TIME For Kids - Student Reader G3

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.
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
Dollars
Main Idea and Details • Prefixes • Bar Graphs
and Sense
Small Loans Make a Big Difference ............... 6

Class Safari ....................................................... 8
Temperatures of Cities in Kenya CHARTS ....... 12
(c) Frans Lanting/Minden Pictures; (tr) Farjana K. Godhuly/AFP/Getty Images
A journey to Africa teaches kids

about this fascinating nation.
A3TFK_TXNA_I1FP_RD11.indd 5 1/20/09 12:28:12 PM
Issue 2
Making
Cause and Effect • Unknown Words • Maps
Maps
Green
Two Maps: One New, One Old ...................... 14
Machine!
Learning with Laptops ................................... 16
A free laptop
All-American Tall Tales MAPS ....................... 20

is changing the
(c) AFP/Getty Images; (tr) Geography and Map Division/Library of Congress
way kids around

the world learn.
Issue 3
Light
Main Idea and Details • Synonyms
Building
• Photos and Captions

Sunlight and Shadow .................................... 22
(c) Detlev van Ravenswaay/Photo Researchers; (tr) Global Image Express/Li Jiangsong/Newscom
Great Ball of Fire ........................................... 24

A3TFK_TXNA_I3FP_RD11.indd 21
Scientists learn new facts about the sun.
1/20/09 12:29:57 PM
Today Is Very Boring POETRY ......................... 28
Issue 4
A Rich
Compare and Contrast • Context Clues
Legacy
• Skimming and Scanning

A Lifetime of Treasures................................. 30
Open Liberty! ................................................ 32
(c) Michel Setboun/Corbis; (tr) Marissa Roth/The New York Times/Redux
Lady
Liberty
Let’s Celebrate! TABLES .................................. 36
The Statue of Liberty welcomes visitors
and immigrants to America.

Issue 5
Cars Are
Make and Confirm Predictions • Suffixes
“Celling”
• Charts
The Car of the Future? .................................. 38
Wild Rides ...................................................... 40
(c) Tony Dejak/AP Images; (tr) Kyodo News/Newscom
New roller coasters

are bigger, faster,
The Family Car POETRY ................................... 44

and scarier than ever.
Issue 6
Great
Sequence • Compound Words • Maps
Gulf Coast
Life on the Gulf ............................................. 46

Building a Tsunami Warning System ........... 48
Instructions for Earth’s Dishwasher POETRY . 52
(c) Lana Slivar/Reuters/Corbis; (tr) George H.H. Huey/Corbis
A tsunami warning
system may save lives.
Issue 7
Draw Conclusions • Context Clues • Graphs
Gates Is
Generous
Legacy of Dreams .......................................... 54

A Helping Hand ............................................. 56
Top 5 U.S. Foundations GRAPHS .................... 60
(c) Ariel Skelley/Getty Images; (tr) Gates Foundation/Corbis
Businesses help people make

their dreams come true.
Issue 8
Friends
Main Idea and Details • Context Clues
of Freedom
• Time Lines
Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass ... 62
American Indian Nations.............................. 64
(c) Bowers Museum of Cultural Art/Corbis; (tr) The Granger Collection
Mary Youngblood TIME LINES ......................... 68

Inside the United States are
hundreds of independent nations.

Issue 9
Mysterious
Author’s Purpose • Context Clues • Maps
Pyramids!
This Flower Stinks ......................................... 70

Not all flowers are sweet.
Secret at the Heart of a Pyramid.................. 72
Take a whiff of the world’s
Eletelephony POETRY ..................................... 76

smelliest bloom.
(c) Scott Barbour/Getty Images; (tr) Michael T. Sedam/Corbis
Issue 10
Teen
Author’s Purpose • Context Clues
EMTs
• Photos and Captions

Teens to the Rescue! .................................... 78
Long Live the Emperor! ................................ 80
(c) Koji Sasahara/Wide World Photos/AP Images; (tr) LEGO
Mighty Monarchs MAPS ................................ 84

Prince Hisahito could one day become Emperor of Japan.
A3TFK_TXNA_I10FP_RD11.indd 77 1/28/09 11:40:45 AM
Issue 11
Kids Give
Draw Conclusions • Context Clues • Diagrams
a Hand
Freedom Fighter ............................................ 86

Surf’s Up! ....................................................... 88
Roller Coaster POETRY .................................... 92
(c) Sylvain Cazenave/Corbis; (tr) Tom Hanson/Wide World Photos/AP Images
R ide t h e
R ide t h e
Wave Learn about the
science behind
surfing. It may
keep you afloat!
Issue 12
The Final
Author’s Purpose • Context Clues • Time Lines
Frontier
Where No People Had Gone Before............. 94

Mysterious Mars ............................................ 96
All Eyes
on Mars
How Spirit Landed DIAGRAMS ....................... 100
(c) NASA; (tr) Bettmann/Corbis
NASA spacecraft are giving us the

closest looks ever of the Red Planet.

Issue 13
Cause and Effect • Context Clues • Charts
Water
Troubles
Water Troubles............................................. 102

Kilauea volcano in
Hawaii has been
erupting almost
nonstop since 1983.
Kaboom! Volcanoes Are a Threat ............... 104
No More Water POETRY ................................ 108
(c) Jim Sugar/Corbis; (tr) Rao Guojun/China Foto/Getty Images
New tools are helping to predict when

volcanoes will blow.
Issue 14
Inca
Sequence • Context Clues • Maps
Mummies
Welcome to India ..........................................110

Faces From the Past .......................................112
The Inca Empire MAPS ...................................116
(c) Chris Nash/Getty Images; (tr) Osvaldo Stigliano/Wide World Photos/AP Images
Big Country!
Explore the success and challenges of
the world’s largest democracy.
Issue 15
Dead
Cause and Effect • Homophones • Diagrams
Zones
Trouble in the Ocean .....................................118

One Giant Squid! .......................................... 120
Tsunemi Kubodera
How Diamonds Form DIAGRAMS ................... 124

takes the first photos
of the ocean giants.
(c) Franck Robichon/EPA/Corbis; (tr) Robert Simmon/NASA

Dollars
and Sense
(c) Frans Lanting/Minden Pictures; (tr) Farjana K. Godhuly/AFP/Getty Images
A journey to Africa teaches kids

about this fascinating nation.
Farjana K.
Godhuly/A
FP/Getty
Images
Microcredit offers a chance to succeed. Muhammad Yunus won the
Nobel Peace Prize.
by Lorin Driggs
Loans Help Poor Escape Poverty

M uhammad Yunus and the
Grameen Bank help bring
millions of people out of poverty.
In 1983, Yunus founded Grameen
Bank. It loans small amounts of
Yunus is from Bangladesh. He
money to people to start businesses.
founded the Grameen Bank to help
These loans are called “microcredit.”
his community. Yunus wanted to
They are given to people who are
give the poor the power to change
unable to get loans from regular
their lives for the better.
banks. Most microcredit loans are
very small, around $130. Most of the
Small Loans, Big Gains borrowers are women. This is odd
Since Muhammad Yunus founded because women do not usually have
Grameen Bank in 1983, the bank’s
size and impact in Bangladesh have
jobs or run businesses in Bangladesh.
grown. This graph tells the story.
Then and Now at Grameen

e a d oBank
at G a ee a Key
Percentage of 46 In 1983
borrowers that
are female 97 Now
Number of 1,249
villages served 83,178
Number of 86
bank branches 2,530
0 100 500 1,000 2,500 5,000 10,000 30,000 60,000 90,000
6• Time For Kids

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 Nicholas Pitt/Getty Images
an unemployed woman to open In Bangladesh microcredit

a day-care center. is helping some people start
strong businesses.
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 These Bangladeshi women
are receiving loans from the
is no electricity. Yunus has also started Grameen Bank.
a food company and an eye hospital.
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 t’s an early wake-up call for
C.J. Queenan. It’s 5:00 A.M.!
↑ “I feel like teachers are role models.
Just like the elders in my village,”
says Joseph Lekuton. He is wearing
Masai clothes and is surrounded by
C.J. doesn’t get up that early at his students.
home in Virginia. Well, maybe
to eat breakfast once in a while
but never to herd cows! But C.J. Yes, it’s a tough job for a 14-
isn’t at home. He is in Africa, year-old from Virginia, but C.J.
on the plains of Kenya. He is sticks it out. He wants to keep
visiting the Masai people. He is up with the Masai tribesmen.
helping them with their cattle. “The Masai can’t call people on
C.J. even carries a spear to keep cell phones to rescue them when
the lions away. they get tired,” C.J. says.
8• Time For Kids
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. 75%
C.J.’s teacher is Joseph Lekuton. He
is a member of Africa’s Masai tribe of 50%
37%
Kenya. Every summer Lekuton takes 30%
25%
25%
some of his students and their parents
7%
on a two-week trip to his homeland. 1%
0%
Kenya is a whole new world for the
kids from Virginia. When they get
Permanent pastures
there, the American kids put on Masai Permanent crop
clothing. Boys herd cattle. Girls collect
Land that can be used for farming
firewood and water. Families depend
Forests and woodlands
on their cattle. As a result, the Masai
Other, including cities
and the students have to move a lot The World Factbook
so the cattle have grass to eat.
Masai tribesmen get students ready for a cattle

drive. It will go across African grasslands. ↓
philipkent.com
Issue 1 •9
Top 5 African Countries for Tourists South
Africa
The graph shows the countries in Africa most 7.51
visited by tourists in 2005. million
Tunisia
7.1
million
Cows to the Rescue
Morocco
Back in the United States, Kenya is on 5.84 million
the minds of the students at Langley
School all year. Droughts have killed Zimbabwe
many cattle in Kenya, so the students 1.55 million
created Cows for Kids. The money
they raise buys cows for Masai Swaziland = 1 million
0.83 million tourists
herders. Each cow costs about $100.
“One cow means more to the health Source: World Tourism Organization, 2006
of a family than cash,” says Lekuton.

“Here we’re really giving life. A cow
will give a child milk every day.”
Every time Lekuton sees a little boy herding cows,

he thinks, “How can I help make his life better?” ↓
Danuta Otfinowski
10 • Time For Kids

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 Masai girls wear
tribes speak more than 30 languages. The Kikuyu is Kenya’s colorful clothing and
largest tribe. The Luo is another group. U.S. President Barack beaded jewelry. ↓
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!
Jim Zuckerman/Corbis
Issue 1 • 11
The climate of Kenya is tropical.
Key 5. Mandera
That means it is warm most
Capital
of the year. The coast of Kenya
is humid. The inner part of the
4. Lodwar
country is cooler. The north
is very dry. These are the Kenya
average temperatures of major
Kenyan cities.
3. Eldoret
2. Nairobi
Maximum Minimum
Height
City Temperature Temperature
(feet)
(°F) (°F)
1. Mombasa 55 86 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
Green
Machine!
A free laptop
is changing the
(c) AFP/Getty Images; (tr) Geography and Map Division/Library of Congress
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?
↑ Today, mapmakers use technology
(Bodies of water can be oceans, to help them create maps.
gulfs, lakes, or rivers.)
On the East Coast is the Atlantic

Ocean. To the south is the Gulf of
Mexico. To the west is the Pacific Ocean.

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.
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
↑ This map from 1804 was drawn
by hand. boundaries of the United States
have changed. It now stretches
from the Atlantic Ocean to the
Pacific Ocean. — Susan Moger
Issue 2 • 15
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!
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.
William B. Plowman/Wide World Photos/AP Images
Nicholas Negroponte
with his laptop →

Fun Features 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 student-
friendly.
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. Marcelo Hernandez/Wide World Photos/AP Images
Another great feature Because of these features the

is the battery. It can be hand XO laptops make learning
charged by a crank, pedal, fun while helping the
or pull cord. It also can be environment.
(bkgd)Tomi/PhotoLink/Getty Images
recharged by attaching to a
solar panel. The crank makes
the machine very resourceful.
Issue 2 • 17
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. ↓ 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. China Most schools run from 7:30 A.M. to
5:00 P.M., including a two-hour lunch break.
Nigeria Asia
North
Boys and girls America Europe
Thailand
must have short
Kids go to school
hair and wear
on Saturday.
uniforms to school. Africa
South
America
Argentina Australia
In the country some kids
ride horses to school. Brazil Kids go to school for about four
hours in the morning or afternoon.
Sophie Kitteredge
← As a result of Nicholas
Negroponte’s hard work,
students around the
world can explore and
express themselves with
the new XO Laptop.
(bkgd)Tomi/PhotoLink/Getty Images
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• 19
m
Issue 2
ia
ill
W
All-American
Here are two tall tale heroes. The stories

about them aren’t true, but they do say
a lot about the American spirit.
Pecos Bill Paul Bunyan
Guy Francis
Guy Francis
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 Paul Bunyan was

worked as a born in Maine.
lumberjack
in Minnesota, Guy Francis
Wisconsin,
and Michigan.
One legend says that the

entire state of New Mexico One story says that
was Pecos Bill’s ranch. Paul Bunyan dug
Lake Michigan as a
watering hole for
Babe the Blue Ox.
Pecos Bill was Pecos Bill rode a

born in Texas. tornado in Kansas.
Joe Lemonnier
20
(c) Detlev van Ravenswaay/Photo Researchers; (tr) Global Image Express/Li Jiangsong/Newscom
Light
Scientists learn new facts about the sun.

Building
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 But on the first official day of

building needs to understand summer (called the summer
sunlight and shadow. solstice), which is the longest
day of the year, the sun rises
The Sun and Stonehenge behind one of the biggest
Stonehenge is an ancient circle stones. The sun looks like a
of stones built in the middle of fiery ball balancing on the
a field in England. No one knows towering stone.
how the enormous stones got
there or why they were placed Whoever built Stonehenge
the way they were. If you stand knew a lot about the movement
in the middle of the stone circle of the sun. They also knew a lot
on most mornings, you won’t about light and shadow.
notice anything special.
The sun rises over Stonehenge

on the summer solstice.
Bill Bachmann/Photo Researchers

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, ↑ Architects think about sunlight
skyscrapers, and even factories. and shadow when they design
buildings.
Architects know where the
sun rises and sets. If they were Most of the time, though,
building a house in an empty architects design houses to
field, they could make the fit into a neighborhood. They
bedroom face east for morning design skyscrapers to fit into
light. They could make the living a city. How do they know
room face west in the direction whether their buildings will
of sunsets. block someone else’s light? How
do they know whether existing
Global Image Express/Li Jiangsong/Newscom
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 • 23
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

Eyes on the Sun
Since December 1995 the SOHO probe has
been circling the sun. SOHO stands for
NASA
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
The ACE probe
of sunspots and flares on the sun increases. Sunspots gives people
are cooler patches on the sun’s surface. They look like on Earth and
astronauts in
dark spots. Sunspots form where the sun’s magnetic space information
field is very strong. Flares are bursts of energy that about solar winds.
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. John Chumack/Photo Researchers
Some sunspots are

thousands of miles
across. Solar flares
form above them. →
Issue 3 • 25
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. Sun Venus
The sun is an average star. Mercury

There are 100 billion stars in
our galaxy. Many are bigger
and hotter.

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 • 27
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.

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.

I can hardly help but yawn,
there’s a flying saucer landing
(bkgd) Design Pics/Alamy
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.
28
A Rich
Legacy
(c) Michel Setboun/Corbis; (tr) Marissa Roth/The New York Times/Redux
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,

and letters written by African Americans.
Her son, Avery Clayton, thought her collection
↑ Mayme Clayton
ux
was important. Unlike most books, these were rare kT
im
es/
Re
d
or
wY
and hard to find. They were written by authors oth
/Th
e Ne
aR
riss
who helped shape African American Ma
culture.
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. ↑ The only known
signed copy of
By the time she died at age 83,
Phillis Wheatley’s
Mrs. Clayton had more than 30,000 books book
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.
Avery Clayton’s dream was to create
Marissa Roth/The New York Times/Redux

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.
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 ↑ 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
esy A
very
Clayto
n
Philatelist (phi•lat•e•list): a person who collects stamps.

Issue 4 • 31
Panoramic Images/Getty Images
A safer, more secure
Statue of Liberty
welcomes visitors.

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 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, From the Arabic word jarrah,
meaning the lizard. meaning large earthen vase.
Boondocks Kindergarten
From the Tagalog word bundok, From the German words Kinder and
meaning mountain. Garten meaning children’s garden.
Casserole Tycoon
From the French word casserole, From the Japanese word taikun,
meaning saucepan. meaning great prince.
Issue 4 • 35
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!
When It’s
Celebration What It Celebrates
Celebrated
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– African American

January 1 family, community,
and culture
Oktoberfest 16 days in late The culture of the

September, part of Germany
early October known as Bavaria
St. Patrick’s Day March 17 Irish culture
What celebrations
are important
to you and
your family?
PunchStock/Digital Vision
36
Cars Are
“Celling”
(c) Tony Dejak/AP Images; (tr) Kyodo News/Newscom
New roller coasters

are bigger, faster,
and scarier than ever.
Car
By Jill Egan
?
W hen Jon and SanSandy
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
car. But it uses
Fuel-cell cars are different from cars in another hydrogen and
way. They run cleaner. Most cars run on gasoline. oxygen as fuel.
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

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
motoo Electric motors do not make
motor.
pol
llut
pollution. As a result, hybrid autos cut
pollut
pollution. They also reduce the use of
gasol
gasoline. Fuel-cell cars are better for Mark Peterson/Corbis
the e
environment, too. But people can ↑ Regular cars produce
b
buy hhybrid cars now. On the other exhaust, a type of pollution.
hand, there are only a few fuel-cell
cars available.
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
Have you ever been on a roller coaster?

If so, you know what it’s like. You roll
slowly up a big hill. Then you shoot down
Courtesy Six Flags Magic Mountain
the other side. There are sharp curves

and steep drops. Sometimes loops flip you
upside down, and you scream, “No more!”

Courtesy Six Flags Over Georgia
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
Name: Superman Ultimate Flight in 1884. Its top speed was 6 miles per
Place: Atlanta, Georgia hour. Today roller coasters have a lot
Big Thrill: It’s a bird! It’s a more zip. The fastest ones speed along
plane! Riders “fly” facedown
at more than 100 miles per hour!
over big drops and a pretzel loop.
What makes all of this fun possible?
Courtesy Six Flags Over Georgia
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
Name: X
want to make sure it is safe as well
Place: Los Angeles, California as scary.
Big Thrill: Each car in the
train spins like a wheel as it
flies along the track.
Issue 5 • 41
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!
“Then
It’s awesome! You go really high.
the track spins, and you hold
there for a second and shoot back
down really fast.
”
—Joey Stilphen, 13, one of the first riders
of Wicked Twister on a test run
t
ar Poin
Name: Wicked Twister

sy Ced
Place: Sandusky, Ohio

Courte
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
Big Thrill: You get soaked! people want to ride them all the time.
Riders dump water on those Hundreds of millions of people take a
waiting in line, who fire back
with water sprayers. 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
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 Car

First hill
First the car goes up the tallest

hill. When the car goes down Smaller hillss
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
Loop-the-loops
slows down the car. Eventually,
the car runs out of energy and
Friction dam
can’t go up any more hills. This Dea
nM
acA
diagram shows the hills in a

roller coaster.
Issue 5 • 43
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
I watched the world fan by.

W. Cody/Corbis
This was life. This was certainty. This was big car
roominess.
44
(c) Lana Slivar/Reuters/Corbis; (tr) George H.H. Huey/Corbis
Great
A tsunami warning
Gulf Coast
system may save lives.

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

on the Gulf
he states that border the Gulf Hurricane Ike
T of Mexico have a lot to offer.

People are drawn to the beauty,
destroyed almost
every beach house
on Galveston
Island, Texas. →
the resources, and the climate.
Summers are usually hot and
Finally, it hit the Louisiana and
humid. Winters are mild.
Mississippi coasts. In 2008,
In some Gulf Coast Hurricane Ike came ashore at
communities, fishing has been a Galveston, Texas.
way of life for hundreds of years. Oil
Hurricanes start over the ocean.
and natural gas businesses are also
The force of hurricane winds
important. Many communities offer
causes water to pile up ahead of the
beach homes and outdoor activities.
storm. This is called a surge. As the
There is something else the hurricane hits the coastline, this pile
area is famous for: hurricanes. of water rushes over the land. At
Since 1900, more than 40 major first, the water level rises slowly. As
hurricanes have hit states along the the eye of the storm moves closer,
Gulf Coast. Two recent hurricanes water rises quickly. Next, heavy
were very powerful. In 2005, waves pound the coast. Combined
Hurricane Katrina crossed the with waves and tides, the storm
southern tip of Florida and moved surge can knock down buildings,
into the Gulf. Then the storm damage bridges and roads, and
turned north. It grew stronger. change the landscape.
Hurricane Katrina’s storm surge Neighbors help neighbors. The
caused levees that protected the government also provides help as
city of New Orleans to fail. Much people return to the area and start
of the city and nearby areas was to rebuild their homes, businesses,
flooded. Entire neighborhoods were and lives.
ruined. Thousands and thousands People who choose to live
of people were left homeless. Many along the Gulf Coast know there’s
people died. The storm surge from a chance their community might
Hurricane Ike was 15 feet high when be hit by a powerful hurricane.
it hit Galveston Island. Most houses They do everything they can to
along the beach were badly damaged prepare. When a dangerous storm is
or totally destroyed. Power was approaching, most leave and go to a
knocked out over a wide area. safer place. And when the storm has
When a hurricane hits, passed, they go home again to all the
communities work together to good things that come with living
overcome the problems that follow. on the Gulf of Mexico.
Two
T
Tw
wo Dangerous Storms
United States
Hurricane Paths
Galveston
Hurricane Ike
Houston
Gulfport Hurricane Katrina
Corpus
Biloxi
Christie New Orleans
Mississippi
Texas Louisiana
Atlantic Ocean
Gulf of
Caribbean
Mexico Mexico
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 • 47
Building a sunami T
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 dpa/Corbis
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.

Tsunami Sensors:
Warning System in How They Work
the Pacific 1 A sensor on the sea floor
detects changes in water
The Indian Ocean didn’t have
pressure. The sensor sends
a warning system in 2004. But its data to the buoy on
the Pacific Ocean did. The the surface.
warning system in the Pacific 2 The buoy sends the data
Ocean links 26 nations, to a satellite.
including the United States. 3 The satellite sends the data
back to a station on land.
The Pacific warning system Scientists at the station look
has three parts. First, there at the data. They decide
are special gauges to detect whether to send out a
tsunami warning.
ocean quakes that could cause
a tsunami. Next, there are
sensors on the sea floor. They
detect changes in how hard 3
the water presses down on
them. A rise in pressure could 2
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
Joe Lemonnier
Issue 6 • 49
Tsunami
Warning Network North Atlantic
America Ocean
Sensors have been placed
on the ocean floor to help
detect tsunamis. The red
crosses show where the Pacific Ocean
sensors are located.
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.

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 • 51
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.
As for the forks
in the river,
just let them soak.
(bkgd) Royalty-Free/Corbis
Remember,
if anything breaks,
it’s your fault.
52
Gates Is
Generous
(c) Ariel Skelley/Getty Images; (tr) Gates Foundation/Corbis
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,
↑ This immigrant woman earns a
Finding the American Dream living by picking fruit.
Often, people from India go into the Spencer Grant/PhotoEdit
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. →

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 Peter Kim and his father
look. Many are discovering they have good ideas to Stephanie Diani
make their parents’ businesses better.

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,
she was counting change and working the front desk. Citizenship: the true
“I used to hate it,” she says. “Everybody else gets to go American dream AP Photo/Nick Ut
home after school and get a snack.

I had to help at the hotel. On Americans Born
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
her working, she would feel regions they come from.
embarrassed. Later, though, Patel 8.0%

Other
earned a business degree. She Regions
Region
returned to her family business. 6.3%
South
Today she runs one of her America 36.9%
Central
family’s motels. America
10.1%
Caribbean
These Americans are finding 13.7%
13 25%
Europe
Eu
a way to build on the American Asia
dreams their parents worked so

Thomas Gagliano
hard for. • Note: Because numbers are rounded, figures do not add up to 100%
Issue 7 • 55
Bill and Melinda Gates
use their money to aid the poor.
B ill Gates is one of the richest people in the
Dan Lamont/Corbis
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 ↑ Bill Gates is very
rich. He is using
they used it to give a lot of their money away. his money to
help people.
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. Bill and Melinda
want to improve the
People do not become as rich as Bill and health of people
Melinda Gates very often. The Gateses feel around the world.↓
that with success comes responsibility.
They want to use their money to
help others. That is why they
started the charity.
Naashon Zalk/Corbis

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation
School is
spends billions of dollars. It gives money important to
to students so they can go to school. The Bill and Melinda.
Their foundation
foundation also gives money to libraries
helps kids learn
for computers and other materials. to read.↓
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
Gates Foundation/Corbis
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
Africa each day.
Bill and Melinda
Gates Foundation:
In 2008, the Gates Money Given by Year
Foundation said that
This graph shows how much money
it would give an extra the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation
$168.7 million to work on gives away. It is a lot of money!
the problem of malaria. $2.25
$2.0B
This money will support $2.0
the work of developing a $1.75 $1.7B
$1.6B
malaria vaccine. A vaccine
$ Billions
$1.4B $1.5B
$1.5
is given to people before
$1.25 $1.2B
they get a disease. It protects $1.0B
$1
them against that disease
$749M
in the future. This way, Bill $0.75
Gates said, there is a chance $0.5

to “eradicate [wipe out] $0.25
malaria altogether.” $0
2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007
Years
Issue 7 • 57
Bill and Melinda Gates
Foundation Grants Funding
fromfro
1994 to June
94 to Jun
e 22008
008
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.”

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 • 59
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
Foundations billions of dollars
$ 0 $ 10 $ 20 $ 30 $ 40 $ 50
1 Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation — Established: 1994

$
Founders: Bill & Melinda Gates; Bill Gates was a co-founder 38.9B
of Microsoft Corporation
Areas of interest: international development, world health, U.S. education
2 The Ford Foundation — Established: 1936

$
Founder: Edsel Ford, son of Henry Ford, founder of the Ford Motor Company 13.8B
Areas of interest: social issues
3 J. Paul Getty Trust — Established: 1982

$
Founder: The estate of J. Paul Getty, founder of the Getty Oil Company 10.1B
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 10.1B
Area of interest: health
5 The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation — Established: 1967

$
Founders: Will and Flora Hewlett; William Hewlett was co-founder 9.3B
of the Hewlett-Packard Company
Areas of interest: social and environmental issues
If you had a foundation, what would you support?

60
Friends
of Freedom
(c) Bowers Museum of Cultural Art/Corbis; (tr) The Granger Collection
Inside the United States are

hundreds of independent nations.
Abraham Lincoln and
Frederick Douglass
A president and a former slave
formed a lasting friendship.
A braham Lincoln was President Douglass wanted a prompt end
to slavery. He also wanted equal
of the United States. Frederick
Douglass was once a slave. What rights for men and women. He
could these two men possibly have wanted black men to be part of
in common? the U. S. army. He even wanted
everyone to be paid the same
Both Lincoln and Douglass
amount of money. These ideas
came from poor homes. Both
upset many people, but Douglass
struggled to get the chance to learn
felt that he was right.
to read and write. Both men were
superb writers and speakers. Both Lincoln believed in most of
cared deeply about freeing slaves. the same ideals. Lincoln, though,
wanted to move more slowly.
At first, Frederick Douglass
Douglass became frustrated.
thought Lincoln was a foe. Lincoln
said he wanted to free the slaves, Then, on New Year’s Day, 1863,
but Douglass thought he was taking Lincoln issued a statement. That
too long to do it. statement, the “Emancipation
Bettmann/Corbis
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.

The Granger Collection
The Granger Collection

1800 The Life of
Frederick
Douglass
1818 Born in Maryland
1820
↑ Abraham Lincoln ↑ Frederick Douglass
Douglass was thrilled. Soon the two

1838 Escapes slavery
men became friends. Douglass met with 1840
Lincoln at the White House. 1845 Publishes autobiography
When Lincoln was elected President 1848 Attends the first

for the second time, Frederick Douglass women’s rights convention
in Seneca Falls, NY
came to the inauguration. After Lincoln
was sworn in, there was a big party. 1860
1863 Advises President
Policemen outside the White House Lincoln on the Civil War
forbid Douglass from coming in. They
said that no black men were invited.
Then Douglass sent word to Lincoln. 1877 Becomes a marshal
Right away, word came to allow for the District of Columbia
1880
Douglass in. “Here comes my friend,”
Lincoln said, and took Douglass by the 1889 Becomes the U.S.
hand. “I am glad to see you. I saw you minister to Haiti
in the crowd today, listening to my
inaugural address.” He asked Douglass 1895 Douglass dies
how he liked it, adding, “There is no 1900
man in the country whose opinion I
value more than yours.” — Lisa Jo Rudy
Issue 8 • 63
(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
↑ The U.S. Capitol
are also allowed to defend themselves
against other nations. 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.

Bettmann/Corbis
Flags of two nations:
American and Santa Ynez
Band of Chumash Indians ↓
Marilyn Angel Wynn/Nativestock/Corbis
↑ 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
Chippewa-Cree powwow at the
Rocky Boy Reservation in Montana 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.
Issue 8 • 65
Once a group of Indians is • The right to tax members
accepted as a sovereign, or and nonmembers doing
self-governing, nation, it gains business with members
many important rights. These • The right to use and give
include: out or sell land
• The right to create its own • The right to make laws
government
American Indian nations
• The right to decide who is a
have many rights. Still, there
part of its sovereign nation
are limits. For example, Indian
• The right to manage relations nations cannot put a non-Indian
among its members in jail. — Lisa Jo Rudy
• The right to decide who
inherits what
United
Nations
Nancy Carter\North Wind
Picture Archives
There are more than 560 federally

recognized American Indian tribes in
the United States. Federally recognized 1923 The Navajo Nation
means these tribes have a special legal The Navajo Nation’s modern tribal government
relationship with the U.S. government. was established and recognized. It includes
parts of the states of Arizona, New Mexico, and
Here are just a few: 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
Phil Schermeister/Corbis
Press-Telegram/Corbis
Steven Georges/
1936 The Minnesota 1968 The Ysleta Del Sur

Chippewa Tribe Pueblo Tribe What tribes
The Minnesota Chippewa Tribe’s government The Ysleta del Sur Pueblo Indian Tribe’s are in your
was recognized. The Chippewa, or Ojibwe, government was restored recognition. community?
can be found in the northern United States It was founded in 1682 after a revolt
and Canada. The Minnesota tribe was set up against the Spaniards. The community is
in 1934. It is a central form of government located in Texas and is the only Pueblo in
for six Chippewa bands. the state. The tribe is also known as Tigua.
Issue 8 • 67
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 Photo by Catherine Daley, Courtesy of Mary Youngblood
American flute has been played by men.

Mary is the first woman to play it professionally.
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
ThE LIFE oF MARy Youngblood Won Best Female
Artist at the
1971 Native American
1958 Moved to Music Awards 2007
Born in Seattle, California Won Grammy
Washington, 1999–2000 Award for Best
June 24 Won Flutist Native American
of the Year Music Album
1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010

1998
Released
first album
1968 1993 2003
Learned to Played Native Won Grammy
play flute American flute Award for Best
professionally Native American
(bkgd) Marilyn Angel Wynn/Nativestock.com/Getty Images
Music Album
68
Mysterious
Pyramids!
Not all flowers are sweet.

Take a whiff of the world’s
smelliest bloom.
(c) Scott Barbour/Getty Images; (tr) Michael T. Sedam/Corbis
This
F l o w e r Stinks
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 When titan arums bloom,
bloo
oom, the
he
e
T 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,
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
it’s not the size that visitors will arum grows in the country of
remember. The most striking Indonesia. The people there
thing about the titan arum bloom used to believe the plant would
is its awful smell. One whiff of its eat them!
scent makes most people choke
and hold their noses!
Michael Forster Rothbart/

University of Wisconsin-Madison Alessandro
Chiari of the
Brooklyn
Botanic
Garden
stands next
to Baby
before it
reaches
full size. →
↑ This titan arum at the
University of Wisconsin is
nicknamed Big Bucky.
Brooklyn Botanic Garden
Leeann Lavin, Courtesy

Creepy Baby When this plant grows in the
The gardeners at the Brooklyn
wild, its scent attracts beetles
Botanic Garden have a nickname
and bees. Titan arum’s pollen
for their plant. They call it “Baby.”
sticks to their legs and bodies.
Baby had been growing in
When they fly to other titan arum
Brooklyn for ten years but had
plants, they carry the pollen
never bloomed before. In 2006,
with them. Some of the pollen
Baby finally bloomed. It was the
rubs off on the flower, helping
first titan arum to bloom in New
it to reproduce. The odor of the
York City since 1939.
titan arum can be so strong that
Before it bloomed, Baby humans can smell it over half a
grew more than 30 inches in just mile away! In Indonesia people
nine days. That quick growth is dig up the rare flowers to sell
normal. Some of the flowers can to collectors. This is illegal. But
reach nine feet tall. Scientists the plant’s biggest threat is the
knew Baby was almost ready destruction of its habitat.
to open up when it stopped
Brooklyn resident Sandy
growing. The huge blossom
Vergano saw Baby just before
took about two hours to open.
it bloomed. “It smelled fine
Then the bad odor began to
when I saw it,” he said. “It
float through the air.
looked beautiful, which was an
interesting contrast to the way
it is supposed to smell.”
Indonesia
Titan arum is native to

the forests of Sumatra,
Indonesia. Can you
find it on the map? →
Joe Lemonnier
Issue 9 • 71
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.
A human skeleton sat on the ↑ This human skeleton was found in
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).
The people of Teotihuacán made

Saburo Sugiyama/ASU
knives out of obsidian. This is

lava that has hardened. →

A City’s Puzzling Past
Teotihuacán is an ancient city But the city was a mystery to
nearly 2,000 years old. It is them, too. They thought the
empty now. It once had 150,000 gods built it. Teotihuacán means
people. However, around the “Place of the Gods.” The Aztecs
year 600, something perplexing thought the gods created the
happened. The people who built sun and moon there. That is why
the city disappeared. No one the city’s two main pyramids are
knows why they left or where called the Pyramid of the Sun
they went. and the Pyramid of the Moon.
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 CUBA
Ocean Mexico
City
KEY
Capitol
Burgandy Beam
SOUTH
AMERICA
Issue 9 • 73
Peeling a Pyramid
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
Brad Lang/State Press at ASU

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 ↑ This is a statue
Teotihuacán. Much of the pyramid is still found in the
pyramid.
unexplored. Nevertheless, experts are
peeling away its layers. They hope to
unwrap Teotihuacán’s secrets.
David Frazier/Corbis
Teotihuacán
and the Aztecs
A.D. 100–400—Pyramid of the Moon built.
A.D. 100 400 800
400—Teotihuacán reaches its

greatest power and wealth. 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 ↑ In Teotihuacán schoolchildren
140 feet tall—about the size of a rest on the steps of the
14-story building. Pyramid of the Moon. The
giant Pyramid of the Sun
↑ The Pyramid of the Sun is taller
looms in the distance.
than the Statue of Liberty.
Gianni Dagli Orti/Corbis
Bettmann/Corbis
1500—Aztecs take over the area around 1519—The Spanish come to North America
Teotihuacán. The ancient city is in ruins. and begin conquest of the Aztecs.
1200 1600 2000
1998—Scientists start digging into

1200—Aztecs come to the Valley of Mexico. the Pyramid of the Moon to
uncover its secrets.
Issue 9 • 75
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.)
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!)
(bkgd) PNC/Photodisc/Getty Images
76
Teen
EMTs
(c) Koji Sasahara/Wide World Photos/AP Images; (tr) LEGO
Prince Hisahito could one day become Emperor of Japan.

Teens to the Rescue!
LEGO
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 EMTs at work↓
a concrete barrier was a stunned-looking Chris Baker/Stone/
Getty Images
man. His leg was bloody. His crushed car

lay just a few feet away.
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.

Uppercut/Getty Images
An ambulance rushes to
the scene of an accident.
Emily and 58 other teen They are on call 120 hours

volunteers work for the Darien a month. They carry radio
Emergency Medical Service. transmitters everywhere, even
Their service is called Post 53. to class. They drop everything
It is the only ambulance service when they’re called.
in Darien.
“Once, I had to leave three
With some help from trained minutes before Harry Potter
adults, these teens take about ended,” Emily Stout says. All
1,450 calls each year. They the work is worth it. Just ask
respond to car crashes and Jim Cloud. When Cloud’s heart
heart attacks and even help stopped, the teens got it
deliver babies. “They’re superb,” started again. Jim’s wife says:
says Timothy S. Hall, Stamford “They saved his life. They’re
Hospital’s chairman of surgery. magnificent.” — Molly Lopez
“I’ve had cases where patients
Courtesy Stamford Hospital
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 Dr. Timothy Hall says
training, and take an exam. At the teens have saved
the lives of some of
the end, they become certified his patients.→
emergency medical technicians.
Issue 10 • 79
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
an emperor. Monarchs are not elected. ↑ The sleeping Prince Hisahito
lives up to his name, which
Their position is passed down by birth, means “serene.”
AP Photo/Imperial Household Agency
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.
A Female Ruler?
Some people said the law should be changed.
↑ The future
Other countries have female monarchs. For example, emperor enjoys
Queen Elizabeth II is the monarch in Britain. Why not playing with
blocks.
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.
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 Charles & Josette Lenars/Corbis
members of the family ran different

time military leaders called shoguns
parts of the government.
(SHOH•guhnz) also became
Over the next few hundred years, important. These shoguns began to
many wealthy, strong landowners control Japan. By the early 1800s,
gained power. By the 1100s the the emperors had no real power. In
monarchs used soldiers called fact, many Japanese people didn’t
samurai (SAM•oo•reye) to protect know there still was an emperor.
them and keep order. Around this
Issue 10 • 81
The Monarchy lost all power. He became just a
Makes a Comeback symbol of the state. That is still
In the late 1860s, the emperor how the emperor is seen today.
became strong again. A group of The Japanese people elect their
samurai overthrew the shoguns. leaders, but the emperor is still an
They brought back the power important symbol of the nation.
of the monarchy. A 15-year-old
emperor known as Meiji (may•jee) Alinari Archives/Corbis
took the throne. He ruled until the

early 1900s. This was called the
Meiji era.
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.
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
Issue 10 • 83
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 Population: 5,484,723 Burgandy Beam
Name of monarch: Name of monarch:

Queen Elizabeth II Queen Margrethe II
Arctic Ocean
Asia
Europe
North
America Atlantic Ocean
Africa
Pacific Ocean
South Indian Ocean
America
Australia
Southern Ocean
Antarctica
Morocco Jordan Cambodia
Population: 34,343,220 Population: 6,198,677 Population: 14,241,640
Name of monarch: Name of monarch: Name of monarch:
King Mohammed VI King Abdullah King Norodom Sihamoni
84
Kids Give
a Hand
(c) Sylvain Cazenave/Corbis; (tr) Tom Hanson/Wide World Photos/AP Images
R de h e
Wave Learn about the
science behind
surfing. It may
keep you afloat!
Freedom Fighter
e Children
TFK catches up with a hero
The e
of kids’ rights.
Free Th
y Fr
esy
By
ByAAndrea
ndrea Delbanco
Delbanco
Courttes
“
K 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,
↑ Kielburger and friends at a
he started a group that has helped
new school in Ecuador.
kids all over the world. The group
is still going strong. in the United States. But in Pakistan
How did Craig get started? In school was not free. Children from
seventh grade he learned something poor families went to work instead
that made him angry. It was about of to school. In North America laws
the life of a boy in the country protect children.
of Pakistan. It is illegal for young children
When the boy was four years to work in Canada and the United
old, he was sent to work in a carpet States. But in Pakistan and many
factory. He worked 12 hours a day, other countries, Craig learned,
6 days a week. He could not go to children were often forced
school. He could not even play. to work.
He had no freedom at all. Craig wanted to help those who
Craig compared that with his didn’t have the same advantages
as he and his friends. As a result,
e The Children
own life. Laws in Canada said that

kids must go to school. Education Craig and some friends started
Courtesy Fre
was free to all kids. That is also true Free The Children.
Craig and his friends decided “We got teased by other kids,
that Free The Children should
tha who said you can’t change things,”
raise money to build schools. Craig
rai he says. Still, Craig didn’t give up.
hoped that learning would help kids
hop Now he wants more kids to help.
in poverty
p live better. He also hoped “Go to freethechildren.com. Bring
his peers would become conscious it to your teachers,” he said. “As you
global
l citizens. gain more confidence, friends will
Today, Craig’s charity has more join you. It just gets easier.”
than one million members in 45
countries. Most of them are kids. Helping Hand
The money they have raised has Here are some tips to help you
done many good things. It has start a service project
ect
project.
helped build more than 500 schools
1. Identify a problem
around the world. It also pays for
that exists in
health care in poor communities. In your community.
2006 the group opened a new school
in Sri Lanka, a country in Asia. They 2. Learn about the
worked with Oprah Winfrey to pay problem and think
about ways to solve it. (t to b) Pascale Constantin
for the school.
Craig has had a lot of success. 3. Set a goal for the
However, he still remembers his project. Decide what
supplies and
harsh start in seventh grade.
help you’ll need.
↓ Students attend a school in Sierra
4. Get your school involved!
Leone, Africa.
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 • 87
Surf’s Up!
By Renee Skelton
Rafa Rivas/AFP/Getty Images
elly Slater is sitting on his surfboard in the ocean. Jim Russi/AFP/Getty Images
K 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.
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.

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.
Issue 11 • 89
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.
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
Rick Doyle/Corbis
will send him off the side into the water.
If he moves too far back or too
far forward, the board will tip, Rafa Rivas/AFP/Getty Images
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. →

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
R id ing a Wave
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. Gravity
2. Gravity: pushes down on surfer, 3
helping her stay on the board.
2 4
3. Gravity: pushes the board and
surfer down the face of the
breaking wave. 1
4. Speed and weight of water:
push the surfer toward shore.
Phil Scheuer Issue 11 • 91
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
The Final
Frontier
All Eyes
on Mars
(c) NASA; (tr) Bettmann/Corbis
NASA spacecraft are giving us the

closest looks ever of the Red Planet.
Corbis
Where No People
Had Gone Before
By Renee Skelton
T
He viewed the moons of Jupiter and
housands of years ago, people the rings of Saturn.
couldn’t travel into space. They Into Space
watched the sun, moon, and stars. In time people didn’t want to
People recorded their cycles. They just look into space, they wanted
saw how the positions of bodies in to go there. In the early 1900s,
the sky changed with the seasons. scientists such as Robert Goddard
Ancient Egyptians used the experimented with rockets. They
location of the stars to mark the hoped they would one day fly into
seasons. They let farmers know space. By the late 1950s, scientists
when to plant and harvest crops. had designed huge missiles that flew
The Mayans of Central America from one part of Earth to another.
observed the sky, too. They made an
Galileo was the first person to
accurate calendar. It was based on observe space through a telescope. ↓
Earth’s movement around the sun.
Bettmann/Corbis
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.
Space Pioneers
These American and Russian astronauts are great space explorers.
This time line shows when each hero went on his or her most Sally Ride
famous space mission.
Bettmann/Corbis
1983
1962
Sally Ride spent
John Glenn spent 1969
1961 14 days, 7 hours
4 hours, 55 minutes Neil Armstrong spent
Yuri Gagarin spent in space
in space 8 days, 14 hours
1 hour, 48 minutes in space
in space
1960 1965 1970 1975 1980 1985
Then in April 1961, the first

The Next Frontier
rocket took a man into Earth’s orbit.
People have not been back to the
He was Russian cosmonaut Yuri
moon since 1972, but robot probes
Gagarin. About one month later,
have sent back close-up photos of
American astronaut Alan Shepard
every planet in our solar system.
flew into space. Soon after, President
John Kennedy challenged American What’s next? Some people hope
scientists. He asked them to put a we will build a base on the moon.
man on the moon by the end of the Others want astronauts to travel
1960s. In July 1969, Apollo 11 went to Mars. No one is sure where our
into lunar orbit, and soon after, Neil explorations will take us next. But
Armstrong became the first man to they will continue to go where no
step onto the surface of the moon. people have gone before.
Issue 12 • 95
Mysterious
Mars
Technology helps to solve
t off th
secrets the R d Pl
Red t
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
Later, in 1659, Christiaan
Huygens sketched Mars. In the
1700s some astronomers wrote
orbiting it. Two robot rovers that people might live on Mars.
are on the surface looking at By the early twentieth century,
rocks and searching for water. books even told of cities and
There are plans for more Mars canals full of water on the planet.
spacecraft in the future. Humans Why are we still so curious
might even walk the surface about the Red Planet? One reason
by 2019! is that it is close to Earth. People
First Looks are unable to go to many other
Interest in Mars is not new. The planets. But we could visit Mars.
astronomer Galileo first saw the Even more important, scientists
planet through a telescope in 1609. 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
able to put spacecraft in orbit around ↑ The Mars Reconnaissance
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 Issue 12 • 97
← Spirit (left) and Opportunity
have given us the most up-close
NASA views of Mars ever taken.
On the Planet
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
Today there are three working from Mars’s surface.
spacecraft in orbit around Mars.
NASA’s next landing came in
NASA launched two of them.
1997. The Mars Pathfinder first
The Mars Odyssey reached the Red
went into orbit around Mars.
Planet in 2001. Next, in 2006, the
Then it landed, with a small robot
Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter joined
rover named Sojourner. The tiny
it. The European Space Agency
rover explored the surface of
put the Mars Express in orbit
Mars. It also took pictures.
in 2003. These spacecraft still
return pictures of Mars’s surface
to Earth. They have mapped the Early Exploration
planet. Their instruments study A time line on the first 25 years of
Mars’s atmosphere. The craft the United States space program.
observe weather and changing 1969 Apollo 11
1961 Alan Shepard Jr.
seasons. They also study the becomes the first astronaut Neil
surface of the planet. The Mars American in space. Armstrong becomes
the first human to
Reconnaissance Orbiter can even walk on the moon.
“see” water that is underground.
1960 1965
1962 John Glenn is
the first American
to orbit Earth.
In 2004 spacecraft from Earth The rover Opportunity took this
snapshot of Mars’s surface.
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.
Future Missions
The probes have uncovered signs
that Mars may once have had
NASA/JPL/Zuma/Corbis
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.
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 1986 The space shuttle

the first spacecraft to Challenger explodes
land on Mars. 73 seconds after liftoff.
1970 1975 1980 1985 1990

1973 The United States 1981 The space shuttle
sends its first space station, Columbia, the world’s first
Skylab, into orbit. reusable spacecraft, is launched.
Issue 12 • 99
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 3 TOUCHDOWN

Mars’s atmosphere slows down The air bag deflates so the
Spirit. Then a parachute opens rover can come out. It unfolds
and rockets ignite to make it its solar panels to gather
stop 50 feet above the planet’s energy for exploring
surface. the planet.
2 THE FALL 4 EXPLORATION
Protected by air bags, Spirit The rover can travel more than
separates from the parachute 100 feet a day to take pictures
and drops to the surface. and examine the surface.
3 4
Daniel Maas/Maas Digital LLC
100
Water
Troubles
Kilauea volcano in
Hawaii has been
erupting almost
nonstop since 1983.
(c) Jim Sugar/Corbis; (tr) Rao Guojun/China Foto/Getty Images
New tools are helping to predict when

volcanoes will blow.
Water Troubles
Fresh, clean water is becoming even
more precious for millions of people
Anne Ackermann/Getty Images

around the world.
E arth is about 75% water. But most

of that water is salty. Only about 2.5%
↑ In the U.S., kids play
of Earth’s water is fresh water—the in clean, fresh water.
kind we can drink and that plants
need to grow. Much of Earth’s fresh What causes water shortages? In
water is locked up in ice caps. In all, some places, well water is being used
just 1% of Earth’s water can be used faster than wells can refill. In other
for washing, drinking, cooking, and places, droughts—long periods
watering crops. without enough rain—mean there is
not enough water. Some parts of the
In the United States, we don’t
United States are now having water
usually worry about having enough
problems because of drought.
clean, fresh water. We turn on a
faucet and there it is. We even play Evaporation is a big problem in
in it. In other countries, though, some parts of the world. When the
water is scarce. People in Africa, sun shines on water, the water turns
Asia, and Latin America have to vapor (gas) and rises into the air.
serious water shortages. The water is gone before it can do
any good. The ground becomes dry
and cracked. Nothing can grow.
Rao Guojun/China Foto Press/Getty Images
← In some Not all fresh water is safe to

countries, drink. Water in wells, lakes, and rivers
there’s no may contain organisms that cause
water to
spare. illness. Water can also be polluted
by chemicals.

But the news isn’t all bad. Mansoor Kids to the Rescue
Ali, who works for the United Nations,
says water problems can be solved. Kids Three teenagers worked together to
and adults are learning how to protect win an important prize for helping to
water and to use it wisely. 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
the country of Mali in Africa.
Water Prize
Clean Water Means Healthy Kids Pontso Moletsane, Motobele

When water is dirty, it can be dangerous Motschodi, and Sechaba Ramabenyane
to drink. In one school in Romania, old all grew up in South Africa. Together,
broken-down pipes made the water dirty. they created a system to irrigate
Dirty water was making children sick. (water) crops using less water. How
It was dangerous to get a drink or even did they do it? They created a watering
wash your hands. Then a Romanian system that runs at night. The sun
aid group and the Earth Day Network doesn’t shine at night, so less water
came to help. They rebuilt the school’s evaporates. The new system will help
pipes and bathrooms. Now there’s South Africa save precious water.
plenty of fresh water to drink and
wash with. — Kathryn Satterfield
Water Waste Rank

1
Debris
Cigarettes and cigarette filters
Here are the top 5 types 2 Food wrappers and containers
of debris often found in 3 Caps and lids
our oceans. 4 Plastic drinking bottles
5 Bags
Issue 13 • 103
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 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.
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
Game McGimsey/EPA/Corbis
volcanologist Robert Tilling.

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.
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
Augustine volcano in Alaska block out the sun, making the
erupts in 2006, sending a cloud weather cooler in some areas of
of ash and steam high into the air. the world.
Augustine also blew its stack in
1986, when ash from a stronger High-Tech Detectives
eruption landed in Anchorage,
The good news is that scientists
Alaska, 171 miles away.
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 • 105
Scientists can get to an active gases move inside the volcano.
volcano within 48 hours of the The satellite finds the location
first sign of trouble. of each sensor. A computer
puts the information together
Researchers also have
to make a picture of inside the
new ways to know when a
mountain.
volcano may erupt. They use
satellites to watch volcanoes. These tools helped scientists
Volcanologists put sensors at predict the eruption of Mount
the base of a volcano. Then Pinatubo in the Philippines.
they tune them to a satellite Officials detected the signs.
circling Earth. The sensors They sent out a warning. It
feel rumbles as magma and 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
Asia America
Pacific Ocean
South
America
Australia
Elizabeth Wolf

Keeping Out of No one can stop a volcano
Harm’s Way that is about to blow.
Volcanologists once had to Volcanologists didn’t keep
climb on top of a volcano to Hokkaido in Japan or Mount
measure the gases. But some Cleveland in Alaska from
scientists were killed when erupting recently. Still, these
the volcano erupted. Now scientists keep studying ways
volcanologists can gather the to predict eruptions. They know
same data on gases from planes that the only way to protect
flying overhead. They can do people is to get them out of
their work and keep safe. harm’s way in time.
Violent Volcanoes
Volcanoes can cause lots of damage.
Here are a few of the most fatal ones in history.
Volcano 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
Nevado del Ruiz Colombia 1985 Mudflows made of volcanic
(bkgd) Royalty-Free/Corbis
debris and water devastate

the town of Armero
Issue 13 • 107
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.
108
Inca
Mummies
(c) Chris Nash/Getty Images; (tr) Osvaldo Stigliano/Wide World Photos/AP Images
Big Country!
Explore the success and challenges of
the world’s largest democracy.
Welcome to India
I ndia is colorful festivals and
crowded outdoor markets. It is
Lindsay Hebberd/Corbis
the cold Himalaya Mountains
and the hot Thar Desert. India
has large and modern cities. It
also has ancient villages. In India
Some Indian women wear a
it is easy to see the old and the
silk garment called a sari.
new side by side.
India is also a big country—
India’s Largest Cities
and not just in size. It has more
India has about three times more
people than the United States. than one billion people. India
These are the five largest cities has over 20 official languages.
in India. Its people have many cultures
and religions.
KEY
= capital
Indian civilization dates back
to 2500 B.C. Empires rose and
fell for thousands of years. Then
Europeans reached India in
Delhi
the late 1400s. They wanted to
Bangalore trade for spices and silk. The
Kolkata
(Calcutta) British took control of India
in the late 1700s. In the 1800s,
INDIA Indians fought against British
Mumbai
(Bombay) rule. Mohandas Gandhi led a
N
peaceful rebellion in the early
W E 1900s. India finally won its
Jean Wisenbaugh
Chennai independence in 1947.

Indian Ocean S

Massimo Borchi/Atlantide
A Land of Extremes
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 ↑ The Taj Mahal is one of
earn money for their families. the world’s most beautiful
buildings. However, pollution
So they cannot go to school. is staining its white marble.
India also has pollution. Clean
water is scarce. Thick clouds of
smog hang over most big cities.
Many kids have asthma because Steve Raymer/Corbis
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 ↑ This busy street is in
make life better. Bangalore. It is the third
largest city in India.
Issue 14 • 111
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.
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.
Frozen in Time
Scientists think the children were an
Osvaldo Stigliano/Wide World Photos/AP Images

offering to the Inca gods. The mummies
were wrapped in beautiful fabrics.
Pottery and statues made of gold,
silver, and shell were around them.
“Almost all of the statues are in a
state of perfect preservation, including ↑ This child was 8 to 15 years
old when sacrificed to the
lids on the pottery and even food Inca gods.
offerings of meat jerky,” said Reinhard.
Reuters/Courtesy El Tribuno-Walter Echazu
The Inca maiden

on display at a
museum in Salta,
Argentina. →
Issue 14 • 113
Rob Schuster
Other Inca mummies were

Physical Map of Argentina
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
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
↑ Mummies were located on one of the richest in the Americas.
Mount Llullaillaco in the It was also one of the largest. It
province of Salta, Argentina.
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 ↑ This drawing shows the first
language. But they spoke a language meeting of Pizarro and Atahuallpa,
the last Inca king.
called Quechua. Today some Indians
of the Andes mountains still speak
Quechua.
The Granger Collection, New York
← The Inca empire

ruled ten million
people. Many of
them were forced
to make public
buildings.
Issue 14 • 115
The
Inca Empire
At its peak the IInca
nca e
empire
mpire was the largest na
nation
ation
in the world
world. IItt str
retched down the coast of South
stretched h
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
Argentina
Santiago
Elizabeth Wolf
116
Dead
Zones
Tsunemi Kubodera
takes the first photos
of the ocean giants.
(c) Franck Robichon/EPA/Corbis; (tr) Robert Simmon/NASA
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
zones—chemical fertilizers the dead zone.
used on farms and lawns. The
fertilizer helps plants and grass grow.
But in the ocean, fertilizer is deadly.

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

causes tiny plants called algae to
grow rapidly. Soon the surface of
the ocean is covered with algae
for hundreds of miles. When
the algae die, they sink to the ↑ Green algae on the ocean surface
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 2. The river flows the runoff 3. The fertilizer causes algae
into river. (fertilizer) into the ocean. 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 • 119
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! →

← 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 • GIANT SQUIDS have eight arms
on Earth. and two tentacles. The tentacles
• GIANT SQUIDS can grow to be bring food to their mouths.
59 feet long! • GIANT SQUIDS are hard for
• GIANT SQUIDS (and colossal scientists to study because they
squids) have the largest eyes of live in deep, very dark parts of
any animal—about 10 inches across. the ocean.
Issue 15 • 121
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.

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
Issue 15 • 123
How Diamonds
Form
Diamonds are rare and hard to
find. They form deep inside Earth.
The process takes thousands and
thousands of years.
Pressure and heat 100 miles

1 deep inside Earth
turn carbon into
diamonds.
2 Magma carries diamonds

ttoward the surface,
Magma
sometimes in volcanoes.
Diamond
Argosy
3 P
Pipes of rock rich in diamonds are
lleft behind. Diamond mines grow
around these deposits.
4 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.
124

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Acknowledgments

Published by Macmillan/McGraw-Hill, of McGraw-Hill Education, a division of The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.,

Printed in The United States of America

Small Loans Make a Big Difference ............... 6

A journey to Africa teaches kids

A3TFK_TXNA_I1FP_RD11.indd 5 1/20/09 12:28:12 PM

All-American Tall Tales MAPS ....................... 20

way kids around

A3TFK_TXNA_I2FP_RD11.indd 13 1/23/09 1:29:30 PM

• Photos and Captions

Great Ball of Fire ........................................... 24

• Skimming and Scanning

A3TFK_TXNA_I4FP_RD11.indd 29 1/20/09 12:31:59 PM

New roller coasters

The Family Car POETRY ................................... 44

A3TFK_TXNA_I5FP_RD11.indd 37 1/20/09 12:32:45 PM

Life on the Gulf ............................................. 46

A3TFK_TXNA_I6FP_RD11.indd 45 1/23/09 1:32:16 PM

Legacy of Dreams .......................................... 54

Businesses help people make

A3TFK_TXNA_I7FP_RD11.indd 53 1/23/09 1:33:03 PM

Mary Youngblood TIME LINES ......................... 68

A3TFK_TXNA_I8FP_RD11.indd 61 1/23/09 2:04:11 PM

This Flower Stinks ......................................... 70

Eletelephony POETRY ..................................... 76

A3TFK_TXNA_I9FP_RD11.indd 69 1/26/09 12:02:55 PM

• Photos and Captions

Mighty Monarchs MAPS ................................ 84

A3TFK_TXNA_I10FP_RD11.indd 77 1/28/09 11:40:45 AM

Freedom Fighter ............................................ 86

A3TFK_TXNA_I11FP_RD11.indd 85 1/23/09 2:05:55 PM

Where No People Had Gone Before............. 94

NASA spacecraft are giving us the

A3TFK_TXNA_I12FP_RD11.indd 93 1/30/09 9:22:40 AM

Water Troubles............................................. 102

New tools are helping to predict when

A3TFK_TXNA_I13FP_RD11.indd 101 1/30/09 9:23:18 AM

Welcome to India ..........................................110

A3TFK_TXNA_I14FP_RD11.indd 109 1/30/09 3:49:32 PM

Trouble in the Ocean .....................................118

How Diamonds Form DIAGRAMS ................... 124

A3TFK_TXNA_I15FP_RD11.indd 117 1/30/09 1:00:47 PM

A journey to Africa teaches kids

Loans Help Poor Escape Poverty

Then and Now at Grameen

0 100 500 1,000 2,500 5,000 10,000 30,000 60,000 90,000

6• Time For Kids

an unemployed woman to open In Bangladesh microcredit

so the cattle have grass to eat.

Masai tribesmen get students ready for a cattle

of a family than cash,” says Lekuton.

Every time Lekuton sees a little boy herding cows,

10 • Time For Kids

Lekuton wants to help people

Obama’s father is Luo. Many of the people are fishers. They

way kids around

North America is a continent,

What bodies of water are at

On the East Coast is the Atlantic

14 • Time For Kids

Library of Congress Geography and Map Division

Use your finger to trace the

There are some important