The planet
On the first day of autumn, the sun is aligned with the center between
the North and the South of the planet. On that day, the light and dark
hours are exactly the same length. That’s why it is called ‘equinox’,
derived from the Latin word ‘aequus’ which means ‘equal’
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Standing eggs?
There are only two days of the year when you
can stand an egg on its end, the autumn and spring equinox. To do this you
will need an egg. (It does not have to be hard-boiled.) Place the egg on a
hard, flat surface on its largest end. Carefully pull your hands away and
it should remain upright.
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North or South?
Not everyone has seasons at the same time!
The equinox happens twice a year, and depending on which side of the planet
you live, autumn will start in March (for south) or September (for north).Not autumn ever! If you live in a place too close to the Equator, or central area of the
planet, then you’ll never have autumn… or any season!
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What happens to plants?
Plants use sunlight to create nutrients and
feed themselves, keeping their green color. As the days become shorter and
plants get less sunshine, they stop producing those nutrients and display a
different color. Yellow and oranges sit below the green all the time and
red and brown are made from wastes and nutrients trapped in them.
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Autumn fun for animals
Squirrels collect and bury nuts all
autumn! They rely on storing nuts to be able to eat during winter.
Interestingly, the nuts they bury but don’t retrieve sprout into new trees.Birds migrate all year long, but autumn is definitely migration peak season for them,
depending on the species, their migration distance and their travel speed.
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People around the world
Americans call autumn ‘fall’, maybe for
obvious reasons?On the October 31, many places around the world celebrate
Halloween, in which kids dress up in costumes and go trick-or-treating, or,
guising. The U.S. and Canada have had a significant impact on how the event
is observed in other nations and it has extended to places such as South
America, Australia, New Zealand, continental Europe, Japan, and other parts
of East Asia.The pumpkin, commonly used as lanterns by carving scary faces
into them during Halloween, was first named by people in Greece,
who called this orange edible a “pepon,” which means “large melon”.
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