Kids News - Articles with 200-400 Words

Travis Gienger did not have much hope for a pumpkin he planted in April 2022. The 42-year-old horticulture teacher from Anoka, Minnesota, had accidentally dropped a bucket of dirt on the plant when it was just five days old! But the mishap did not seem to impact the gourd. "Maverick" — nicknamed after the main character in Top Gun — grew to an astounding 2,560 pounds....

On October 25th, 2022, Rishi Sunak replaced Lizz Truss as Britain's Prime Minister (PM). The country's third leader in less than two months is a man of many firsts. He is the first non-white and first Indian-origin PM. At 42, Sunak is also the youngest British leader in over 200 years. With an estimated family net worth of £730 million ($840 million), Sunak is the richest-ever British PM....

Every fall, families across the Northern Hemisphere rush to pumpkin patches in search of the perfect gourds. Some use them to carve out scary jack-o'-lanterns. Others place the fruits outside their homes as decor. But the fascination with pumpkins ends after Halloween, and most end up in the trash....

Every winter, Alaskan fishers head out to the Bering Sea to harvest snow crabs. However, on October 10, 2022, officials announced that the 2022/2023 snow crab season had been canceled due to a sharp decline in their population. Ocean surveys indicate that the number of snow crabs has shrunk from an estimated 11.9 billion in 2018 to about 1.9 billion in 2022....

The Sun is getting excited about Halloween as well! On October 26, 2022, NASA's Solar Dynamic Observatory (SDO) caught the fiery star sporting a cheerful "smile." However, don't be fooled by the friendly "jack-o'-lantern" look. It could trigger a mild solar storm on Earth on October 29, 2022....

Few countries celebrate Halloween as enthusiastically as the United States (US). Children and adults spend months — and millions of dollars — looking for the perfect costume. Many families decorate homes and front yards with spooky skeletons and jack-o-lanterns. How did all these fun customs begin? Read on....

Electric cars are a great way to reduce our carbon footprint. But French car maker Citroën believes more can be done to make vehicles sustainable. On September 29, 2022, the company unveiled Oli, a concept electric car that can be "reused or recycled throughout ownership."...

In 1905, water from the Colorado River broke through an irrigation canal and flooded a dry lake bed called the Salton Sink in Southern California. The flooding continued for two years, creating a pristine 400-square-mile lake. The Salton Sea, as it was called, became an instant vacation hotspot. Its sandy beaches and warm water drew millions of visitors every year. Filled with fish from the Colorado River, it also drew migratory birds looking for food in the desert....

Dutch artist Johannes Vermeer (1632-1675) is among the most admired painters of his era. His most well-known work, Girl with a Pearl Earring, has even been nicknamed the "Dutch Mona Lisa." But Vermeer completed surprisingly few pieces — no more than 60 in total — during his lifetime, only 36 of which are still around. A recent discovery by the National Gallery of Art (NGA) in Washington, DC, has reduced the already paltry number even further....