaces, discerning a cat's emotions from its face is often hard, even for its owners. Now, researchers from Canada's University of Guelph assert that stoic as they may appear, cats also express emotions on their faces — one just has to learn how to interpret them!...

Every holiday season, Canada's WestJet airlines finds a unique way to bring Christmas cheer to hundreds of unsuspecting families. Past "miracles" have included surprising weary travelers with iPods, fulfilling extravagant Christmas wishes from passengers aboard two late-night flights, and reuniting loved ones living in different countries for the holidays. In 2019, the company decided to let customers determine if they wanted to keep the generous gift being offered to them or donate it to a family in need....

On December 7, 2019, David Datuna was admiring the modern and contemporary works of art on display from 200 of the world's leading galleries at Miami's Art Basel, when hunger pangs hit. Fortunately for the New York-based artist, there was a ripe banana just waiting to be eaten. The only problem? The tropical fruit stuck to the wall with duct tape was no ordinary banana — it was an art installation that had just been sold by Perrotin, an international art gallery, for $120,000!...