THE GROUNDHOG DAY

                                                                 

Grounhog day is a holiday celebrated on February the 2nd in the United States and Canada. It is a folkloric event to make a weather broadcasting according to the groundhog's performance:
If it is cloudy when a groundhog emerges from its burrow on this day, spring will come early. If it is sunny, the groundhog will supposedly see its shadow and retreat back into its burrow; that means that the winter weather will last at least two more weeks.
The largest Groundhog celebration is held up in Punxsutawney; Pennsylvania.

Now, pay attention to important images and vocabulary about the celebration:

What is "a groundhog"? Also known as a whistle-pig, woodchuck, or land-beaver is a rodent, belonging to the group of large ground squirrels known as "marmots".

What is "a burrow"? It is a hole or tunnel dug into the ground by an animal to create a safe and suitable space for habitation or refuge. Some animals that usually make burrows are groundhogs, rabbits, cobayes, mice...

What is "weather broadcasting"? It is the application of science and technology to predict the state of the atmosphere for a given location. Weather forecasts are made from collecting data about the current state of the atmosphere and using scientific understanding processes to project how the weather will evolve.
Nowadays we can find computer-based models to predict the weather, but this is something that human beings have been doing informally for millennia, using methods that have to do with folklore more that with science. Some of these methods are: groundhogs (in North America and Canada), Cabañuelas (in La Mancha, Spain), etc.

Tongue twister:

HOW MUCH WOOD WOULD A WOODCHUCK CHUCK IF A WOODCHUCK COULD CHUCK WOOD? (If you can pronounce it properly, you'll get an extra point!!! hehehe)    ;)   ;P