Interior Design

Give your home the exact look and feel you desire – visualize new styles, colors, wall coverings, flooring, and other materials.

Plan your space with 3D models, virtual tours, and advanced design tools. It’s fun to experiment with various options to create different looks

Choose from a variety of latest interior items – including cabinets, chairs, tables, sofas, fabrics, and accessories. Resize, change colors and materials to meet your exact needs

Choose Pre-arranged furniture groupings that are already assembled to help quickly layout rooms kitchens, bedrooms, offices, and kid’s rooms

Material Painter® allows you to change the color and material of any object in your design – cabinets, countertops, walls, and flooring. Choose one of name-brand colors from Sherwin-Williams, Benjamin Moore or Behr and apply as a stain or solid color

Kitchen & Bath Design

Choose from a wide variety of appliances – easily change the colors to match your room’s needs

Design your new kitchen or bath using the Cabinet Designer tools. Create thousands of cabinet styles and combinations.

Visualize new countertops – choose from laminate to solid surfaces or import your own custom material and color

Use the 3D camera tools to create an elevation view for added cabinet details in your kitchen or bath project

Room Decorating

Choose from a variety of furniture styles including chairs, tables, sofas and more – easily change the size, color and fabric to create your own style

Add accessories to create that perfect look and feel for your rooms Update doors and windows for that perfect look – wood, casement, moldings, lites, shutters,

window treatments and more Import your digital photos and personalize your room with artwork and family pictures Choose from thousands of colors and materials from name-brand manufacturers or create

your own using the Color Chooser

Remodelling

Add a new addition onto your existing home – visualize what your new room will look like Choose from several 3D design tools including Watercolour, Glass House, Doll House, Final

View and more Arrange walls, windows, doors and furniture then automatically generate 3D models from

any angle Select from several styles of lights from the library to create a custom design

Floor & Space Planning

Design in a 2D plan view with virtual graph paper to create accurately scaled floor plans Use one of the built-in style templates – each one comes complete with colours, cabinets,

flooring, doors and window styles Automatically generate a complete spreadsheet of your project costs, broken down by

category Over 1,000 sample plans for design inspiration Automatic and Manual Dimension tools. Place interior room dimensions to the interior wall

finish or to the main structural layer. As you define and name your rooms, you can display the room size and specify the

mouldings, ceiling height, wall coverings and more

Furniture, Fixtures and Accessories

Browse furniture and accessories libraries with sofas, chairs, tables, beds, desks, storage items, home office items and more

Choose from pre-arranged furniture groupings, including bedroom sets, dining and living areas and more

Resize furniture to create any custom size – change the height, width and depth of any item Download  additional library content from our website

Animal Facts

Enjoy our wide range of fun animal facts for kids. Children will love reading the crazy, cool, strange, weird, odd and funny information as well as did you know facts and other interesting animal info that will help them learn a thing or two along the way. Learning about animals is great fun. Whether it’s endangered African animals, sea animals, wild animals or pets, there are so many amazing types of animals that each have their own characteristics and behaviors. Living in all parts of the world, these animals include cats, dogs, insects, birds, sharks, gorillas, frogs, cheetahs, giraffes, elephants, horses, sharks and many more.

Dogs

Dogs are popular animals which make for great family pets as well as reliable workers. Enjoy these great dog facts which help explain why dogs are so special.

Cats

If you like cats then you’ll love our range of cat facts that will teach you interesting information about their sleeping habits, hunting techniques, powerful senses and much more.

Tiger

Tigers are the largest members of the cat family. They are the national animals of many countries but a number of tiger subspecies are endangered because of human activity.

Sharks

We've all had nightmares about a great white shark attack like that in 'Jaws' but that's just one of many different types of shark species that swim through our oceans.

Dolphins

Dolphins are intelligent animals that display a wide range of unique behaviors. Learn about their playful attitude, how they communicate with each other and much more.

Gorillas

Gorillas are imposing beasts that live in tropical and subtropical forests. Being a close relative to the human race they are intelligent animals with a complex social structure

cheetahs

Faster than any other land animal in the world, cheetahs are unique big cats that love to live life in the fast lane. Follow the link for some fascinating cheetah facts.

Elephants

Elephants are amazing animals that impress with more than just their size. Learn where elephants live in the wild, what they eat and other great elephant facts.

leopards

A member of the cat family, leopards are born to hunt. They have powerful bodies and other physical attributes which help them find food and survive in the wild.

Wolves

Wolves live and hunt in packs, learning to survive in the wild from an early age. Find out how they hunt, what their pups are like and other interesting wolf facts.

whales

There are many different species of whales and they are well known for their incredible size and long migration patterns. Follow the link to read a range of amazing whale facts.

More fun animal facts: Rats breed so quickly that in just 18 months, 2 rats could have created over 1 million

relatives. The blue whale can produce the loudest sound of any animal. At 188 decibels, the noise can

be detected over 800 kilometres away. Horses and cows sleep while standing up. Giant Arctic jellyfish have tentacles that can reach over 36 metres in length. Locusts have leg muscles that are about 1000 times more powerful than an equal weight of

human muscle. Hummingbirds are so agile and have such good control that they can fly backwards. Instead of bones, sharks have a skeleton made from cartilage. Insects such as bees, mosquitoes and cicadas make noise by rapidly moving their wings. The horn of a rhinoceros is made from compacted hair rather than bone or another

substance. Sharks lay the biggest eggs in the world. Even when a snake has its eyes closed, it can still see through its eyelids. Unlike humans, sheep have four stomachs, each one helps them digest the food they eat. Despite the white, fluffy appearance of Polar Bears fur, it actually has black skin. As well as being a famous Looney Tunes character, the Tasmanian Devil is a real animal that

is only found in the wild in Tasmania, Australia. It is the largest carnivorous marsupial in the world.

The average housefly only lives for 2 or 3 weeks. Mosquitoes can be annoying insects but did you know that it's only the female mosquito that

actually bites humans.

Cats use their whiskers to check whether a space is too small for them to fit through or not.

Fruits and Vegetables"Eat your fruits and vegetables." You've likely heard this statement since childhood. Research shows why it is good advice:

Healthy diets rich in fruits and vegetables may reduce the risk of cancer and other chronic diseases.

Fruits and vegetables also provide essential vitamins and minerals, fiber, and other substances that are important for good health.

Most fruits and vegetables are naturally low in fat and calories and are filling.

A strawberry is not an actual berry, but a banana is.

Orang-utans love mangoes

Apples float in water because they are 25% air.

Tomatoes are a fruit not a vegetable. Tomatoes are the most popular fruits in the world.

Tomatoes are a fruit not a vegetable. Tomatoes are the most popular fruits in the world.  

Bananas have a natural antacid effect in the body, so if you suffer from heartburn, try eating a banana for soothing relief.

 

An average strawberry has around 200 seeds  

Pumpkins and avocados are fruits not a vegetable.  

Dark green vegetables include more vitamin C than light green color vegetables  

Banana is not a fruit in reality, it is a herb  

Because bananas are easy to digest and are very nutritious they are the first fruit offered to babies.

 

Osage orange fruits are used to repel cockroaches  

An apple tree can produce up to 400 apples a year  

Bilberries are supposed to help improve nighttime vision.  

According to the Dead Sea scrolls cherry seeds have satanic power  

Many years ago explorers used watermelons to carry water on long expeditions  

Mangoes are the most favorite and number 1 fruit in the world.  

Strawberries and cashews are the only fruits that have their seeds on the outside unlike all other fruits which have their seeds inside

 

Kiwi contains twice as much Vitamin C as an orange  

Oranges contain antioxidants that help fight the free radicals that damage and age our skin  

 

Eating more fruits and vegetables could significantly reduce the risk of many chronic diseases, high B.P, obesity, heart disease and some cancers.

 

In the 19th century British sailors ate limes to prevent Scurvy  

There are over 7000 different types of apples grown all over the world.  

Unlike bananas grapes can no longer ripen once picked.  

More than 300 banana-related accidents happened in Britain in 2001 mostly involving people slipping on skins.

 

You can speed up the ripening of a pineapple by standing it upside down (on the leafy end).  

Lemons can kill bacteria-as they have high content of acid which makes them suitable for cleaning.

 

You can make furniture with Pear wood (its hard).  

Some horticulturists suspect that the banana was the earth's first fruit.  

The cabbage encloses nearly as much water as watermelon. Watermelon contains 92% water where cabbage is 90% and carrots are 87%

 

A banana ripens quickly (overnight), when you put it into a brown paper bag with an apple or tomato.

 

You can make nitroglycerin by peanut oil, which is a main part of dynamite.  

The leaves of raspberry is used fresh or dried as herbal teas to regulate menstrual cycles  

Lime oil is useful to cool fevers. It can also stimulate and refresh a tired mind and helps with depression

 

A durian is one of the world's biggest fruit with a strong smell  

Avocado leaves are harmful to animals and the fruits may also poisonous to some birds  

Dried fruits contain more calories than fresh fruits. Since drying process takes out water and volume

 

An apple is a very refreshing tonic for oily skin. It makes an excellent remedy for fine wrinkles, cracked skin, itching and inflammation

 

Eating fresh figs during pregnancy helps from prolonged labor and weakness after childbirth  

Gibbons prefer to eat fruits twice a day. It normally loves to eat ripe, sugary, juicy fruits like figs.

 

 

Research says eating grapefruit in the morning will helps to lose an average of 3.6 pounds. It also protect from diabetes.

 

 

Sapodilla is a uniquely tasted fruit. It had a soft brown flesh which flavors like a sweet mix of brown sugar and root beer.

 

Bilimbi fruit is similar to star fruit. The tree of Bilimbi is more cold-sensitive than the carambola tree. The fruit is more effective for several human ailments.

 

chempedak fruit is really not too big. It just has the shape of long water melon but the whole fruit is only about 3 Kg.

 

Damson fruit is more effective to create fruit paste or cheese. It's perfectly made for Christmas treat.

 

The name pine-apple was the original name for a pine cone (grows on pine trees). Because the fruit pineapple looked like a huge pine cone, it too was called a pine-apple.

 

Pineapples contain an enzyme that is used in blood tests. Fibers in pineapple leaves are used to make rope and a cloth called pino.

 

Kiwis were once known as Chinese gooseberries.  

Eating an apple is a more reliable method of staying awake than consuming a cup of coffee. The natural sugar in an apple is more potent than the caffeine in coffee.

 

Pineapples are berries, just like strawberries and blueberries.  

A half-cup of figs has as much calcium as a half-cup of milk.  

There are over 200 different known species of raspberries but only 2 species are grown on a large scale.

 

There are seven varieties of avocados grown commercially in Texas, but the Hass is the most popular.

 

Blackberry juice was used to dye cloth navy blue and indigo.  

Currant juice can be used to soothe sore throats and colds.  

The juiciest, most delicious oranges in the world are grown in Florida.  

Eggplants are actually fruits, and classified botanically as berries.  

An avocado is a fruit and not a vegetable! It is actually a member of the berry relatives.  

Avocado has more fat content than any other fruit.  

A single fruit is about 125 grams on average; where ¼ of it is only water.  

Bananas are allergic for some people. These allergies are oral and latex.  

Bilberry contains nutrients that are good for eyes.  

Cherimoya seeds are poisonous, and ought to not be eaten, like the skin.  

Clementines are popular in the winter months.  

A durian is a large fruit with a powerful smell. Its flavor is loved by some people, but many do not like the smell.

 

Huckleberries are well liked by lots of mammals such as bears and humans.  

The jambul fruit leaves and bark are used for controlling blood pressure and gingivitis.  

Lime oils are often used in perfumes, for cleaning, and for aromatherapy.  

Lychee seeds are poisonous and should not be eaten.  

Purple Mangosteen has to be grown in temperatures of above 40 °F (4 °C). If it is grown in temperatures below that, the plants will die.

 

Grapes are the fruit of a woody grape vine. About 71% of grapes are used for wine. 27% are used as fresh fruit, and 2% are used as dried fruit.

 

Dirty cantaloupes can spread bacteria. In 2011, 21 people died in the United States from cantaloupes having listeria bacteria.

 

A watermelon contains 92% water. About six percent of a watermelon is sugar. Many people like to eat watermelon in the summer because the fruit is cool and refreshing.

 

Raisins are dried grapes. They contain a lot of sugar.  

Cupuacu pulp is also used in cosmetics products such as body lotions, as it is highly hydratating, similar to cocoa butter.

 

An orange’s vitamin C content helps fight back assaults from viruses and germs, cold and fatigue.

 

Strawberries are the only fruit which grows seeds on the outside.  

A cucumber is a fruit not a vegetable.  

Grapefruit can actually react negatively with lots of drugs including cholesterol-lowering medications.

 

Red fruits help keep your heart strong.  

Orange fruits help keep your eyes healthy.  

Yellow fruits help keep you from getting sick.  

Green fruits help make your bones and teeth strong.  

Blue and purple fruits help your memory.

How much fruit nutrition should be included in our daily diet?

Research studies suggest that one may eat any servings of fruits daily. It is recommended to eat at least 2-3 servings of fresh fruits every day.

The term one fruit serving is about 250 g of cleaned, edible-portion of the fruit, excluding discards like peel, seeds, etc.

Include seasonal fruits in the daily diet. Variety of fruit's type, color, and flavor should be encouraged to get maximum health benefits. Yellow and orange color fruits are rich sources of α and β carotenes, zea-xanthin and crypto-xanthin, while blue, black colored like black or blueberries are a good source of poly-phenolic anthocyanin anti-oxidants.

Dry fruits

Dry fruits are rich source of nutrients such as vitamins and minerals. Consumption of some dry fruits daily enhances the overall bioavailability of nutrients. Try raisins (dried grapes), apricots, dates, figs, tamarind..., which are indeed very good in iron, calcium, zinc, selenium and manganese. In addition, mixing dry fruits with some fresh fruits would help you get vitamin C which in-turn facilitates complete absorption of iron inside the stomach.

Looney Tunes

Beginning in the 1930s, the cartoon series called Looney Tunes created some of the world's most famous cartoon characters. Some of the best-known are left to right, Elmer Fudd, Road Runner, Porky Pig, Bugs Bunny, Tweety Bird, Sylvester, Wile E. Coyote, and Daffy Duck. Hundreds of short cartoons feature these and other characters.

Finding Nemo

Animated films, such as Finding Nemo (2003), are a very popular form of entertainment. Animated films were once drawn entirely by hand, but today many are made on computers.

The Pentagon

The Pentagon is one of the world’s largest office buildings. It stands across the Potomac River from Washington, D.C. The Pentagon is home to the United States Department of Defense.

A five-sided figure is called a pentagon. In Arlington, Virginia, across the Potomac River from Washington, D.C., stands a five-sided building called the Pentagon. It serves as headquarters for the United States Department of Defense.

Many people refer to the Department of Defense by the name of its famous office building—the Pentagon.

HOW BIG IS THE PENTAGON?

The Pentagon is one of the world's largest office buildings. It covers 29 acres (11.74 hectares). In fact, the outside wall of the Pentagon stretches about 1 mile (1.6 kilometers)! The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers built the massive structure from 1941 to 1943.

The Pentagon actually consists of five pentagon-shaped buildings that fit inside each other like different sized cookie cutters. Corridors connect the buildings. The largest building is on the outside. In the center of the Pentagon is a five-sided courtyard.

WHO WORKS AT THE PENTAGON?

About 23,000 people work in the Pentagon. About half the workers are civilians (ordinary citizens). The other half are members of the armed forces. In addition to the Department of Defense, the Pentagon is home to offices for the U.S. Army, Navy, and Air Force.

The Pentagon is like a small city. It has restaurants, a shopping center, libraries, a post office, bus and taxi terminals, and a helicopter port. The Pentagon has one of the world’s largest private telephone systems. Pentagon workers make about 200,000 phone calls every day!

Statue of LibertyThe Statue of Liberty is an important symbol of freedom in the United States. It stands on Liberty Island in the harbor of

New York City. The statue was a gift from France in the mid-1880s.

Lady Liberty at Sunset The Statue of Liberty was the first sight of America for millions of immigrants who arrived by ship in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

What monument is a symbol of American freedom known around the world? It is the Statue of Liberty in New York City’s harbor.

The statue became a symbol of freedom in the first half of the 20th century. That’s when millions of European immigrants came to the United States by ship and passed through the harbor. The statue of a tall lady holding a torch was a welcoming beacon.

A GIANT SCULPTURE

The Statue of Liberty is a giant sculpture of a woman dressed in flowing robes and wearing a spiked crown. Her right hand holds a gold torch high above her head. Her left arm holds a book of law with the date July 4, 1776, the date Americans declared their independence from Britain. The statue from base to torch is 305 feet (93 meters) high. The lady herself stands 151 feet (46 meters) tall.

VISITING THE STATUE OF LIBERTY

The Statue of Liberty stands on Liberty Island. You can reach the island by ferry from New York City. An elevator takes you to an observation deck at the top of the monument’s base.

Some visitors climb 354 steps to reach the statue’s crown. From there, they have a spectacular view of New York City and its harbor. Ellis Island, where millions of immigrants entered the United States, is located nearby.

GIFT FROM FRANCE

The people of France gave the Statue of Liberty to the United States in 1884. The gift honors the alliance between the two nations during the American Revolution. Thousands of French citizens donated the money to build the statue. French sculptor Frédéric-Auguste Bartholdi designed the statue.

After completion, the statue was exhibited in France. It was then taken apart for shipment to the United States and put back together at its present location. United States president Grover Cleveland dedicated the Statue of Liberty on October 28, 1886.

A poem is written on the base of the monument. It includes these words: “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to be free.…”

Great Wall of China

The Great Wall stretches thousands of miles across northern China. It was built long ago to protect China from invaders.

Imagine a huge wall stretching for thousands of miles across the land. The wall winds through hills, climbs mountains, and crosses deserts. If you visit China you can see a wall like this. The Great Wall of China, as it is known, is the longest structure ever built.

The Great Wall of China zigzags across parts of northern China. It was built section by section over centuries. In fact, there are many gaps between the sections, so the Great Wall isn't a single, solid wall. But if all the sections are measured, the wall is about 4,000 miles (6,400 kilometers) long!

WHY WAS THE GREAT WALL BUILT?

Since ancient times, Chinese people have built walls to protect their borders. Some walls were built between parts of China that were fighting each other. Other walls protected China from outside invaders.

More than 2,000 years ago, the first emperor of China built a long wall to defend the northern border. The emperor, Qin Shihuangdi, thought of connecting older existing walls with sections of a new wall. The wall he built is considered China’s first Great Wall.

By the late 1400s, much of the old wall had fallen into ruin. The Ming dynasty, a group that ruled China, decided to build a new wall. The Ming rulers wanted to keep China safe from the Mongols, who had a powerful army. They also wanted to move part of the wall farther south. There it could be built to form a long defensive ring around Beijing, the capital city.

HOW WAS THE GREAT WALL BUILT?

At first, builders used the same construction methods that were used to make the old wall. They packed soil between heavy wood frames. But by the 1500s, the Ming rulers had decided to make parts of the wall much stronger. They ordered their builders to make the wall’s foundation from granite blocks. The sides were built from stone or brick.

Workers built watchtowers into the wall so that soldiers would see Mongol attackers coming. A soldier who spotted the enemy could use a warning signal, such as a torch, to alert a soldier in the next tower. Such signals could be relayed quickly from one tower to the next.

The wall is biggest and strongest near Beijing. There, the wall is about 25 feet (7.5 meters) high and 30 feet (9 meters) thick. The top of the wall is paved with brick, forming a road. The road is wide enough to hold ten soldiers marching side by side.

Construction on the wall continued until the mid-1600s, when the Ming dynasty was overthrown. By that time, it was the longest structure ever built anywhere on Earth.

THE GREAT WALL TODAY

For centuries, the Great Wall slowly fell apart. Local farmers and villagers used the wall as a source of building materials. Some sections of it were even torn down entirely.

In the 1980s, the government of China began to repair the wall. A few sections were completely rebuilt. Today, the Great Wall is one of China’s most popular tourist sites. Historians study the wall to learn about China’s past.

Aquarium

Large aquariums like this one allow people to see many different fish and other marine animals up close.

Kelp Forest

Large aquariums are a major tourist attraction. This photo shows a kelp forest exhibit at the famous Monterey Bay Aquarium in California.

Golden Gate Bridge

The Golden Gate Bridge is one of the world’s most famous bridges. It spans the San Francisco Bay in California.