Articles - Page 184 of 537 - Young World Club

Tools of the Trade

Every work needs a helper. Play this crossword to know who all help as what!

A hammer is used to put a nail in the wall. A needle helps you to sow. In today’s crossword, learn all about these helpers. See who does what.

Novel ideas

If you have a story to tell and don’t know how to get started, here’s a quick tip. The eight essentials of story writing are setting, characters, voice, plot, conflict, theme, tone and style.

If you want to write a story, here are eight basic steps to follow.

To get started you need to have a setting. It can be a physical or something based on time – past, present or future. Next, decide on the voice of your story. Are you writing this story in first-person or third-person or will there be several narratives?

Now conjure up your character or characters. They must be pertinent to the plot. Yes, the plot – it consists of the events in your story. You will have an introduction, a building up of excitement, a climax and the denouement.

But life is never that simple, is it? If everything were smooth sailing, it can get a bit boring. So, introduce a conflict, a challenge. This will hold the reader’s attention.

There are two other aspects that must be thought through. The first is the theme or the central argument. Why have you written this story? What is your belief, your idea, your insight? The second is the tone of your story. Tone is expressed by your choice of words, imagery, description and so on. Your style of writing also contributes to the tone. Concentrate on sentence structure, dialogues, similes, metaphors and so on.

Now that you are clued on to the basics of writing a story, try your hand at this fill in the blanks.

Who’s the deadliest of them all?

Click here to get to know some of the biggest and scariest dinosaurs to have ever lived!

It’s been a long time — 66 million years to be exact — since anyone saw a real-life dinosaur. But even though they are extinct, we do get a glimpse of them in movies. But how close is it to reality? What Hollywood has got right is the size of the dinosaur and how dangerous it was. However, there’s so much more. Here’s a glimpse of five deadly dinosaurs.

Allosaurus

Of all the predators, an Allosaurus — meaning ‘different lizard’ — despatched its prey in the most horrible way imaginable: by using its skull as an axe. Scientists have revealed that the Allosaurus would swing its skull with a heavy force, making other animals fall to its attack.

Interesting fact: With a bite force that was 30 times less a T-Rex’s force, an Allosaurus was still an equal match to other deadly dinosaurs not because of its tools but because of its technique.

Tyrannosaurus Rex

The name Tyrannosaurus Rex, also known as T-Rex, literally means “king of the tyrant lizards”. It was about 13 metres long and was one of the largest predators to have ever walked on Earth. True to its name, it used its massive size, dagger-like sharp teeth and a strong jawline to chomp down other animals, maintaining a reputation of being the deadliest of all.

Interesting fact: No other animal could stand a chance against the bite strength of a T-Rex due to its set of 60 teeth and six-tonne force — enough to crush a car!

Velociraptor

A Velociraptor was comparatively small in size — it stood no more than a metre tall and weighed just 15 kg. However, it used its speed — going up to 40 miles an hour — and its sharp claws, to hunt. The claws served as a Velociraptor’s stabbing tool, as it used these to punch through the skin of a prey and puncture a major artery.

Interesting fact: All in all, a Velociraptor looks nothing like what is shown in the Jurassic movie series. The movie was right only about its speed. Velociraptors worked as a ruthless team and never alone.

Argentinosaurus

One of the most enormous species of dinosaurs, the Argentinosaurus was so huge that every step it took could have caused a mini earthquake. Even though it was a plant-eater, the Argentinosaurus was a threat to other animals, simply because its foot could squish animals like crocodiles, turtles and other smaller dinosaurs while it walked. Funnily, and unintentionally, animals would also get buried in its poop!

Interesting fact: The Argentinosaurus was longer than a blue whale. Around 35 metres high from head to tail and at 70 tonnes in weight, it was as heavy as 10 double-decker buses put together!

Gigantoraptor

Gigantoraptor, an eight-metre-tall giant, isn’t technically a “raptor” — the Greek term for ‘thief’ used by palaeontologists to identify dinosaurs like Velociraptor and Buitreraptor that were true raptors.

It is believed to have laid the largest egg in the natural world, about 60 centimetres long and weighing up to five kilos. With a sharp bird-like beak, strange wing-like appendages, and a huge size, it was one of the scariest species of dinosaurs.

Interesting fact: Gigantoraptor was the mother of all mothers as it sat on its super-sized egg for as many as 80 days to protect it! That kind of weight on an egg? An ostrich egg is the largest egg in the animal kingdom today and can withstand about 130 kg of weight. In comparison, it takes about 380 kg to break a Gigantoraptor egg.

Cross your fingers, break a leg

No whistling, no mirrors, no blue costumes — these common superstitions in the world of theatre are fascinating and curious.

Curious Chemistry

What colour is oxygen? Which is the rarest naturally occurring element? Which letter does not appear in the periodic table? Get all the answers now.

The world of chemistry is filled with fascinating facts. Here are a few just for you! Go through the cards below and discover something new today.

Photos: Wikimedia Commons

Royally yours

Feel like royalty with this origami crown fit for a king or queen!

Stand up to squat down!

Squats are a great form of exercise; learn more by playing this interactive game.

Squats are a type of leg exercise. They are one of the best functional exercises for helping in mobility and balance and gearing your body to complete real-world activities with ease. You can do them anywhere, anytime, and don’t require any equipment either. What are the benefits of squats?

1- Toning of Legs – Squats engage the important muscles of the legs and hence help tone and strengthen them.

2- Increases Flexibility – Squats increase the flexibility of joints. However, you need to maintain the proper form and do it perfectly so that you avoid injuries of any kind. The lower back, hips, knees, and ankles are all engaged during squatting and so the respective joints get strengthened.

3- Burns Extra Calories – Squats work on major muscle groups and make the entire lower body have a thorough workout. Every time you workout the muscles, you burn extra calories.

4- Core Muscles Get Stronger – Squats make the lower back and abdominal muscles stronger.

5- Healthy Bones and Tissues – Squats help strengthen the bones and joints. The bones get stronger and denser and the connective tissues get reinforced too.

6- Improve Posture and Balance – Squats are an excellent exercise form that helps the person improve his/her posture and balance as well. Since proper form is a must, concentration is also a must.

The first image shows the right way to do squats. The second image is a bit different from the first. Can you spot the five differences in the second image?

Click on the spots to find the difference.

Quiz Whizz – September 11, 2021

Question hour, folks! See how many of these questions you can answer.

How well have you kept up with the world around you? Check with this quiz.

Food super heroes

The term ‘superfood’ is fairly new. It refers to food that has the maximum nutritional benefits and the most minimal of calories. They are packed with vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants.

Dark green leafy vegetables, berries, green tea, eggs, legumes, nuts and seeds are some of the foods that are said to be full of fibre and nutrients which may be instrumental in preventing certain chronic diseases.

Now using the images, can you identify the superfoods in each of these questions?