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Many people today eat gingerbread cookies shaped like men and women. But this isn't a new idea. People have been making gingerbread cookies for hundreds of years. Some say that England's Queen Elizabeth I hired someone just to make gingerbread. This gingerbread baker would make cookies that looked like her important visitors. There's another story that German ruler Frederick III wanted to make people like him more. So, he gave out gingerbread cookies shaped like himself to thousands of children.

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CCSS.RI.4.2

CCSS.RL.3.2

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CCSS.RI.5.2

Most parrots can speak, or at least copy the sounds of people talking. Alex, an African grey parrot, learned to do much more. He knew how to do simple math. In fact, he was capable of adding up to six objects. Alex added up crackers, jelly beans, and blocks. He could also point out seven different colors and six shapes. And he knew more than a hundred words!

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CCSS.7.NS.A.1C

Did you know that the sea can make music? To hear it, you can travel to a town called Zadar in the country of Croatia and listen to the Zadar Sea Organ. The 230-foot long Sea Organ looks just like large steps leading down to the water. But hidden under the steps are thirty-five pipes that make music. When the waves push air into the organ's pipes, they play a tune. People say that the notes are like the singing sounds that whales make. The organ was built to welcome tourists visiting the town by ship. Now, people from all over the world come to listen to the beautiful music made by the sea.

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People have always enjoyed diving into water. But it wasn't until the early 1900s that diving became an Olympic sport. Back then, plain diving and fancy diving were the two main types of diving. Doing a simple dive into water was called plain diving. Meanwhile, fancy diving was when divers did flips as they jumped.

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CCSS.RI.3.2

CCSS.RI.4.2

CCSS.RL.3.2

CCSS.RL.4.2

CCSS.RL.2.2

Have you ever seen a dolphin spin through the water? How about a dolphin that jumps high above the ocean? If so, you have probably seen a spinner dolphin. These playful dolphins are able to leap into the air and then spin around a few times before crashing back into the water. Though these dolphins love to play, they spend much of their day swimming peacefully in harbors and resting. This helps them conserve energy for the busy night ahead. When the sun goes down, spinner dolphins hunt for food.

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CCSS.RI.4.5

CCSS.RI.5.5

CCSS.RI.3.5

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Tiny ants live and work together in large groups called colonies. A single ant colony may have millions of ants living together in a nest with many tunnels and rooms. The queen ant is the head of the colony, but each ant in the colony has a job to do. The queen ant produces all of the eggs, while young female worker ants care for the eggs. Worker ants also dig tunnels and keep the nest clean. When they get older, some worker ants become soldier ants.

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CCSS.RI.4.5

CCSS.RI.5.5

CCSS.RI.3.5

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CCSS.RI.2.5

In the 1760s, a mapmaker pasted a world map onto a piece of wood, and then he cut out the countries in pieces. He didn't know it at the time, but he had just made the first jigsaw puzzle! Early on, world map puzzles like this were used to teach children where countries were. Children could take apart the pieces and then assemble them back together again. At first, puzzles were always made of wood. By the late 1800s, puzzle makers started using cardboard, which cost less than wood. This change meant that more people could buy and enjoy puzzles.

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CCSS.RI.4.5

CCSS.RI.5.5

CCSS.RI.3.5

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Each of your eyes has a pupil in it. The pupil is a round opening that looks like a black circle. The pupil is in the middle part of your eye that can be brow, blue, green, or hazel. This part has tiny muscles in it. The muscles pull on the pupil to change its size The pupil grows bigger to let more light in the eye. It becomes smaller when light is very bright. You can see your pupils change size. Look in a mirror as someone shuts off the light and then turns it back on.

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CCSS.RI.4.5

CCSS.RI.5.5

CCSS.RI.3.5

CCSS.RI.3.3

CCSS.RI.4.3