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Acknowledgments “Today is Very Boring” from THE NEW KID ON THE BLOCK by Jack Prelutsky Text Copyright © 1984 by Jack Prelutsky. Reprinted by permission of HarperCollins Publishers, Inc. “The Family Car” by Tom Absher from PEELING THE ONION, An Anthology of Poems selected by Ruth Gordon, published by A Charlotte Zolotow book, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers Copyright © 1993. Original copyright © 1985 by Monitor Book Company. Reprinted by permission of Monitor Book Company. “Instructions for Earth’s Dishwasher” by Lisa Westberg Peters from EARTHSHAKE, POEMS FROM THE GROUND UP Copyright © 2003 published by Greenwillow Books, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers. Reprinted by permission of HarperCollins Publishers, Inc. “Eletelephony” from TARRA LIRA by Laura E. Richards. Copyright © 1930, 1932 by Laura Richards; copyright © renewed 1960 by Hamilton Richards. Reprinted by permission of Little Brown and Company. “Roller Coaster” from THE KITE THAT BRAVED OLD ORCHARD BEACH by X.J. Kennedy. Reprinted with the permission of Simon and Schuster Children’s Publishing Division. “No More Water” from THE ALIENS HAVE LANDED AT OUR SCHOOL! Text copyright © by Kenn Nesbitt published by Meadowbrook Press. Used by permission.

Photography Credits Book Cover: (c) John Lund/Sam Diephuis/Blend Images; (tr) Corbis/Premium RF/Alamy

Contributor

© Time Inc. All rights reserved. Versions of some articles in this edition of TIME For Kids originally appeared in TIME For Kids or timeforkids.com. B

Published by Macmillan/McGraw-Hill, of McGraw-Hill Education, a division of The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., Two Penn Plaza, New York, New York 10121. Copyright © 2011 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or distributed in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior written consent of The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., including, but not limited to, network storage or transmission, or broadcast for distance learning. Printed in The United States of America ISBN: 978-0-02-207795-2 MHID: 0-02-207795-2 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 WEB 13 12 11 10 09

Contents Issue 1

Main Idea and Details • Prefixes • Bar Graphs

(c) Frans Lanting/Minden Pictures; (tr) Farjana K. Godhuly/AFP/Getty Images

Dollars and Sense

Small Loans Make a Big Difference ............... 6 Class Safari ....................................................... 8 Temperatures of Cities in Kenya CHARTS ....... 12 A journey to Africa teaches kids about this fascinating nation.

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1/20/09 12:28:12 PM

Issue 2

Cause and Effect • Unknown Words • Maps Making Maps

Green Machine! (c) AFP/Getty Images; (tr) Geography and Map Division/Library of Congress

A free laptop is changing the way kids around the world learn.

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Two Maps: One New, One Old ...................... 14 Learning with Laptops ................................... 16 All-American Tall Tales MAPS ....................... 20

1/23/09 1:29:30 PM

Issue 3

Main Idea and Details • Synonyms • Photos and Captions

(c) Detlev van Ravenswaay/Photo Researchers; (tr) Global Image Express/Li Jiangsong/Newscom

Light Building

Scientists learn new facts about the sun.

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1/20/09 12:29:57 PM

Sunlight and Shadow .................................... 22 Great Ball of Fire ........................................... 24 Today Is Very Boring POETRY ......................... 28

Issue 4

Compare and Contrast • Context Clues • Skimming and Scanning

(c) Michel Setboun/Corbis; (tr) Marissa Roth/The New York Times/Redux

A Rich Legacy

Lady Liberty The Statue of Liberty welcomes visitors and immigrants to America.

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1/20/09 12:31:59 PM

A Lifetime of Treasures................................. 30 Open Liberty! ................................................ 32 Let’s Celebrate! TABLES .................................. 36

Issue 5

Make and Confirm Predictions • Suffixes • Charts

(c) Tony Dejak/AP Images; (tr) Kyodo News/Newscom

Cars Are “Celling”

New roller coasters are bigger, faster, and scarier than ever.

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1/20/09 12:32:45 PM

The Car of the Future? .................................. 38 Wild Rides ...................................................... 40 The Family Car POETRY ................................... 44

Issue 6

Sequence • Compound Words • Maps Great Gulf Coast

(c) Lana Slivar/Reuters/Corbis; (tr) George H.H. Huey/Corbis

Life on the Gulf ............................................. 46 Building a Tsunami Warning System ........... 48 Instructions for Earth’s Dishwasher POETRY . 52 A tsunami warning system may save lives.

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1/23/09 1:32:16 PM

Issue 7

Draw Conclusions • Context Clues • Graphs

(c) Ariel Skelley/Getty Images; (tr) Gates Foundation/Corbis

Gates Is Generous

Legacy of Dreams .......................................... 54 A Helping Hand ............................................. 56 Top 5 U.S. Foundations GRAPHS .................... 60 Businesses help people make their dreams come true.

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1/23/09 1:33:03 PM

Issue 8

(c) Bowers Museum of Cultural Art/Corbis; (tr) The Granger Collection

Friends of Freedom

Inside the United States are hundreds of independent nations.

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Main Idea and Details • Context Clues • Time Lines

Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass ... 62 American Indian Nations.............................. 64 Mary Youngblood TIME LINES ......................... 68

Author’s Purpose • Context Clues • Maps Mysterious Pyramids!

This Flower Stinks ......................................... 70 Secret at the Heart of a Pyramid.................. 72 Eletelephony POETRY ..................................... 76

(c) Scott Barbour/Getty Images; (tr) Michael T. Sedam/Corbis

Not all flowers are sweet. Take a whiff of the world’s smelliest bloom.

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1/26/09 12:02:55 PM

Issue 10

Author’s Purpose • Context Clues • Photos and Captions

(c) Koji Sasahara/Wide World Photos/AP Images; (tr) LEGO

Teen EMTs

Prince Hisahito could one day become Emperor of Japan.

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1/28/09 11:40:45 AM

Teens to the Rescue! .................................... 78 Long Live the Emperor! ................................ 80 Mighty Monarchs MAPS ................................ 84

Issue 11

Draw Conclusions • Context Clues • Diagrams

(c) Sylvain Cazenave/Corbis; (tr) Tom Hanson/Wide World Photos/AP Images

Kids Give a Hand

Freedom Fighter ............................................ 86 Surf’s Up! ....................................................... 88 Roller Coaster POETRY .................................... 92

R ide t h e

Wave

Learn about the science behind surfing. It may keep you afloat!

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1/23/09 2:05:55 PM

Issue 12

Author’s Purpose • Context Clues • Time Lines The Final Frontier

(c) NASA; (tr) Bettmann/Corbis

R ide t h e

Issue 9

Where No People Had Gone Before............. 94 Mysterious Mars ............................................ 96 How Spirit Landed DIAGRAMS ....................... 100

All Eyes on Mars NASA spacecraft are giving us the closest looks ever of the Red Planet.

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1/30/09 9:22:40 AM

Issue 13

Cause and Effect • Context Clues • Charts Water Troubles

Water Troubles............................................. 102 Kaboom! Volcanoes Are a Threat ............... 104 No More Water POETRY ................................ 108

(c) Jim Sugar/Corbis; (tr) Rao Guojun/China Foto/Getty Images

Kilauea volcano in Hawaii has been erupting almost nonstop since 1983.

New tools are helping to predict when volcanoes will blow.

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1/30/09 9:23:18 AM

Issue 14

Sequence • Context Clues • Maps

(c) Chris Nash/Getty Images; (tr) Osvaldo Stigliano/Wide World Photos/AP Images

Inca Mummies

Welcome to India ..........................................110 Faces From the Past .......................................112 The Inca Empire MAPS ...................................116

Big Country! Explore the success and challenges of the world’s largest democracy.

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1/30/09 3:49:32 PM

Issue 15

Cause and Effect • Homophones • Diagrams Dead Zones

Trouble in the Ocean .....................................118 One Giant Squid! .......................................... 120 How Diamonds Form DIAGRAMS ................... 124

(c) Franck Robichon/EPA/Corbis; (tr) Robert Simmon/NASA

Tsunemi Kubodera takes the first photos of the ocean giants.

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1/30/09 1:00:47 PM

(c) Frans Lanting/Minden Pictures; (tr) Farjana K. Godhuly/AFP/Getty Images

Dollars and Sense

A journey to Africa teaches kids about this fascinating nation.

Farjana K. Godhuly/A FP/Getty Images

Muhammad Yunus won the Nobel Peace Prize.

Microcredit offers a chance to succeed. by Lorin Driggs

M

uhammad Yunus and the Grameen Bank help bring millions of people out of poverty. Yunus is from Bangladesh. He founded the Grameen Bank to help his community. Yunus wanted to give the poor the power to change their lives for the better.

Small Loans, Big Gains Since Muhammad Yunus founded Grameen Bank in 1983, the bank’s size and impact in Bangladesh have grown. This graph tells the story.

Loans Help Poor Escape Poverty In 1983, Yunus founded Grameen Bank. It loans small amounts of money to people to start businesses. These loans are called “microcredit.” They are given to people who are unable to get loans from regular banks. Most microcredit loans are very small, around $130. Most of the borrowers are women. This is odd because women do not usually have jobs or run businesses in Bangladesh.

Then and Now at Grameen e a d oBank at G a ee Percentage of borrowers that are female

In 1983

46 97

Now 1,249

Number of villages served

83,178 86

Number of bank branches

2,530

0

6•

Key

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Time For Kids

100

500

1,000

2,500

5,000

10,000

30,000

60,000

90,000

Yunus’s idea caught on. Microcredit is now available in more than 100 countries, including the United States. With their microcredit loans, millions of people have brought themselves and their families out of poverty. One woman in Bangladesh borrowed $120 to buy a cow. A year later she had repaid the loan and bought chickens. Nine years later she moved from a shack to a brick house and owned land. In the United States, a microcredit loan of $2,500 helped an unemployed woman to open a day-care center. Yunus didn’t stop with the Grameen Bank. He started a company to provide cell phone service in rural areas. Another business makes solar panels in areas where there is no electricity. Yunus has also started a food company and an eye hospital.

Nicholas Pitt/Getty Images

In Bangladesh microcredit is helping some people start strong businesses.

These Bangladeshi women are receiving loans from the Grameen Bank.

Since the Grameen Bank began, it has lent over $5.72 billion. In 2006, Yunus won the Nobel Peace Prize, one of the biggest honors in the world. Microcredit loans may be small, but their impact on the world is very big.

Philippe Lissac/Godong/Corbis

Issue 1

•7

Class Safari

A teacher from Kenya takes his American students back home.

Danuta Otfinowski

I

↑ “I feel like teachers are role models.

t’s an early wake-up call for C.J. Queenan. It’s 5:00 A.M.! C.J. doesn’t get up that early at home in Virginia. Well, maybe to eat breakfast once in a while but never to herd cows! But C.J. isn’t at home. He is in Africa, on the plains of Kenya. He is visiting the Masai people. He is helping them with their cattle. C.J. even carries a spear to keep the lions away. 8•

Time For Kids

Just like the elders in my village,” says Joseph Lekuton. He is wearing Masai clothes and is surrounded by his students.

Yes, it’s a tough job for a 14year-old from Virginia, but C.J. sticks it out. He wants to keep up with the Masai tribesmen. “The Masai can’t call people on cell phones to rescue them when they get tired,” C.J. says.

Dividing the Land Many Kenyans travel from place to place to feed their cattle. They also farm the land. This graph shows how land in Kenya is used.

What Land Is Used For 100%

C.J.’s trek to Africa isn’t a vacation. It’s part of classes at Langley School. C.J.’s teacher is Joseph Lekuton. He is a member of Africa’s Masai tribe of Kenya. Every summer Lekuton takes some of his students and their parents on a two-week trip to his homeland. Kenya is a whole new world for the kids from Virginia. When they get there, the American kids put on Masai clothing. Boys herd cattle. Girls collect firewood and water. Families depend on their cattle. As a result, the Masai and the students have to move a lot so the cattle have grass to eat.

75% 50%

37%

30%

25%

25% 1%

0%

7%

Permanent pastures Permanent crop Land that can be used for farming Forests and woodlands Other, including cities The World Factbook

philipkent.com

Masai tribesmen get students ready for a cattle drive. It will go across African grasslands. ↓

Issue 1

•9

Top 5 African Countries for Tourists

South Africa 7.51 million

The graph shows the countries in Africa most visited by tourists in 2005.

Tunisia 7.1 million

Cows to the Rescue Back in the United States, Kenya is on the minds of the students at Langley School all year. Droughts have killed many cattle in Kenya, so the students created Cows for Kids. The money they raise buys cows for Masai herders. Each cow costs about $100. “One cow means more to the health of a family than cash,” says Lekuton. “Here we’re really giving life. A cow will give a child milk every day.”

Morocco 5.84 million Zimbabwe 1.55 million Swaziland 0.83 million Source: World Tourism Organization, 2006

Time For Kids

Danuta Otfinowski

Every time Lekuton sees a little boy herding cows, he thinks, “How can I help make his life better?” ↓

10 •

= 1 million tourists

Giraffes can run as fast as 32 miles an hour. Who will win this race? →

Lekuton wants to help people in his homeland—and in his new home. “I’m just trying to give my students a different way of thinking,” says Lekuton. He says helping the Masai is just one step. He hopes the kids will discover ways to help those in the United States who need it, too.

Yann Arthus-Bertrand/Corbis

Welcome to Kenya The Masai is one of 40 tribes that live in Kenya. Those 40 tribes speak more than 30 languages. The Kikuyu is Kenya’s largest tribe. The Luo is another group. U.S. President Barack Obama’s father is Luo. Many of the people are fishers. They are also great storytellers. The lands of Kenya are as different as the tribes. There are wide grasslands in Kenya. The country also has deserts and forests. Thousands of people visit Kenya each year. Most of them go on safari. A safari is a special kind of trip. It gives people the chance to look at animals in nature. People who visit Kenya take their cameras along. They return home with photos of elephants, lions, giraffes, and zebras!

Masai girls wear colorful clothing and beaded jewelry. ↓

Jim Zuckerman/Corbis

Issue 1

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The climate of Kenya is tropical. That means it is warm most of the year. The coast of Kenya is humid. The inner part of the country is cooler. The north is very dry. These are the average temperatures of major Kenyan cities.

City

Height (feet)

1. Mombasa

55

Key Capital

4. Lodwar

Kenya 3. Eldoret 2. Nairobi

Maximum Minimum Temperature Temperature (°F) (°F) 86

5. Mandera

72 1. Mombasa Joe Lemonnier

2. Nairobi

5,449

77

56

3. Eldoret

10,121

74

49

4. Lodwar

1,660

95

74

5. Mandera

1,660

94

78 Jon Warburton Lee/Getty Images

12

Making Maps

(c) AFP/Getty Images; (tr) Geography and Map Division/Library of Congress

Green Machine! A free laptop is changing the way kids around the world learn.

Two Maps: One New, One Old Maps help people describe the world. Look at the two maps on these pages. One is more than 200 years old. The other is from today. They both show North America. Central Intelligence Agency/Library of Congress Geography and Map Division

North America is a continent, or a large body of land. The United States is part of North America. So are Canada and Mexico.

Modern Map Take a look at this map. It is a modern map of North America. Find the edges of the United States. The edge of a country is called a boundary. What are the names of the two countries that touch the United States? One is Canada. One is Mexico. What bodies of water are at the edges of the United States? (Bodies of water can be oceans, gulfs, lakes, or rivers.)

↑ Today, mapmakers use technology to help them create maps.

On the East Coast is the Atlantic Ocean. To the south is the Gulf of Mexico. To the west is the Pacific Ocean. 14 •

Time For Kids

Detlev van Ravenswaay/Photo Researchers

Making Maps Cartography is different now than it was 200 years ago because of technology. Satellites orbit Earth. They take pictures and gather information about landforms. As a result, mapmakers use this information to help them make maps. They also use computers to measure and draw accurately.

Library of Congress Geography and Map Division

Old Map Take a look at this map. It was made in 1804. That’s more than 200 years ago. Use your finger to trace the boundaries of the United States on this map. Which of these 1804 boundaries is a boundary of the United States today? The Atlantic Ocean is still a boundary today.

↑ This map from 1804 was drawn by hand.

There are some important differences between the modern map and the old map. One important difference is the size of the United States. It is much larger now. This is becaues the boundaries of the United States have changed. It now stretches from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean. — Susan Moger

Issue 2

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Learning with

Laptops By Jill Egan

C

an a green machine help the world’s poorest kids learn better? Nicholas Negroponte thinks so. He and his team of scientists have invented a new type of computer. As a result, many children who live in poverty will have their very own laptop computer!

Nicholas Negroponte with his laptop →

16 •

Time For Kids

William B. Plowman/Wide World Photos/AP Images

Negroponte works at a university. He started a group called One Laptop Per Child (OLPC). It is a nonprofit organization. The people at OLPC don’t work for money. They work to help children learn. OLPC makes computers that don’t cost a lot. Then they sell the machines to governments of countries that have many people living in poverty. The governments then give the computers to kids for free. The low price means millions of kids can receive a laptop.

A teacher helps a student using the XO laptop ↓

The XO laptop computers are made for school-aged children in developing nations. Many of these children live in remote areas and go to schools with outdoor classrooms. In order to work, the laptops have to be durable and studentfriendly. The machines have many fun features like a built-in video camera, voice recording, and games. The wireless network lets students share information on the Web, edit work, and read e-books. They also can make music and chat with friends. Another great feature is the battery. It can be hand charged by a crank, pedal, or pull cord. It also can be recharged by attaching to a solar panel. The crank makes the machine very resourceful.

Marcelo Hernandez/Wide World Photos/AP Images

Because of these features the XO laptops make learning fun while helping the environment. (bkgd)Tomi/PhotoLink/Getty Images

Fun Features

Issue 2

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Colorful Computers The laptops have a colorful nickname—“the green machine.” Negroponte thinks his green machines could make a difference in the lives of millions of kids. He says, “Every single problem you can think of—poverty, peace, the environment—is solved with education.”

One Laptop Per Child OLPC plans to give out over ten million computers in the next few years. Kids in Thailand, Nigeria, Brazil, and Argentina will get most of them. China and Egypt also want to take part in the program. After that, Negroponte hopes to sell computers to other countries with high poverty. Once the kids get them, they can start cranking away! Because of OLPC, every student in Villa Cardal, Uruguay, owns an XO laptop. ↓

18 •

Time For Kids

Marcelo Hernandez/Wide World Photos/AP Images

Countries Getting the Green Machines Here are facts about school kids in some of the nations that are getting “green machines.”

Egypt Kids must go to school for six years, beginning at age six or seven.

Nigeria Boys and girls must have short hair and wear uniforms to school.

China Most schools run from 7:30 A.M. to 5:00 P.M., including a two-hour lunch break. Asia

North America

Europe

Thailand Kids go to school on Saturday.

Africa South America

Argentina In the country some kids ride horses to school.

Australia

Brazil Kids go to school for about four hours in the morning or afternoon.

Sophie Kitteredge

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Negroponte’s hard work, students around the world can explore and express themselves with the new XO Laptop.

Issue 2

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All-American Here are two tall tale heroes. The stories about them aren’t true, but they do say

Pecos Bill

Paul Bunyan

They say Pecos Bill was raised

Paul Bunyan was a lumberjack.

by coyotes. He became the

He cut down trees in the north

greatest cowboy of all time.

woods. Paul was strong and

He had courage and strength.

always worked hard.

Paul Bunyan worked as a lumberjack in Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Michigan. One legend says that the entire state of New Mexico was Pecos Bill’s ranch.

Pecos Bill was born in Texas. Joe Lemonnier

20

Paul Bunyan was born in Maine. Guy Francis

One story says that Paul Bunyan dug Lake Michigan as a watering hole for Babe the Blue Ox. Pecos Bill rode a tornado in Kansas.

Guy Francis

Guy Francis

a lot about the American spirit.

(c) Detlev van Ravenswaay/Photo Researchers; (tr) Global Image Express/Li Jiangsong/Newscom

Light Building

Scientists learn new facts about the sun.

Sunlight and Shadow For thousands of years, the sun has played an important part in where—and how—buildings are built. Everyone who designs a building needs to understand sunlight and shadow.

The Sun and Stonehenge Stonehenge is an ancient circle of stones built in the middle of a field in England. No one knows how the enormous stones got there or why they were placed the way they were. If you stand in the middle of the stone circle on most mornings, you won’t notice anything special.

But on the first official day of summer (called the summer solstice), which is the longest day of the year, the sun rises behind one of the biggest stones. The sun looks like a fiery ball balancing on the towering stone. Whoever built Stonehenge knew a lot about the movement of the sun. They also knew a lot about light and shadow.

The sun rises over Stonehenge on the summer solstice.

Bill Bachmann/Photo Researchers

22 •

Time For Kids

Jupiter Images/Pixland/Alamy

Sunshine in Your Bedroom The builders of Stonehenge weren’t so different from today’s architects—people with special training in how to design buildings. Architects think about light and shadow when they design houses, parks, skyscrapers, and even factories.

↑ Architects think about sunlight and shadow when they design buildings.

Architects know where the sun rises and sets. If they were building a house in an empty field, they could make the bedroom face east for morning light. They could make the living room face west in the direction of sunsets. Global Image Express/Li Jiangsong/Newscom

Most of the time, though, architects design houses to fit into a neighborhood. They design skyscrapers to fit into a city. How do they know whether their buildings will block someone else’s light? How do they know whether existing buildings, trees, or hills will make their new building too dark? Architects build models that show the planned building and the buildings and structures around it. Sometimes they use computers to build the models, and sometimes they use cardboard and wood. The models help architects to figure out just how to place their building to get the most from the sun. — Lisa Jo Rudy ← Today, architects make models that show how sunlight and shadow will affect new buildings. Issue 3

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Scientists take a closer look at the sun.

T

he sun seems to be a quiet neighbor—and a helpful one. It gives off light and heat. It warms sunbathers and helps plants grow. However, our nearest star is really a fiery ball of gas, with a stormy surface that burns at 11,000 degrees Fahrenheit. The sun is 93 million miles away. Even so, the stormy solar weather can cause problems on Earth. Solar storms can knock out TV transmissions, electricity, and phone service. They have even caused satellites to slip out of orbit. Scientists want to know more about how the sun causes these dilemmas. Fortunately, they have a lot of help from some amazing space probes.

The sun’s surface gives off charged particles called ions. They can move at up to 2 million miles per hour. → (bkgd) Detlev van Ravenswaay/Photo Researchers

24 •

Time For Kids

Eyes on the Sun Since December 1995 the SOHO probe has been circling the sun. SOHO stands for Solar and Heliospheric Observatory. SOHO takes close-up photos of the sun. It also measures energy coming from the sun. SOHO has discovered bands of gas that dive deep inside the sun. The gas streams may help explain the sun’s 11-year cycle. Every 11 years the number of sunspots and flares on the sun increases. Sunspots are cooler patches on the sun’s surface. They look like dark spots. Sunspots form where the sun’s magnetic field is very strong. Flares are bursts of energy that shoot into space from the sun. Sunspots and flares can disrupt communications on Earth. The radiation can also harm astronauts in orbit. What controls this 11-year cycle? It may be the streams of gases below the sun’s surface.

NASA

The ACE probe gives people on Earth and astronauts in space information about solar winds.

John Chumack/Photo Researchers

Some sunspots are thousands of miles across. Solar flares form above them. →

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The ACE probe is also sending data to Earth. ACE stands for Advanced Composition Explorer. ACE’s job is to track the solar wind. This is a stream of particles that bursts out from the sun. The particles are incredibly hot—2 million degrees Fahrenheit! The wind spreads through the whole solar system. The solar wind affects weather on all the planets, including Earth. Scientists have learned much about the sun. The star is more than just a silent neighbor. “We used to think the inside of the sun was fairly simple,” says astronomer John Harvey. “But that was before we [were able] to see into it.”

More than 1.3 million Earths

Mars

could fit inside the sun. Earth

The temperature at the center of the sun is 27 million degrees Fahrenheit.

The sun is an average star. There are 100 billion stars in our galaxy. Many are bigger and hotter.

26 •

Time For Kids

Venus

Sun Mercury

The Solar System The sun is at the center of the solar system. All the planets revolve around it. They are held in place by the sun’s gravity. Here is the solar system. Pluto was once thought to be the ninth planet. It is now removed from the list of planets.

The sun holds 99 percent of the total mass of the solar system. Its gravity keeps all the planets in orbit. ↓ NASA

Pluto

Neptune

Uranus

Saturn

Jupiter

Issue 3

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Today Is Very BORING By Jack Prelutsky

Today is very boring, it’s a very boring day, there is nothing much to look at, there is nothing much to say, there’s a peacock on my sneakers, there’s a penguin on my head, there’s a dormouse on my doorstep, I am going back to bed. Today is very boring, it is boring through and through, there is absolutely nothing that I think I want to do, I see giants riding rhinos, and an ogre with a sword, there’s a dragon blowing smoke rings, I am positively bored.

28

(bkgd) Design Pics/Alamy

Today is very boring, I can hardly help but yawn, there’s a flying saucer landing in the middle of my lawn, a volcano just erupted less than half a mile away, and I think I felt an earthquake, it’s a very boring day.

(c) Michel Setboun/Corbis; (tr) Marissa Roth/The New York Times/Redux

A Rich Legacy

Lady Liberty The Statue of Liberty welcomes visitors and immigrants to America.

Courtesy Avery Clayton

A Lifetime of Treasures Mayme Clayton left a legacy of African American cultural riches. riches

M

ayme Clayton collected books, magazines, ↑ Mayme Clayton and letters written by African Americans. Her son, Avery Clayton, thought her collection was important. Unlike most books, these were rare and hard to find. They were written by authors who helped shape African American culture. ux

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One book in the collection was written by Phillis Wheatley. Wheatley was a slave who wrote poetry. She was the first African American to publish a book. Wheatley herself signed the book in the Claytons’ collection. No one else owns a copy signed by Phillis Wheatley. By the time she died at age 83, Mrs. Clayton had more than 30,000 books by or about black people. Her collection also includes papers about slaves, photographs, movies, sheet music, and personal letters by black leaders and artists. It is one of the biggest private collections of African American history and culture in the United States. 30 •

Time For Kids

↑ The only known signed copy of Phillis Wheatley’s book

The collection’s new home is likely to be in Culver City, California. Part of Avery Clayton’s dream is to share the cultural riches his mother collected with others. He especially wants kids to have a chance to see the collection. “African American culture is currently being defined by pop culture,” he says. “It’s important to offer a more complete picture.” — Kathryn Satterfield

Marissa Roth/The New York Times/Redux

Avery Clayton’s dream was to create a museum for his mother’s treasures. Scholars say that Mrs. Clayton’s collection is extremely important. Without her work, part of African American heritage would have been lost. “We didn’t know these things existed,” says Sara Hodson of California’s Huntington Library.

↑ Avery Clayton with a poster from his mother’s collection

Mayme Clayton was a bibliophile (bib•li•o•phile). A bibliophile is a person who collects books. Here are some of the other cool names that collectors are called. Conchologist (con•chol•o•gist): a person who collects shells. Discophile (dis•co•phile): a person who collects music. Numismatist (nu•mis•ma•tist): a person who collects coins, tokens, and paper money.

Court e

sy A very C

layto n

Philatelist (phi•lat•e•list): a person who collects stamps. Issue 4

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Panoramic Images/Getty Images

A safer, more secure Statue of Liberty welcomes visitors.

32 •

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E

very year thousands of visitors to New York City come to see the Statue of Liberty. For more than 100 years, they were allowed to walk inside and climb the 354 steps to the crown. All of that changed on September 11, 2001. After the terrorist attacks, the statue and its grounds on Liberty Island were closed. The island reopened three months later, but the statue remained closed. Officials allowed visitors to enter the statue beginning in the summer of 2004. Now, though, tourists can only climb to the top of the statue’s pedestal. A Towering Symbol

The Statue of Liberty is different from other famous American symbols. Unlike the United States flag or the White House it was not made in the United States. The Statue of Liberty came to the United States in 1885. It was a gift from the people of France. It recognized the friendship between the countries during the American Revolution. Corbis

The head of the Statue of Liberty in Paris, France, 1883 Issue 4

• 33

The statue became a symbol of freedom and democracy. Immigrants saw it and knew they were safe and free. Before 9/11, nearly 6 million people toured Lady Liberty each year. After 9/11, the number of visitors fell by about 40 percent. To get into the Statue of Liberty, visitors must call ahead. They must go through security systems. It’s better than not getting in at all. U.S. Representative Anthony Weiner of New York says that the reopening is “great news.” But he hopes tourists will one day experience the thrill of climbing the statue. “Reopening the statue can mean only one thing: reopening all of it.” Around 1900

Today

Archive Holdings/Getty Images

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WizData/Alamy

Courtesy Charlie DeLeo

Charlie DeLeo,

Keeper of the Flame Charlie DeLeo is a volunteer who works inside the Statue of Liberty. He has been on the job for more than 30 years. DeLeo has made about 2,500 trips to the top of the statue’s flame. He goes up to the top of her torch every month. There, he replaces burned-out lights and removes bird droppings.

Words From Around the World! Immigrants have brought many things to America. Their customs America customs, languages languages, and foods have shaped our culture. In fact, many of the words we use today come from other languages. Here are just a few.

Alligator

Jar

From the Spanish word el lagarto, meaning the lizard.

From the Arabic word jarrah, meaning large earthen vase.

Boondocks

Kindergarten

From the Tagalog word bundok, meaning mountain.

From the German words Kinder and Garten meaning children’s garden.

Casserole

Tycoon

From the French word casserole, meaning saucepan.

From the Japanese word taikun, meaning great prince. Issue 4

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Let’s Celebrate! The United States is known as a “melting pot.” People from all over the world come here. That makes the United States a nation with many different cultures and traditions. Just look at these “international” celebrations that we can all enjoy! Celebration

When It’s Celebrated

What It Celebrates

Cinco de Mayo

May 5

Mexican culture and heritage

Columbus Day

October 12

Columbus landing in the New World; European culture, especially Italian, in North America

Kwanzaa

December 26– January 1

African American family, community, and culture

Oktoberfest

16 days in late September, early October

The culture of the part of Germany known as Bavaria

St. Patrick’s Day

March 17

Irish culture

What celebrations are important to you and your family? PunchStock/Digital Vision

36

(c) Tony Dejak/AP Images; (tr) Kyodo News/Newscom

Cars Are “Celling”

New roller coasters are bigger, faster, and scarier than ever.

Car By Jill Egan

?

W

hen Jon and San Sandy ndy Spallino go to the store, they drive in style. They are the first family in the world to drive the FCX. What makes this $1 million car so special? It doesn’t use gasoline. Instead, it gets its power from fuel cells.

What Are Fuel Cells? Fuel cells use hydrogen and oxygen for power. Hydrogen and oxygen are elements. Elements are the building blocks of nature. Everything on Earth is made of one or more elements. There is a lot of hydrogen in the universe. Like hydrogen, there is plenty of oxygen on Earth. Unlike the oil that is used to make gasoline, hydrogen and oxygen are easy to find. Their supply is also endless. Fuel cells change these elements into This car looks electric power. That electricity then runs the car. like an ordinary Fuel-cell cars are different from cars in another way. They run cleaner. Most cars run on gasoline. An engine burns the gasoline to make the car go. The burning produces pollution as waste. Fuel cells make waste, too. However, the waste is just water. Kyodo News/Newscom

38 •

Time For Kids

car. But it uses hydrogen and oxygen as fuel.

Kind to the Environment For y years automakers tried to build cars tthat are kind to the environment. Now those cars are here. Hybrid cars use g gasoline. They also have an electric moto o Electric motors do not make motor. pol llut pollution. As a result, hybrid autos cut p ollut pollution. They also reduce the use of gasol gasoline. Fuel-cell cars are better for the e environment, too. But people can b buy h hybrid cars now. On the other hand, there are only a few fuel-cell cars available.

Mark Peterson/Corbis

↑ Regular cars produce

exhaust, a type of pollution.

Fuel-cell cars will become more important in the future. They will cost much less than the one the Spallinos drive. They will be very Earth friendly. It may take years before most cars have fuel cells. Still, many people can’t wait to drive these cars of the future. Just take a look at the Spallinos!

Speeding Along The fuel-cell car is one kind of vehicle. It can move at 60 miles per hour (mph) easily. This chart shows you some other amazing vehicles built for speed.

VEHICLE

SPEED RECORD*

DATE OF RECORD

PLACE

Rocket train

6,453 mph

2003

New Mexico

Supersonic car

763 mph

1997

Nevada

Train

456 mph

1990

France

Motorcycle

322 mph

1990

Utah

Bicycle

167 mph

1995

Utah

*Numbers are rounded off.

Issue 5

• 39

Wild

Rides

C Coasters t are speedier di and d scarier than ever! By Lev Grossman

If so, you know what it’s like. You roll slowly up a big hill. Then you shoot down the other side. There are sharp curves and steep drops. Sometimes loops flip you upside down, and you scream, “No more!” 40 •

Time For Kids

Courtesy Six Flags Magic Mountain

Have you ever been on a roller coaster?

Courtesy Six Flags Over Georgia

Name: Superman Ultimate Flight Place: Atlanta, Georgia Big Thrill: It’s a bird! It’s a plane! Riders “fly” facedown over big drops and a pretzel loop. Courtesy Six Flags Over Georgia

Name: X Place: Los Angeles, California

Coasters are bigger, faster, and wilder than ever before. But they didn’t start out that way. New York City had the first roller coaster in America back in 1884. Its top speed was 6 miles per hour. Today roller coasters have a lot more zip. The fastest ones speed along at more than 100 miles per hour! What makes all of this fun possible? Gravity. A motor pulls the car you ride in up the first hill. But gravity sends it down the hill. The steeper the hill, the more that gravity pulls you down the track. After the first hill, the cars go up smaller hills. Gravity slows the cars as they go up these hills. It also speeds them up as they go down the hills. The tug of gravity makes the ride fun. However, it can also make it dangerous when you go too fast. An automobile has a brake, but not a roller coaster. That’s why computers are needed to make today’s thrill rides. Before engineers build a new coaster, they make a computer model. They want to make sure it is safe as well as scary.

Big Thrill: Each car in the train spins like a wheel as it flies along the track. Issue 5

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Allan Schilke is a top roller coaster designer. Computers help him a lot. Schilke explains it this way: “Roller coasters swing around curves fast. This puts stress on your body.” Computers help Schilke know just how far to go without doing harm. “There are upper limits, because you can break a bone,” he says. Yikes!

It’s awesome! You go really high. “Then the track spins, and you hold there for a second and shoot back down really fast.

”

Courte sy Ced ar Poin t

—Joey Stilphen, 13, one of the first riders of Wicked Twister on a test run

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Name: Wicked Twister Place: Sandusky, Ohio Big Thrill: The world’s tallest, fastest “double-twisting impulse coaster.” It has two 200-foot-tall poles. The cars spiral up one pole and down it backward, then up the other.

Name: Roller Soaker

The Thrill of It All

Place: Hershey, Pennsylvania

Coasters keep getting scarier. But more people want to ride them all the time. Hundreds of millions of people take a coaster ride each year. Why? Experts say some people look for excitement. “These people are attracted to thrills,” says psychologist Frank Farley.

Joe Hermitt/The Patriot News

Big Thrill: You get soaked! Riders dump water on those waiting in line, who fire back with water sprayers.

”

So what’s next for coasters? Well, Schilke wants to build a 510-foot-tall ride. That’s taller than a 50-story building. The coaster would dive straight down the side of a skyscraper. Wow!

How Coasters Work First the car goes up the tallest hill. When the car goes down the hill, gravity gives it the energy to climb smaller hills. Going downhill also gives the car the energy to make one or two loop-the-loops. During the ride the wheels of the car rub against the track. This friction slows down the car. Eventually, the car runs out of energy and can’t go up any more hills. This diagram shows the hills in a roller coaster.

Car

First hill

Smaller hillss

Loop-the-loops Friction

dam acA

nM

Dea

Issue 5

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By Tom Absher When I was a kid we always had big cars: Pontiacs, Buicks, an Oldsmobile Rocket. Each year the bodies looked the same but the grills got chromier and meaner looking. With Father behind the wheel, Mother watching the road, my brother and I assigned to our life-time seats in back, our faces were painted on the toy windows. In the hot Texas summers people walking in the filmy heat seemed to float above the melting asphalt while we cruised in air conditioning behind tinted glass. It was quiet in there with the doors locked, the windows sealed. From my seat in the right rear

This was life. This was certainty. This was big car roominess.

44

W. Cody/Corbis

I watched the world fan by.

(c) Lana Slivar/Reuters/Corbis; (tr) George H.H. Huey/Corbis

Great Gulf Coast

A tsunami warning system may save lives.

on the Gulf he states that border the Gulf of Mexico have a lot to offer. People are drawn to the beauty, the resources, and the climate. Summers are usually hot and humid. Winters are mild.

T

In some Gulf Coast communities, fishing has been a way of life for hundreds of years. Oil and natural gas businesses are also important. Many communities offer beach homes and outdoor activities. There is something else the area is famous for: hurricanes. Since 1900, more than 40 major hurricanes have hit states along the Gulf Coast. Two recent hurricanes were very powerful. In 2005, Hurricane Katrina crossed the southern tip of Florida and moved into the Gulf. Then the storm turned north. It grew stronger. 46 •

Time For Kids

(tl) George H.H. Huey/Corbis; (tr) AP Photo/Pool, Smiley N. Pool

Life

Hurricane Ike destroyed almost every beach house on Galveston Island, Texas. →

Finally, it hit the Louisiana and Mississippi coasts. In 2008, Hurricane Ike came ashore at Galveston, Texas. Hurricanes start over the ocean. The force of hurricane winds causes water to pile up ahead of the storm. This is called a surge. As the hurricane hits the coastline, this pile of water rushes over the land. At first, the water level rises slowly. As the eye of the storm moves closer, water rises quickly. Next, heavy waves pound the coast. Combined with waves and tides, the storm surge can knock down buildings, damage bridges and roads, and change the landscape.

Hurricane Katrina’s storm surge caused levees that protected the city of New Orleans to fail. Much of the city and nearby areas was flooded. Entire neighborhoods were ruined. Thousands and thousands of people were left homeless. Many people died. The storm surge from Hurricane Ike was 15 feet high when it hit Galveston Island. Most houses along the beach were badly damaged or totally destroyed. Power was knocked out over a wide area. When a hurricane hits, communities work together to overcome the problems that follow.

Neighbors help neighbors. The government also provides help as people return to the area and start to rebuild their homes, businesses, and lives. People who choose to live along the Gulf Coast know there’s a chance their community might be hit by a powerful hurricane. They do everything they can to prepare. When a dangerous storm is approaching, most leave and go to a safer place. And when the storm has passed, they go home again to all the good things that come with living on the Gulf of Mexico.

Two T Tw wo Dangerous Storms United States Hurricane Paths Galveston Houston Corpus Christie

Texas

New Orleans Louisiana

Hurricane Ike Hurricane Katrina

Gulfport Biloxi Mississippi

Atlantic Ocean

Mexico

Gulf of Mexico

Caribbean

NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Image by Reto Stöckli (land surface, shallow water, clouds). Enhancements by Robert Simmon (ocean color, compositing, 3D globes, animation). Data and technical support: MODIS Land Group; MODIS Science Data Support Team; MODIS Atmosphere Group; MODIS Ocean Group Additional data: USGS EROS Data Center (topography); USGS Terrestrial Remote Sensing Flagstaff Field Center (Antarctica); Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (city lights)

Issue 6

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T

Building a sunami Warning System An early warning system goes online in the Indian Ocean Ocean. By Jill Egan

O

n December 26, 2004, a huge earthquake shook the floor of the Indian Ocean. The quake created a huge wave, called a tsunami. It swept across the ocean and hit the coast of Southeast Asia. The tsunami washed away roads and houses. It killed 150,000 people. The big wave caused so many casualties because no one knew it was on the way. Could an early warning system have saved lives? Experts say the answer is yes.

A giant wave caused by the 2004 tsunami hit the coast of Thailand.

48 •

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dpa/Corbis

Tsunami Sensors: How They Work

Warning System in the Pacific The Indian Ocean didn’t have a warning system in 2004. But the Pacific Ocean did. The warning system in the Pacific Ocean links 26 nations, including the United States. The Pacific warning system has three parts. First, there are special gauges to detect ocean quakes that could cause a tsunami. Next, there are sensors on the sea floor. They detect changes in how hard the water presses down on them. A rise in pressure could mean a big wave is passing over—maybe a tsunami wave. Last, there are gauges that measure the sea level near the coast. The gauges can tell if the water is rising along the shore. If the rising water is a tsunami, scientists will issue a warning.

1

A sensor on the sea floor detects changes in water pressure. The sensor sends its data to the buoy on the surface.

2

The buoy sends the data to a satellite.

3

The satellite sends the data back to a station on land. Scientists at the station look at the data. They decide whether to send out a tsunami warning.

3 2

Joe Lemonnier

1

Issue 6

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Tsunami Warning Network Sensors have been placed on the ocean floor to help detect tsunamis. The red crosses show where the sensors are located.

North America

Atlantic Ocean

Pacific Ocean South America

New Indian Ocean System After the 2004 tsunami, officials pushed to build an Indian Ocean network. Why wasn’t there one already? In the past the Indian Ocean had faced fewer tsunamis than the Pacific. So people thought there wasn’t a need. But two years after the tsunami, the new system was online.

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Arctic Ocean

Asia Europe

Africa

Indian Ocean Australia

Key Southern Ocean

Tsunami sensors Joe Lemonnier

The system is not complete, but it’s still ready to go to work. Twenty-five new gauges are there to detect earthquakes. Three new tsunami sensors have been placed on the Indian Ocean floor. Most countries around the Indian Ocean have created centers to receive tsunami warnings and send them out to the public. The whole system should be up and running soon. This is one system scientists hope they’ll not use often.

Issue 6

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By Lisa Westberg Peters

Please set the continental plates gently on the continental shelves. No jostling or scraping. Please stack the basins right side up. No tilting or turning upside-down. Please scrape the mud out of the mud pots. But watch out! They’re still hot.

Remember, if anything breaks, it’s your fault.

52

(bkgd) Royalty-Free/Corbis

As for the forks in the river, just let them soak.

(c) Ariel Skelley/Getty Images; (tr) Gates Foundation/Corbis

Gates Is Generous

Businesses help people make their dreams come true.

They didn’t start out as Americans, but immigrants still go after the American dream.

David Frazier/PhotoEdit

People come to the United States from around the world. They may not speak good English when they arrive. They may have little education. To make a living, some immigrants work picking fruit, sewing clothes, and doing other jobs that require few skills. Soon, though, many immigrants learn enough to start their own businesses.

Coming to America, Finding the American Dream Often, people from India go into the hotel business. Some people from Korea make clothes or sell groceries. Many people from Mexico, who came to pick fruit, now own farms and vineyards. At first, these businesses are small, but they are big enough to make a living. Even the children work in the businesses. When those children grow up, many go off to college. This immigrant family owns a store. → 54 •

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↑ This immigrant woman earns a living by picking fruit. Spencer Grant/PhotoEdit

Coming Home to the Family Business In the past, many of the children of immigrants had little interest in their families’ business. But that trend seems to be changing. Instead of walking away from their parents’ businesses, grown children of immigrants are coming back. They’re taking a second look. Many are discovering they have good ideas to make their parents’ businesses better.

Peter Kim and his father Stephanie Diani

That’s what happened with Peter Kim, a Korean American from southern California. He went back to help with his father’s failing clothing business. With his new ideas, he turned the company into a big success. Priti Patel’s family came from India. At age 8, Citizenship: the true she was counting change and working the front desk. “I used to hate it,” she says. “Everybody else gets to go American dream home after school and get a snack. Americans Born I had to help at the hotel. On Outside the U.S. weekends I had to cut grass.” About 12 percent of Americans are born When friends drove by and saw outside of the United States. Here are the regions they come from. her working, she would feel embarrassed. Later, though, Patel 8.0% Other earned a business degree. She Regions Region 6.3% returned to her family business. South America 36.9% Today she runs one of her Central America family’s motels. AP Photo/Nick Ut

10.1%

These Americans are finding a way to build on the American dreams their parents worked so hard for.

Caribbean

13.7% 13 Europe Eu

25% Asia

Thomas Gagliano • Note: Because numbers are rounded, figures do not add up to 100%

Issue 7

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Bill and Melinda Gates use their money to aid the poor. ill Gates is one of the richest people in the world. He has more than $50 billion. He is fast becoming the most generous person as well. It all began when Bill and his wife, Melinda, made a big decision. They founded a charity, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Then they used it to give a lot of their money away. How did Bill Gates get so rich? His money comes from making computer software. Gates began to program computers at age 13. In 1975 he and a friend founded a company and named it Microsoft. The company makes important tools for computers, e-mail, and the Internet. Today Microsoft is the world’s largest computer software company.

Naashon Zalk/Corbis

People do not become as rich as Bill and Melinda Gates very often. The Gateses feel that with success comes responsibility. They want to use their money to help others. That is why they started the charity.

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Dan Lamont/Corbis

B

↑ Bill Gates is very

rich. He is using his money to help people.

Bill and Melinda want to improve the health of people around the world.↓

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation spends billions of dollars. It gives money to students so they can go to school. The foundation also gives money to libraries for computers and other materials.

School is important to Bill and Melinda. Their foundation helps kids learn to read.↓

Gates Foundation/Corbis

The Gateses’ newest goal is funding medical research. Their foundation has given over $1 billion to improve the health of people in countries with a lot of poverty. The money is used to fight diseases such as malaria. Malaria is spread by a bite from a mosquito infected with a parasite. The disease kills 2,000 kids in Bill and Melinda Africa each day.

Gates Foundation: Money Given by Year This graph shows how much money the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation gives away. It is a lot of money!

$2.25 $2.0B

$2.0 $1.75 $ Billions

In 2008, the Gates Foundation said that it would give an extra $168.7 million to work on the problem of malaria. This money will support the work of developing a malaria vaccine. A vaccine is given to people before they get a disease. It protects them against that disease in the future. This way, Bill Gates said, there is a chance to “eradicate [wipe out] malaria altogether.”

$1.5

$1.7B $1.5B

$1.4B

$1.25

$1.2B $1.0B

$1 $0.75

$1.6B

$749M

$0.5 $0.25 $0 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 Years Issue 7

• 57

Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation Grants Funding 008 from 1994 to June e 22008 fro 94 to Jun m 19

Program Areas Global Health

$9,608,044,880 • United States

$5,346,286,359 • Global Development

$1,770,725,657 •

Another worry of Bill and Melinda Gates is hunger. In many parts of the world food is limited. People often lack tools and training to improve farming. The Gates Foundation is working in these areas. Its goal: “Increase opportunities for people in developing countries to overcome hunger and poverty.” The Gates Foundation is helping people in the United States too. It works on education. The foundation gives money for school programs and libraries. It also helps kids pay for school. This work is based on the idea “that when all people in the United States have the opportunity to develop their talents, our society thrives.”

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The Gates Foundation is private. A private foundation is set up by persons rather than companies. Most private foundations don’t have nearly as much money as the Gates Foundation does. Many have less than $1 million. Still, these foundations are able to do a lot of good. They usually focus on their local communities. They often give money to students for school and support local programs. For being champions of global health worldwide, and for using their wealth to help people who need it most, the world owes Bill and Melinda Gates big thanks. The same goes for the many smaller private foundations across the United States that lend a helping hand to those who need it most. Foundations often help students pay for college.↓ Tom Rosenthal/SuperStock

Issue 7

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Philanthropy means helping those in need. Here is a list of the five largest foundations for philanthropy in the United States. The list is based on the total worth, or assets. Total assets in billions of dollars

Foundations $

0

$

10

$

20

$

30

1 Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation — Established: 1994 Founders: Bill & Melinda Gates; Bill Gates was a co-founder of Microsoft Corporation Areas of interest: international development, world health, U.S. education

$

38.9B

2 The Ford Foundation — Established: 1936 Founder: Edsel Ford, son of Henry Ford, founder of the Ford Motor Company Areas of interest: social issues

$

13.8B

$

10.1B

3 J. Paul Getty Trust — Established: 1982 Founder: The estate of J. Paul Getty, founder of the Getty Oil Company Area of interest: visual arts

4 The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation — Established: 1968 Founder: The estate of R.W. Johnson, head of the Johnson & Johnson Company Area of interest: health

$

10.1B

5 The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation — Established: 1967 Founders: Will and Flora Hewlett; William Hewlett was co-founder of the Hewlett-Packard Company Areas of interest: social and environmental issues

$

9.3B

If you had a foundation, what would you support? 60

$

40

$

50

(c) Bowers Museum of Cultural Art/Corbis; (tr) The Granger Collection

Friends of Freedom

Inside the United States are hundreds of independent nations.

Abraham Lincoln and s s la g u o k ic r e d e r D F

A president and a former slave formed a lasting friendship.

A

braham Lincoln was President of the United States. Frederick Douglass was once a slave. What could these two men possibly have in common? Both Lincoln and Douglass came from poor homes. Both struggled to get the chance to learn to read and write. Both men were superb writers and speakers. Both cared deeply about freeing slaves. At first, Frederick Douglass thought Lincoln was a foe. Lincoln said he wanted to free the slaves, but Douglass thought he was taking too long to do it. Bettmann/Corbis

Douglass wanted a prompt end to slavery. He also wanted equal rights for men and women. He wanted black men to be part of the U. S. army. He even wanted everyone to be paid the same amount of money. These ideas upset many people, but Douglass felt that he was right. Lincoln believed in most of the same ideals. Lincoln, though, wanted to move more slowly. Douglass became frustrated. Then, on New Year’s Day, 1863, Lincoln issued a statement. That statement, the “Emancipation Proclamation,” said that all men should be free. Soon Lincoln announced the end of slavery. He also said that black men would be included in the U. S. army. ← Lincoln reads the draft of the Emancipation Proclamation to his cabinet.

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The Granger Collection

The Granger Collection

1800

1820 ↑ Abraham Lincoln

The Life of Frederick Douglass 1818 Born in Maryland

↑ Frederick Douglass

Douglass was thrilled. Soon the two men became friends. Douglass met with Lincoln at the White House. When Lincoln was elected President for the second time, Frederick Douglass came to the inauguration. After Lincoln was sworn in, there was a big party. Policemen outside the White House forbid Douglass from coming in. They said that no black men were invited. Then Douglass sent word to Lincoln. Right away, word came to allow Douglass in. “Here comes my friend,” Lincoln said, and took Douglass by the hand. “I am glad to see you. I saw you in the crowd today, listening to my inaugural address.” He asked Douglass how he liked it, adding, “There is no man in the country whose opinion I value more than yours.” — Lisa Jo Rudy

1840

1838 Escapes slavery 1845 Publishes autobiography 1848 Attends the first women’s rights convention in Seneca Falls, NY

1860

1880

1863 Advises President Lincoln on the Civil War

1877 Becomes a marshal for the District of Columbia

1889 Becomes the U.S. minister to Haiti 1895 Douglass dies

1900

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(l) Wide World Photos/AP Images; (r) Superstock/Corbis

American Indian groups have their own nations within the United States. Great Seal of the United States →

T

he United States is a free, independent country—a nation. Its people are not restricted and have the power to govern themselves. The people of the United States are in charge of creating their own laws. They are also allowed to defend themselves against other nations.

↑ The U.S. Capitol

Marilyn Angel Wynn/Nativestock

Inside the United States are hundreds of other free, independent nations. These are American Indian nations. Indian tribes were nations before the United States was formed. They are still nations. The Constitution of the United States says that Indian nations and the United States should deal with each other nation to nation.

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Bettmann/Corbis

Flags of two nations: American and Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians ↓

Marilyn Angel Wynn/Nativestock/Corbis

Chippewa-Cree powwow at the Rocky Boy Reservation in Montana

↑ Treaty-signing between the U.S. government and the Sioux in Wyoming, 1868

The United States, though, doesn’t have to deal with every group of Indians that calls itself a nation. Which groups are accepted as nations? There is a long, complicated process to decide. It can take years for the United States to decide that a group of Indians should be accepted as a nation or denied recognition. To be accepted as a nation, the group of Indians must be able to show that it has been around since before the United States started. It may also have to show that the group has signed treaties that were accepted by the United States government.

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Once a group of Indians is accepted as a sovereign, or self-governing, nation, it gains many important rights. These include:

• The right to tax members and nonmembers doing business with members

• The right to create its own government

• The right to make laws

• The right to decide who is a part of its sovereign nation • The right to manage relations among its members

• The right to use and give out or sell land

American Indian nations have many rights. Still, there are limits. For example, Indian nations cannot put a non-Indian in jail. — Lisa Jo Rudy

• The right to decide who inherits what

United Nations

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Nancy Carter\North Wind Picture Archives

There are more than 560 federally recognized American Indian tribes in the United States. Federally recognized means these tribes have a special legal relationship with the U.S. government. Here are just a few:

1923 The Navajo Nation The Navajo Nation’s modern tribal government was established and recognized. It includes parts of the states of Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. Navajoland is over 27,000 square miles, making it the largest area of American Indian land in the United States.

Narragansett Indian Tribal Police, Rhode Island ↓

The Indian Citizenship Act of 1924 gave citizenship to all American Indians born in the United States. Before then, only some had full citizenship. Victoria Arocho/Wide World Photos/Wide World Photos/AP Images

Steven Georges/ Press-Telegram/Corbis

Phil Schermeister/Corbis

1936 The Minnesota Chippewa Tribe

1968 The Ysleta Del Sur Pueblo Tribe

The Minnesota Chippewa Tribe’s government was recognized. The Chippewa, or Ojibwe, can be found in the northern United States and Canada. The Minnesota tribe was set up in 1934. It is a central form of government for six Chippewa bands.

The Ysleta del Sur Pueblo Indian Tribe’s government was restored recognition. It was founded in 1682 after a revolt against the Spaniards. The community is located in Texas and is the only Pueblo in the state. The tribe is also known as Tigua.

What tribes are in your community?

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MARY Youngblood Mary Youngblood loves music. As a child she learned to play the piano, the violin, the classical flute, and the guitar. When she became an adult, she learned about her Native American heritage. That was when she tried the Native American flute for the first time. Traditionally, the Native American flute has been played by men. Mary is the first woman to play it professionally.

Photo by Catherine Daley, Courtesy of Mary Youngblood

Mary has recorded many albums and received lots of awards. She is proud of her culture and her music helps keep Native American traditions alive. 2000 Won Best Female Artist at the Native American Music Awards 2007 Won Grammy Award for Best 1999–2000 Native American Won Flutist Music Album of the Year

ThE LIFE oF MARy Youngblood 1958 Born in Seattle, Washington, June 24

1960

1971 Moved to California

1970

1980

1990

2000

1998 Released first album 1968 Learned to play flute (bkgd) Marilyn Angel Wynn/Nativestock.com/Getty Images

68

1993 Played Native American flute professionally

2003 Won Grammy Award for Best Native American Music Album

2010

Mysterious Pyramids!

(c) Scott Barbour/Getty Images; (tr) Michael T. Sedam/Corbis

Not all flowers are sweet. Take a whiff of the world’s smelliest bloom.

This

r Stinks e w o l F People flock to see (and smell) ell) one of the world’s largest large gest flflowers. flowe owers. ower By Jill Egan

housands of people flocked ocked to the Brooklyn Botanic Garden. They wanted to see a rare flower called a titan arum. The huge plant was over five and a half feet tall. Yet, it’s not the size that visitors will remember. The most striking thing about the titan arum bloom is its awful smell. One whiff of its scent makes most people choke and hold their noses!

T

Michael Forster Rothbart/ University of Wisconsin-Madison

↑ This titan arum at the

70 •

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Alessandro Chiari of the Brooklyn Botanic Garden stands next to Baby before it reaches full size. →

Leeann Lavin, Courtesy Brooklyn Botanic Garden

University of Wisconsin is nicknamed Big Bucky.

bloo oom, the he e When titan arums bloom, flowers put out an odor that smells like the rotting body of a dead animal. That’s why many people call the plant by another name: corpse flower! The titan arum grows in the country of Indonesia. The people there used to believe the plant would eat them!

Creepy Baby The gardeners at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden have a nickname for their plant. They call it “Baby.” Baby had been growing in Brooklyn for ten years but had never bloomed before. In 2006, Baby finally bloomed. It was the first titan arum to bloom in New York City since 1939. Before it bloomed, Baby grew more than 30 inches in just nine days. That quick growth is normal. Some of the flowers can reach nine feet tall. Scientists knew Baby was almost ready to open up when it stopped growing. The huge blossom took about two hours to open. Then the bad odor began to float through the air.

When this plant grows in the wild, its scent attracts beetles and bees. Titan arum’s pollen sticks to their legs and bodies. When they fly to other titan arum plants, they carry the pollen with them. Some of the pollen rubs off on the flower, helping it to reproduce. The odor of the titan arum can be so strong that humans can smell it over half a mile away! In Indonesia people dig up the rare flowers to sell to collectors. This is illegal. But the plant’s biggest threat is the destruction of its habitat. Brooklyn resident Sandy Vergano saw Baby just before it bloomed. “It smelled fine when I saw it,” he said. “It looked beautiful, which was an interesting contrast to the way it is supposed to smell.”

Indonesia

Joe Lemonnier

Titan arum is native to the forests of Sumatra, Indonesia. Can you find it on the map? →

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Brad Lang/State Press at ASU

F

or more than 100 days, scientists dug deep into an ancient Mexican pyramid. Down and down they went day after day. Then suddenly a great room opened in front of them, and it was one creepy room! Scientists first saw a dark, dusty space full of bones. ↑ This human skeleton was found in A human skeleton sat on the the pyramid. A researcher is cleaning floor. Then around it they dirt from the bones. noticed the bones of large birds and two big jungle cats. Next they saw stone knives in the dirt. The strange burial room is in the Pyramid of the Moon. The pyramid was built more than 1,000 years ago in the city of Teotihuacán (tay•oh•tee•wah•KAHN).

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Saburo Sugiyama/ASU

The people of Teotihuacán made knives out of obsidian. This is lava that has hardened. →

A City’s Puzzling Past But the city was a mystery to them, too. They thought the gods built it. Teotihuacán means “Place of the Gods.” The Aztecs thought the gods created the sun and moon there. That is why the city’s two main pyramids are called the Pyramid of the Sun and the Pyramid of the Moon.

Teotihuacán is an ancient city nearly 2,000 years old. It is empty now. It once had 150,000 people. However, around the year 600, something perplexing happened. The people who built the city disappeared. No one knows why they left or where they went. People from Europe came to the area in the 1500s. At that time the Aztecs ruled the area.

Finding the Pyramid of the Sun This map shows where Teotihuacán is located in Mexico.

UNITED STATES

MEXICO

Gulf of Mexico

Teotihuacan Pacific Ocean

CUBA

Mexico City

Burgandy Beam

KEY Capitol

SOUTH AMERICA

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Experts are still looking for clues about the city’s builders. They know most of them were farmers. Yet there are very few facts about their daily lives. The people of Teotihuacán had a system of writing. They wrote in a language that used small pictures as symbols. Still, experts can’t read their language. Researchers hope the Pyramid of the Moon will reveal clues about its builders. The pyramid was built one layer on top of another. The people of Teotihuacán “would build a small pyramid, then a larger one over it, and then a third one after that,” says George Cowgill. He is an expert on Teotihuacán. Much of the pyramid is still unexplored. Nevertheless, experts are peeling away its layers. They hope to unwrap Teotihuacán’s secrets.

Brad Lang/State Press at ASU

Peeling a Pyramid

↑ This is a statue

found in the pyramid.

David Frazier/Corbis

Teotihuacán and the Aztecs A.D.

A.D.

100

400

400—Teotihuacán reaches its greatest power and wealth. 74 •

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100–400—Pyramid of the Moon built. 800

600—People of Teotihuacán disappear.

Robert Frerck/Odyssey Productions

↑

The biggest pyramid at Teotihuacán is the Pyramid of the Sun. It is 700 feet on a side—almost as long as 18 school buses.

↑

The Pyramid of the Moon is not as tall as the Pyramid of the Sun. But it was built on higher land, so the tops of the two pyramids are the same height.

↑

The Pyramid of the Moon is about 140 feet tall—about the size of a 14-story building.

rest on the steps of the Pyramid of the Moon. The giant Pyramid of the Sun looms in the distance.

The Pyramid of the Sun is taller than the Statue of Liberty.

Bettmann/Corbis

Gianni Dagli Orti/Corbis

↑

↑ In Teotihuacán schoolchildren

1500—Aztecs take over the area around Teotihuacán. The ancient city is in ruins. 1200

1600

1200—Aztecs come to the Valley of Mexico.

1519—The Spanish come to North America and begin conquest of the Aztecs. 2000

1998—Scientists start digging into the Pyramid of the Moon to uncover its secrets. Issue 9

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By Laura E. Richards

Once there was an elephant, Who tried to use the telephant— No! No! I mean an elephone Who tried to use the telephone— (Dear me! I am not certain quite That even now I’ve got it right.)

(bkgd) PNC/Photodisc/Getty Images

Howe’er it was, he got his trunk Entangled in the telephunk; The more he tried to get it free, The louder buzzed the telephee— (I fear I’d better drop the song Of elephop and telephong!)

76

(c) Koji Sasahara/Wide World Photos/AP Images; (tr) LEGO

Teen EMTs

Prince Hisahito could one day become Emperor of Japan.

LEGO

Teens to the Rescue! These emergency medical service members are all well trained, certified, and in their teens.

Post 53 EMTs, left to right: Wells Landers, 18; Kate Kevorkian, 17; Annie Maybell, 17; Emily Stout, 17

E

mily Stout’s heart raced as she and her crewmates jumped out of their ambulance on I-95 in Darien, Connecticut. Slumped against a concrete barrier was a stunned-looking man. His leg was bloody. His crushed car lay just a few feet away.

Chris Baker/Stone/ Getty Images

Within minutes, Emily and the others placed the victim in a special collar to protect his neck. They bandaged his leg, and lifted him onto a stretcher and into the ambulance. Then they sped off to nearby Stamford Hospital. There they wheeled him into the emergency room.

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EMTs at work↓

Uppercut/Getty Images

An ambulance rushes to the scene of an accident.

With some help from trained adults, these teens take about 1,450 calls each year. They respond to car crashes and heart attacks and even help deliver babies. “They’re superb,” says Timothy S. Hall, Stamford Hospital’s chairman of surgery. “I’ve had cases where patients wouldn’t have lived without them.” Post 53 was started in 1969 as an Eagle Scout project. Teens who join the team must pass a screening, do 140 hours of training, and take an exam. At the end, they become certified emergency medical technicians.

They are on call 120 hours a month. They carry radio transmitters everywhere, even to class. They drop everything when they’re called. “Once, I had to leave three minutes before Harry Potter ended,” Emily Stout says. All the work is worth it. Just ask Jim Cloud. When Cloud’s heart stopped, the teens got it started again. Jim’s wife says: “They saved his life. They’re magnificent.” — Molly Lopez Courtesy Stamford Hospital

Emily and 58 other teen volunteers work for the Darien Emergency Medical Service. Their service is called Post 53. It is the only ambulance service in Darien.

Dr. Timothy Hall says the teens have saved the lives of some of his patients.→ Issue 10

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Long Live the Emperor! By Renee Skelton Pool/AP Pool/Corbis

O

n September 6, 2006, people all over Japan celebrated the birth of a baby boy. He is the first son of Prince Akishino and Princess Kiko. Some people say he saved the monarchy of Japan. A monarchy is a form of government that is ruled by a person called a monarch. In many countries the monarch is a king or queen. In Japan the monarch is ↑ The sleeping Prince Hisahito an emperor. Monarchs are not elected. lives up to his name, which Their position is passed down by birth, means “serene.” from parents to children. In Japan the law says that only a male can become the emperor. The present emperor has two sons. They are princes. One of these princes will sit on the throne when the present emperor dies. Who would become emperor next? Before September 2006 the princes had only daughters. A daughter could not become the monarch. AP Photo/Imperial Household Agency

A Female Ruler? Some people said the law should be changed. Other countries have female monarchs. For example, Queen Elizabeth II is the monarch in Britain. Why not Japan? But tradition is very important to the Japanese. They did not want to change the way things had been done for hundreds of years. 80 •

Time For Kids

↑ The future emperor enjoys playing with blocks.

Emperors, like this one from the Song dynasty, gained more power over the years. ↓

An Ancient Monarchy Japan’s monarchy is very old. In fact, it is the oldest in the world. The history of the monarchy starts in the 600s and 700s. Several leading families began to fight for power. One family became more powerful than the others. The head of that family declared himself emperor, or ruler. He took the name Jimmu (jee•moo). For several hundred years, this powerful family and its friends were the government. They made rules. They kept order. A male member of the family always became emperor. Other male members of the family ran different parts of the government. Over the next few hundred years, many wealthy, strong landowners gained power. By the 1100s the monarchs used soldiers called samurai (SAM•oo•reye) to protect them and keep order. Around this

Charles & Josette Lenars/Corbis

time military leaders called shoguns (SHOH•guhnz) also became important. These shoguns began to control Japan. By the early 1800s, the emperors had no real power. In fact, many Japanese people didn’t know there still was an emperor.

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The Monarchy Makes a Comeback In the late 1860s, the emperor became strong again. A group of samurai overthrew the shoguns. They brought back the power of the monarchy. A 15-year-old emperor known as Meiji (may•jee) took the throne. He ruled until the early 1900s. This was called the Meiji era.

lost all power. He became just a symbol of the state. That is still how the emperor is seen today. The Japanese people elect their leaders, but the emperor is still an important symbol of the nation. Alinari Archives/Corbis

In 1889, Japan wrote its constitution. The constitution made the emperor the head of the government. It also created jobs for people to help run the government. Japan’s military grew stronger during the late 1800s and early 1900s. By 1936 military leaders were in control of the government. The emperor agreed with whatever they wanted to do. When Japan lost World War II, its leaders were punished. A new constitution was written for Japan. The emperor ↑ Tokugawa Yoshinobu was Japan’s last shogun. He lived from 1837 to 1913.

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With the birth of the baby Prince Hisahito, the Japanese monarchy has avoided a big problem. Most people in Japan have said that they wouldn’t mind a female emperor. The Japanese won’t have to worry about this dilemma for many years. For now, the emperor will be a male. Bettmann/Corbis

↑ Under Emperor Meiji’s rule, Japan became an industrial power.

Japan Official name Nippon (Source of the Sun) Capital Tokyo Size 146,000 square miles— almost the size of California Population 127,417,244 (2006) Largest cities Tokyo, Yokohama, Osaka, Nagoya, Sapporo Official language Japanese Currency Yen Head of government Prime minister Head of state Emperor DAJ/Getty Images

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Mighty Monarchs M th class Math l iisn’t ’t th the only l pl place you’ll ’ll find d pl plenty t off rulers. l There are currently 45 countries that recognize monarchs as heads of state. Some monarchs hold all of the power. Other monarchs are symbols of the nation but hold no real power. Below is a map showing some of the modern-day monarchies. Bahamas

Denmark

Population: 307,451 Name of monarch: Queen Elizabeth II

Population: 5,484,723 Name of monarch: Queen Margrethe II

Burgandy Beam

Arctic Ocean

North America

Asia

Europe Atlantic Ocean

Africa

Pacific Ocean

South America

Indian Ocean

Australia

Southern Ocean

Antarctica

84

Morocco

Jordan

Cambodia

Population: 34,343,220 Name of monarch: King Mohammed VI

Population: 6,198,677 Name of monarch: King Abdullah

Population: 14,241,640 Name of monarch: King Norodom Sihamoni

(c) Sylvain Cazenave/Corbis; (tr) Tom Hanson/Wide World Photos/AP Images

Kids Give a Hand

R de h e

Wave

Learn about the science behind surfing. It may keep you afloat!

TFK catches up with a hero of kids’ rights. By B yA Andrea ndrea Delbanco Delbanco

Courttes esy y Fr Free Th The e Children e

Freedom Fighter “

K

When the boy was four years old, he was sent to work in a carpet factory. He worked 12 hours a day, 6 days a week. He could not go to school. He could not even play. He had no freedom at all. Craig compared that with his own life. Laws in Canada said that kids must go to school. Education was free to all kids. That is also true 86 •

Time For Kids

in the United States. But in Pakistan school was not free. Children from poor families went to work instead of to school. In North America laws protect children. It is illegal for young children to work in Canada and the United States. But in Pakistan and many other countries, Craig learned, children were often forced to work. Craig wanted to help those who didn’t have the same advantages as he and his friends. As a result, Craig and some friends started Free The Children.

e The Children

How did Craig get started? In seventh grade he learned something that made him angry. It was about the life of a boy in the country of Pakistan.

↑ Kielburger and friends at a new school in Ecuador.

Courtesy Fre

ids can make a difference,” Craig Kielburger said. That was in 1995, when he was 12. Craig is now in his twenties, and he still believes it’s true. When he was 12, he started a group that has helped kids all over the world. The group is still going strong.

Craig and his friends decided that Free The Children should tha raise money to build schools. Craig rai hoped that learning would help kids hop live better. He also hoped in poverty p his peers would become conscious global citizens. l Today, Craig’s charity has more than one million members in 45 countries. Most of them are kids. The money they have raised has done many good things. It has helped build more than 500 schools around the world. It also pays for health care in poor communities. In 2006 the group opened a new school in Sri Lanka, a country in Asia. They worked with Oprah Winfrey to pay for the school. Craig has had a lot of success. However, he still remembers his harsh start in seventh grade. ↓ Students attend a school in Sierra

Leone, Africa.

“We got teased by other kids, who said you can’t change things,” he says. Still, Craig didn’t give up. Now he wants more kids to help. “Go to freethechildren.com. Bring it to your teachers,” he said. “As you gain more confidence, friends will join you. It just gets easier.”

Helping Hand Here are some tips to help you start a service project ect project. 1. Identify a problem that exists in your community. 2. Learn about the problem and think about ways to solve it.

(t to b) Pascale Constantin

3. Set a goal for the project. Decide what supplies and help you’ll need. 4. Get your school involved! Encourage students, teachers, and parents to help you with your project. 5. Have fun! Knowing that you are making a difference in your community should bring you joy. Issue 11

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Surf’s Up! By Renee Skelton

elly Slater is sitting on his surfboard in the ocean. He’s waiting, but he isn’t bored. Not when he sees a wall of water coming. When it comes, he jumps up on his board. Slater rides across the wave.

K

The Champion Kelly Slater has won more world surfing championships than anyone else. He knows how to stay on a board. Like all surfers, Slater must do a little dance to balance all the forces around him. That’s how he stays upright as a wave carries him along.

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Jim Russi/AFP/Getty Images

Rafa Rivas/AFP/Getty Images

A Balancing Act To surf, you must be able to manage a few forces. The first one is gravity. Gravity is the force that pulls things toward Earth. Gravity presses downward on the surfer. It helps Slater keep his feet on the board. Buoyancy is the other key force. It helps things float or rise in liquid or gas. Buoyancy is the upward push of the water on the surfboard. The design of the board is important. It floats, even with a surfer on top.

Kelly Slater is an eight-time world champion surfer.

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While these forces are at work, the surfer must stay balanced. Kelly keeps his weight along the centerline of the board. This keeps him from tipping to one side or the other. If he tips too far, gravity will send him off the side into the water. If he moves too far back or too far forward, the board will tip, and gravity will force Kelly into the water. Some surfers ride small waves. Others, like Kelly Slater, ride giant waves. But all surfers are the same in one way. If they don’t keep the forces of nature in balance, they’ll wipe out!

Slater grew up in Cocoa Beach, Florida. →

90 • Time For Kids

Rick Doyle/Corbis

The energy of the moving wave is another important force. It is based on the speed and weight of the water. As the wave moves forward, it pushes the surfboard along. The wave is tipping forward, so the surfer must slide down its front surface. Gravity is at work again.

Rafa Rivas/AFP/Getty Images

The History of Surfing The first surfers were the Polynesian people of the South Pacific Islands. Surfing was an important part of their culture. Sailors from Europe first wrote about surfing in the 1700s. They saw people surfing for fun when they sailed near Hawaii. Over hundreds of years surfing has developed into the sport we know today. One thing however hasn’t changed— surfers from around the world travel to Hawaii to have fun riding the big waves.

North Wind/North Wind Picture Archives

↑ An illustration of early surfers

in Hawaii

a W g n ave i d i R

The main forces acting on a surfer are gravity (downward) and buoyancy (upward). A surfer must keep all the forces in balance to have a good ride. 1. Buoyancy: pushes up on surfboard, keeping it afloat. 2. Gravity: pushes down on surfer, helping her stay on the board. 3. Gravity: pushes the board and surfer down the face of the breaking wave. 4. Speed and weight of water: push the surfer toward shore.

Gravity 3 2

4

1

Phil Scheuer

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By X. J. Kennedy

From coast to coast some like to fly Or tack up rock-star posters, And that’s all right, I guess. But I Like riding roller coasters. A roller coaster—it’s the most. I love that first huge scare When you go shooting down to find You’re sitting on thin air. Old timbers thunder under wheels, Shrill screams and hollers sound, While, tilting, round a curve you roar, A mile from solid ground. Whiz! up a slightly lower hill! The cold steel bar shoves hard Against your two tight-knuckled fists— Now squeaky brakes bombard Your ears with squeals—the slowing wheels Declare your trip all done And, dizzily, you stagger off— What misery! What fun! Brownstock Inc./Alamy

92

(c) NASA; (tr) Bettmann/Corbis

The Final Frontier

All Eyes on Mars NASA spacecraft are giving us the closest looks ever of the Red Planet.

Corbis

Where No People Had Gone Before By Renee Skelton

T

housands of years ago, people couldn’t travel into space. They watched the sun, moon, and stars. People recorded their cycles. They saw how the positions of bodies in the sky changed with the seasons.

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Into Space In time people didn’t want to just look into space, they wanted to go there. In the early 1900s, scientists such as Robert Goddard experimented with rockets. They hoped they would one day fly into space. By the late 1950s, scientists had designed huge missiles that flew from one part of Earth to another. Galileo was the first person to observe space through a telescope. ↓ Bettmann/Corbis

Ancient Egyptians used the location of the stars to mark the seasons. They let farmers know when to plant and harvest crops. The Mayans of Central America observed the sky, too. They made an accurate calendar. It was based on Earth’s movement around the sun. The Mayans even made tables that predicted eclipses. Later, Europeans discovered the makeup of the solar system. In 1609, Galileo made a telescope that let him see mountains and “seas” on the moon.

He viewed the moons of Jupiter and the rings of Saturn.

Space Pioneers These American and Russian astronauts are great space explorers. This time line shows when each hero went on his or her most famous space mission.

Sally Ride

Bettmann/Corbis

1962 John Glenn spent 4 hours, 55 minutes in space

1961 Yuri Gagarin spent 1 hour, 48 minutes in space

1960

1965

1970

Then in April 1961, the first rocket took a man into Earth’s orbit. He was Russian cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin. About one month later, American astronaut Alan Shepard flew into space. Soon after, President John Kennedy challenged American scientists. He asked them to put a man on the moon by the end of the 1960s. In July 1969, Apollo 11 went into lunar orbit, and soon after, Neil Armstrong became the first man to step onto the surface of the moon.

1983 Sally Ride spent 14 days, 7 hours in space

1969 Neil Armstrong spent 8 days, 14 hours in space

1975

1980

1985

The Next Frontier People have not been back to the moon since 1972, but robot probes have sent back close-up photos of every planet in our solar system. What’s next? Some people hope we will build a base on the moon. Others want astronauts to travel to Mars. No one is sure where our explorations will take us next. But they will continue to go where no people have gone before. Issue 12

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Mysterious

Mars

Technology helps to solve t off th d Pl t secrets the R Red Planet. By Renee Skelton

The blood-red Mars has inspired fear and fascination. NASA Hubble Space Telescope/EPA/Corbis

M

ars is getting pretty crowded these days. It has three spacecraft orbiting it. Two robot rovers are on the surface looking at rocks and searching for water. There are plans for more Mars spacecraft in the future. Humans might even walk the surface by 2019!

First Looks Interest in Mars is not new. The astronomer Galileo first saw the planet through a telescope in 1609. 96 •

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Later, in 1659, Christiaan Huygens sketched Mars. In the 1700s some astronomers wrote that people might live on Mars. By the early twentieth century, books even told of cities and canals full of water on the planet. Why are we still so curious about the Red Planet? One reason is that it is close to Earth. People are unable to go to many other planets. But we could visit Mars. Even more important, scientists think Mars may have once had living things.

NASA

NASA, the United States space agency, sent the first spacecraft close to Mars in 1965. It was Mariner 4. Next several other Mariner probes, or small craft, carried cameras to Mars. These were flyby missions. They flew close to Mars but just zoomed by. They took the first close-up pictures of Mars as they passed it. But the surface was still largely unknown. After the flybys NASA was finally ↑ The Mars Reconnaissance able to put spacecraft in orbit around Orbiter is one of many Mars. As they circled the planet, craft to circle the planet. orbiters got much closer to Mars’s surface. They sent better views of Mars back to Earth. Mariner 9 reached Mars in 1971. Later more orbiters were sent. They mapped the planet. They also studied Mars’s atmosphere.

Because of its blood-red color (which comes from iron-rich dust), Mars was named for the Roman god of war.

Size: About one quarter the size of Earth Surface: Canyons, dunes, volcanoes, and polar caps of water ice and carbon dioxide ice Red Color: From soil loaded with iron oxide (rust) Atmosphere: Mostly carbon dioxide Temperature: Between 80°F and –199°F Revolution: 687 Earth days Moons: Two NASA/Roger Ressmeyer/Corbis

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NASA

← Spirit (left) and Opportunity have given us the most up-close views of Mars ever taken.

On the Planet

Today there are three working spacecraft in orbit around Mars. NASA launched two of them. The Mars Odyssey reached the Red Planet in 2001. Next, in 2006, the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter joined it. The European Space Agency put the Mars Express in orbit in 2003. These spacecraft still return pictures of Mars’s surface to Earth. They have mapped the planet. Their instruments study Mars’s atmosphere. The craft observe weather and changing seasons. They also study the surface of the planet. The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter can even “see” water that is underground.

For many years scientists have wanted to land a craft on the surface of Mars. Finally they got their wish in 1976. That’s when NASA’s Viking 1 landed on Mars. It did not prove or disprove if there was life on Mars. But it sent back the first pictures from Mars’s surface. NASA’s next landing came in 1997. The Mars Pathfinder first went into orbit around Mars. Then it landed, with a small robot rover named Sojourner. The tiny rover explored the surface of Mars. It also took pictures.

Early Exploration A time line on the first 25 years of the United States space program. 1961 Alan Shepard Jr. becomes the first American in space.

1969 Apollo 11 astronaut Neil Armstrong becomes the first human to walk on the moon.

1960 1962 John Glenn is the first American to orbit Earth.

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1965

In 2004 spacecraft from Earth reappeared on Mars. Two larger rovers, Opportunity and Spirit, touched down on opposite sides of the planet. The twin rovers sent back more than 100,000 images of Mars! The rovers carried tools that could scrape rock. So scientists were able to see under the surface of Mars rocks for the first time.

The rover Opportunity took this snapshot of Mars’s surface.

Future Missions The probes have uncovered signs that Mars may once have had liquid water—and maybe even life. There are plans to send more spacecraft to study Mars. Someday scientists hope astronauts will walk on its surface. This would be a hard trip for people. It would take many months to get to Mars and back. The astronauts would have to carry everything they need—oxygen, food, shelter. They would also need enough fuel to relaunch and return to Earth.

NASA/JPL/Zuma/Corbis

Many scientists think getting humans to Mars is worth the time and money. They say Mars still holds many secrets. Future trips may unlock some of them.

1976 The Viking 1 is the first spacecraft to land on Mars.

1970

1975

1973 The United States sends its first space station, Skylab, into orbit.

1986 The space shuttle Challenger explodes 73 seconds after liftoff.

1980

1985

1990

1981 The space shuttle Columbia, the world’s first reusable spacecraft, is launched. Issue 12

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HOW SPIRIT LANDED The rover Spirit reached Mars in 2004. Spirit currently sends pictures of the Red Planet to Earth. This diagram shows how NASA planned for Spirit to land safely.

1

SLOWING DOWN Mars’s atmosphere slows down Spirit. Then a parachute opens and rockets ignite to make it stop 50 feet above the planet’s surface.

2 THE FALL

3 TOUCHDOWN The air bag deflates so the rover can come out. It unfolds its solar panels to gather energy for exploring the planet.

4 EXPLORATION

Protected by air bags, Spirit separates from the parachute and drops to the surface.

The rover can travel more than 100 feet a day to take pictures and examine the surface.

1

2

3

4

Daniel Maas/Maas Digital LLC

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Water Troubles

(c) Jim Sugar/Corbis; (tr) Rao Guojun/China Foto/Getty Images

Kilauea volcano in Hawaii has been erupting almost nonstop since 1983.

New tools are helping to predict when volcanoes will blow.

Fresh, clean water is becoming even more precious for millions of people around the world.

E arth is about 75% water. But most of that water is salty. Only about 2.5% of Earth’s water is fresh water—the kind we can drink and that plants need to grow. Much of Earth’s fresh water is locked up in ice caps. In all, just 1% of Earth’s water can be used for washing, drinking, cooking, and watering crops.

Rao Guojun/China Foto Press/Getty Images

In the United States, we don’t usually worry about having enough clean, fresh water. We turn on a faucet and there it is. We even play in it. In other countries, though, water is scarce. People in Africa, Asia, and Latin America have serious water shortages.

← In some

countries, there’s no water to spare.

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Anne Ackermann/Getty Images

Water Troubles ↑ In the U.S., kids play

in clean, fresh water.

What causes water shortages? In some places, well water is being used faster than wells can refill. In other places, droughts—long periods without enough rain—mean there is not enough water. Some parts of the United States are now having water problems because of drought. Evaporation is a big problem in some parts of the world. When the sun shines on water, the water turns to vapor (gas) and rises into the air. The water is gone before it can do any good. The ground becomes dry and cracked. Nothing can grow. Not all fresh water is safe to drink. Water in wells, lakes, and rivers may contain organisms that cause illness. Water can also be polluted by chemicals.

But the news isn’t all bad. Mansoor Ali, who works for the United Nations, says water problems can be solved. Kids and adults are learning how to protect water and to use it wisely.

Kids to the Rescue Three teenagers worked together to win an important prize for helping to solve the water problem!

Stockholm International Water Institute

Karen Kasmauski/Corbis

↑ The winners of the

↑ A boy drinks water from a lake in

2005 Stockholm Junior Water Prize

the country of Mali in Africa.

Clean Water Means Healthy Kids When water is dirty, it can be dangerous to drink. In one school in Romania, old broken-down pipes made the water dirty. Dirty water was making children sick. It was dangerous to get a drink or even wash your hands. Then a Romanian aid group and the Earth Day Network came to help. They rebuilt the school’s pipes and bathrooms. Now there’s plenty of fresh water to drink and wash with. — Kathryn Satterfield

Water Waste Here are the top 5 types of debris often found in our oceans.

Rank

Pontso Moletsane, Motobele Motschodi, and Sechaba Ramabenyane all grew up in South Africa. Together, they created a system to irrigate (water) crops using less water. How did they do it? They created a watering system that runs at night. The sun doesn’t shine at night, so less water evaporates. The new system will help South Africa save precious water.

Debris

1

Cigarettes and cigarette filters

2

Food wrappers and containers

3

Caps and lids

4

Plastic drinking bottles

5

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Kaboom! Volcanoes

Are a Threat Volcanoes are a threat all over the world. But scientists have new ways to tell when they will erupt.

I

Mount St. Helens erupted again in 2005. It is one of at least 550 active volcanoes on land. They put the lives of 500 million people at risk. Another 1,000 volcanoes are under the sea. “Someday one of these mountains will erupt on a scale greater than mankind has ever seen,” says volcanologist Robert Tilling.

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Game McGimsey/EPA/Corbis

n 1980, Mount St. Helens blew its stack. When the volcano erupted, it caused destruction for many miles. Mudflows and clouds of gas did damage, too.

What Is a Volcano? A volcano is a crack in the earth. The opening is caused by gas and hot liquid rock, called magma. The gas and magma rise from deep inside the earth. A volcano erupts when gas and magma push through the earth’s surface. Magma that flows out of the ground is called lava. Lava can sometimes build up around a volcano and form a cone-shaped mountain. Lava can also pour along the ground, destroying everything in its path.

Augustine volcano in Alaska erupts in 2006, sending a cloud of ash and steam high into the air. Augustine also blew its stack in 1986, when ash from a stronger eruption landed in Anchorage, Alaska, 171 miles away.

Some erupting volcanoes put gas, dust, and ash into the air. Very powerful eruptions sometimes throw up huge clouds of dust. The clouds might travel thousands of miles in the air. These dark clouds block out the sun, making the weather cooler in some areas of the world.

High-Tech Detectives The good news is that scientists can now help keep people safe. The U.S. Volcano Disaster Assistance Program keeps an eye on active volcanoes all over the world. Issue 13

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Scientists can get to an active volcano within 48 hours of the first sign of trouble. Researchers also have new ways to know when a volcano may erupt. They use satellites to watch volcanoes. Volcanologists put sensors at the base of a volcano. Then they tune them to a satellite circling Earth. The sensors feel rumbles as magma and

gases move inside the volcano. The satellite finds the location of each sensor. A computer puts the information together to make a picture of inside the mountain. These tools helped scientists predict the eruption of Mount Pinatubo in the Philippines. Officials detected the signs. They sent out a warning. It saved thousands of lives.

The Ring of Fire Many of the world’s volcanoes are lined up along the Ring of Fire. This is a belt that circles the Pacific Ocean. There are many volcanoes and earthquakes here. The map shows some of the areas that are in danger.

Key = volcanoes = Ring of Fire

North America

Asia

Pacific Ocean South America

Elizabeth Wolf

Australia

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No one can stop a volcano that is about to blow. Volcanologists didn’t keep Hokkaido in Japan or Mount Cleveland in Alaska from erupting recently. Still, these scientists keep studying ways to predict eruptions. They know that the only way to protect people is to get them out of harm’s way in time.

Keeping Out of Harm’s Way Volcanologists once had to climb on top of a volcano to measure the gases. But some scientists were killed when the volcano erupted. Now volcanologists can gather the same data on gases from planes flying overhead. They can do their work and keep safe.

Violent Volcanoes Volcanoes can cause lots of damage. Here are a few of the most fatal ones in history.

Country

Year Effect

Mount Tambora

Indonesia

1815

Changes in climate cause starvation around the world

Krakatoa

Indonesia

1883

Tsunamis, huge waves, cause flooding and damage

Mount Pelée

Martinique

1902

Ash flows, containing hot gas and rock, destroy the town of Saint-Pierre

1985

Mudflows made of volcanic debris and water devastate the town of Armero

Nevado del Ruiz Colombia

(bkgd) Royalty-Free/Corbis

Volcano

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No More Water By Kenn Nesbitt Both my parents told me not to, but I did it anyway. Now our water tank is empty, and the well ran dry today. Not a drop is in the reservoir. The lake’s completely dry. Everybody’s getting thirstier and I’m the reason why. All the rivers are depleted. All the streams no longer flow. All the seas and all the oceans are devoid of H2O. No, there isn’t any water, not a drop is left to drink, ’cause I left the faucet running, and it all went down the sink.

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(c) Chris Nash/Getty Images; (tr) Osvaldo Stigliano/Wide World Photos/AP Images

Inca Mummies

Big Country! Explore the success and challenges of the world’s largest democracy.

Welcome to India Lindsay Hebberd/Corbis

Some Indian women wear a silk garment called a sari.

India has about three times more people than the United States. These are the five largest cities in India. KEY = capital

Delhi

Kolkata (Calcutta)

INDIA Mumbai (Bombay) N

E

Chennai Indian Ocean

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S

Jean Wisenbaugh

W

ndia is colorful festivals and crowded outdoor markets. It is the cold Himalaya Mountains and the hot Thar Desert. India has large and modern cities. It also has ancient villages. In India it is easy to see the old and the new side by side. India is also a big country— and not just in size. It has more than one billion people. India has over 20 official languages. Its people have many cultures and religions.

India’s Largest Cities

Bangalore

I

Indian civilization dates back to 2500 B.C. Empires rose and fell for thousands of years. Then Europeans reached India in the late 1400s. They wanted to trade for spices and silk. The British took control of India in the late 1700s. In the 1800s, Indians fought against British rule. Mohandas Gandhi led a peaceful rebellion in the early 1900s. India finally won its independence in 1947.

Today, India is one of the world’s most important nations. It is also one of the poorest. This south Asian nation has many resources. However, many Indians do not benefit from them. The rich and the middle class live well. The poor do not get good health care or education. Many kids have to earn money for their families. So they cannot go to school. India also has pollution. Clean water is scarce. Thick clouds of smog hang over most big cities. Many kids have asthma because of the dirty air. Nowadays, Indians are fighting the problem. New cars must have devices to control pollution. Old buses and trucks cannot use the streets if they pour smoke into the air. Even with its problems, India is powerful. Many cities are centers of technology. India’s leaders hope the future will be brighter. They are counting on young Indians to find ways to make life better.

Massimo Borchi/Atlantide

A Land of Extremes

↑ The Taj Mahal is one of

the world’s most beautiful buildings. However, pollution is staining its white marble.

Steve Raymer/Corbis

↑ This busy street is in

Bangalore. It is the third largest city in India.

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Johan Reinhard/NewsCom

Johan Reinhard examines bundled

mummies at the 22,000-foot-high site.

J

ohan Reinhard spent years looking for ancient ruins in South America. As a result of his search, in 1995 he found the 500-year-old mummy of an Inca girl. The mummy was called the “Ice Maiden.” A few years later, Reinhard made another discovery. He found three frozen mummies on Argentina’s Mount Llullaillaco (yew•yeye•YAH•koh). They were found more than 20,000 feet high on the tall mountain. The mummies were children between 8 and 15 years old. There were two boys and a girl. 112 •

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Reaching the mummies was not easy. Workers had to remove five feet of earth to dig the mummies out. The hole was very narrow. So a worker had to be lowered into it by his ankles to lift out a mummy! Still, the mummies were in great condition. They were the best preserved bodies ever found from the Inca civilization. Scientists think the children were an offering to the Inca gods. The mummies were wrapped in beautiful fabrics. Pottery and statues made of gold, silver, and shell were around them.

↑ This child was 8 to 15 years

old when sacrificed to the Inca gods.

Reuters/Courtesy El Tribuno-Walter Echazu

“Almost all of the statues are in a state of perfect preservation, including lids on the pottery and even food offerings of meat jerky,” said Reinhard.

Osvaldo Stigliano/Wide World Photos/AP Images

Frozen in Time

The Inca maiden on display at a museum in Salta, Argentina. →

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Rob Schuster

Physical Map of Argentina

Other Inca mummies were found before this. They were frozen by the cold, dry weather high in the Andes mountains. But those mummies had dried out before they froze. So they did not have any soft tissue or blood. The three mummies found by Reinhard were different. They froze before they dried out. As a result, they still have blood frozen in their hearts and lungs. Now scientists can study the blood and organs. They can learn more about the health, diet, and lives of the ancient Incas. The mummies are like clues to a puzzle. What secrets of the Incas have been buried for 500 years? The scientists can’t wait to find out.

Incredible Incas

↑ Mummies were located on

Mount Llullaillaco in the province of Salta, Argentina.

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The Incas were an Indian group in South America. They ruled in the Andes mountains about 500 years ago. The empire of the Incas was one of the richest in the Americas. It was also one of the largest. It stretched 2,300 miles along the Pacific coast.

The Granger Collection, New York

Most of the Incas were farmers. But they were also skilled builders and craftsmen. The Incas built many roads to connect the parts of their empire. They also made beautiful objects from gold and silver. The Inca empire lasted about 100 years. The Spanish overthrew it in the early 1500s. They were searching for treasure. They wanted the gold and silver of the Incas. So the Spanish killed Inca leaders and took over their lands. The Incas did not have a written language. But they spoke a language called Quechua. Today some Indians of the Andes mountains still speak Quechua.

↑ This drawing shows the first

meeting of Pizarro and Atahuallpa, the last Inca king.

The Granger Collection, New York

← The Inca empire

ruled ten million people. Many of them were forced to make public buildings.

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The

Inca Empire At its peak the IInca nca e empire mpire was the largest na nation ation in the world retched down the coast of South h world. IItt str stretched America from present-day Colombia to Chile. This map shows the land held by the Incas from 1438 to 1525.

Colombia Quito Ecuador ador

Brazil Peru Lima La Paz

Key Inca Empire Modern Capitals

Bolivia Chile

scale

N Argentina Santiago Elizabeth Wolf

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Dead Zones

(c) Franck Robichon/EPA/Corbis; (tr) Robert Simmon/NASA

Tsunemi Kubodera takes the first photos of the ocean giants.

Trouble

in the

Ocean

What’s causing “dead zones” in oceans around the world? Robert Simmon/NASA

T

he world’s oceans are filled with life. But it’s land-living human beings who are creating “dead zones” in coastal waters. Over the past 40 years, dead zones have appeared in almost 150 places around the globe. Some are small, and some are vast. The dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico is as big as the state of New Jersey! No animals live in these areas. There are no fish, no turtles, no crabs. The reason is that the water below the surface has no oxygen in it. Without oxygen, fish and other sea creatures die.

Too Much of a Good Thing We know what causes dead The light colors show the dead zone. zones—chemical fertilizers used on farms and lawns. The fertilizer helps plants and grass grow. But in the ocean, fertilizer is deadly.

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When it rains, fertilizer chemicals wash into rivers. Rivers flow into an ocean. The chemicals are dumped there. Robert Brook/Photo Researchers

In the ocean the fertilizer causes tiny plants called algae to grow rapidly. Soon the surface of the ocean is covered with algae for hundreds of miles. When ↑ Green algae on the ocean surface the algae die, they sink to the bottom. There, bacteria eat them. The bacteria use up all the oxygen in the water. Once the oxygen is gone, nothing can live.

Saving the Ocean Governments around the world are trying to stop dead zones from forming. One solution is to plant trees and grass next to rivers. The plants will soak up fertilizer before it reaches the ocean. Another important solution is to use less or stop using chemical fertilizers altogether. Rob Schuster

1. Rain washes fertilizer into river.

2. The river flows the runoff (fertilizer) into the ocean.

3. The fertilizer causes algae to grow, covering hundreds of miles of ocean.

4. The algae dies off and sinks to the bottom, bacteria eat the algae and use up all the oxygen in the water. Issue 15

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William West/AFP/Getty Images

One GIANT Squid! Scientists now have photos of one of the world’s most mysterious creatures. By Jill Egan

Reuters/Corbis

M

any strange creatures lurk deep in the ocean. One of the most mysterious is the giant squid. Some had been caught in fishing nets or found washed up onshore. No one had ever seen a giant squid alive up close—or had even gotten a picture of one. That all changed a few years ago. Researchers got the first pictures of a giant squid alive and swimming in the deep ocean. This giant squid, found in New Zealand, was over 20 feet long! →

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← Scientist Tsunemi Kubodera points to a giant squid. It is on display at the National Science Museum in Tokyo, Japan.

Oshikazu Tsuno/AFP/Getty Images

Tracking the Giant Squid Scientists didn’t know just where to look for the squid. It lives in the ocean, about 660 to 2,300 feet deep. Then the scientists had a bright idea. They knew sperm whales like nothing better than a tasty squid dinner. Why not follow the whales? Scientists, led by Tsunemi Kubodera, followed some sperm whales off the coast of Japan. Their idea turned out to be correct. Just as they thought, the whales led them to a giant squid.

Thomas Gagliano

• GIANT SQUIDS are invertebrates, or animals without backbones. They are the largest invertebrates on Earth.

• GIANT SQUIDS can grow to be 59 feet long!

• GIANT SQUIDS (and colossal squids) have the largest eyes of any animal—about 10 inches across.

• GIANT SQUIDS have eight arms and two tentacles. The tentacles bring food to their mouths.

• GIANT SQUIDS are hard for scientists to study because they live in deep, very dark parts of the ocean. Issue 15

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This photo shows the giant squid attacking the bait. →

National Science Museum/Wide World Photos/AP Images

The squid wasn’t going to come to the scientists. So they used a baited fishing line to draw it in. The bait was a single small squid and chopped up shrimp. Scientists dropped a remote-control camera into the ocean. Then they used the bait to attract the squid. The trick worked. As the squid went after the bait, the scientists snapped hundreds of pictures. Eventually the squid swam away. When the scientists raised the fishing line, they discovered something amazing. The squid had left a piece of itself. “It went after some bait that we had on the end of the camera and became stuck, and left behind a tentacle,” said Kyoichi Mori, a researcher. The tentacle was about 18 feet long. It helped scientists learn more about the giant squid. Thanks to Kubodera and his team of scientists, the giant squid is a little less mysterious.

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Getting to Know a Giant Scientists are learning more and more about the giant squid. They study the bodies of dead squid as well as photographs of living ones. For example, scientists have learned that the giant squid’s tentacles have suction cups lined with sharp rings. These rings help the squid attach to its prey. They also can protect the squid—causing large scars on their main predators, sperm whales.

Mantle Funnel Tentacles

Head

Arms

Mike Maydak

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How Diamonds Form Diamonds are rare and hard to find. They form deep inside Earth. The process takes thousands and thousands of years.

1

2

Pressure and heat deep inside Earth turn carbon into diamonds.

Magma carries diamonds ttoward the surface, sometimes in volcanoes.

100 miles

Magma Diamond

4

124

Argosy

3

P Pipes of rock rich in diamonds are lleft behind. Diamond mines grow around these deposits.

Erosion E can wear away the rock that holds h diamond deposits. Pieces of diamond break away. Water can carry the pieces of diamond to other places, such as riverbeds or beaches.