Category archives for People
Posted by There’s just a few more days to enter your best photos into the 2010 International Photography Contest for Kids! All entries must be postmarked or uploaded by November 1. You may enter one photo for each of the contest categories: humor, animals, scenery, or people.
Visit the 2010 International Photography Contest for Kids page to learn more and enter the contest.
See some of the winning photos from last year’s contest on National Geographic Kids.
Interviews with Lou Brock & Sadaharu Oh
Stefan Jenss, world traveler and former blogger for the Global Bros, was one of 250 kids, ages 10 and 11, selected to participate in the World Children’s Baseball Fair (WCBF) in Tokyo, Japan. The event celebrates its 20th anniversary.
At the World Children’s Baseball Fair in Tokyo, Japan (see my post), not only was I able to improve my skills and learn about other cultures, I had a chance to interview two of the greatest baseball players of all time, Lou Brock (pictured below) and Sadaharu Oh!
Posted by Stefan Jenss, world traveler and former blogger for the Global Bros, was one of 250 kids, ages 10 and 11, selected to participate in the World Children’s Baseball Fair (WCBF) in Tokyo, Japan. The event celebrates its 20th anniversary this year. Stefan Jenss reports.
The World Children’s Baseball Fair was started in 1989 by the home-run kings Sadaharu Oh of Japan and Hank Aaron of the USA. Its goal is to bring kids from around the world together through their common love of baseball. Because the sport promotes teamwork, good health, discipline, and friendship, Mr. Oh and Mr. Aaron believed the event would create goodwill and global understanding and appreciation among the children of the world. Twenty-three countries were represented at the WCBF this year.
Last year, a Dutch court ruled that Laura Dekker was too young to sail around the world by herself. Laura is now 14, and she is on her way to Portugal on her yacht, Guppy. In September, Laura will begin her official attempt to break the record for the youngest person to circumnavigate the globe sailing solo. The current record holder, Jessica Watson, broke the record in May at the age of 16.
Would you want to sail around the world alone?
Read more about Laura in the Associated Press article.
See a video of Laura on the the BBC.
Photograph by Bas Czerwinski, AP
David de Rothschild set sail from Sausalito, California to Sydney, Australia in his boat Plastiki on March 20, 2010. After four months in the Pacific Ocean, the Plastiki completed that goal when it sailed into Sydney Harbour. Plastiki is made of reused plastics and aluminum. David de Rothschild and his crew wanted their voyage to send the message that waste can be reused in new ways.
Visit Plastiki online to learn more about the journey.
Read past Plastiki updates on the Green Scene blog.
Photograph by Patrick Riviere courtesy the Plastiki Expedition/Adventure Ecology
Ten winners have been chosen by Build-A-Bear in their Huggable Heroes program. The program recognized the teens for their commitment to helping others.
Visit the Huggable Heroes website to find out who this year’s Huggable Heroes are!
Read more about the Huggable Heroes program on News Bites.
National Geographic Explorers working on projects all over the world are meeting at NG headquarters in Washington D.C. to share their latest fieldwork. Want to learn more about each of the Explorers and their projects? Visit the Nat Geo E-Team online!
Illustration by Chris Rooney
The top ten 2010 National Geographic Bee finalists faced off this morning at National Geographic headquarters in Washington, D.C. The winner is Aadith Moorthy, an eighth-grader from Florida. Watch Alex Trebek of Jeopardy! ask Aadith the final question!
Aadith will receive a $25,000 college scholarship, a lifetime National Geographic Society membership, and a trip to the Galápagos Islands with “Jeopardy!” host Alex Trebek.
Quiz Your Noodle and answer real questions from a past National Geograpic Bee.
Want more questions? Take the GeoBee Challenge.
(AD) Download the GeoBee iPhone app and find out if you have what it takes to be the next National Geographic Bee champion!
Jordan Romero, a 13-year-old from Big Bear Lake, California, has become the youngest person to scale Mount Everest, the world’s tallest peak. He reached the 29,035-foot (8,850-meter) summit with a team that included his father, his father’s girlfriend, and three Sherpa guides.
Jordan said he hoped his achievement would encourage young people worldwide to identify their own big dreams and pursue them.
“I’m doing this to inspire other kids, hopefully across the world, to get outdoors and to set goals in life. I’m doing this to set an example for them,” he said.
After reaching the peak, the eighth-grader called his mom and exclaimed, “It’s your son calling from the top of the world!”
Read more about Jordan’s journeys.
Learn about Sherpas.
Look at map of Mount Everest.
Photo courtesy Romero Family
On “Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day,” April 22, kids took over National Geographic headquarters. They got the inside scoop on what it’s like to work for National Geographic and reported on what they learned.
Read the whole post »
The 2010 National Geography Bee state competitions were held on Friday, April 9. The winners of the state GeoBees have been announced and are listed here! The finalists will travel to Washington, D.C. to compete in the finals on May 25-26 at National Geographic headquarters.
Learn more about the National Geographic Bee.
Want to test your geography knowledge? Try the GeoBee Challenge or Quiz Your Noodle!
Photograph by Jeanne Modderman/National Geographic
Read the whole post »
Peeps, the sugar-coated marshmallow treats shaped like bunnies and chicks, have been unwrapped and are traveling the world! National Geographic is challenging photographers to enter a photo competition to find the most creative Peeps travel photo. Be sure to sign up with your parents–kids can’t enter the contest on their own!
Get more information on the competition on National Geographic’s Intelligent Travel blog.
Get inspired! Check out the gallery of last year’s Peep photos on National Geographic Traveler.
Photograph by John Frazier
On February 5, we asked for your help naming our upcoming Explorers’ area on National Geographic Kids. You sent in some great ideas, and now you can help narrow down the names! Visit http://kids.nationalgeographic.com/contests/Explorers-name-voting and vote for your favorite name in the poll.
Illustration by Chris Rooney
Visit the Huggable Heroes website to find out more and enter, or pick up an entry form at a participating Build-A-Bear Workshop store.
Get inspired! Read about kids who helped National Geographic Kids, Jordin Sparks, and Malaria No More fight malaria in Africa.
Photograph courtesy Build-A-Bear Workshop
National Geographic Kids is about to launch a new online feature to showcase our amazing group of National Geographic Explorers! You can get a sneak peek in the illustration above. We want your creative ideas on what to name our upcoming explorers area. Our explorers not only dive into the depths of the ocean to do research, they also preserve languages, study wildlife, explore world cultures, and pore over scientific data to understand our planet and nature.
Please send us your ideas! You can either post your ideas as a comment, or email us. Thanks!
Illustration by Chris Rooney
President Obama has finished his first year in office. But how well has he done as President? National Geographic Kids magazine asked 758 readers to grade President Obama on his performance in different subjects like health care, Iraq and Afghanistan, and the environment.
So how did he do? For the most part, NG Kids readers think the President is doing a pretty good job. Most kids (90%) gave him an overall passing grade. When it came down to individual issues, the readers were a little more divided. For example, 46% gave him an A or B on health care, 22% gave him a C or D. Fifteen percent of kids gave him an F–more Fs than he received on any other subject. Readers were more pleased with President Obama’s progress on taking care of the environment. Nearly half gave the President an A or B in this subject.
But when it comes to the war in Iraq and Afghanistan, one in four kids gave the President a C or D for his performance. Here, too, they were sharply divided on his handling of the war in Iraq and Afghanistan, and both sides were extremely vocal about the stance they thought the President should take.
Along with the grades, kids also gave advice for the President to keep in mind for the rest of his term, such as “Sometimes being a leader means standing alone and doing the right thing when no one else will,” “Listen to the people, because the people make up this great union,” and “Try not to slouch so much.”
What grade would you give President Obama for his first year in office?
Read more stories about President Obama on News Bites.
Photograph by Pete Souza/Official White House Photo
You have probably heard the name “Buzz Aldrin” before. Aldrin was one of the first two people to walk on the moon in 1969, along with Apollo 11 mission commander Neil Armstrong. Aldrin will be celebrating a big milestone this Thursday, January 21: his 80th birthday.
You can help wish Buzz a happy birthday! Follow the link below to enter your name and birthday message. On January 21, the Planetary Society will give Buzz a giant birthday card, filled with names and messages from all over the world!
Add your name and message to the card on the Planetary Society website.
See restored footage of the 1969 moonwalks on National Geographic Kids.
See pictures of Buzz Aldrin and others exploring the moon on National Geographic Kids.
Photograph courtesy NASA
On January 12, Haiti was struck by a magnitude 7 earthquake, causing widespread devastation. The earthquake’s epicenter was about 10 miles from Port-au-Prince, Haiti’s capital city. The International Red Cross estimates that a third of Haiti’s citizens will need emergency aid.
The quake destroyed houses, schools, hospitals, and even the National Palace in Port-au-Prince. The city is currently without electricity or phone service.
Find out more about the Haiti earthquake on National Geographic News.
Find out how you can help on the American Red Cross website.
Learn more about earthquakes on nationalgeographic.com.
Learn more about Haiti on National Geographic Kids.
Photograph by Thony Belizaire/AFP/Getty Images
The Environmental Protection Agency has announced the fourth annual Rachel Carson Contest. The “Sense of Wonder” contest is open to teams made up of two or more people from younger and older generations. There are four categories: poetry, photography, essay, and dance. Teams should create a work that reflects how the team feels about the sea, the night sky, forests, birds, wildlife, and all that is beautiful. The deadline for entries is June 16, 2010.
Rachel Carson was an important figure in the birth of the environmental movement. Her book Silent Spring, published in 1962, alerted people to the dangers of the pesticide DDT, which was widely-used at the time.
Get more information on the contest on the EPA website.
Get green tips on National Geographic Kids.
Photograph by Troy Lim, Your Shot
Today is the 20th anniversary of the United Nations Convention of the Rights of the Child, or UNCRC. The UNCRC is a treaty that grants children under the age of 17 more than 40 rights, including the rights to survive, to education, to health, to protection from harm, and to be heard. The treaty has been signed by almost every country in the world.
To celebrate the anniversary, World Photography Organisation, Sony, and UNICEF will be sending six young photographers to Ethiopia with National Geographic photographer and humanitarian Reza.
Learn more about UNCRC on the UNICEF website.
Visit the Sony World Photography Awards website.
Read an interview with Reza on National Geographic Kids.
Photograph © Sharon Lovell/UNICEF
Did you know that over one billion people suffer hunger in the world each day? That is about one-sixth of the population of the planet. The World Food Programme, part of the United Nations, helps feed people around the world and has created online resources to help kids learn about hunger and ways to help. The WFP blog for students and teachers called, Teaching Hunger, is a great way to learn more about how hunger affects people around the world. Another WFP blog, On the Road, features videos highlighting hunger issues. Check out the links below to visit the World Food Programme blogs on their website.
Visit the World Food Programme’s Teaching Hunger blog.
Visit the World Food Programme’s On the Road blog.
Learn how you can help others during the holidays this year on National Geographic Kids.
Hunger isn’t the only problem in the world. Malaria is still a problem in Africa. Read more on National Geographic Kids.
Photograph courtesy WFP/Rein Skullerud
Illustration by Chris Rooney
Have you ever wanted to become a blogger for National Geographic Kids? Here’s your big chance! NG Kids is searching for three new bloggers for DogEared, the book review blog by and for kids. If you love to read (and if you love to give your opinions), this is the perfect contest for you.
Learn more about the “So You Wanna Be a DogEared Blogger” contest.
Read the official rules and enter.
Photograph by Bart Muhl/AP
Laura Dekker is a girl with a dream–to be the youngest person to circumnavigate (sail around) the world alone in her yacht, Guppy. Laura isn’t new to sailing. She was born on a boat in New Zealand, and was sailing solo on lakes when she was six years old. She sailed across the English Channel to England and back at her father’s insistence that she prove herself before tackling the open ocean. Laura is 13 years old.
A Dutch court has ruled that Laura is too young to make the trip alone, and has placed her under state supervision for two months to make sure she stays on dry land.
Do you think 13 is too young to sail solo around the world? How old do you think someone should be before sailing such a huge distance alone?
Read more about Laura Dekker on the BBC.
Read about a man’s attempt to circumnavigate the world on his own power on National Geographic Kids.
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.
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.
