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Around the world – February 2015

Ecuador is the seat of government for the Galapagos Islands. One of the most important events throughout the year in Ecuador is Carnivale, which falls between Feb. 3 and March 9. It starts on Mardi Gras, or Fat Tuesday. It’s a big party, where people eat and dance and just generally have fun. There is music, food and the sharing of culture. Some people make elaborate masks and then parade throughout the city. The Battle of the Oranges If you happen to be in Ivrea, Italy, March 6-9, you may want to keep clear of the Battle of the Oranges. This is an annual observance of the town’s revolt against an unjust ruler known as the Carnevale di Ivrea. Each year, the tiny town in northern Italy gathers up more than 500,000 kilograms (around two tons) of fresh oranges and refight the Battaglia delle Arance or the Battle of the Oranges. Teams wage full-on fruit war, which is watched by more than 100,000 people. There are designated teams — nine of them — which represent the different sides of the battle. Spectators stand on the sidelines wearing red hats. If they decide they want to join the battle, they take off their hats and start throwing oranges!

What’s It Like To be

Adjudicator (Judge)

Please tell our readers a little bit about yourself. My name is Michael Empric, and I’m an adjudicator (judge) for Guinness World Records, based out of New York City. I’ve worked for GWR for about four years and traveled throughout North and South America during that time judging record attempts. Explain a little bit about what the Guiness Book of World Records does. Guinness World Records is the foremost authority on records, in both human achievement and the natural world. Essentially, we’re the ones who try to document the biggest and best in the world, and share that information with everyone through our books, TV shows, websites and social media channels. Why is this work important/how does it apply to everyday life for most people? We have a saying that Guinness World Records is all about ordinary people doing extraordinary things. Many of our most successful repeat-record holders are great examples of what you can do with dedication, practice and focus. What is it like to watch someone break a record? That must be exciting! As adjudicators, it’s important to always remain impartial. While it’s thrilling for people attempting records, our role is to serve as a referee and make sure all of the rules are followed, not to get excited if they’re successful. What do you do at the Guinness Book of World Records? As an adjudicator, my role is primarily to judge record attempts live at attempts throughout North and South America. When I’m not on the road, sometimes I will come into the office to help review evidence that people at home have submitted to Guinness World Records. What is the coolest thing about your job? Meeting people attempting records is always interesting, because no two record attempts are ever alike. Also, the opportunity to travel to so many different places is always exciting, because it helps you to appreciate the world, and our diversity. What is a typical day like for you? A typical day doesn’t really exist when you’re on the road adjudicating. For a typical adjudication, I may leave my home for the airport around 7 a.m. I get to the airport, make it through security and hop on my first flight. Many times, we’re headed to out-of-the-way places, so I’m racing to make a connection or getting re-routed around a storm. Once I land, I’ll usually head over to the attempt venue and meet with the organizers to make sure things are on track, then I’ll eat and check e-mails before bed. On the day of the attempt, it’s often another early morning and then the actual attempt and adjudication process. This can take a few minutes to hours and hours. Then it’s usually back to the airport to do the whole travel process in reverse, usually getting home to New York late that evening or early the next morning. What kind of training does it take to do your job? All new starters at Guinness World Records are sent to London for a week of adjudication training. At a very basic level, you learn how a record is defined, what is and isn’t a record and things like that. You also get trained in presentation and speaking skills, media training and how to accurately measure and count for record attempts. You then have to shadow several record attempts before you’re allowed to wear the Guinness World Records uniform and adjudicate on your own. When/How did you know you wanted to work for the Guinness Book of World Records? I used to read Guinness World Records as a child, but I never actually thought I’d work for them. I was living in New York several years ago, and job-hunting, when I randomly decided to write Guinness World Records a cold letter telling them I was great and they should hire me… luckily, that worked, and they called me a week later. What are some challenges you face in your work? The biggest challenge is the travel. It sounds really fun, but spending days at a time in airports and random hotels is challenging. It’s also hard on your personal relationships, as many times you’re gone on the weekends when everyone else is off having fun. Your friends and family have to be very understanding. What do you like to do when you are not working? Living in New York, I like visiting new restaurants and enjoying what the city has to offer. But most of the time when I’ve been traveling for a week, I just want to chill out on the sofa with a book or catch up on TV shows I’ve missed. What a fun job! Thanks for your time!

Wildville

Muntjac (Oldest Deer)

Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Mammalia Order: Artiodactyla Suborder: Ruminantia Family: Cervidae Subfamily: Cervinae Genus: Muntiacus Species: Reevesi The Chinese Muntjac or Reeve’s Muntjac is a small deer that is native to China and Taiwan. They can also now be found in parts of Europe because a large number of them escaped from the Whipsnade Zoo and from Woburn Abbey in 1925. After they escaped, they began to live and grow in the forests of England, Belgium, Scotland and Ireland. They get their name from John Reeves, a British man who lived in China in the 19th century. He was a naturalist, which is a person who studies natural history and science. He collected the little deer and brought both information and living specimen back to England. The Muntjac are native to China, Taiwan and parts of India but in recent years they have been spreading all over Europe. They were brought to Europe as pets and to live in zoos, but when they escaped, they adapted to the wooded environments. This is not unusual. Humans often introduce new species to areas. This can be dangerous because these new animals may change the environment and hurt other native animals. • There are 11 species of Muntjacs. • They are also called barking deer because of the loud barking sound that they make when they are scared. • They are the oldest known species of deer. • Their fossils date back 15 to 35 million years ago. • They live in woodlands. • They are herbivores and eat leaves, fruit, bark, fungi and herbs. • They have a large strong tongue to strip leaves off plants. • They usually live around 10 years. • They are crepuscular. That means they are most active at dawn and dusk. • They are solitary creatures. • The male deer have long upper canines (2 inches long) that act like tusks and small antlers (4 inches long) that can be used defensively. • The female deer are usually smaller than the male. • They are a small species of deer only 16 inches tall at the shoulders. • They weigh around 30 pounds. • They have dark brown fur coats and dark stripes on their faces. • Some describe their faces as looking very dog-like.

Where in the World

Nepal

Nepal is a small nation that sits between China and India. Nepal is famous for its mountain range, the Himalayas. The Himalayas have the world’s highest peak — Mount Everest, which is 29,0035 feet high. Everest isn’t the only giant mountain in the range, however. Eight of the 10 highest mountain peaks in the world are in Nepal. These huge mountains were formed 10-15 million years ago. India and the rest of Asia are on two different tectonic plates. When these two giant plates of rock smashed into each other the land wrinkled and formed Himalaya Mountains. The lowest points in Nepal are at sea level. • The capital of Nepal is Kathmandu. • The money is the Nepalese rupee. • The area of Nepal is 54,363 square miles. • Nepal is about the size of Arkansas. • The major religions are Hinduism and Buddhism. • Sherpas are known for their amazing ability tonavigate and survive in the mountains. • Many Sherpas are born and raised at 12,000 feet and above. They often guide climbers and tourists through the mountains. • Only 10 percent of the population lives in the mountains. • Some of the exotic animals that live in Nepal are the Bengal tiger, the snow leopard and the Ganges fresh water dolphin. • Nepal was a monarchy until June 2008. • The official language is Nepali. • 92 percent of their energy comes from hydroelectric plants (rivers). • The Nepali word for Everest is “Sagarmatha.” It means “Forehead of the Sky.” Sherpas call Everest the ‘Goddess Mother of the World’ or “Chomolungma.” • The Nepali calendar is 57 years and 8.5 months ahead of the Gregorian calendar (the Calendar that America uses). • Cows are the national animal of Nepal, making it is illegal to kill them. • Nepal has the only flag that isn’t a square or rectangle. • Nepal has never won a gold medal in the Olympics. • A popular sport is Elephant Polo. • The population was 27.8 million in 2013. • Everest is named after the British surveyor Sir George Everest. • Tourism is one of the most important industries in Nepal. • Most of the population live in the Katmandu Valley. • Less than half of the population can read.

Kids

It’s a Bird! It’s a Plane! No! It’s a NOAA Weather Balloon!

In order to predict the weather, you need to observe the weather. But how do you do that? You can look out the window but that only gives you a small look at what’s happening in the earth’s atmosphere. So, how can you find out what’s happening in the sky thousands of feet above you? With a balloon! NOAA’s National Weather Service launches weather balloons twice a day from 102 sites throughout the United States, the Caribbean and the Pacific to help with weather forecasting. Since the late 1930s, the National Weather Service has used balloons to obtain upper air observations. These are not ordinary balloons. Underneath each balloon, hangs a sensor package and a parachute. As the weather balloon rises through the atmosphere, the sensors measure air pressure, temperature, relative humidity, and wind speed and direction. This information is sent back to the surface using radio signals, where it is included as a starting point for weather forecast models. Forecasters then use this information to forecast the weather. That’s right, you can thank a balloon for your weather forecast. A typical weather balloon flight can last more than two hours. In that time, it can rise more than 115,000 feet into the atmosphere. During the flight, the balloon and its sensors are exposed to temperatures as cold as -130oF and an air pressure less than one percent of what is found on the Earth’s surface. If the balloon enters a strong jet stream it can travel at speeds exceeding 250 miles per hour. When the balloon gets to around 20 miles high in the sky, it will pop and the sensors fall to the ground. The parachute will open as it falls so the sensors and popped balloon come back to Earth slowly. It can land in a wide variety of locations, such as in trees, on bridges and in backyards — sometimes more than 200 miles away from where it was launched! Once it lands, if found, it can be returned to the National Weather Service. Each one has its own addressed, postage-paid return mailbag attached to the package. Returning them benefits the environment and saves taxpayer dollars by recycling the units for reuse. So, if a weather balloon lands in your backyard, please return it to the National Weather Service. They’ll be glad to have it back!

Letter From Truman

January 2016 – Letter from Truman

Hi, Kids! Welcome to 2016! It is a brand new year with all kinds of exciting possibilities! I always love a fresh start, and the new year is a great time to think about ways to improve myself and things I want to accomplish. I think it is pretty amazing that in the entire world there is only one me – and only one you. The “Connections” section talks about some of the things that makes each of us unique. I love being a one-of-a-kind and I hope you do, too! Speaking of one-of-a-kind things, I love to color. This month, I learned about a beautiful and colorful art form that involves sand. And the crazy thing is that once it is finished, the people that make it sweep it all away. Read all about it in the “Cultural Connections” section. “What’s It Like to Be…” features a judge for the Guinness Book of World Records. I was really surprised to find out what a typical day is like for him. As we welcome the new year, I hope that 2016 brings many fun and exciting things your way!

Space Place

Comets that graze the sun

By Katie McKissick National Aeronautics and Space Administration It’s not easy finding comets, especially when they’re near the bright, shining sun. Comets that approach the sun are called sungrazers. They can be as small as 30 to 150 feet in diameter. That’s the length of a limousine up to half a football field. Out in space, that’s a very small object to find. Also, some of these comets are only bright for a few hours before they go around the sun and burn up. So how do we spot these sungrazer comets? We find them with a satellite that watches the sun from space. The Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO), a joint project of the European Space Agency and NASA, was launched in 1995. SOHO’s main mission is to observe the sun and the space around it. It watches the sun for giant explosions called coronal mass ejections. It looks at the constant energy and particles the sun releases that we call the solar wind. It wasn’t built to find sungrazing comets, but it turned out to be really good at it. SOHO has discovered over 3,000 comets. In fact, it is the greatest comet finder of all time. Before SOHO, only about a dozen comets had been discovered from space. And only 900 had been discovered from the ground. SOHO didn’t find all these comets by itself. It gathered lots of data about what’s going on around the sun, but it took many people looking at the data to spot the sungrazers. The data is available for everyone to see, including citizen scientists. These are volunteers who help out with scientific research. Lots of people with all different backgrounds helped spot the comets. In all, 95 percent of SOHO’s comets were found by citizen scientists, including teachers, writers and 13-year-olds. We can learn a lot from comets. These chunks of ice and rock flying through space can teach us about how our solar system formed. When they get close to the sun, their gas tails light up and blow in the solar wind. Looking at their tails closely, we can learn more about the solar wind and what makes the tails shine so brightly. Want to make your own comet? Visit spaceplace.nasa.gov/comet-stick The dot in the cross hairs is a comet streaming toward the sun, as seen on Sept. 14, 2015, by the ESA/NASA Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO). This is the 3,000th comet discovered in SOHO data since the spacecraft launched in 1995. The comet was originally spotted by Worachate Boonplod of Samut Songkhram, Thailand, by looking through SOHO images.

Movie Reviews for Kids by Kids

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2 is surprisingly more creative and suspenseful than all the prior films in the franchise. However, there are a couple of things about the film that are not fantastic. I don’t think that Jennifer Lawrence does a great job in this film. It seems as if she was asleep throughout the movie. This film again stars Jennifer Lawrence as Katniss Everdeen and Josh Hucherson as Peeta Mellark. They are supported by Julianne Moore, Woody Harrelson, Donald Sutherland and Phillip Seymour Hoffman. The film is directed by Francis Lawrence, who directed all the Hunger Games films except the first. At the beginning of the film, Katniss is recruited by Commander Coin (Julianne Moore) to lead the rebellion. They really want her to be the “face” of the rebellion and film fake skirmishes for the ever present media. Katniss plays along but her intent is to assassinate President Snow. Snow is ready for the rebellion. His generals plant POD traps (obstacles designed to release a weapon that can range from a bomb to a group of mutts) all over the Capital, which are motion sensitive. When someone comes near, flame throwers engulf them or huge machine guns appear and blow them up. The PODS are planted every few feet, so it is a deadly obstacle course for the rebels to try to make it through into the heart of the Capital In the face of all this, Peeta, who had been psychologically tortured and brain-washed by Snow in Part 1, is now ordered to join Katniss on this mission. But, he is unstable and doesn’t have a grip on reality. The best part of this film is the ending, which I can’t tell you about because of spoiler alert. But, rest assured, it is a great ending. The middle of the film is very action-packed, scary and suspenseful. Katniss, and the rebel force work their way through the PODS. I love this part of the film and the locations that were chosen. At one point, the rebel force goes down into the sewers to escape detection, adding a bit of horror to the action film setting. The supporting cast is great, especially Julianne Moore, who plays Commander Coin with great conviction. The screenplay is interesting, especially the dialogue between Katniss and Peeta. Peeta keeps asking Katniss and the others if things are “real or not real” since he has a tenuous grip on reality, due to his brain-washing. I also like the song that plays during the end credits. Unfortunately, there are some drawbacks to the film besides Jennifer Lawrence’s performance. I feel that some of the fight sequences are not realistic. One last point I would like to make is that the uniqueness of The Hunger Games is the idea of the games themselves. There are no games in this film and I miss he whole survivalist concept of that. Overall, I think this film is a great ending to The Hunger Games franchise. I give the film 4 out of 5 stars and recommend it to kids ages 11 to 18, keeping in mind that there are some rather violent, scary scenes in the middle of the movie. Video review: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oDEdei-xQOg

Kidsville Kitchen

Tasty Meals in Minutes Quick-fix dinners for the family

Busy weeknights can make for hectic meals, but these simple recipes prove you don’t have to trim out flavor or precious moments spent with family when you’re cutting minutes off your dinner prep time. The secret to making quick meals your family will love is quality ingredients. Tasty meals are easy when you incorporate the wholesome flavor of all-natural ingredients you feel good about serving your family, such as Hunt’s tomatoes. Hunt’s peels its diced, whole and stewed tomatoes using steam from simple hot water, so no chemical byproducts get put back into the earth. Rely on these additional tips to help save time with your weeknight dinner prep: * When you’re exploring new time-saving recipes, consider both prep time and total cook time. Many dishes can be assembled in minutes, leaving you time to help tackle chores and homework before sitting down to dinner. * Enlist backup when the prep time is a little longer. For example, an extra set of hands from a little helper can shave minutes off the assembly of these mini meatloaves, while getting a youngster excited about digging into a veggie-centric dinner. * Make what you can ahead of time and slip it in the refrigerator, so all you have to do is slide them in the oven at dinner time. Quick Mini Meatloaves Prep time: 10 minutes Total time: 40 minutes Servings: 6 Pam Original No-Stick Cooking Spray 1 can (8 ounces) Hunt’s Tomato Sauce 3 tablespoons firmly packed brown sugar 1 tablespoon spicy brown mustard 1 pound ground chuck beef (80 percent lean) 1 can (14.5 ounces) Hunt’s Petite Diced Tomatoes, drained 1/3 cup finely chopped yellow onion 3/4 cup Italian-style bread crumbs 1 egg, beaten 1/8 teaspoon salt 1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper -Heat oven to 400 F. Lightly spray 6 medium muffin cups with cooking spray; set aside. -In small bowl, combine tomato sauce, brown sugar and mustard; set aside. -In large bowl, combine remaining ingredients. Add 1/4 cup reserved sauce mixture to meat mixture and incorporate. Divide meat mixture evenly and place into prepared muffin cups. Place muffin pan on baking sheet. -Bake 25 minutes or until no longer pink in centers (165 F). Top each mini loaf with 2 tablespoons sauce; bake 5 minutes more or until sauce is set. Serve with remaining sauce.

Kids

Mandalas

Mandalas, those beautiful intricate patterned circles that are so fun to color: they are an ancient art. Centuries old. The word mandala is actually a Sanskrit word that means “circle,” but it has significant spiritual meaning. For many, it represents more than a cool shape with a beautiful design in it. It represents life, and structure and the cosmos. Mandala’s are a part of the Buddhist belief structure. Siddhartha Gautama, the man who eventually became known as Buddha was born in Nepal around 624 B.C. He was a royal prince and is known as The Enlightened One. That is what Buddha means — enlightened. Eventually, Buddhism spread and now it is practiced all over the world. It is especially popular in Tibet, the country to the north of Nepal, where many Buddhist monks live. And those colorful mandalas are a part of their religious practice. They are important because mandalas represent our relationship with the universe. In fact, they are so significant that Buddhist monks go through rigorous training to make mandalas. Once they finish the training, they use colored sand to make large table-sized mandalas. The monks use a funnel and a metal rod called a chak-pur to place the grains of sand on a table. While there are many designs to choose from, they all have similar shapes and symbols in them. Before a grain of sand touches the table, the monks bless the site of the mandala and then draw an outline of the design they are going to make. Then they lay the sand. It is not unusual for the monks to spend up to six days making a mandala. Once it is finished, they pray for peace and harmony in the world. Then they sweep up the sand and collect it to throw into the water. For them, it is the process of making the mandala that is valuable — not the finished piece. Check out these youtube videos (below) of Tibetan monks making mandalas. For more information please visit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=10084L3Pqsc,https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2uazRvR9p0w, https:/, www.youtube.com/watch?v=9QItAyepAnI, http://www.mandalaproject.org/, http://www.biography.com/people/buddha-9230587, http://religion.blogs.cnn.com/, http://artmuseum.msu.edu/exhibitions/current/tibet/, http://obviousmag.org/en/archives/2008/10/the_creation_and_destruction_of_a_mandala.html

Category - Kids

Around the world – February 2015

Adjudicator (Judge)

Muntjac (Oldest Deer)

Nepal

It’s a Bird! It’s a Plane! No! It’s a NOAA Weather Balloon!

January 2016 – Letter from Truman

Comets that graze the sun

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2

Tasty Meals in Minutes Quick-fix dinners for the family

Mandalas

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