2000

High school (ages 12+)
History & Culture

Name:

Date:

Step 1 · Read the article

Open the article and read it at the level above. Then answer the questions below in your own words.

https://smallwhale.org/articles/2000

Write what each word means, using the article.

Do not copy the article. Write two things you learned, the way you would explain them to a friend.

Answers below are taken from the article’s stored facts, so they match what the student read.

1. What is the calendar system?Gregorian calendar, a leap year starting on a Saturday
2. What was the Y2K bug?The Y2K bug was a computer problem that could happen because many programs used only two digits for the year. If a computer saw '00', it might think it was 1900 instead of 2000, which could cause mistakes in important systems like banks and traffic lights.
3. Why did people think the year 2000 was the start of a new millennium?Many people counted years in groups of ten, so they thought 2000 was the first year of the 21st century and the third millennium, even though calendars say the new millennium actually began on January 1, 2001.

Gregorian Calendar: The solar calendar most widely used today, featuring a system of leap years to maintain alignment with the Earth's orbit.
Y2K Bug (Year 2000 Problem): A widespread computer programming issue feared to cause malfunctions when dates transitioned from 1999 to 2000 due to two-digit year representation.
Millennium: A period of 1,000 years, often associated with significant cultural, historical, and societal shifts.