1. The Atacama Desert

　　The Atacama is really dry. Because of its dryness, scientists and experts around the world think that it has never rained at all! It's the world's driest desert and it is close to Chile, in South America.

　　Why is the desert so dry?

　　The Atacama has mountains on both sides of it - the Andreas on one side and the Chilean coastal range on the other. When rain clouds come along, they rise up the mountains, cool, condense and drop their rain before reaching the top. So clouds rarely reach the Atacama, lying in the middle.

　　2. The Amazon River

　　The River Amazon in South America is the largest river in the world. Though it isn't as long as the River Nile in Africa, it is by far the widest river and holds an awesome amount of water.

　　NO BRIDGE?

　　Ok shoosh, calm down, it is hard to build because the river is mainly surrounded by rainforests, so, there are only a few roads and bits connecting to the other piece of land.

　　3. Solar Eclipse

　　Long ago, when a solar eclipse turned the sky dark during the day, people were horrified. When it happens now, we all rush out to watch, wearing special protective glasses.

　　What is it?

　　A solar eclipse, or eclipse of the Sun, happens when the moon passes directly between the Sun and Earth. In a total eclipse, if you're standing at the right place, the Moon seems to cover the sun completely. This happens only about once every 18 months. But partial eclipses, during which the Moon covers only a part of the Sun, are more common and there are several every year.

　　4. Kilauea

　　How would you like to stand on the world's most active volcano? Well, actually, you can! It sounds scary, but because Kilauea, in Hawaii, is constantly erupting, it's safer than some other volcanoes. It usually releases lava in a constant, gentle flow, instead of building it up until it bursts out. It is a shield volcano.

　　INTO WAVES

　　Kilauea is close to the sea, and a lot of its lava flows down to the shore. There, the lava crackles and explodes as it plunges into the water, and cools superfast. Gradually, hardened lava from the volcano builds more and more new land in the water.