A Sticky Situation #4

Marty is a hall monitor at school. While monitoring the hall, he sees his friend Paul take a cell phone out of his backpack. Cell phones are not allowed in school. Marty doesn't want to get Paul in trouble, but Marty is supposed to help keep order in the halls and to tell a teacher when school rules are broken. What should Marty do?

Write a paragraph explaining what you think Marty should do.

A Sticky Situation #3

Joey is walking home from school when he gets a text message from his friend Deirdre. She wants Joey to come to her house to see her new video-game system. Joey really wants to see Deirdre's new game, but his parents told him to go straight home after school. What should Joey do?

Write a paragraph explaining what you think Joey should do.

A Sticky Situation #2

Ricky and Nadia were talking in class. Their teacher, Mrs. Belle, thought she heard Jenny's voice. Mrs. Belle wants to send Ricky and Jenny to the principal's office for disrupting class. Nadia doesn't want Jenny to get in trouble for something she didn't do, but she doesn't want to get in trouble either.

Write a paragraph explaining what you think Nadia should do.

A Sticky Situation

Maurice is at the mall when he sees his best friend, Veronica, steal candy from one of the stores. Veronica offers to split the candy with Maurice if he promises not to tell anyone. Maurice loves candy, but he knows that stealing is wrong.

Write a paragraph explaining what you think Maurice should do.

Museum Disagreement

Here is a bit of history on Greece and the Parthenon. Click the link below to watch the video. Pay attention for you will need to understand this disagreement to be able to give your understanding on how they should solve it.

Click the link below. Then click the VIDEO tab to start the video.

http://kids.nationalgeographic.com/Places/Find/Greece

Now, there is a disagreement between the museums in Greece and England. Who should have the statues? Should they be returned to Greece or stay in London? What do you think?

Timbuktu's Treasures

by Vivienne Walt/Timbuktu

The people of Timbuktu, a remote town in Mali, have a priceless treasure: thousands of old books. Groups are working to save them.

The old books inside Fida Ag Mohammed's mud home are no ordinary volumes. Between the goatskin covers are hundreds of centuries-old pages of Arabic handwriting. "One of my ancestors from the 12th century began our family library," Mohammed says.

There are many collections like Mohammed's in Timbuktu, a town in Mali (see map). For centuries, its people have stashed manuscripts in their homes or under the desert sands. There are believed to be 50,000 of these manuscripts in Timbuktu.

With its remote location in the Sahara, Timbuktu feels like the end of the Earth. But it was once at the crossroads of Africa's gold and salt routes. The town had a university and was a center of learning.

A Rich History

Timbuktu's ancient books are putting the town back on the map. Aid organizations and governments are racing to save the collections from falling apart or from being sold and taken out of Africa. The government of South Africa built a museum for the books that will open later this year. One of the museum's goals is to showcase Africa's rich literary history. Among the papers are works on history, medicine, law and religion.

Timbuktu's manuscripts have been passed from one generation to the next. But will young people treasure the books or sell them? "We are trying to explain to each new generation why these are important," says Timbuktu's religious leader, Ali Imam Ben Essayouti.

In 1979, Mahmoud Zouber bought 25 manuscripts for about $25,000. Today, they are worth "10 times that amount," he says. Zouber and others hope that money will not tempt Timbuktu's young people to part with their centuries-old treasures.

Can you tell why Timbuktu is a famous city? What are the treasures they found in this city?

Animal Survivors

by Suzanne Zimbler

With help from humans, some endangered species are bouncing back from the brink of extinction. Scientist and conservationist Jane Goodall shares their stories.

Jane Goodall is on the road 300 days a year. She travels around the world, encouraging people to protect our planet. Wherever she goes, she brings along a shiny black feather from one of America's most endangered birds, the California condor.

The feather is a symbol of hope. Like the other 32 species featured in Goodall's new book, Hope for Animals and Their World, the condor would not be here today if it were not for the help of some dedicated people.

Miracle Birds
Thousands of California condors once soared in the skies above the western coast of North America. But by 1982, all except 22 of the graceful birds had vanished.

Lead poisoning was the main culprit. The condors were poisoned when they ate animals that had been shot by hunters' lead bullets.

Many people believed there was no hope for the species. But one group of scientists decided to help. Between 1985 and 1987, they brought all of the remaining condors into captivity to try to save the species. "They were told it was a waste of time," Goodall told TFK, "but they refused to give up."

Inside, the birds were not free, but they were safe. With the help of the scientists, the condor population has grown to more than 350 birds. About half have been returned to the wild. They are safer now, because in 2007 a law was passed that bans the use of lead bullets where condors live.

Wild Things
Removing animals from the wild is sometimes necessary in order to save them. But even in captivity, animals can run into problems.

The Sumatran rhino is one of the most endangered large mammals in the world, due to illegal hunting and habitat loss. In 1990, seven Sumatran rhinos were shipped from Indonesia to zoos in the United States. The rhinos quickly became sick, and four died. Scientists scrambled to figure out what was wrong.

Luckily, zookeeper Steve Romo had observed the rhinos in the wild and had seen them eating sap-covered fruit. In the zoo, the rhinos were fed hay and alfalfa. When that was replaced with a fruit similar to what they once ate, the animals recovered almost immediately. Now, conservationists are working to set up more captive-breeding programs, where rhino families can grow in safety.

It Takes a Village
Scientists and zookeepers are not the only people helping endangered animals. Communities are pitching in too. In Colombia, monkeys called cotton-top tamarins were vanishing from the forest. Logging and pollution had put their habitat in danger. A group of local women decided to help. They collect and recycle the plastic bags that litter the forest. They make reusable totes from the plastic. Other community members helped by switching to cooking stoves that use fewer logs. As a result, more trees are now standing in the forest.

Condors, rhinos and tamarins are still in danger. But thanks to people who care, these animals now have a chance. "These extraordinary people and amazing projects really do give hope," says Goodall. "They show that we can turn things around."

This is a great article for animal lovers. Can you sum up this article in 2-3 sentences? What are the main points?

What's Wild About African Wild Dogs?

September 3, 2008

What’s the difference between African wild dogs and the dogs we know as pets?

For one thing, African wild dogs, which live in Africa, south of the Sahara desert, only have four toes, while domestic dogs and wolves have five. But you wouldn’t want to count for yourself, because these are truly wild animals.

"Wild dogs are not somebody's domestic dogs that ran away and didn't come back, although some people used to think that," explains Dr. "Tico" McNutt, who studies these animals at Wild Dog Research Camp in the African country of Botswana. "They are actually Africa's wolf, and just like wolves, they do not make good pets. They need to be out in the wild doing what they are supposed to be doing—ranging many miles every day and hunting to find the food they need to survive and feed pups."

In fact, they travel so far that researchers use radio collars to keep track of them. The collars send out radio signals that tell people where the dogs are. African wild dogs are a separate species from domestic dogs: Lycaon pictus, which means painted, wolf-like animal. No two wild dogs have the same pattern to their coats, so it is easy to tell them apart.

Roaming through grasslands, savannas, and wooded areas, they hunt gazelles and other antelopes, baby wildebeests, warthogs, birds, and rats. Incredible hunters, they can run up to 35 miles per hour (56 kilometers per hour).

African wild dogs are smart and sociable, like pet dogs. They enjoy each others' company and live in packs of about six to 20 animals. Both males and females look out for young dogs and make sure they have food. Dr. McNutt was surprised to learn that they like pups so much, they will even take care of orphans that don’t belong to them.

African wild dogs talk to each other with two common types of calls, says Dr. McNutt. "The 'hoo' call is a call that they make when lost or when a pack member is missing. It sounds almost like an owl." The dogs can hear the call two or three miles away and easily find each other.

On the other hand, says Dr. McNutt, "The twitter calls are intended to carry only very short distances, and are used to wake up the pack members and rally them to go hunting. They are very high pitched and sound almost like songbird calls."

There's one huge difference between domestic or pet dogs and African wild dogs. Millions of domestic dogs live on the planet, but there are probably fewer than 6,000 African wild dogs left.
Lions and hyenas eat them, but most of all, African wild dogs are threatened by people. Humans hunt them, and ranchers and farmers who don’t want them going after cows and sheep poison them. Humans are also destroying the wild, natural habitat they need to survive.

Researchers like Dr. McNutt are working to help people understand how rare and special these animals are. Today more ranchers are finding other ways to protect their cows and sheep from African wild dogs instead of killing the rare and special animals.

Text by Catherine Clarke Fox

I never knew the differences between wild dogs and our friendly domesticated dogs. How are wild dogs different from the dogs we know? How are they the same? How are wild dogs special?

Super Trees

September 16, 2009

Mike Fay trekked through the redwood forests of North America for 11 months. His transect documents the status of the redwoods today. Fay, a conservationist and National Geographic Society Explorer-in-Residence spoke to National Geographic Kids recently about one of his favorite redwood areas called the Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park, located in Crescent City, California, near the California-Oregon border.

NGKids: What do you like about this park?

Fay: It is the highest biomass per acre of any forest on Earth. The amount of biomass on the ground is pretty much equal to what it is in the trees. The trees never rot—there is a labyrinth of wood that has been stacking up on the forest floor for thousands and thousands of years. Then you have these huge columns, to walk a mile in that forest takes you all day. It’s like a wonderland back there, like Alice in Wonderland—it really is. If I had to pick one spot in the redwoods forest on Earth, Jed Smith Park is an amazing forest. It’s a small patch. The cool thing about redwoods is that they remain healthy compared to most forests in North America that have been heavily impacted by human use and by global impacts.

NGKids: What can kids do to help the redwoods and forests in general?

Fay: Kids…should get outside and start thinking about natural resource management and if you look at the redwoods, it’s a perfect place to start thinking about it because 95% was taken out and yet we see humanity shifting there to repairing the damage that was done, and rebuilding the forest and making it more productive for humanity at the same time. That is the key. We need to replenish the natural resource capital that we have lost rather than to continue to liquidate it. If we do that then there is hope.

Redwood Facts:
The tallest known redwood tree stands at 379.1 feet, higher than London’s Big Ben Tower.

In 1850 there were nearly 2 million acres of ancient coast redwood forests in California. Today less than 5 percent of those old-growth forests remain.

As they get older, redwoods produce more wood, and better wood. Some redwoods grow to be at least 2,000 years old.

Redwoods depend on fog for more than 30 percent of their water needs by absorbing it directly into their leaves and taking in the condensed fog that drips down to their roots.

Redwood forests are the best of all forests at capturing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and locking away the carbon in their wood.

Redwoods are rich in polyphenols, so bugs and decay-causing fungi don’t like them. And since there is not a lot of resin in their stringy, thick bark, the larger trees are resistant to fire. These properties have helped fuel redwood longevity; some of the trees have been burned several times by wildfires but are still alive and growing.

From the interview, what are 3 facts you have learned about Redwood Trees? Was there anything surprising to you in this article?

President Obama to Kids: What's Your Goal?

In back-to-school speech, President challenges American students to work hard for success in school and beyond
By Zach Jones September 9 , 2009

On Tuesday, President Barack Obama gave a special back-to-school speech to students all over America. An excited crowd filled the gym of Wakefield High School in Arlington, Virginia, where the President spoke. His message was the same for students from kindergarten through high school: Work hard, be responsible, and set clear goals for the new school year.

"I'm working hard to fix up your classrooms and get you the books, equipment, and computers you need to learn. But you've got to do your part too," the President told students. Setting Goals

The President challenged students to set goals for themselves and to do everything possible to meet them."Your goal can be something as simple as doing all your homework, paying attention in class, or spending time each day reading a book," the President said. "Maybe you'll decide to get involved in an extracurricular activity, or volunteer in your community.

"Don't be afraid to ask questions or seek advice from trusted adults, the President advised. They can help make sure that goal is within reach, and help track progress.

The President believes that students' success in school is good for the country. With a strong education, children can grow up to be good thinkers and problem solvers. "This isn't just important for your own life and your own future," he explained. "What you're learning in school today will determine whether we as a nation can meet our greatest challenges in the future."

Don't Give Up
President Obama knows it's not easy to be a star student. He talked about his own difficulties in school. His father left the family when Barack was only 2 years old, and his mother worked hard just to pay the bills. Sometimes these challenges made it hard for him to focus on his schoolwork. But, the President said, challenges are not "an excuse for neglecting your homework or having a bad attitude in school…. There is no excuse for not trying."

"I expect you to put your best effort into everything you do. I expect great things from each of you," the President concluded. "Make us all proud."

STEPS TO YOUR SUCCESS
What are your goals for this year? What can you do as a citizen of our country to make this a better place?

New Views of Space

Hubble Space Telescope is back, and better than ever! Astronauts from the space shuttle completed an important mission to repair the space telescope last May. Now, Hubble's pictures are nearly perfect. NASA, the U.S. space agency, released amazing new photos from the "eye in the sky" this month.

Hubble soars through space, 350 miles above Earth. The space-based observatory has a crystal-clear view of the universe. Hubble has sent pictures of deep space back to Earth since 1990. Some of these images are close-ups of the planets and of stars being born.

Hubble's New Start
The floating telescope has had many problems during its 19 years in space. Last May, astronauts spent 13 days rebuilding it.
Hubble's new parts are more sensitive to light. They make the telescope's pictures brighter and clearer than ever before. "This is truly Hubble's new beginning," says NASA's Edward Weiler.
Exciting New Views

On September 9, NASA released a new batch of photos taken by Hubble. The new views show galaxies, planets and nebulas.

One photo shows gassy areas that look like butterfly wings. The glow is hot gas and dust. Hubble could not capture such an amazing level of detail before its recent round of repairs.

NASA has big plans for Hubble now that it is back in business. Over the next few years, the space telescope will take pictures of our solar system and more distant worlds. Scientists hope that Hubble will create a picture-perfect portrait of our universe.


Wow! This is exciting news about our real world. Can you sum up what this article was about in 2-3 sentences? Remember to start your sentences with a capital letter and end with an end mark. Proofread your work before you post it.