Social Science Questions & Answers

We do not know when the tea plant was first cultivated, but the earliest mention of it occurs in a Chinese dictionary, the Erh Ya about the year 350. The cultivation of tea is believed to have begun in the province of Szechwan in central China. From there its cultivation and use as a beverage spread throughout China and Japan …

The first kindergarten was started by German educator Friedrich Froebel in 1837 in Blankenburg, Prussia. Froebel chose the German term kindergarten because he intended children in his school to grow as freely as flowers in a garden. Froebel based his educational philosophy on a belief in the innate creativity of children. His kindergarten stressed that children should spend part of …

Chess was played in 1851 in London as an international tournament. The tournament was conceived and organised by English player Howard Staunton, and marked the first time that the best chess players in Europe met in a single event. German Adolf Andersson won the 16-player tournament, earning him the title of the Best Player in Europe.

Though the origin of billiards is lost in history, an account by Greek traveller Anacharsis suggests that a rudimentary version was played by Egyptians around 400 BC. This form was adopted by the Greeks. The word ‘billiard’ has its roots in the French words ‘billart’ meaning stick, and ‘bille’ meaning ball. In 1470, the first billiards table was found among …

The male stickleback’s belly turns red at the start of the breeding season in spring. Normally the belly of this small fish is silver-colored, the rest of it varying from brown to green. But when the time comes for him to mate he becomes very active in attracting females with his bright new color. In building the home and rearing …

A river will die when pollution reaches such a level that all the available oxygen is absorbed. This can happen if the oxygen is used up by presence in the water of an excessive number of waste organisms. Large amounts of nitrogen or phosphorus make a river’s oxygen-producing plants grow so rapidly that they become over-crowded and die of exhaustion. …

If the earthworm detects an unfamiliar object next to its skin, the muscles will contract immediately and the body will turn to avoid the object. The worm will also turn in response to heat and, in a lesser degree, to light and sound. Even the heat given out by an ordinary match some inches away, will cause a worm to …

Frogs’ eggs become tadpoles with in two weeks of being laid in the water, but tadpoles may take anything from two months to three years to change completely into frogs. The time taken seems to depend on the environment. Tadpoles will generally develop faster in warmer waters. Also the more advanced species of frog have simplified and shortened the process …

A hermit crab changes its shell when it has grown large enough to need a bigger home. This type of crab has a soft abdomen or tail, which is folded up under the body, but it is not protected by a shell of its own as are most other crabs. Instead, the hermit uses empty snails shells as portable shelters, …

The male bee, or drone, dies when there is no more nectar available from the fields. The reason for this is that, when the workers bees can no longer collect nectar for the hive, the production of honey stops. Deprived of their food the drones rapidly grow weak and are carried from the hive by the workers to die. The …