Twyla Tharp, and Alvin Ailey.
Graham did not retire from dancing
until she was 75. She continued to choreograph
until she died, on April 1,
1991, in New York City. She created
181 dance works in all. The dance technique
she developed is still taught at
many dance schools.
#More to explore
Dance
Grain
Grains are types of grass that produce
seeds that can be eaten. Grains are also
called cereals. Wheat, rice, and corn are
the most commonly grown grains.
Other important grains include barley,
oats, rye, millet, and sorghum.
A grain seed has three parts: the bran,
the germ (or embryo), and the
endosperm. The bran is the outer layer.
It protects the inside of the grain. The
germ is the part of the grain that can
grow into a new plant. The endosperm
provides food for the germ. A grain
described as “whole” has all three parts.
Martha Graham dances in Appalachian
Spring in New York City in 1944.
134 Graham, Martha BRITANNICA STUDENT ENCYCLOPEDIA
Processed, or refined, grains usually have
had the bran and the germ removed.
Whole grains have more nutrients than
refined grains.
People eat grains in a number of ways.
They eat rice and corn on their own.
They also eat grains as ingredients of
other foods, such as breakfast cereals and
soups. Grains are also eaten in the form
of flour. Flour is made by crushing
grains into tiny pieces. The grain most
commonly used to make flour is wheat.
People use flour to make bread, cookies,
crackers, cakes, and pastas.
Grains have other uses, too. Farmers use
grains to feed farm animals. They use
straw, or the stalks of grain plants, as
bedding for animals. People also use
grains in industry. Grains are used to
make oils, alcohols, and other products.
#More to explore
Barley • Corn • Grass • Millet • Oats
• Rice • Rye • Seed • Sorghum • Wheat
Grammar
Grammar is a set of rules that tells how a
language works. Every language has its
own set of rules. The rules of grammar
explain what different kinds of words do
and how they work together.
Types ofWords
In English, there are nine basic types of
words. These types are called parts of
speech. The parts of speech are nouns,
articles, pronouns, verbs, adjectives,
adverbs, prepositions, conjunctions, and
interjections.
HowWordsWork Together
In English, grammar mainly involves the
order of words. The meaning of a sentence
changes if the word order changes.
Here are two sentences: The car hit the
tree. The tree hit the car. These two sentences
have the same words. But because
the word order is different, the meaning
is different.
The word order also decides whether the
sentence makes sense. In English, the
subject, or main noun, of a sentence
Baskets hold grains for sale at a market. usually comes before the verb. For
A woman in Nigeria pours grains of millet
into a bowl. Uneatable pieces are lighter
and blow away.
Many people
think that it is
important for
children to
learn grammar.
U.S.
elementary
schools used
to be called
grammar
schools.
BRITANNICA STUDENT ENCYCLOPEDIA Grammar 135
example, “Ran quickly the girl” does not
make sense because the subject (the girl)
comes after the verb (ran). Other languages
have different rules about word
order.
#More to explore
Language
Grand Canyon
Noted for its fantastic shapes and colors,
the Grand Canyon is one of the most
spectacular sights in the United States.
The vast canyon was cut through many
layers of rock by the muddy waters of
the Colorado River. It runs for 277
miles (446 kilometers) through northwestern
Arizona, ranging from about 0.1
to 18 miles (0.2 to 29 kilometers) wide.
In places the canyon is more than a mile
(1.6 kilometers) deep.
Some of the rocks in the Grand
Canyon are 4 billion years old. The
Colorado River began eroding, or
wearing down, the rocks about 6
million years ago. Wind and rain have
helped the erosion process. Some of the
rock towers that rise from the depths of
the canyon look like castles and
temples. The canyon is mostly red, but
different layers of rock are buff, gray,
green, pink, and violet.
Willow trees and cottonwoods grow at
the bottom of the canyon where there is
plenty of water. There are magnificent
forests of pine, fir, spruce, and aspen on
the canyon’s north rim. Cacti are common
in drier areas.Wildlife includes
coyotes, foxes, deer, badgers, pumas,
The Grand Canyon’s unique beauty attracts
millions of visitors each year.
Grammar
Part of What It Examples
Speech Does
noun stands for teacher
people, places, school
or things book
article tells whether a the (specific)
noun is specific a (general)
or general
pronoun replaces a noun she
it
they
verb tells what a noun talk
or a pronoun does read
adjective describes a noun smart
or a pronoun large
funny
adverb describes a verb, happily
an adjective, always
or another adverb
preposition tells how words to
in a sentence with
relate to one
another in time
or space
conjunction combines parts of and
a sentence, or but
whole sentences, or
into one sentence
interjection shows emotion oh
yuck
136 Grand Canyon BRITANNICA STUDENT ENCYCLOPEDIA
bobcats, rabbits, squirrels, and chipmunks.
Grand Canyon National Park was created
in 1919 and enlarged in 1975. A
