are 8 to 12 inches (20 to 30 centimeters)
across. The body has a disk in
the center with five or more arms
attached. The disk and the arms are covered
with short spines. Many starfish
can grow another arm if they lose one.
A starfish moves using hundreds of tube
feet on its underside. The tube feet are
like little legs. In most starfish each tube
foot has a suction cup on the end. These
are good for creeping and clinging to
steep surfaces.
Most starfish eat clams, oysters, and
snails. They use their tube feet to pull
apart the shells of larger prey. Some starfish
sweep food into the mouth, which is
on the underside of the body. Others
turn the stomach outward to take in
their prey. Certain starfish swallow the
prey whole.
A starfish clings to a piece of
coral in the ocean.
For thousands
of years
people have
imagined that
certain stars in
the sky form
outlines of pictures.
These
pictures are
called
constellations.
180 Starfish BRITANNICA STUDENT ENCYCLOPEDIA
State
Government
The United States has 50 state governments
as well as a national government.
This type of government system is called
a federal system. Other countries that
have a federal system include Australia,
Canada, Germany, and Switzerland.
These systems are different in some ways
from the U.S. system. Some countries
call their regions provinces or cantons
instead of states. But there are many
similarities. Each country’s constitution
gives its regions specific powers. The
national government (also called the
federal government) has other powers
that apply to everyone in the country.
Each region has its own executive (leader
such as a governor), legislature, and
court system. In addition, each region
sends representatives to a national legislature.
The U.S. Federal System
The founders of the United States did
not want a strong national government.
But the first U.S. constitution, called the
Articles of Confederation, made the
government so weak that the country
could not hold together. For this reason,
the writers of the U.S. Constitution
balanced power between a large central
government and the smaller governments
of the states.
The Constitution also balances power
between large and small states. This is
shown in the way the two houses of the
U.S. Congress are organized. The more
people a state has, the more members it
gets to send to the House of Representatives.
This favors large states. But every
state, whether large or small, gets to
send two members to the Senate. This
favors small states.
The U.S. Constitution lists certain
things that state governments cannot do.
For example, states must not make
agreements called treaties with other
countries. Apart from these few rules,
state governments have much freedom.
In fact, the 10th Amendment to the
Constitution gives all powers to the
states, except where the Constitution
specifically says otherwise.
U.S. State Governments
U.S. state governments are organized
much like the federal government. Every
state has a constitution. Almost every
state has a legislature with an upper
house and a lower house. (Nebraska has
a one-house legislature.) Every state has
a governor who serves as the chief executive
(president). Every state has a high
One role of the state governments in the
United States is to issue license plates.
BRITANNICA STUDENT ENCYCLOPEDIA State Government 181
court, usually called the supreme court.
The high court judges state laws in
much the same way as the U.S. Supreme
Court judges federal laws.
States also have the power to tax their
people to pay for state programs. States
pay for education and health care, as
well as for the building of roads, bridges,
and other projects.
States’ Rights
State law may not go against federal law.
Even so, U.S. states have sometimes
claimed that a certain federal law did
not apply to them. South Carolina tried
to ignore a federal tax law in 1832.
When President Andrew Jackson threatened
to send in the army, the state
backed down. Beginning in 1860, the
Southern states claimed the right to
secede, or separate from the rest of the
country, over the issue of slavery. This
time they did not back down. The result
was the American CivilWar (1861–65),
which is sometimes called theWar
Between the States. Since then the issue
of states’ rights has come up whenever a
state disagrees with the federal government.
#More to explore
American CivilWar • Government
• United States Constitution • United
States Government
Statistics
Statistics is a branch of mathematics. It
involves gathering information, summarizing
it, and deciding what it means.
The numbers that result from this work
are also called statistics. They can help to
predict such things as the weather and
how sports teams will perform. They
also can describe specific things about
In the United States, state governments issue
drivers’ licenses. In most states, the Department
of Motor Vehicles handles this task.
A worker gathers information from a
weather station. Such stations record many
statistics, including temperatures, wind
speeds, and rainfall amounts. Scientists can
then study the statistics to learn about
weather patterns in an area.
