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Carnivals Around the World
You might have heard of the carnival in Rio, but did you know that there are carnivals around the world – from Germany to Greece, USA to Italy?
Millie Slavidou explains where Carnival comes from on her blog
Long before the advent of Christianity, people held celebrations at this time of year. In Germany, they once looked forward to sending Hel, the goddess of the underworld, back down to her abode so they could herald the coming of the spring. In Greece, it was a time to worship the god Dionysus. With the arrival of Christianity, the celebrations continued, but changed in nature, gradually becoming more and more linked to the new religion. The Carnival is held in the period before the start of Lent, and Lent is the time when good Christians were supposed to fast, to abstain from meat
In the UK, we don’t celebrate Carnival, but we do prepare for Lent – that is what Pancake Day is all about, after all. Traditionally, pancakes were made to use up the eggs, fat, and butter, that were not to be eaten during Lent!
Take a trip around the world with us, to find out how other countries celebrate Carnival!
Winter Wonderings – Why Does Frost Make Patterns?
The third #winterwonderings post from our Science Correspondent, Samantha, we take a look at why frost makes patterns. Many countries have a mythical figure like Jack Frost, who draws in the ice and frost in winter, but what really causes these gorgeous natural designs.
Cool Bedroom Ideas for Kids
We’ve scoured the internet to find some fab rooms – not boys’ rooms and girls’ rooms, just really cool bedrooms ideas for kids.
Maybe you’ve grown out of your princess bedroom, or have gotten tired of your pirate room. Perhaps you didn’t have a real theme to begin with. We’ve gone for bedrooms that can be done without spending a ton of money – focusing quick fixes of a lick of paint and some new bed covers.
Stripes Galore!
We love this stripy bedroom – you can learn how they did the stripes here
Room Makeover by Melissa Mondragon
History of South Africa – Written by Bruntville Primary School
The pupils of Bruntville Primary School have written a short article about the history of South Africa, and an explanation of Apartheid.
What Was Apartheid?
Apartheid was a system that existed in South Africa that separated people based on their ethnicity and skin colour. It became law after the National Party won the election in 1948. They declared many areas as only for white people, and discriminated against people of colour (POC).
The Contronym – a Word that Bends Over Backwards
I expect most of you have heard of antonyms, and even if you haven’t heard the word, you know them and use them every day. Antonyms are words that mean the opposite. For example, hot is the antonym of cold, rich is the antonym of poor.
But what happens when we have a word that doesn’t have another antonym – it is the antonym of itself?! You are probably wondering what on earth that could mean. Well, there are some words that have two meanings which are the opposite of each other. This makes the word its own antonym. Words like this are known as contronyms.
LEFT
Left and Left Behind
One very common one that we shall start with is a word that you use all the time without ever thinking about it being a contronym. This is left, which can mean “gone, departed” or “still there, remaining” . If you have gone, then you have left, but if everyone else except you has gone, then you are left!