Weekly Reader, Edition 3 (including Science Spin) articles from March 2002

Weekly Reader, Edition 3 (including Science Spin) archives from March 2002

Saving the animals.(at the Kabul Zoo)(Cover Story)
March 29, 2002... Julie O'Connor's third-grade class at Public School 48 in New York City recently held a bake sale. The students raised $266 from the sale. They gave the money to help the animals at the Kabul Zoo. "The kids were excited to help the zoo's...

Gasping for air. (News Clips).(study suggests air pollution comtributes to asthma in children)(Statistical Data Included)
March 29, 2002... A recent study says that kids living in areas with air pollution are more likely to develop asthma than are kids who live in other areas. Asthma is an illness that makes breathing difficult. About 9 million children in the United States...

Play ball!(baseball season opens)
March 29, 2002... Spring is in the air. That means it's time to take the mitts and bats out of the closet. Baseball season is here! The 2002 major-league baseball seasons begins this week. This year, 30 teams will compete to become the 2002 World Series...

Watch out!(where lightning most likely to strike)
March 29, 2002... Do you know where lightning strikes most often? A new study says lightning strikes most often in Florida, the Himalaya mountain range, and central Africa. National Aeronautics and Space Administration scientists used two small satellites...

Read the graph. (Brain Builders).(questions on baseball's World Series)
March 29, 2002... The World Series is a series of seven games played by the two best major-league baseball teams. The graph shows the number of times some baseball teams have won the World Series. Use the graph to answer the questions. Fill in the oval in...

What is a suffix? (Brain Builders).
March 29, 2002... A suffix is a letter or a group of letters added to the end of a word. A suffix changes the meaning of a word. The box lists some suffixes. Look at the words below. Draw a circle around each suffix. wonderful greatest teacher actor...

Lewis & Clark's roadtrip USA! (Brain Builders).(New Mexico and Nevada)
March 29, 2002... New Mexico (N. Mex.) Capital: Santa Fe Fun Fact: The first atom bomb was exploded in New Mexico on July 16, 1945. Do you Know? The oldest European road in the United States is located in New Mexico. What is that road called? ...

Butterflies come back! Each spring, many monarch butterflies fly home to the United States. Those butterflies have spent the winter in Mexico. Mexico is the United States' neighbor to the south.
March 29, 2002... To learn more about monarch butterflies, turn the page Monarch butterflies go a long distance to keep warm in winter. As cold weather arrives, the orange-and-black butterflies migrate, or move from one area to another. Some butterflies...

Scientists spot silly squid.
March 29, 2002... What looks like a pair of elephant ears connected to some skinny threads? Scientists say this strange animal is a newly found kind of squid (below). The 23-foot squid lives deep in the ocean. This kind of squid has been seen all over the...

Coming soon: smart spacesuits!(WearSAT computerized space suits)
March 29, 2002... Right now, some astronauts are living and working on Alpha, the international space station. The space station is many miles above Earth. Sometimes astronauts go outside the space station to work in space. They have to wear special...

Liar, liar, face on fire!(heat-sensitive camera for detecting lies)
March 29, 2002... How can you tell if a person is lying? Scientists have found that a new kind of camera helps. When people lie, more blood moves to the area around their eyes. The blood gives off heat. The camera's pictures show the heat as red areas in...

Butterflies and moths. (You Be the Scientist).
March 29, 2002... Butterflies and Moths Resting Insect Antennae Active time Color position of day Butterfly knobs day bright wings held...

Resources.(butterflies and moths)
March 29, 2002... Books * Monarch Butterfly, by Gaff Gibbons * Butterflies and Moths, by Robert T. Mitcher Web Sites * httpd/www.insectainspecta. com/butterflies/monarch/ index.html * httpd/www.mesc.usgs.gov/ butterfly/Butterfly.html

Butterfly count.(statistics exercise)
March 29, 2002... A science class kept track of the butterflies they saw for one week, The table shows their findings, Use the information to answer the questions below, Circle your answers. 1. On which day did the class count the most fiery skipper...

Machu Picchu.
March 29, 2002... Machu Picchu is an ancient Inca city in Peru. The city lies on a ridge between two mountains in the Andes. The Inca were people who lived in South America. They ruled the largest empire on the continent. Scientists believe Machu Picchu was...

Eruption in the Congo.(Cover Story)
March 15, 2002... The volcano roared to life, sending lava and smoke high into the air. "First I thought it was thunder when the volcano started to spit the boiling lava. The town was covered with smoke, and we could hardly breathe," said one survivor. ...

Counting tigers. (News Clips).(scientists count the number of Siberian tigers in the wild)
March 15, 2002... Russian scientists are taking a census, or official count, of Siberian tigers. Scientists are hoping to learn how many Siberian tigers live in the forests of eastern Russia. Russia is a country partly in Europe and partly in Asia. The...

A handy idea! (News Clips).(sign-language translating machine invented by Ryan Patterson)
March 15, 2002... Ryan Patterson invented a special glove. The glove can change sign language motions into written alphabet letters on a display screen. Many people who are deaf use sign language to say things through hand and finger movements. Each...

Homophones. (Brain Builders).(find the words that sound alike)
March 15, 2002... Homophones are words that sound alike. But they have different meanings and spellings. Draw a line to connect each word in the left-hand column with its sound-alike in the right-hand column. hair night blue eight knight...

Lewis & Clark's road trip USA! (Brain Builders).(interesting facts about the states of Utah and California)
March 15, 2002... Utah (Utah) Capital: Salt Lake City Fun Fact: The Anasazi, one of the easy Indian groups, made their homes in pueblos and in cliff dwellings. Do You Know? Can you name the Utah lake that has water saltier than that of any ocean?...

Kid's tough issues.(problems that children have to face everyday)
March 15, 2002... Read each story. Then fill in the square that best completes each sentence or answers each question. A A national survey of kids and parents conducted last year showed something that you probably already know--it's not always easy being...

The continents' major rivers.(explorers discover the source of the Amazon River)
March 15, 2002... B The Amazon River is the longest river in South America. It flows for 4,000 miles across the continent before emptying into the Atlantic Ocean. It is also the world's largest river--no other river carries more water than the Amazon. For...

The continents' major rivers.(longest river on all the continents)
March 15, 2002... CONTINENT RIVER LENGTH Africa Nile 4,160 miles South America Amazon 4,000 miles Asia Chang (Yangtze) 3,964 miles North America Mississippi 2,340 miles...

Bridges of the world.(construction of the Leonard P. Zakim Bunker Hill Bridge)
March 15, 2002... C The newest landmark in Boston, Massachusetts, is a bridge stretching 1,457 feet across the Charles River. The bridge is called the Leonard P. Zakim Bunker Hill Bridge. When it is finished later this year, it will be the widest bridge of its...

Habitats of Asian elephants.
March 15, 2002... D Asian elephants are running out of both space and time. Their habitat, or natural home, is shrinking. If nothing is done to help them, Asian elephants could become extinct, or die out. In Asia, people and elephants are fighting for the...

Write a story update. (from the desk of).(how to write a story about the volcanic eruption in Goma, Congo)
March 15, 2002... Imagine that you are living in Goma one year from now. You are to write an up-to-date story for Weekly Reader that describes what life is like in the city. Be sure your story includes details, such as how people and the city have recovered...

Volcanoes of the world. (from the desk of).(find the right answer to these questions)
March 15, 2002... The chart gives information about some famous volcanoes. Study the chart. Fill in the ovals in front of the best answer. 1. On which continent is Usu located? (A) Asia (B) Africa (C) South America 2. Etna is a...

Reading Assessment Teacher's Guide.
March 15, 2002... Weekly Reader is delighted to bring you the second of two Reading Assessments for the 2001-2002 school year. The purpose of these assessments is twofold. First, the assessments provide students with practice in taking tests similar to...

Your voice, your right! (Vote And Be Heard Activity 1).(why it is important to vote in elections)
March 15, 2002... Have you ever voted for a class president, or what game to play, or what to have for dinner? If you have, then you know that voting gives you a voice in a group decision, or a chance to say what you want to happen. You might have been happy...

Having your say. (Vote And Be Heard Activity 2).(how people decide for whom to vote in elections)
March 15, 2002... Before people vote in elections, they have homework to do! Voters need to decide for whom they want to vote, or how they feel about issues. To make their decisions, voters need to learn about their choices and figure out what the best choice...

Working the results. (Vote And Be Heard Activity 3).(how to count the votes in a class election; math problems)
March 15, 2002... Now that you have cast your vote for the new color, it's time to tally your class results. How many kids in your class voted for each color? -- pink -- purple -- aqua Use your graph to help you answer some of these questions. ...

Welcome to the family!(baby gorilla at National Zoo)(Cover Story)
March 8, 2002... Back in November, Mandara, a 19-year-old western lowland gorilla, had a baby at the National Zoo in Washington, D.C. But for months, zookeepers could not tell whether her infant was a boy or a girl. Mandara (right) was holding her infant so...

Nothing but net. (News Clips).(Chicago Bulls study free throws with 79-year-old)
March 8, 2002... Chicago Bulls coach Bill Cartwright was sick of his team's poor free throw shooting. The NBA team ranks among the league's worst free throw shooting teams. A player shoots a free throw behind a line 15 feet from the basket after he or...

Your backpack survey results are here! (News Clips).(backpack weights and safety tips)
March 8, 2002... How heavy is the load on your back? In issue 10, we asked readers to let us know how heavy their backpacks are. We received about 2,000 responses. Here's what readers told us: * average backpack weight: 5 pounds * heaviest backpack...

No child left behind! (News Clips).(testing for students grades 3 through 8)
March 8, 2002... Congress recently passed a law that might help your school and all the nation's public schools. The new law is called the No Child Left Behind Act. According to the new law, students in grades 3 through 8 will be tested in reading and...

Lewis & Clark's road trip USA! (Brain Builders).(Arizona and Colorado)
March 8, 2002... Arizona (Ariz.) Capital: Phoenix Fun Fact: Arizona's natural wonders, such as the Grand Canyon, the Painted Desert, and the Petrified Forest attract millions of tourists each year. Do You know? How deep is the Grand Canyon at...

Conduct a survey! (from the desk of).
March 8, 2002... In this issue, you learned the results of the Weekly Reader Backpack Survey. Now, it's your turn to conduct a survey. The questions in this survey will help you compare some of the things that you, or a classmate, and your teacher like. Below...