Space Facts

The Sun is over 300000 times larger than earth. More Sun facts. Halleys Comet was last seen in the inner Solar System in 1986, it will be visible again from Earth sometime in 2061 (get your camera ready). More comet facts. Venus is the hottest planet in our solar system with a surface temperature of over 450 degrees celcius. Many scientists believe that an asteroid impact caused the extinction of the dinosaurs around 65 million years ago. More asteroid facts. The Solar System formed around 4.6 billion years ago. More Solar System facts. The Moon appears to have more craters and scars than Earth because it has a lot less natural activity going on, the Earth is constantly reforming its surface through earthquakes, erosion, rain, wind and plants growing on the surface, while the moon has very little weather to alter its appearance. More Moon facts. Saturn isn't the only ringed planet, other gas giants such as Jupiter, Uranus and Neptune also have rings, they are just less obvious. Footprints and tyre tracks left behind by astronauts on the moon will stay there forever as there is no wind to blow them away. In 2006, astronomers changed the definition of a planet. This means that Pluto is now referred to as a dwarf planet. Learn more dwarf planet facts. Because of lower gravity, a person who weighs 100kg on earth would only weigh 38kg on the surface of Mars. The only planet that rotates on its side like a barrel is Uranus. The only planet that spins backwards relative to the others is Venus. Some of the fastest meteoroids can travel through the solar system at a speed of around 42 kilometres per second (26 miles per second). Check out more meteoroid facts or learn the difference between comets, asteroids and meteoroids. The first man made object sent into space was in 1957 when the Russian satellite named Sputnik was launched. Jupiter's 4 biggest moons are named Europa, Ganymede, Callisto and Io. More Solar System moon facts. It is because of the Sun & Moons gravity that we have high & low tides.

Fun Elephant Facts for Kids

Check out these interesting elephant facts and learn more about the biggest land mammal in the world. Elephants are unique animals that live in parts of Africa and Asia. Scroll down for more information.

There are two types of elephant, the Asian elephant and the African elephant (although sometimes the African Elephant is split into two species, the African Forest Elephant and the African Bush Elephant). Elephants are the largest land-living mammal in the world. Both female and male African elephants have tusks but only the male Asian elephants have tusks. They use their tusks for digging and finding food. Female elephants are called cows. They start to have calves when they are about 12 years old and they are pregnant for 22 months. An elephant can use its tusks to dig for ground water. An adult elephant needs to drink around 210 litres of water a day. Elephants have large, thin ears. Their ears are made up of a complex network of blood vessels which with regulating an elephants temperature. Blood is circulated through their ears to cool them down in hot climates. Elephants have no natural predators. However, lions will sometimes prey on young or weak elephants in the wild. The main risk to elephants is from humans through poaching and changes to their habitat. The elephants trunk is able to sense the size, shape and temperature of an object. An elephant uses its trunk to lift food and suck up water then pour it into its mouth. An elephants trunk can grow to be about 2 metres long and can weigh up to 140 kg. Some scientists believe that an elephants trunk is made up of 100,000 muscles, but no bones. Female elephants spend their entire lives living in large groups called herds. Male elephant leave their herds at about 13 years old and live fairly solitary lives from this point. Elephants can swim they use their trunk to breathe like a snorkel in deep water.
Elephants are herbivores and can spend up to 16 hours days collecting leaves, twigs, bamboo and roots.

Fun Cheetah Facts for Kids

Learn more about the cheetah by reading these fun cheetah facts. Cheetahs are part of the big cat family and while they cant climb trees, they can run faster than any other land animal. Read on for more interesting cheetah information.

The cheetah is the fastest land animal in the world. They can reach a top speed of around 113 km per hour. A cheetah can accelerate from 0 to 113 km in just a few seconds. Cheetahs are extremely fast however they tire quickly and can only keep up their top speed for a few minutes before they are too tired to continue. Cheetahs are smaller than other members of the big cat family, weighing only 45 60 kilograms. One way to always recognise a cheetah is by the long, black lines which run from the inside of each eye to the mouth. These are usually called tear lines and scientists believe they help protect the cheetahs eyes from the harsh sun and help them to see long distances. Cheetahs are the only big cat that cannot roar. The can purr though and usually purr most loudly when they are grooming or sitting near other cheetahs. While lions and leopards usually do their hunting at night, cheetahs hunt for food during the day. A cheetah has amazing eyesight during the day and can spot prey from 5 km away. Cheetahs cannot climb trees and have poor night vision. With their light body weight and blunt claws, cheetahs are not well designed to protect themselves or their prey. When a larger or more aggressive animal approaches a cheetah in the wild, it will give up its catch to avoid a fight.
Cheetahs only need to drink once every three to four days.

Fun Whale Facts for Kids

Whales are huge, warm-blooded, air breathing mammals that live in the sea. There are many different species including the blue whale, killer whale, humpback whale, orca and minke. Learn more about whale conservation, their habitat, migration and other interesting information with our fun whale facts.

Many whales are toothless. They use a plate of comb-like fibre called baleen to filter small crustaceans and other creatures from the water. There are 79 to 84 different species of whale. They came in many different shapes and sizes! A baby whale is called a calf. Whales form groups to look after calves and feed together. These groups are often made up of all female or all male whales. Whales that are found in both Northern and Southern hemisphere never meet or breed together. Their migration is timed so that they are never in breeding areas at the same time. The arched lower lip of a whale can often make it look like it is smiling! However, this isnt a real smile as the blubber in the head of the whale prevents the muscles of the face from reaching the surface. You can tell the age of a whale by looking at the wax plug in its ear. This plug in the ear has a pattern of layers when cut lengthwise that scientists can count to estimate the age of the whale. Whales love to sing! They use this as a call to mates, a way to communicate and also just for fun! After a period of time they get bored of the same whale song and begin to sing a different tune. Sometimes whales make navigation mistakes during migrations. Although they may have made the mistake days before, they dont realise it until they becoming stranded. Whales support many different types of life. Several creatures, such as barnacles and sea lice, attach themselves to the skin of whales and live there.

Earth Facts
Check out our range of fun planet Earth facts for kids and find interesting information about our world, including facts related to volcanoes, earthquakes, minerals, structures, gas and much more. Children will love the cool trivia, did you know facts and other interesting Earth info that will help them learn a thing or two along the way. Read on and enjoy learning about the amazing planet we live on.

Magma is the hot liquid rock under the surface of the Earth, it is known as lava after it comes out of a volcano. More volcano facts. Natural gas doesn't have an odour, strong smells are added to it by humans so it can be detected when there are leaks. More gas facts. Hawaii is moving towards Japan at the speed of 10cm a year. This is because they are on different tectonic plates. The worlds largest desert is the Sahara, it covers about one third of Africa! More desert facts for kids. Stretching out to an impressive length of 6696 kilometres (4160 miles) long, the Nile River is the longest river on earth. More Nile River facts, Amazon River facts, Mississippi River facts and other river facts. The volcanic rock known as pumice is the only rock that can float in water. Mt Everest is the highest mountain on earth, its peak reaches 8,848 metres (29028 feet) above sea level. Check out the highest mountains on each continent of the Earth. On average the Atlantic Ocean is the saltiest of Earths major oceans. More ocean facts. Earthquakes that occur out at sea can cause huge tsunamis capable of reaching land and endangering people. More tsunami facts. Metamorphic rocks are formed by extreme pressure and heat. Read more about metamorphic, igneous and sedimentary rocks, find information on rocks and minerals or check out our interesting fossil facts. The Earth isn't perfectly round, it is slightly flattened at the north and south poles. Learn about the polar regions with our Antarctica facts and Arctic facts. Scared of the Bermuda Triangle? Despite its reputation it is actually part of a common sailed shipping route. More Bermuda Triangle mystery facts. Scientists have the dated the Earth as being between 4 and 5 billion years old! The Amazon rainforest is the largest tropical rainforest on Earth. Enjoy more rainforest facts or learn about jungles. Talc is the softest mineral found on Earth, reaching just 1 on Mohs scale of hardness, it is often used to make talcum powder. The Great Barrier Reef in Australia is the largest living structure in the world. More Great Barrier Reef facts. The Niagara Falls are located on the border of the USA and Canada. More Niagara Falls facts. Rock found at the bottom of the Grand Canyon is around 2 billion years old. More Grand Canyon facts. Although earthquakes can be deadly, most are very small and not even felt by humans. More earthquake facts.

Chemistry Facts
Read some fun chemistry facts for kids and find out more about atoms, elements, gases, liquids, solids, experiments, cool chemicals and much more. Children will love the did you know facts and other interesting chemistry information that will help them learn a thing or two along the way.

Hydrogen is the first element on the periodic table. It has an atomic number of 1. It is highly flammable and is the most common element found in our universe. More hydrogen facts. Liquid nitrogen boils at 77 kelvin (196 C, 321 F). More nitrogen facts. Around 1% of the suns mass is oxygen. More oxygen facts. Helium is lighter than the air around us so it floats, that's why it is perfect for the balloons you get at parties. More helium facts. Carbon comes in a number of different forms (allotropes), these include diamond, graphite and impure forms such as coal. More carbon facts, diamond facts, and coal facts. Under normal conditions, oil and water do not mix. More oil facts. Although it is still debated, it is largely recognized that the word 'chemistry' comes from an Egyptian word meaning 'earth'. The use of various forms of chemistry is believed to go back as long ago as the Ancient Egyptians. By 1000 BC civilizations were using more complex forms of chemistry such as using plants for medicine, extracting metal from ores, fermenting wine and making cosmetics. Things invisible to the human eye can often be seen under UV light, which comes in handy for both scientists and detectives. Humans breathe out carbon dioxide (CO2). Using energy from sunlight, plants convert carbon dioxide into food during a process called photosynthesis. Chemical reactions occur all the time, including through everyday activities such as cooking. Try adding an acid such as vinegar to a base such as baking soda and see what happens! Above 4 C, water expands when heated and contracts when cooled. But between 4 C and 0 C it does the opposite, contracting when heated and expanding when cooled. Stronger hydrogen and oxygen bonds are formed as the water crystallizes into ice. By the time it's frozen it takes up around 9% more space. Often formed under intense pressure over time, a crystal is made up of molecules or atoms that are repeated in a three dimensional repeating pattern. Quartz is a well known example of a crystal. Athletes at the Olympic Games have to be careful how much coffee they drink. The caffeine in coffee is a banned substance because it can enhance performance. One or two cups are fine but they can go over the limit with more than five. (update - as of 2004 caffeine has been taken back off the WADA banned list but its use will be closely monitored to prevent future abuse by athletes.)

Computer Facts
Enjoy some great computer facts and interesting information about these amazing devices which play such an important role in our modern day lives. Learn about parts of the computer such as the RAM, ROM and CPU as well as fun info about how we use computers to make our lives easier and more enjoyable.

Early electronic computers, developed around the 1940s, were the size of a large room and consumed huge amounts of electrici ty. They were vastly different to the modern computers we use today, especially when compared to small and portable laptop computers. Computers are programmed to carry out instructions. These instructions are usually very simple and require adding numbers together, moving data from one place to another etc. A computer program can include as little as a few instructions to upwards of millions of instructions depending on the complexity of the program. Modern applications such as word processors, web browsers and graphic editors take large teams of programmers a long time to complete. A computers memory stores numbers in huge amounts of cells that are addressed and can be quickly accessed by the CPU to perf orm calculations. There are two main types of computer memory, ROM (read only memory) and RAM (random access memory). ROM contains prewritten software and data that the CPU can only read, while RAM can be accessed and written to at any time. Computers interact with a number of different I/O (input/output) devices to exchange information. These peripheral devices include the keyboard, mouse, display, hard drive, printer and more. Computers are used to help link the world in the form of networks. Networked computers allow users to share and exchange data that is stored in different locations. You may have heard of a local area network (LAN) or wide area network (WAN) which connects areas of various sizes. The Internet is a vast network of computers spanning the globe that allows users to access email, the World Wide Web and other applications. Although we normally think of computers as the ones we use in our everyday lives to surf the web, write documents etc, small computers are also embedded into other things such as mobile phones, toys, microwaves and MP3 players. We use computers all the time, often without even knowing it!

Internet Facts
Learn some great Internet facts and interesting information about the World Wide Web. Whats the difference between the Internet and the World Wide Web? Find out this and many more fun technology fact for kids.

Although the World Wide Web is often referred to as the Internet, the two are not the same thing. The Internet is a huge network of networks that links computers together all over the world using a range of wires and wireless technologies. The World Wide Web is the collection of linked pages that are accessed using the Internet and a web browser.

English physicist Sir Tim Berners-Lee is regarded as having invented the World Wide Web in 1989. Since then he has continued the development of web standards and other web related projects. Website addresses such as http://www.sciencekids.co.nz are known by the term Uniform Resource Locater (URL). The domain name system of the Internet includes top level domains such as .com, .info, .net, .org, .edu, .mil and .gov as well as country specific domains and more. As well as the World Wide Web, the Internet is used for such application as email, file sharing, online chat, phone and video calls, online gaming and more. Thanks to the increasing accessibility of the Internet, the popularity of the web has exploded over the last 10 years. The web is now used for a number of different purposes including online shopping, social networking, games, news, travel information, business, advertising and much more. Social networking websites such as Facebook, Google+ and Twitter have become popular over the last few years. People now spend a large amount of their time online keeping in touch with each other through these applications and services. Security and privacy concerns have always been a problem on the Internet with many people often unaware of the potential risks they take when inputting confidential data, passwords and personal information into various websites. Viruses and spam emails are other sources over security concerns which frequently cause disruptions and headaches for users of the web. One of the best and most common ways of finding information on the web is through the use of search engines such as Google and Bing. Google is currently the most popular search engine, receiving hundreds of millions of search queries every day.