Archives for August, 2009
Posted by BOOK NAME: The Mysterious Benedict Society
AUTHOR: Trenton Lee Stewart
In this book, four kids about 12 years old and one extremely smart 2 -year-old go on an amazing adventure. But what they all don’t know is they all came from the same types of family which makes them come together even more. After taking maybe the most life-changing test EVER, they meet the writer of it all, Mr. Benedict.
Mr. Benedict sends Kate Weatherall, Reynie Muldoon, Sticky (George) Washington, and Constance Contraire to his twin brother’s school for the gifted where they stop future drama and meet new friends on the way. While their summer isn’t going quite how they planned,
Kate and her dad Milligan save their friends Reynie and Sticky from the whisperer while Constance uses her well-known way of rejecting things to try and shut down the whisperer. I was up reading for hours every night hope you enjoy this book as much as I did
Posted by As you head back to school, see if you can add a few of these tips to your school routine.
- Ride your bike or walk to school.
- Use last year’s school supplies.
- Buy a canvas and cardboard binders instead of plastic.
- Buy recycled paper.
- Carpool to sports practice
Read the whole list and then tell us which tip works best for you and your family.
Giant pandas could be extinct in two to three generations unless development around their habitat in China is controlled, according to a World Wildlife Fund spokesperson based in China.
Read the story on National Geographic News.
Get the facts about Giant Pandas.
See photos of Playful Pandas.
San Francisco’s crooked Lombard Street was sugar coated this week to became a gigantic version of the board game Candy Land to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the game.
Photograph by Marcio Jose Sanchez/AP
On hand to play the game were kids from the University of California at San Francisco Children’s Hospital and several adults appeared in costumes of game characters, Princess Lolly,
Princess Frostine, and King Kandy.
All the fish caught in the nearly 300 streams tested by the United States Geological Survey were found to contain some level of mercury, according to a new USGS study. The wild-caught fish with the highest mercury levels are smallmouth, largemouth, and spotted bass. The lowest amounts were found in brown, rainbow-cutthroat trout, and channel catfish.
Most of the mercury is from coal-fired power plants.
Learn more Facts on Fish.
Photograph by Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty Images
President Obama and the first family took a trip through Montana, Colorado, and Arizona this past weekend. President Obama, First Lady Michelle Obama, and daughters Sasha and Malia visited Yellowstone National Park’s Old Faithful geyser and ventured to the edge of the deep chasm of the Grand Canyon (which is up to a mile deep in some places).
Read more about the Obamas’ trip on the L.A. Times.
Think you know your national parks? Quiz Your Noodle and see if you have your facts straight.
See pictures of beautiful national parks in the Photo Gallery.
Posted by
BOOK NAME: Eleven
AUTHOR: Lauren Myracle
Winnie is turning eleven and realizes that things are changing in the world and in herself. First of all, her best friend Amanda is dumping Winnie for another girl who is just a snob. Then, her older sister is moody all the time. Next a dork in the class wants to hang out all the time with Winnie and that does not help Winnie’s coolness factor. Lastly all of the girls in her class have a boyfriend except for her. Winnie will find a way to make things better but that might mean giving up something.
I LOVED THIS BOOK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! My friends had been telling me that it was such a good read and I needed to buy it. It has many sequels which I will surely get and blog on. It is very interesting because there’s love, competition, friendship and fighting. It’s neat because the story is told in each month of the year so that means that there are twelve chapters. It never EVER got boring and it was a learning adventure.
I would definitely not miss reading this book especially if your are a girl who likes some fun fiction. Post a comment if you have ever been dumped by a friend like Winnie.
Photograph by Melissa Brandts, Your Shot
Believe it or not, this picture is for real! While visiting Banff National Park in Canada, two park visitors put their camera on a rock and set the camera’s timer. The noise of the camera focusing caught the attention of a curious ground squirrel, who popped up in front of the camera in time for the click of the shutter. What a great (and unique) vacation memory!
Get the story of this amazing picture in the photographer’s words on National Geographic.
See pictures of national parks in the United States in the Photo Gallery.
Guinness World Records official Stuart Claxton was on hand at Union
Station today to declare a new record to National Geographic Kids magazine
for the most clothing collected for recycling. Over 33,000 donated denim items
were unveiled in a display in the main hall at Union Station in
Washington, D.C. The house of denim will be on display through August 27.
Watch a time-lapse video of the display construction.
Kids donated 33,088 items which will be recycled by COTTON. FROM BLUE TO GREEN.®, and made into home insulation for houses damaged in natural disasters. Kids from all over the country
participated, sending in one pair of jeans or truck loads of jeans
collected in community projects.
Photograph courtesy Anne McCormack
National Geographic Kids set the world record today for the largest collection of denim clothing to recycle. The final count, verified by Stuart Claxton for Guinness World Records, is an astounding 33,088 pieces of denim clothing! Erek H., a NG Kids reader from Ohio, collected 1,684 pairs of jeans for the project. He had the honor of putting the final pair of jeans into the display…jeans that once belonged to Ben Stiller! The actor donated one of his pairs of jeans at the beginning of the jeans drive.
Visit the Green Scene blog to find out more about the record attempt.
Check out videos of other Guinness World Records.
Read about the record NG Kids set for the longest chain of shoes.
Posted by BOOK NAME: IceFire
AUTHOR: Chris D’Lacey
Hi, it’s Reed again and I’m reviewing the sequel to The Fire Within. Hope you enjoy.
David
might be going to the Arctic to research polar bears. You have to pay
$700 to go to the Arctic, but if you have the best report in your
college class, you go for free. David does his report on dragons. A
girl named Zanaa, who’s in his class, is going to bring David a book on
dragons. Lucy thinks he loves her.
David has a meeting with a
publisher for Snigger and the Nut Beast (remember that from my review
of the first book?), and he got an offer for $1,000. He says yes.
Liz’s
aunt comes to visit so David has to stay at the neighbors’, Mr. Bacon.
Liz has a snowball that keeps all of her dragons alive and David wants
to know more about it. There is a dragon egg that the Aunt wants Liz to
hatch. The Aunt has a dragon named Gretel. David is suspicious of how
the Aunt behaves.
Zanaa wins the contest at school! She’s
going to the Arctic for free! Gadzooks writes the word Loral for David.
Loral is a bear and Gadzooks is trying to tell David that Loral is
important! You have to read the book to find out the end. I will see you
next time! Bye!
Have you ever wanted to explore a new place and just be yourself? Forests are a great place for outdoors adventure! The Discover the Forest website helps you find a park or forest near you. Once you’ve picked a spot, you can print out a book of ideas, learn to use a compass, and match animal tracks. Go exploring!
Watch the Discover the Forest video from the Forest Service.
Visit Discover the Forest to find a park near you.
What’s it like to be a conservationist? Meet Mike Fay.
Learn how to take a camping trip in your backyard on National Geographic Kids.
Last year, 400,000 volunteers all over the world helped remove 6.8 million pounds of trash from waterways during the annual International Coastal Cleanup day, according to the Ocean Conservancy. Find a location near you and sign up to help in this year’s cleanup on September 19.
Learn about the Ocean Now expeditions on National Geographic.
August is National Inventors Month. To celebrate, the National Museum of American History built a giant light bulb model out of LEGO bricks on August 3. Museum visitors worked with LEGO Master Builders to assemble the multicolored model. The light bulb is 8 feet (2.4 meters) tall and contains over 300,000 bricks!
Get LEGO tips from a LEGO Master Builder on National Geographic Kids.
Visit the Smithsonian Institution’s Lemelson Center Invention at Play website.
Photograph courtesy of the LEGO Group
Mani the monkey was never trained to herd goats, but somehow she manages anyway. Mani has lived at the Palagapandi estate for three years, and she has been a huge help! Every morning, she takes the goats that live at the plantation out to graze. At the end of the day, she brings all of the goats back home safely.
The Palagapandi estate manager says Mani is great at bringing the goats home. “She is as good as a shepherd. The only thing is that she does not speak, but otherwise carries out all responsibilities,” he adds.
Read more about Mani the goat-herding monkey on National Geographic News.
Look at pictures of dogs with jobs in the Photo Gallery.
