"" MSCHOLASTIC — Metts * Earthquake Oklahoma had more than 600 earthquakes last year. What’s causing all that rumbling? § 3 a : a 3Gasping for Air ‘or a week in early November last year, a thick black cloud blanketed Delhi, the largest city in India. The derk haze was a dente layer of polluted air \ n than twice as many as in New York City. Much of Delhi's air pollution is, created by the more than 6 million vehicles on its roads, as well as toxic dust from the thousands of construction sites in the city. The air quality is, worse in the colder months, when homes and power plants burn more coal for heat. Delhi also has a huge population of poor people, who often must burn trash for warmth ji November, all these factors combined to make smog levels in jpelhimore than known as smog. The pollution was so dangerous that more than 5,000 schools in the city were forced to close for several days. j="Many cities around the world atruggle with smog. For examp! Paris, France, and Rome, Italy, have also dealt with high levels of air pollution this winter. But the problem is typically much worse in cities with huge populations, like Delhi, About 20 million people live in the Significant (sig-NIHF-in-kehnt) ‘adjective. important; meaningful times hi (On February 2, thousands of people will gather in the small town of Punxsutawney (punk-suh-TAW-nee), Pennsylvania. They'll wait to get the weather forecast from the world’s most famous groundhog, Punxsutawney Phil “1 According to legend, if Phil sees his shadow when he leaves hi burrow, we're in for six more weeks of winter. If he doesn’t, an early spring is on the way. Since the first Groundhog Day, in 1887, the town’s groundhogs have been right less than 40 percent of the time But that won't stop people from wantina to know Phil's forecast! 2 | SCHOLASTIC NEWS EDITION 5/6 « January 30, 2017 Children in Delhi, India, wear masksand cover their mouths to avoi breathing in smog. : the World Health Organization (WHO). Smog can burn the eyes, lead to coughing fits, and cause jlong-term health problems, such| as asthma. According to a report bby the WHO, about 6.5 million people worldwide died from exposure to polluted air in 2012. y steps to try to clear thd ir. They halted all construction rojects for five days and shut lown a major power plant for fhree months. But many Indians want SIGRIFIESHE, longer-term shanges. In November, hundreds f people took part in protests to lemand that their government ome up with lasting solutions, Protec euro i ii : i i The Language of Friendship i\fifth-grader begins learning — anish to befriend 2 new s' tthe beginning of the school year, Amanda Moore noticed that a new student in her fifth-grade class ate lunch by himself every day. jes new classmate, Rafael Mnayay also sat alone in class and a recess at Paloma Elementary School in Temecula, Califor iia. Amanda wanted to talk to him, but there was one big problem. Rafael spoke only Spanish, and jaglaneer spoke only Enghisin Rafael and his family had {jetently moved to California from Mexico Recanise of the Tcl jat (BAAR-ee-uhr) noun. something that keeps things or people apartor prevents communication. Simone Reon deri Cras Ber da dines jainguage BAEHSE he hada hard time making friends with his new classmates. “He aan Thave anyone to hang out with, and I wanted him to feel included,” Amanda says. So amanda decided to invite Rafael to eat lunch with her. With the help of a translating website, she wrote him a note in Spanish. When Amanda gave it to Rafael the next day, he stood up and hugged her. Since then, the two 10-year- olds have become close friends. ‘They hang out together at recess and on the weekends. Plus, they're slowly learning to speak each other's languages. gaimanda has some advice for] making everyone feel included. Look for the new kid or the kid who doesn't have a friend, and be that friend,” she says. “Everyone needs a buddy!” Hound Hotel For travelers in Cottonwood, Idaho, being in the doghouse can bea good thing! The guest rooms at the Dog Bark Park Inn are inside a 30-foot-tall beagle named Sweet Willy. Guests get to their rooms by climbing a staircase behind Willy’s hind legs. One of the bedrooms isin his belly, and the otheris in his snout. Dog lovers Dennis Sullivan and Frances Conklin created the Dog Bark Park Inn in 1997. Of course, real pooches are welcome to stay at the inn too! ae nee, Sea)Peer eee ae Co Ce ats Ce ELC Why has the number of earthauakes in Oklahoma ; skyrocketed in recent years? ust before 7:45 p.m. on November 6 last year, 11-year-old Caden Kennedy ‘as about to practice the {trumpet in his home in Cushing, klahoma. Suddenly, he was the fifth-grader says, jpitfaetd (ek-STRAK tind) verb, past tense. removed or pulled out ulRBORE (dihs-POHZ) verb. to get rid of; throw away prynne next thing Caden Knew] he floor started to shake. The ights went out, and pictures fell bff the walls. Caden knew what was happening: It was an barthquake! He and his family uickly fled from their home. leveryone was panicking, like, What do we do?” says Caden) segedrtunarely, nobody was kiifed in that quake, and only a few people suffered minor injuries But several buildings were | SCHOLASTIC NEWS EDITION 5/6 + January 30, 2017 damaged, and schools were closed the next day so officials could check that they were safe. Caden and his family had to stay with a friend in another town for five days while they waited for their home to be inspected. Luckily, it had only minor damage, like cracks in the walls. For Caden and many Oklahomans, earthquakes have become an all-too-common occurrence. Scientists measure the strength of an earthquake byHe magnitude. A quake with @ jagnitude of 3 or higher is trong enough for most people (0 feel. In 2016, Oklahoma had jore than 600 earthquakes with magnitude of 3 or greater. The ne that struck Cushing on jovember 6 was a magnitude 5. (The strongest quakes measure quake country. For decades, the earthquakes with a magnitude of 3 or greater each year. But in the past few years, that number has soared. What's causing all ‘you cant ofit very says scientist Jeremy Buak. the director of the Oklahoma Geological Survey, the group that studies earthquakes in the state. ‘To get rid of that water, oil and gas companies dig deep wells to pump it back into the earth. Scientists say that's probably causing the earthquakes (see “Triggering Earthquakes”). m= For as long as scientists have been recording earthquakes, laska has had the most of any state, followed by California. ! Hiuman-Made Quakes 1ap). These plates are massive, slow-moving slabs of Earth's ‘ust that float on top of hot liquid rock. Most earthquakes occur when plates slide past eac! other, push together, or pull a 995 or oil OMT TSNT HCE storage tanks edges of major plates. Scientists lsay the increase in earthquakes there likely has to do with drill for oil and natural gas. In the past decade, Oklahoma's production of oil and natural gas has skyrocketed. Companies drill deep underground for oil and gas, which is often mixed with ater and chemicals, Once the iquid is @WERA from the ground, the water must be eparated from the oil and gas. the problem is, this water isn't riling rig have been deadly, but many people in the state are worried. 1e Oklahoma Corporation Commission oversees the state's oil and gas drilling, Last May, it responded to concerns about an increase in quakes by placing inew limits on the amount of wastewater that companies can ipump into the ground. So far, iat change seems to be helping. [Last year, the number of quakes dropped from a record high of living with earthquakes. Lisa Favalora, Caden's teacher at Cushing Middle School, remembers feeling her first one. “I thought, ‘Oh my goodness, is that an earthquake?,” she says. “Now we're like, ‘Oh well, there was another one.” —by Joe Bubar TRIGGERING EARTHQUAKES Fassere’s how drilling for oil and natural gas can lead to earthquakes] wastewater The wastewater! is pumped deep earthquakes. www scholastic.com/sns6 | 5Hn ancient site in Canada may hold new clues about the famous explorers. hristopher Columbus often gets credit for being the first European explorer to reach North America. But people called the Vikings actually got here first. Centuries before Columbus set sail from Spain in 1492, the Vikings sailed from northern Europe to eastern Canada and built a SE1RHERE. Many experts had thought it was the only Viking settlement ever to exist in the Americas—until now. Archaeologist Sarah Parcak says she may have discovered the remai of a second site that would show that the Vikings traveled farther south and west than anyone had thought. [The Vikings are legendary pxplorers. Their homeland was Scandinavia—a region that today includes the countries of s Norway, and Denmark. From the jute 700s to about the year 1100, weden| Vikings are often thought of as Rouen Uke and stole treasure, However, most ieee {inte Vikings sailed along the coast of Europe and beyond. They relied on the position of the sun and the stars to navigate the seas. Tn 1960, researchers found proof that the Vikings had sailed all the way to North America. Archaeologists dug up a Viking settlement on Newfoundland, an island in Canada. That site had the ruins of 1,000-year-old buildings. gn I's about 300 miles south of the gedtlement found in 1960: Viking homeland 6 | SCHOLASTIC NEWS EDITION 5/6 + january 30, 2017 :-qeaireak discovered the site in] an unusual way: by studying ea QOS TARE BY CANCE 400 miles above Earth! She's a space archaeologist,” meaning she examines photos taken by Fatellites in space to look for clues pf ancient sites, While studying photos of Point Rosee, Parcak noticed dark spots and straight ines. These are often signs that auman-made structures, like I, ire Buried below the surlace| ‘SO she aid fer team WET CO Point Rosee to dig. They found many artifacts, including a stone hearth, or fireplace. Parcak and her team are doing tests on all the objects to find out if they belonged to the Vikings, “Everything depends on the results from the tests,” she says. “That's how good science works.” —hy Karen Kellaher jbedtlement (SEH-tuhi-mehnt) noun) a place where people set up anew ‘community.i a 4 i 2 5 jin’ Players WhO Score during the Super BOWIOn February 5 should be careful about how they react. Celebrating too muchafter a big play can meana penalty for the team anda fine for the player. During (NFL) cracked down on celebrations. One player from the Pittsburgh Steelers was fined a total of the 2016 season, the National Football League alittle dancing, but they can’t perform long, planned- outroutines. The NFL says these celebrations show poor sportsmanship andare insulting to the other team. The NFL also points out that some players’ celebrations, like pretending to shoot a bow and arrow, can be seenas violent or offensive. Officials say this type of behavior sets a bad example. iy mianiy Rds out ere fans, thatare playing football,” said Dean Blandino, avice presidentat the NFL, in a video explaining the! celebration penalties. “We wouldn't want some of these thinas out on the youth football field.” “But many people say it isn’t fair to punish athletes for celebrating. Some players argue that sports are entertainment, and their victory dances are just a partof the show. Others say celebrating is a natural reaction toa job well done, especially when it’s done in front of thousands of screaming fans. sain athlete should share that excitement with their teammates and fans without getting penalized,’ says Carl Francis of the NFL Players Associ isdre’s what two of our readers think. Part of being an athlete is having good sportsmanship. It’s fine to be happy when you jisdFe, but you shouldit brag to the other team. II got all A's on my report card, I wouldn't run to the front of the classroom and start dancing. jailetes shouldn't do things like that either. p*sieg30, some of the rules are in place to protect players. For example, an NFL player will get penalized for taking his helmet off on the field, nen ifits during a celebration alter a play. celebrations, they could go on fora long time and delay the games. ®° Sports are supposed to be fun. IFathletes stop showing emotion because they're worried about getting penalties, games will become euiing and Tewer people will watch. Some Fang have already nicknamed the NFL the “No Fun League” because all the penalties are taking the enjoyment out of the games. Ts natural to celebrate big achievements in life. Sports shouldn't be any different. Being an athlete requires hard work, passion, and dedication. As long as players aren't being violent or disrespectful, why shouldn't they be allowed to celebrate? 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