What is Qwikipedia?
Ever been on Wikipedia to look up an article? More often than not, we start with one topic, click a few links and within no time are reading about something else.
Qwikipedia is a game that tries to quench this curiosity in us. The objective is to get to a particular Wiki page, starting from a specific article, using minimal clicks. There is no single correct answer, so we might surprise ourselves by finding new routes each time!
Wednesday’s Wanderer
The Lorax
How many of you are fans of Dr Seuss? If you are, chances are you would have read the children’s book The Lorax. It deals with environmental issues and is centred around The Lorax who stands up for the trees against the villain Once-ler.
This book was Dr Seuss’s personal favourite, as he was able to depict important issues like conservation in a fun manner. It is set in run-down which has been reduced to its current state because of cutting Truffula trees. A 2012 poll named it one of the Top 100 Picture books.
Children’s literature
The term children’s literature includes a wide range of books including books, magazines and poems that are written for children. Any form of writing and creative work which is enjoyed by you children comes under this umbrella.
The tradition of telling stories to children goes back a long way, as most civilizations had a strong oral tradition, including the Song dynasty of China. After printing of books came about, stories were now put down on paper and became popular among kids as well as adults. Some famous children’s classics are Great Expectations, Black Beauty, and Anne of Green Gables, among many others.
Song dynasty
The Song Dynasty of China has a very distinctive first to its credit – it was the first kingdom in history to issue banknotes to its citizens.
The rule of this dynasty began in 960 and ended in around 1279, and it was followed by the Yuan kingdom.
This period is divided into two – the Northern Song and the Southern Song. China saw great prosperity and progress during this era and culture and social life, as well as education and defence got a huge boost.
Scholars like Shen Kuo and Su Song were influential in fields like biology, botany, geology, art criticism and more.
Geology
You have probably heard the word geology in geography and science classes. It is the study of the Earth and its rocks and how they change, causing changes on our planet.
This earth science is of key importance as it gives an idea of what happened on the planet before and how evolution took place.
With this information, it is also used to make predictions and study the future course of climate change, and water-related problems. Geologists use data from two types of materials – rocks and unconsolidated material.
So the path we have travelled today is:
>The Lorax —> > Children’s literature —> >Song Dynasty —> >Geology
Three clicks! Hop over. It’s time for the next question:
Thursday’s Trekker
>Tom and Jerry —> >Avengers: Age of Ultron
Send in your paths for the above to school@thehindu.co.in with the subject “Qwikipedia”.
