Britannica's 5-Minute Really True Stories for Family Time
People live all over the world even in places with extreme weather In the scorching desert of southern Australia there is a small town called Coober Pedy Here people have come up with a clever solution to avoid the heat They build their homes underground where the temperature stays nice and cool The walls hallways and even bookshelves in these homes are all carved out of rock 8
Unlike the dry Australian desert the country of Bangladesh has lots of water It sits in the world’s largest delta which is a low lying plain created by a river as it flows out toward the sea In the rainy season the rivers in the area overflow and flood the surrounding land To protect their houses from the water some families have built their homes on raised mud mounds In some parts of the country there are even floating schools 9
Some houses have grass growing on their roofs These are a type of eco or planet friendly home Around the world people are building eco homes to save energy and help protect the environment These green roofs keep warm air inside the house when it is cold outside and cool air inside when it is hot outside Less fuel needs to be burned for heating and cooling which saves energy Green roofs also improve the quality of the air by soaking up a gas called carbon dioxide and releasing oxygen which is the gas that humans breathe in 10
Another type of eco home called an Earthship was first built in the 1970s in New Mexico The walls are made from recycled materials such as bottles aluminum cans or old tires filled with soil Solar panels on the roofs absorb sunlight and use its power to make electricity Some Earthships also include a composting toilet These toilets don’t need water They just need the right temperature moisture and bacteria to turn human waste into compost Then the compost can be used to grow plants in the yard What do you imagine your home might look like in the future 11
