Who Was Maya Angelou?
Maya Angelou was born Marguerite Annie Johnson, in St Louis, Missouri, in 1928. Her brother could not pronounce her name properly and called her Maya, the name that she came to be known by.
She had a difficult childhood – after suffering abuse when she was eight years old, she stopped talking for five years. She later wrote her autobiography, describing overcoming her childhood trauma, and growing up in the segregated south of USA – when people of colour and white people were not allowed to mix. She was committed to the civil rights movement, which aimed to break the segregation and allow people to live freely.
Have you ever wondered…why leaves change colour in autumn?
Autumn is a season of change; the weather gets colder, there’s less daylight and leaves change colour and fall from plants. But why does this happen?
Why Do Plants Have Leaves?
Leaves contain a chemical called chlorophyll (pronounced KLO-ro-fil), which as well as giving them their lovely green colour also helps create food for the plant. The leaves act like tiny solar panels, and use the sun’s energy to convert water (from the ground) and a gas called carbon dioxide (from the air) into sugar and oxygen. This process is called photosynthesis (pronounced foto-SIN-theh-sis), and the sugar is what the plant lives on.
What is a Stick Bomb?
11-year-old Andre Jefferson explained stick bombs as being, ‘a kinetic chain reaction that is weaved together with jumbo popsicle sticks, that creates tension, and when you take one of the sticks out, it releases potential energy and makes it pop up about this high’.
If you are thinking ‘What?’ then watch the rest of his TEDx talk to find out what a ‘Stick bomb’ is and what makes them jump.
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