The word ‘gypsy’ comes from the Egyptian language, as gypsies are thought to have originated from Egypt. But the original gypsies are the tribal people of north-west India; they migrated to a number of places like Persia, Turkey, Syria, Egypt and North Africa. Gypsies spoke a language related to Sanskrit as their land of origin […]
Our heart is a pump. As it performs its pumping action, it sends blood to the entire body, thus enabling us to live. A heart-beat* is the contracting and relaxing of the heart. A human heart-beats around 60-100 times per minute approximately 1,00,000 times per day. As the heart contracts, blood is pumped out and
• Common name : Cleavers • Scientific name : Galiumaparine • Family : Rubiaceae • Native land : Europe and Western Asia (i.e. Eurasia), Australia Cleavers is an annual, sprawling herb. It has small hooks along the stems, at the tip and along the edges of the leaves and on the fruit. These hooks will
Ocean waters circulate, horizontally and vertically. These circular movements are known as currents. Ocean currents are driven by wind, water density differences, and tides. The flow of wind above the surface of the ocean is the main cause of these currents. The two main types of wind flow are the Westerlies–west to east and the
• Common name : Cilantro • Scientific name : CoriandrumSativum • Family : Apiaceae • Native land : Southern Europe and the Western Mediterranean It is a warm weather annual herb. It is commonly grown in herb gardens for its lacy, strong-scented foliage (cilantro) and its aromatic seeds (coriander). It has slender stems with leaves
People in ancient times observed that there were certain stars in the sky, which appeared in particular patterns or groups. They called them constellations (group of stars–Latin). They were named after gods, heroes, animals, etc. Among these, mainly twelve constellations were noticed. People observed that the sun and the moon also rose and set in
• Common name : Chives • Scientific name : Allium schoenoprasum • Family : Amaryllidaceae (onion) • Native land : Europe, Asia and North America Allium schoenoprasum is a bulbous perennial, forming a clump of erect, narrowly cylindrical, onion-scented leaves, with rounded umbels of light purple bell-shaped flowers. They grow from 6 to 10 inches
• Common name : Hawaiian hibiscus or rose of China • Scientific name : Hibiscus rosa-sinensis • Family : Malvaceae • Native land : Asia and tropical Africa It is an annual herbaceous shrub. The plant is about 3.5 metres tall and has a deep penetrating tap root. The dark green, toothed leaves are arranged
Glass is a thing through which we can see. It is made by melting certain materials together and cooling them down afterwards. Commonly used ingredients to make glass are sand (silica), soda, limestone, borax, magnesium oxide, boric acid and lead oxide. Natural glass is made when hot lava containing silica gets cooled rapidly. This glass
• Common name : Chervil • Scientific name : Anthriscuscerefolium • Family : Apiaceae or Umbelliferae • Native land : South-Eastern Europe, Britain It is an upright annual with aniseed-flavoured, 2- to 3-pinnate leaves with ovate leaflets, and umbels of small white flowers in summer. They grow up to 0.1-0.5 metre. The finely-cut, bright green
• Common name : Swiss Chard • Scientific name : Beta vulgaris (Cicla Group) • Family : Amaranthaceae • Native land : Europe, North Africa and Western Asia Swiss chard is an annual leafy garden vegetable that is closely related to beets. It is largely distinguished from the beets by its lack of enlarged fleshy
• Common name : Chamomile • Scientific name : Matricariachamomilla • Family : Asteraceae • Native land : Europe, including Britain, East to west and Asia and the Himalayas The root is perennial, jointed and fibrous. The stems, hairy and freely branching, are covered with leaves that are divided into thread-like segments. It blooms from
Gum is something which we can chew on. It is mostly of plant origin. Gums are used in foods, in pharmaceuticals and in cosmetics. It has adhesive properties. Gums are extracted by making an incision in tree bark and collecting the liquid throughout the season. ‘Gum Arabic’ comes out as a thick sticky liquid from
‘Skyscraper’ is a term used for describing very tall building. The Bible mentions a tall building, ‘the Tower of Babel’. People of northern Europe started building huge cathedrals of great height, in the Middle Ages, which remained the tallest buildings for many years. Great architects designed tall buildings to which tall spires were added to
• Common name : Red Valerian, Jupiter’s Beard, Keys of Heaven, Fox’s Bush • Scientific name : Centranthusruber • Family : Valerianaceae • Native land : South of England The rootstock is perennial and very freely branching, enabling it to take a firm hold in the crevices in which it has once gained possession. The