Articles for Grade 2

A two-year-old female Chihuahua named Pearl has just been declared the world's shortest dog living by the Guinness World Records. The pocket-sized pooch is 9.14 cm (3.59 in) tall and 12.7 cm (5 in) long. This is shorter than a regular-sized television remote control and about the same length as a US dollar bill! Pearl weighed less than an ounce (28g) when she was born in September 2020. She has since "bulked" up to 1.22 lbs (553g)....

On April 22, 2023, over a billion people worldwide will celebrate Earth Day with various activities. Some will plant trees. Others will participate in neighborhood clean-up efforts or enjoy a nature walk. The modern environmental movement began on April 20, 1970. On that day, 20 million Americans took to the streets to urge the government to take steps to protect our planet....

On April 10, 2023, close to 30,000 guests, selected via an online lottery, attended the White House Easter Egg Roll. The fun event was divided into nine, two-hour-long sessions to accommodate the large number of guests. It included various exciting activities as well as appearances by popular costumed characters and celebrities....

Chloe Ricketts has just become the youngest player to join a US National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) team. On March 21, 2023, the high school sophomore from Dexter, Michigan, signed a three-year contract with the Washington Spirit. At that time, Ricketts was 15 years and 283 days old. Olivia Moultrie previously held the record. She was 15 years and 286 days old when she joined the Portland Thorns in 2021....

The fruit fly larva is no more than 10 mm long. Hence, it would be reasonable to assume that its brain, which is smaller than a poppy seed, is fairly simple. However, a recently-unveiled map of the insect's brain shows a surprisingly complex structure. It has 3,016 neurons connected by 548,000 synapses....

Crash, a one-eyed rescue cat from Boise, Idaho, has won the 2023 Cadbury "Bunny" Tryouts. The 8-year-old feline will star in an Easter commercial for Cadbury's chocolate eggs and be inducted into the "Bunny Tryouts Hall of Fame." He will also receive a cash prize of $5,000 for himself. Another $5,000 will be given to Simply Cats, the rescue center where Crash resides. They plan to use all the funds to help other animals in need....

Dr. Joseph Dituri is on a mission to spend 100 days underwater. If successful, the University of South Florida (USF) associate professor will set a new record for undersea living. The record is a nice bonus. But the researcher is mainly doing it for science....

The rediscovery of a fairy lantern species in Japan is exciting researchers worldwide. The Thismia kobensis (T. kobensis) was first found in Kobe, Japan in 1992. But it was considered extinct after an industrial complex was built in the area, destroying the plant's habitat....

The phrase "living under a rock" usually means being oblivious to what is happening in the world. But in Setenil de las Bodegas, the idiom takes on a literal meaning. Many of the Spanish town's 3,000 residents live in homes built inside the rock formations of a narrow gorge of the Río Trejo river....