Sofia A.

Help the Panda Bears!



Panda bears are currently in danger. They may go extinct because of starvation. Regular bamboo is easy to find. The hardest bamboo to find is arrow bamboo. Pandas eat arrow bamboo. Arrow bamboo is dying off. This hard to find plant only grows every sixty years. It will grow again in ten more years.

A solution that pandas have figured out is to eat other food. Panda bears now occasionally eat leaves, plants, and other greens. So, now they don’t die of starvation anymore because they are finding different things to eat. They also eat berries, fungi, flowers, fruit, grass, bark, bird’s eggs, and insects. So that is a solution to help stop the extinction of panda bears.


Another problem is that pandas are being killed and their habitat is being destroyed. Panda bears are killed for their valuable skin and sometimes their own meat. Bamboo is being cut down because people use it to make decor in houses and to make houses. Some people are making charitable foundations to not kill pandas. Also, people are against making houses and decor out of bamboo.

Help save the Pandas!

Matt H.

New York Yankees Magazine

NYY BEST HITTERS AND PITCHERS

Have you ever wondered who the best hitters and pitchers were on the Yankee’s team in history?  I have and it is pretty cool.  Here are some of the things that I learned about some of the all time great sluggers.  The sluggers that I am referring to  are Babe Ruth, Joe  DiMaggio and Lou Gehrig.  One reason Babe Ruth is  an all time great hitter is because he hit 60 home runs in one season.  Also, you only hit on average 3 times each game.  Some people say he is the all time best slugger and a national hero.  DiMaggio is also an all time  great slugger.  One reason is because he hit 361 home runs in his whole career.  I don’t think that many people can hit 361 home runs in a career!  Lou Gehrig  was another all time great hitter who everyone will remember because of his great slugger stats at the end of the year. His batting average was .765.

Some all time  great pitchers on the Yankees were Whitey Ford, Mariano Rivera, Lefty Gomez, and Red Ruffing. Did you know that Mariano Rivera didn’t start pitching until he was 19?  Rivera learned how to throw the cutter fastball that  looks like a fastball but  changes into a cutter ball.  Lefty Gomez was known as The King Of Quotes because he amused reporters so much. He was 6 feet 2 and 170 pounds and the Yankees took him on their team for $50,000 annually.   At the end his pitching career, he had an earned run average of 2.67. Have you ever heard of Red Ruffing, the pitcher who lost 4 toes in a mining accident? After the accident, he went back to play the outfield but he couldn’t run as fast.  So he researched and found out that pitching uses only upper body movement.  After that, he got so into pitching that he became the 4th greatest pitcher on the Yankees team and he had the best earned run average which was 2.63.  The  best pitcher on the Yankees was Whitey Ford, he made winning look easy but he left the Yankees team for the Korean War but still won a Cy Young Award and still had an earned run average of 2.15 when he came back.  Those are the best hitters and pitchers of all time on the Yankees team.

TJ S.

THE BREAKING BITE

T-REX CRAFT

Do you want to do a fun craft? Well this is a craft about a T-REX 

that you might like.

Materials:

paper

green and black paint

black pen

Instructions:

Print a green hand print in the middle of the page. Add the head with a hand print of green making a V between the middle of the page and pinky's for open mouth. Add fingerprints  for the front arms. Use the side of your hand to add the tail and the legs. With the white paint finger paint the teeth. Use a black pen to make the eyes. Now you are done with the craft!  

Marin K.

How Are Polar Bears and   

Black Bears Different?

How are American black bears different from polar bears? They are different because of their population.  A black bear has an estimate of 600,000 left in the wild and the polar bear has an estimate of 22,000 left in the wild.  That’s a BIG difference!  They are also different because polar bears be found in Russia, Norway, Greenland, and the Arctic. Black bears can be found in the United States and  Northern Mexico.

They are similar because they are both bears! Another way that they are similar is that they will have cubs that are different colors than what they are really supposed to look like. For example, a polar bear is white and a black bear is black but sometimes they will have cubs that are brown. They are also similar because they both can be found in Canada. Also, both types of bears are endangered. That is how they are different and similar.

Aidan S.

Gorillas - Problem and Solution Text Structure

Gorillas have been hunted down, many scientists think they will be extinct soon. Also, gorillas don’t fight. They try to protect the young. Mainly, they try to stay away from people.   Even if a human is trying to help the gorillas, the gorilla will run or hide because they are scared. There have been times when gorillas have tried to fight back but humans end up killing the gorillas. They take gorillas and have them for food and they also take their fur to stay warm.

There are many ways to help the gorillas.  Here are some ways.  The first way is to have protective areas for gorillas.  Also, we should stop allowing people to buy things made out of gorillas.  We can have the governments agree to make laws to help.  People can visit the conservation areas and give money to the people who are protecting the gorillas.  You can give a gift of money to areas like the Gamba Complex in order to help support their protecting the gorillas. These are some ways to help the gorillas.

           

Here is a gorilla with someone that cares.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           

Grace B.

Help

us

In the late 1850’s there were thousands of children living on the streets as homeless orphans.  They were living on the streets of NYC and they were dying. They were living in trash cans and cardboard boxes. All of their parents gave up on them sometimes because they hated children. This was a problem that no one was fixing. The homeless children felt ashamed that other children who were wealthier called  them street rats, foundlings, waifs,half orphans,street urchins. They were living a horrible life. Someone needed to fix this.

One day a man named Charles Loring Brace created the orphan train. He saved children from selling matches, rags, or newspapers to survive. The orphan train brought homeless kids from the east coast to the west and thousands of children’s lives were saved. These children were thankful for Charles loring Brace. He was proud of what he did.   

Alex I.

The Nightly Nuclear       

Have you ever wondered about nuclear power?   This article is dedicated to that topic.  Nuclear energy is very beneficial for power and for anti-global warming.  It is actually 10 times stronger than a regular power plant and produces as much as a massive 1000 megawatts.  Nuclear power is also less expensive after the plant is built because it uses less fuel.  However, there is a higher risk of catastrophe than a regular power plant that runs on coal.  That is because a coal run power plant will almost never blow up.  Also, uranium used in the process will be radioactive for many years and disposal is almost impossible.

The process that creates nuclear energy is surprisingly quite simple.  It is know as nuclear fission.  In the nuclear reactor, discharged nuclear rods and charged nuclear rods spew out neutrons and atoms.  When a heavy atom collides into a neutron, it creates immense heat.  The heat is then used to form steam.  The steam is used to power turbines.

Power plants have giant stack which can reach 150 feet tall and are made of reinforced concrete.  The nuclear blast that a core meltdown produces is catastrophic but can’t easily escape because of these immensely thick towers.  The towers are topped off with a large metal cap. The nuclear reactors sit inside.  The cooling towers which stack up to 150-250 feet discard useless steam.  The inside of a reactor is similar to a pool.  The water is used to cool the reactor while it is splitting atoms.  If there were no water to cool it, it would melt the steel and spill radioactive gas and molten steel all around .  That is the description of a nuclear power plant.

Jack R.

The Daily  Wolf   

What’s a Wolf?

Wolves are fascinating animals. If you’re a dog lover, you’re going to like this: A wolf belongs to the dog/canine family. Wolves are mammals. Like dogs, wolves have long tails. Wolves also have thick, brown, grey, black or white fur.  The color depends on the species.

Wolf pups (immature wolves) love to play. Have you ever wrestled or played tag with a friend? Well, wolf pups do! The games they play are practice for hunts as an adult. Some wolf pups even chew something like a twig or a hawk feather like a bone! They’re actually more like dogs than any other canine.

There are a couple types of wolves. The two species of wolves are gray and red wolves, though there are many subspecies of the gray wolf. There is a debate whether or not there is another species out there about to be found.

I hope you now think wolves are fascinating.

                                                                                                                              

Marley S.

Titanic Magazine

Here is your first class ticket on the Titanic! The Titanic was a passenger cruise ship that used a brand new way of building.. It took over 26 months to build it. The Titanic stood 28 feet high. It weighed over 6,000 tons. The builders used over 2,000 plates of steel. The Titanic is a ship that was famous for it’s sinking on April 14-15, 1912. It was the most luxurious boat of its time. The boat was a sight to see!


The Titanic had a crazy drill once it hit the iceberg. There were no orders or guidelines to follow for an emergency at sea. When the iceberg hit, it shook the whole boat. The kids used the snow and ice to throw at each other. Some people went back to sleep. Soon, the boat shook to one side and tipped. Water started running out through the 6 watertight compartments. The people on the bottom 2 decks already had to try and save themselves. They were the first few people to lose their lives on the “unsinkable” Titanic. The higher decks soon had to get into the lifeboats. But then, the big ship faced the end of its time, it sunk!

There were not even enough lifeboats even if they were all filled to the max. The lifeboats that they did manage to fill were not filled to capacity. The reasons why the others were half full were because of the new rule the ship had. Only women and children were allowed first on the lifeboats. Many wives did not want to leave their husbands. They refused to go. The crew wanted at least some of the passengers to get to safety, so they went with what they got. When the ship started to sink, the last lifeboat was crowded around. It was madness! The Titanic is always going to be a unforgettable part of history!

Jan S.

THE NFL TIMES!!!!!!

The NFL upgraded protective gear because so many players were getting injured. For example, the  NFL committee upgraded the helmets because the players were getting constant concussions. Another example is that the NFL added knee pads. They added knee pads because that’s the main place where people get tackled. The NFL also added chest and shoulder pads because big hits could severely injure or even kill the player! That’s why football has a lot of padding. It is very unsafe if you play football without gear.

The padding in the NFL is very important. The padding has to be soft because if it’s not the player will be severely injured. There is a lot of padding and protective gear because the player would not be safe if he had no gear. In the NFL games, the players wear knee pads, helmets, shin guards, and chest pads. The chest pad is the most important because it blocks the heart. If a player gets a big hit in the chest, the blow will probably kill the player.

Gianna A.

How to Draw a Snow Leopard

First draw a big head so it looks like a fuzzy snow ball. Then, draw big ears if you want, you can color the inside a little bit. Next draw a small nose to have room for the eyes.  After you are done, draw big eyes starting at the bottom of the face.  Make sure to draw a line on the bottom and then draw a circle with another circle inside.  Also, you can draw two upside teardrops on top of the head if you want to draw designs on the head. Finally, for the whole body draw two paws.   Make sure to draw a line in the middle and then draw a big tail. Don't forget to put big dots and small dots on the entire body.  Now, you have a snow leopard!

Jean Luc D.

                   

Forbidden City History

The Forbidden City is the world’s largest collection of preserved ancient wooden structures covering an area of 180 acres.  The complex consists of 980 buildings.  It is located in the old centre of Beijing, China.   The Forbidden City was built to protect and house the Emperors of China for nearly 500 years, doing the two imperial dynasties, the Ming dynasty and the Qing dynasty. It was home to 24 Emperors.  The Emperor’s residence was built as a replica of the Purple Palace, where god was thought to live.

 

Now, you might be wondering, If it is so huge, and was built so long ago, then how did they build it?   Well, it was built between 1406 and 1420. Jiang Li,an engineer, translated a document telling how it was made.    They built it by workers sliding stones over slabs of wet ice. The blocks came from a quarry about 4.3 miles away from the worksite.  People in China had been using the spoked wheel since 1500 B.C, so it was commonly thought that colossal stones like that would be transported by a wheeled cart or wagon, not something like a sled. The heaviest of the giant stones, named the large stone carving, weighs more than 220 tons, but once weighed more than 330 tons.  It also said that they would dig a well every 1,600 feet to wet the ice to make it more slippery.

The Forbidden City has a unique history.  After the Second Opium War, Empress Dowager Cixi had to flee from the Forbidden City during the Boxer Rebellion, leaving it to forces of treaty powers until the following year.  It was home to 24 Emperors, 10 of the Qing dynasty and 14 of the Ming dynasty.  Puyi, the last Emperor of China, remained the inner court while the outer court was given to the public, until he got killed and the public took over the inner court.  There were no more Emperors after that.

If you go to the Forbidden City now, it is mostly the Palace Museum.  The Palace Museum was established in the Forbidden City after Puyi was evicted.  In 1933, the Japanese invaded China, forcing the evacuation of national treasures. Part of the treasure collection was returned at the end of World War II, but the other part was evacuated to Taiwan in 1948, from orders of Chiang Kai-Shek, whose Kuomintang army was losing the Chinese civil war. The collection of artifacts was built upon Imperial collections of the Ming and Qing dynasties.   Part of the museum’s former collection is in the national palace museum in Taipei.  Both museums were descended from the same institution, but were split up after the Chinese Civil War.

The palace itself consist of:  Meridian Gate, Gate of Divine Might, West Glorious

Gate, Corner Towers, Gate of Supreme Harmony, Hall of Supreme Harmony, Hall of Military Eminence, Hall of Literary Glory, Southern Three Palaces, Palace of Heavenly Purity, Imperial Garden, Hall of Mental Cultivation, and Palace of Tranquil Longevity. These names are very important to Chinese culture.  In my opinion, as a researcher, the names are intriguing.

The walls are 7.9 meters high.  The palace has a moat that is 6 meters deep, by 52 meters wide. The walls of the palace are 8.62 meters wide at the bottom and 6.66 meters high at the top  with beautiful trim-work to top it off. It really is a magnificent palace.

Emily G.

Emperor Penguins Are in Danger

Emperor penguins are in danger.  People hunt krill and fish which these creatures eat.  Emperor penguins are not getting enough food so they get hungry and die from starvation.  Also, oil and harsh chemicals get in the water and and makes the penguins feathers less waterproof and they get cold.  It can also damage internal organs.  People also carelessly throw trash and bottles onto the beach or in the water and trash  gets  pushed in the ocean. Trash can drift a long way.   Finally, Global warming is melting the ice and the environment they live in and because of this penguins suffer.

One way we can help is to limit the amount of aerosol cans.  These are made in factories and the gas and pollution they let out is not good for the environment.  Also, you should recycle cans, paper, and bottles.  Another thing is that people should stop relying on fossil fuels.  In addition,  you could go to the beach or somewhere in your community and pick up trash.  This could also help other endangered animals. This is how you could help emperor penguins.

Adam B.

The Airliner Insider!

Airliners

Have you ever flown on a passenger airliner?  The first commercial flights were on planes that could only fit 4 people!  Now, millions of people fly on airliners every year! Wow, what happened in only 100 years?  If you were wondering, airliners are airplanes that could carry hundreds of people and fly above mountains and oceans to take passengers wherever they want to go.

 

           On airliners, there are different classes divided into different sections of the plane.  Those classes are first class, business class, and economy class.  There is also on some planes, premium economy class, which is just a bit better than normal economy class.  First and business classes have seats that fold down into beds [lucky dogs]!  Airline logic, the more expensive the class is, the more legroom and amenities it has.  Plane tickets cost as much as $43,000 on Eithad Airways for first class.  Wow, that is a lot of money!

   

             Now airliners can carry up to 700 people! There is only one plane that can carry 700 people and that would be the Airbus a380.

                         

             Airlines are companies that buy planes, paint their logos on the plane, furnish it, and hire crew to maintain it.  Voila! An airline.  There are many, many airlines in the world. For example these are just a few, Virgin, Emirates, Quantas, American, Eithad,  United, KLM, Thai, British, and Air France.  Of course, there are hundreds more.

                                                     

                                                                                  

Sophie K.

The Toucan Times

The Toucans of the Forest

Playful toucans have lots of energy but watch out! They can bite you with their enormous beaks (also known as bills). Their white neck and black body help them blend in with the shadows of the forest. There are 40 types of toucans, but the one this article is about is the famous toco toucan. The toco toucan is so famous because of how tall it is. The toco toucan can measure up to 25 inches tall.

Every type of toucan has a wonderful bill. It is wonderful because it is so colorful. A toucan’s bill is its most recognizable feature. That is why it really stands out from the other animals in the forest. A toucan’s bill can measure up to 8 inches (one third of the toco toucan’s body). A male toucan’s bill is bigger than a female’s bill. That is how you can tell them apart.

A toco toucan’s diet consists of many things. Their main source of food are tropical fruits that they can reach, mostly berries, though. Their large bill helps them pick and peel these fruits. Some other things that their diet contains are frogs, insects, and reptiles. Occasionally, they can eat the eggs of other baby birds.

Toco toucans can be found in the rainforests of South America. They can also be found in savannas and shrublands of the forests. Their nest can be inside tall, hollow trees. They do not fly much and they mostly stay in the treetops. When they do fly, they glide short distances. Now you know your facts about toco toucans.

Katie G.

Polar Bears and Emperor Penguins

There are ways that polar bears and emperor penguins are alike.  Emperor penguins and polar bears are great swimmers.  Also, they both are carnivores. Another thing that they have in common is that both of them live in Antarctica. They are both endangered from global warming. Those are  some of the ways that they are alike.

These are ways that polar bears and emperor penguins are different.    Emperor penguins weigh up to 88 lbs. while polar bears weigh up to 550 pounds.  Polar bears have 1-4 cubs in the spring and emperor penguins lay 1 egg in the spring.   Another thing that is different is that the polar bears have four legs and the penguins have 2 flippers and 2 feet.  The polar bear is white and the emperor penguins are white and black also yellow. Those are some of the ways that polar bears and emperor penguins are different.   

Syed Shahroz N.

Box Turtles vs. Tigers

   Box turtles and tigers are alike in some ways. They  both have 2 eyes and a  head.

A box turtle and a tiger may both have black and orange on their bodies. Box turtles and tigers are different in many ways. Box turtles are slow  and tigers are fast. Box turtles live in the USA and Mexico. Tigers live in Asia and Africa. Did you know that tigers are mammals but turtles are reptiles. Tigers have fur but box turtles have a shell. Box turtles are born from eggs while tigers are born as cubs from their mothers.  These are some ways that box turtles and tigers are alike and different.

Jade P.

Amazon’s  Newest  Animals

Did you know that lots of new animals were recently discovered in the Amazon rainforest and river?  In the last few years, many new species were discovered in the Amazon. From 2010-2013,  258 plants, 1 mammal, 18 birds, 22 reptiles, 58 amphibians and 84 fish were found. That is around 400 new animals in 3 years and that is just in the Amazon!

You may be wondering why there are so many creatures in the Amazon. Well, the Amazon is a hot and tropical area.  Most animals like to stay warm.  Also, the Amazon is the largest rainforest/river on earth.  There is a wide variety of terrain, so different animals can adapt to different types of land.  Lastly, there  are thousands of ecosystems.  All animals can get food and other things that they need to survive.

All of these animals are interesting.  Here are a few of the most recently discovered animals.   The Purring Monkey is an amazing animal. The babies purr just as a cat would. The Warpainted Lizard seems like a brave and harmful creature with its flame-like design. In reality, it is an extremely shy and harmless creature that tries to hide from humans. Finally, the Vegetarian Piranha is unique. Unlike regular piranhas, they are herbivores.  Read on to learn more about these newly discovered animals.

Alex I.

The Nightly Nuclear      

          Have you ever wondered about nuclear power?   This article is dedicated to that topic.  Nuclear energy is very beneficial for power and for anti-global warming.  It is actually 10 times stronger than a regular power plant and produces as much as a massive 1000 megawatts.  Nuclear power is also less expensive after the plant is built because it uses less fuel.  However, there is a higher risk of catastrophe than a regular power plant that runs on coal.  That is because a coal run power plant will almost never blow up.  Also, uranium used in the process will be radioactive for many years and disposal is almost impossible.

          The process that creates nuclear energy is surprisingly quite simple.  It is known as nuclear fission.  In the nuclear reactor, discharged nuclear rods and charged nuclear rods spew out neutrons and atoms.  When a heavy atom collides into a neutron, it creates immense heat.  The heat is then used to form steam.  The steam is used to power turbines.

                   Power plants have giant stack which can reach 150 feet tall and are made of reinforced concrete.  The nuclear blast that a core meltdown produces is catastrophic but can’t easily escape because of these immensely thick towers.  The towers are topped off with a large metal cap. The nuclear reactors sit inside.  The cooling towers which stack up to 150-250 feet discard useless steam.  The inside of a reactor is similar to a pool.  The water is used to cool the reactor while it is splitting atoms.  If there were no water to cool it, it would melt the steel and spill radioactive gas and molten steel all around.  That is the description of a nuclear power plant.