Kids News - Social Studies for Kids

On Tuesday, September 5, U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced that the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program will be terminated in six months and urged the U.S. Congress to pass replacement legislation before March 2018. The program, the result of a 2012 executive order by former President Barack Obama, shields young undocumented immigrants from deportation....

Scientists have long known that the world’s first flower bloomed between 250 million and 140 million years ago, during the Cretaceous period when dinosaurs dominated the earth. The single mutation was so successful that flowering plants, or Angiosperms, now make up almost 90% of all plant species, far outnumbering seed plants like conifers, that appeared on earth much earlier, between 350 million and 310 million years ago....

On Friday, August 25, Hurricane Harvey made landfall in Southern Texas as a Category 4 storm, leaving in its wake unprecedented damage and chaos. To make matters worse, the storm lingered around for days, dumping almost 52-inches of rain, breaking a 50-year record for tropical cyclone rainfall measured in a single place in the US....

Over a 100 million years ago, an 18-foot (5.48 meter) long, 2,500-pound (1,133 kg) pineapple-shaped dinosaur met an untimely death when it was swept away by a river in what is now Alberta, Canada. Fortunately for us, its body ended up situated back-first on the muddy floor of an old seaway. This helped preserve the ancient behemoth’s front half in such extraordinary 3-D detail that the armored dinosaur almost looks alive....

Hurricane Harvey, which began as a tropical depression in the Gulf of Mexico on Wednesday, August 23, rapidly escalated to a Category 4 storm as it made its way towards Southern Texas. As expected the powerful hurricane, which packed 130mph winds, made landfall near the city of Rockport on August 25 at about 10:00 pm local time, causing widespread destruction. Three hours later, it made a second landfall on the northeastern shore of Copano Bay, this time as a Category 3 storm with 125 mph winds!...

Utrecht, the fourth largest city in the Netherlands, is a cyclist’s dream. Unlike other urban areas that confine riders to tiny lanes, cyclists here get priority with dedicated “bicycle streets,” where cars are considered “guests,” as well as special bike tunnels and bridges. The city is also in the process of constructing the world’s biggest indoor parking lot for bikes at its central train station. However, the over 60 percent residents who use the two-wheelers as their primary mode of transportation are still frustrated because, like cyclists all over the world, they have to make constant stops at traffic lights....

Governments, corporations, and even individuals concerned about losing valuable data or photos in the event of a cataclysmic disaster can now rest easy thanks to the recently opened Arctic World Archive. Located 300-meters (984-feet) below the ground inside an abandoned coal mine in Svalbard, a Norwegian archipelago between mainland Norway and the North Pole, the “Doomsday Vault” is equipped to keep information safe in the event of a natural or man-made catastrophe....

When six-week-old Gavel arrived at the Government House, the official residence of the Governor of Queensland, in April 2016, everyone thought it would be for just a short period. The adorable purebred German Shepherd was, after all, being trained to become a Queensland Police Service (QPS) dog to help officials chase down criminals. Given that five members of his extended family are currently in the force, there was little doubt of his success....

Though most of you probably are well into your summer break, the astronomical season does not begin until June 20. Called summer solstice, it is the day when the North Pole is most inclined towards the sun, allowing residents of the Northern Hemisphere, to enjoy the longest day (and shortest night) of the year. Of course, the opposite is true for the Southern Hemisphere where residents will celebrate winter solstice and experience the shortest day (and longest night) of the year....