Appleseeds articles from March 2007

Appleseeds archives from March 2007

I love salt.
March 1, 2007... "It's not my fault that I love salt. We use it somehow every day. Though not a spice, it flavors life. In over 14,000 ways!"

Why salt? Valuable little cubes.
March 1, 2007... Today, salt is given out freely in shakers and packets at our favorite restaurants. We can buy it cheaply at any grocery store. But it hasn't always been so easy to get salt. This tiny crystal cube has played a much more important role in...

The world of salt.(Where in the World?)(Brief article)
March 1, 2007... Salt is produced in almost every country of the world: by mining or through evaporation of salty water. Look on this map to find salt resources around the globe. The Great Salt Lake in Utah is what remains of the ancient Lake Bonneville....

Don't spill the salt!
March 1, 2007... Have you ever seen someone spill salt and then throw a pinch of it over his or her shoulder? Why do people do that? They're just following an old superstition that says it's bad luck to spill salt unless you immediately toss a few grains over...

Salt mine safari.
March 1, 2007... AppleSeeds writer Dan Risch had a unique opportunity to visit the Kansas Underground Salt Museum while it was still under construction. Join Dan as he journeys below the earth into a working salt mine... Helmet: check. Canteen: check....

Salt it today--eat it next year!
March 1, 2007... When early humans killed a mammoth (a huge prehistoric animal), how did they keep the meat from rotting before they could eat it all? We don't know; maybe they didn't. But perhaps they dried it into mammoth jerky, or preserved their mammoth...

Sodium sudoku.(Puzzle Power)(Brief article)
March 1, 2007... A Sudoku (soo-DOH-koo) is an old puzzle with some new twists. Arab writings from the 900s describe sets of numbers arranged across and down. In the 1700s, the Swiss mathematician Leonhard Euler called these puzzles Latin Squares. Then, in 1979,...

Pass the salt, please.
March 1, 2007... What do stinky shoes, fuzzy teeth, and poison ivy have in common? They are just three--of over 14,000--things that salt can be used for. Besides making food taste great, that is! Use salt on stinky shoes? Yes, you can keep your sneakers...

Journey to Timbuktu: the salt caravans of the Sahara.(Travel narrative)
March 1, 2007... Timbuktu is in the African country of Mali, at the edge of the huge Sahara Desert. Mali has few roads; the Niger River runs like a highway through the center of the country. Every day, people travel in both directions along the river, selling...

The spot for speed: salt flats.(Brief article)
March 1, 2007... Imagine whizzing across a dazzling white moonscape at 600 miles per hour. You're not on the Moon, though. You're in Utah--at the Bonneville Salt Fiats, to be exact. Part of dried up Lake Bonneville, the riots are a desert covered in salt...

How salt shook an empire.
March 1, 2007... Thousands of people gathered at the edge of a sea. Ears strained to catch the first words spoken. Cameras hovered, ready to snap a picture. All eyes were on the small man in loose white robes standing calmly by the shore. They were waiting for...

The salty gift of the phoenix: it is said that the phoenix is a beautiful bird. The feng-huang, as it is known in China, is thought to hover above treasures and bring fortune to those lucky enough to see it.(Reading Corner)
March 1, 2007... One day, a farmer spotted the phoenix in his field, but it flew away before he could reach it. "There must be treasure buried here," thought the peasant. He began to dig on the very spot where the phoenix had been. The peasant dug for a...

Make your own lava blobs.(Fun Stuff)
March 1, 2007... Have you ever seen a lava lamp? They're pretty cool to watch. Colorful gooey blobs float around inside the glass. In real lava lamps, the blobs are made of a special kind of wax. Here's a way to make your own lava blobs without using wax....

Gross facts.(Brief article)
March 1, 2007... Can salt really preserve food? Find out for yourself. You'll need: raw hamburger, two small jars with lids, and salt. Here's what you do: 1. Make two small balls of hamburger. 2. Place one ball into a jar; put the lid on. 3....

Cross-frame puzzle.(Brief article)
March 1, 2007... ACROSS 1. Salt preserves food because it kills--. 2.--chloride is the chemical name for table salt. 3. Removing salt from sea water is called --. 4. Slabs of African salt travel by boat from --, Mali. 5. A--is a mineral...

In a pickle?(Brief article)
March 1, 2007... Traditionally, people pickled cucumbers by soaking them in brine--a salty solution--for a month. Bacteria grew and turned the cucumbers into pickles. This method was called fermentation. Most pickles today are "freshpack" pickles. Vinegar...