Indholdsfortegnelse for July/August 2024 i Faces People, Places, and World Culture for Kids and Children

The biggest island, the largest cave, and a massive ball of twine—our world is full of huge places and things. Here are five fun facts to get you started. 1 Blue whales are the largest creatures to inhabit Earth. They are bigger than the largest dinosaur was. They can grow to almost 100 feet (30 meters) long and weigh up to 200 tons (181 metric tons). 2 The world’s largest gathering occurred in Prayagraj, India, in 2019, when 150 million people celebrated Kumbh Mela. This Hindu festival includes bathing in a sacred river. Participants were permitted in the water for less than one minute to accommodate all the people who had gathered. 3 The 2.2-million-square-mile (5.7-million square-kilometer) area known as the Coral Triangle (located between Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, and…

The world’s largest human gathering drew about 150 million people to the Indian city of Prayagraj on February 4, 2019. The huge crowds of people gathered to celebrate a major Hindu religious festival called Kumbh Mela. Kumbh Mela takes place in a cycle of time that comes about every 12 years. The exact date and duration of the festival varies and is determined by astrology. In 2019, the festival began on January 15 and lasted 49 days. Depending on the year, it is held in one of four different river-bank cities in India. Those locations are Prayagraj, where the Ganges, Yamuna, and Sarasvati rivers meet; Haridwar, on the Ganges River; Nashik, on the Godavari River, and Ujjain, on the Shipra River. Hindus believe it was at these four locations that…

One of the fun parts of any road trip is finding strange and interesting things to stop and see along the way. All over the world, roadside attractions can be the biggest, the funniest, or the strangest objects you’ve ever seen. Fasten your seat belts as we take you on a tour of some of them. The Big Buddha, Thailand If you’re ever in Thailand, visit the Big Buddha, also called the Great Buddha. The statue is found at the Wat Muang temple in Ang Thong province. Seated in a position called Maravijaya Attitude, the Buddha is made of concrete and painted gold. It reaches a height of 300 feet (92 meters) and a width of 210 feet (63 meters). It sits on the roof of the temple building. The…

Largest Land Animal The African elephant is the world’s largest animal. It can weigh more than 200 pounds (91 kilograms) at birth. Once fully grown, these elephants can reach an average weight of 12,000 pounds (5,445 kilograms). African elephants have the longest gestation period (the time between conception and birth) of any animal—95 weeks. Largest City/Population Japan’s capital city, Tokyo, is the world’s most populated city and also the world’s largest metropolitan area. About 9.5 million people live within Tokyo’s city proper, while more than 37 million people live in the city’s surrounding urban area. Largest Living Creature Blue whales are the largest creatures to inhabit Earth. They are bigger than the largest dinosaur was. They can measure almost 100 feet (30 meters) in length and weigh up to 200…

You probably haven’t seen marionettes like those of the Royal de Luxe performing arts company based in Nantes, France. The idea of giant marionettes doing street performances began in the early 1990s with creator Jean-Luc Courcoult. Courcoult generally believed that it was better to bring performances to people instead of making people come to a theater. Since then, the Royal de Luxe has traveled the world doing open-air performances. The puppets, referred to as “Giants,” are really big. They average between 40 to 50 feet (12 to 15 meters) tall. They are made from wood and metal, much of which is recycled. Each Giant takes about two years to construct. Horsehair is used for their hair and broom hair for their eyelashes. The puppeteers and engineers who bring these enormous…

The British Cave Research Association likes to study caves. In 2005, scientists from the association were exploring a national park in Vietnam. Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park already was known for its amazing caves that stretched into the jungle-covered limestone mountains. A local man told the British researchers about another large cave there. Upon exploring further, the scientists found a cave full of beautiful stalactites (mineral formations that hang from cave ceilings) and stalagmites (mineral formations on the cave floor that are formed by dripping deposits of water and minerals). They named it Thien Duong Cave, or “Paradise Cave.” To many who visit, it is truly the “Underground Celestial Palace.” Scientists originally thought the cave was five miles long. But further exploration has revealed that the cave is in fact…

Email your design to FACES Big Monuments at faces@cricketmedia.com. Please include your name, age, and address, and a note from a parent or guardian that states the work is your original effort and that Cricket Media has permission to publish it in print and online. Your artwork could appear in an upcoming issue of FACES! Check out this great art submitted by our readers. Thanks for sending in your creations!…

Beneath the blue-green waters lies a lost colony. A towering mountain community that once teemed with marine life is now a deserted ruin. Dolphins, sea turtles, and a myriad of fish once called these underwater gardens home, but there no longer is shelter or food to sustain them. All that is left are skeletal remains. These aren’t the fabled ruins of the mythical underwater city Atlantis. Rather, they are the remains of a once thriving coral city. Underwater Wonders Coral is not a plant. It is an animal. Whole colonies make a cay, or a reef. And sometimes a coral reef grows to quite large proportions. The Coral Triangle is an area that extends across 2.3 million square miles (6 million square kilometers) of ocean. It is in the western…

It’s more than a mile (1.6 kilometers) deep. It’s home to pink rattlesnakes and blue-green waterfalls. You can ride a mule down to visit the most remote settlement in the United States. And you can stand above it on a clear platform that makes you feel like you’re walking on air. Where are you? Chances are you already know: You’re at the Grand Canyon! A Golden Oldie Located in Arizona, the Grand Canyon is a real-world geology lesson. It was formed over the course of millions of years by the Colorado River. The river slowly eroded layers of sandstone, limestone, and shale. Dirt and rocks carried by the river worked like sandpaper on the stone. Over time, the river cut a groove through the rock and created the cliff walls…

The Sahara Desert The Sahara is the largest hot desert in the world. (Antarctica and the Arctic are larger, but they are cold deserts.) The Sahara is more than 3.5 million square miles (9 million square kilometers) in area. It spans 11 different countries: Algeria, Chad, Egypt, Libya, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Western Sahara, Sudan, and parts of Morocco and Tunisia. “Sahara” comes from sahra, the Arabic word for “desert.”…

Artists across the world have taken on enormous projects. The largest sculpture in the world is the Statue of Unity in Gujarat, India. Designed by Indian sculptor Ram V. Sutar, it is 597 feet (182 meters) tall and captures statesman Vallabhbhai Patel. Patel was one of India’s first leaders after its independence from British control in 1947. The largest canvas painting in the world is The Journey of Humanity. It was created by British artist Sacha Jafri in 2020 and measures close to 17,000 square miles (44,030 square kilometers). That’s about the size of four basketball courts! The artist wanted to create something that would inspire people to “reconnect” and create a “better future” for the world’s children. The painting was sold at auction and the money is to be…