it’s raining monarchs - wikispaces · monarchs have a wondrous life cycle. ... it’s raining...
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Have you ever seen more than25,000 butterflies in one spot?In the fall of 1999, people in
Cape May, New Jersey, were delight-ed by that spectacle. Flutteringclouds of monarch butterflies flewthrough the seaside town on theirlong journey south.
Each August, millions of monarchbutterflies begin to migrate fromCanada and the northern U.S. tospend the winter in the sunny south.They travel as many as 2,000 milesduring the fall migration to escape thecold. A monarch can fly 100 miles in aday!
Karen Oberhauser of theUniversity of Minnesota’sdepartment of ecologythinks fair weatherhelped the monarchs in1999. Milkweed plants,which monarchs eat,grew like crazy in theupper Midwest,where there was plentyof rain.
LONG LIVE THE MONARCH!Monarchs have a wondrous life cycle.Every spring, the monarchs that havespent the winter sleeping in the southwake up and begin to fly north. Alongthe way, females each lay up to 700eggs on the underside of milkweedplants; then they die.
In about a month, the eggs growinto striped caterpillars, which turninto adult butterflies. This generationlives for only about two months andthe females lay more eggs. The adultbutterflies that grow from these eggsfly north, where they too will lay eggs.Monarchs born in late summer live as
long as nine months, which givesthem time to make the journey south.
Despite 1999’s huge migration,experts worry about the monarch’sfuture. Loggers in Mexico have cutsome of the forests where millions ofmonarchs spend the winter.Farmers use weed killers thatcan destroy milkweed plants,the monarch’s favorite foodas well as its egg-layingspot. And the monarchs arealways subject to local
weather conditions. A dry spell inTexas during the summer of 1999meant fewer plants there for themonarchs to eat.
Jeffrey Glassberg, president of theNorth American ButterflyAssociation, says protecting the but-terflies is worth the effort becausethey are such pleasant natural neigh-bors: “They get along well with peo-ple, are easily approachable, don’tneed miles of wilderness, and theyadd beauty and variety to people’slives.”
It’s Raining
MonarchsMeet the long-distance travelers of the insect world
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Monarchs swirl around a fir tree in Mexico.
In the fallmonarchsmigrate southto Californiaand Mexico.
Hibernatingmonarchs hang
out in MorroBay, California.
A monarch caterpillar
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Reader’s Response
Writer’s Response
Do you think everyone would bepleased by the monarchmigration? What are somedrawbacks to having 25,000butterflies in your town?
How many generations apartare the monarchs that fly southin the fall from those that flewnorth the previous spring?Explain your calculation.
What efforts could be made toprotect the monarch butterfly?
The author describes themonarchs’ life cycle as“wondrous.” Choose anotherword or phrase you would use todescribe their life cycle. Explainyour choice.
Why does the article open witha question? What answer doesthe writer expect the reader togive? Explain.
Look up the word monarch andexplain why the writer used it inthe subhead “Long Live theMonarch!”
What fact in the secondparagraph does the writer thinkis particularly remarkable?Explain how you know.
What would be the effect if thewriter had reversed the order ofthe last two paragraphs?
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Titles areimportant. Atitle must sum-
marize the content of anarticle and catch a read-er’s attention. One wayto catch a reader’s eye isto use wordplay in thetitle. Hopefully, the read-er will stop to figure outthe wordplay and then
(Ha! Hooked ’em!) go on to read the article.I thought of the title ‘It’s Raining Monarchs’ even
before I began writing this article, and I knew it wasone of my best ‘hooks’ ever. Here’s why:
If you look up the word monarch, you’ll find that itmeans absolute ruler. Sometimes king or queen will begiven as a synonym. Then think what a monarch does.A monarch rules, or reigns. And reigns is pronouncedjust like the word rains. So you’ve got this terrific word-play on reigning monarchs (governing rulers) and rain-ing monarchs (showers of butterflies)!
My editor liked it, too. What did you think?
✏ Having 25,000 butterfliesflying through your town would bequite an experience. As a reporterfor the local paper, you’ve beenasked to cover the monarchmigration. Write the story, usingdetails from this article andmaking sure to include quotesfrom local people.
✏ Most people feel a bituncomfortable surrounded by insects. Write about anencounter, good or bad, that you have had with lots ofbugs. Help the reader share your experience by usingvivid, descriptive language. Try to use wordplay in thetitle.
✏ Using information from this article, write aboutpossible threats to the monarch for an educationalpamphlet to be distributed to other classes in yourschool.
USINGWORDPLAY IN
TITLES
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It’s a tale full of romance, sneakytricks, tragedy and, most of all, girlpower. On top of that, it’s true. The
real-life story of Cleopatra, a beautiful17-year-old girl when she became thepowerful ruler of ancient Egypt, hasfascinated people for thousands ofyears. Now new information aboutCleopatra’s life is coming to the sur-face. Parts of her ancient royal courthave been found near Alexandria,Egypt—under water!
FINDING A LOST ISLANDAncient Egyptian writings and draw-ings show that Cleopatra owned aroyal palace on an island namedAntirhodos (An-teer-uh-dose). Theisland was near Alexandria, the capi-tal city of Egypt during Cleopatra’sreign in the first century B.C.
Although the city of Alexandriastill exists today, floods and earth-quakes buried Antirhodos underwater more than 1,600 years ago. But
it wasn’t lost for good. In 1996 under-sea explorer Franck Goddio found itbeneath just 18 feet of water, off theshore of Alexandria. Statues,columns, pavement, and pottery—the ruins of Cleopatra’s palace—layburied in layers of mud, seaweed,and garbage.
ONE QUEEN, TWO LOVE STORIESCleopatra and her brother PtolemyXIII began to rule Egypt together in51 B.C. In keeping with royal custom,the brother and sister were married!But Ptolemy did not want to sharethe throne, and he forced Cleopatraout of the palace.
The quick-witted young womansaw her chance to regain powerwhen Rome’s main leader, JuliusCaesar (See-zer), traveled to Egypt.In order to meet with him, Cleopatrais said to have sneaked into thepalace rolled up in a carpet! Caesarsoon fell in love with Cleopatra. He
helped her push Ptolemy aside andtake control of Egypt.
Caesar was murdered by his ene-mies, and a new Roman leader, MarkAntony, met Cleopatra. Just likeCaesar before him, Antony fell in lovewith her. He moved into Cleopatra’spalace at Antirhodos.
Soon people back in Rome fearedthat Antony was more interested inEgypt than in his own empire. Theyturned against him and Egypt. Indespair, Cleopatra and Antony tooktheir own lives. Ancient Egypt’s lastqueen died at the age of 39.
Though her reign ended 2,000years ago, Cleopatra continues toenchant people everywhere. For thatreason, Goddio hopes to set up anunderwater museum at the palacesite. Visitors would be able to exploreand experience Cleopatra’s world upclose. “To be there, underwaterwhere she reigned and died,” saysGoddio, “is unbelievable.”
Raising Royal TreasureRaising Royal Treasure
Bit by bit, divers are recovering pieces of Cleopatra’s lost palace
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A DEEP-SEA STARING CONTEST? No. Explorer Franck Goddio meets a sphinx. Its face is that of Cleopatra’s father.
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Reader’s Response
Writer’s Response
Why do you suppose it hastaken so long to discover theruins of Antirhodos?
What would be the difficulties inexploring Cleopatra’s palace?
What three facts will youremember about this articletomorrow morning? Explainwhy.
From reading this article, whatsort of a person would you sayCleopatra was? Give reasons foryour answers.
Explain how one might createan “underwater museum.”
By saying “on top of that, it’strue” in the first paragraph,what is the writer suggestingabout the story of Cleopatra?
In the third paragraph, howdoes the writer emphasize thedifficulties involved in exploringCleopatra’s palace?
What details does the writerinclude to suggest how amazingthe story of Cleopatra is?
Why might the writer havechosen to end the article withthe word unbelievable?
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When I was verylittle, my grandfa-ther, who was in
his sixties, bought a motorbike. My mother thoughthe was crazy, but my fathersaid, ‘It’ll add a little spiceto his life.’ I didn’t knowwhat he meant at the time.Spice was what you put infood. It was the ginger inthe gingerbread.
Now I know what Dad was talking about. Spice is theingredient that makes life, and food, interesting. It alsomakes writing interesting. If you want people to enjoy yourstories or articles, it’s always a good idea to add some detailthat you know readers will find intriguing, even if it isn’tnecessary or even important. In ‘Raising Royal Treasure,’ forinstance, I made sure to throw in a little spice. It wasn’tessential for readers to know that Cleopatra married herbrother, but it certainly was interesting. A fact like that isspicy; it wakes you up! And what about sneaking in to meetCaesar rolled up in a carpet? That’s a story that may not evenbe true. (Notice that I used the qualifying words, ‘is said tohave ...’, but I just couldn’t leave it out.)
Come to think of it, Cleopatra was quite a spicylady!
✏ Imagine that Franck Goddiohas asked you to assist him indesigning the museum at the ruinsof Cleopatra’s sunken palace. Writea proposal for an underwatermuseum, explaining how it mightbe designed, how tourists mightget to it, and what they would see.
✏ Pretend that you are one ofFranck Goddio’s divers discovering the ruins beneaththe ocean. Write the thoughts that go through yourhead as you see Cleopatra’s palace for the first time.
✏ A new movie has been released about the life ofCleopatra, and as public relations officer you have towrite a press release describing the production. Useinformation from the article and research other factsabout Cleopatra’s life.
ADDING SPICETO A STORY
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The tiny Russian republic ofChechnya (Chetch-nee-ah) is awar zone. Its enemy: Russia’s
own army. Jets swoop over towns andfire at homes, cars, and bridges. Tanksrumble across the countryside. Morethan 200,000 terrified Chechens haveabandoned their homes and have fledinto neighboring regions. Thousandsare stranded at border crossings andrefugee camps.
The people of Chechnya, which isabout the size of New Jersey, wantindependence from Russia. Most ofthem are Muslims. But Russia, whichconquered Chechnya in 1864 after along and bloody war, refuses to let therepublic go. It fought a bitter waragainst Chechen rebels three yearsago, and now it’s fighting again.Chechnya, says Russia’s ActingPresident Vladimir Putin, “is part ofthe Russian Federation.”
ANOTHER DISASTERWhen the last war ended in 1996,Chechnya formally continued to bepart of Russia but acted as an inde-pendent country. However, theChechen government failed to con-trol its rebel leaders and couldn’t putan end to kidnapping and violence.Muslim rebels from Chechnya invad-ed the neighboring Russian provinceof Dagestan. Terrorist bombs killed atleast 300 people in Moscow and othercities. Russian leaders blamed
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CHECHNYA
he countries shown in brown were once ruled by the Russians, as part of the giant Soviet Union. These countries won Independence in 1991. Tiny Chechnya wants its independence too.
TThe countries shown in brown were once ruled by the Russians, as part of the giant Soviet Union. These countries won Independence in 1991. Tiny Chechnya wants its independence too.
Russia’s
Bitter WarRound 2 againstrebellious Chechnya
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As Russian tanks roll in, Chechen people flee. Here, hungry refugees get some bread.
Chechen rebels and decided to crackdown.
The 1994–96 war againstChechnya was a disaster for Russia.Its army was badly beaten by therebels and forced out of the Chechencapital of Grozny. As many as 100,000civilians were killed in the war, alongwith more than 4,000 Russian sol-diers.
Critics say the new war will beequally disastrous. There is no waythat Russia can stamp out support for
independence. “To winthis war, you have todestroy the entire malepopulation of Chechnya,”says former RussianPrime Minister SergeiStepashin.
Russia is determinedto continue its attacks.“We plan to liberate thewhole of Chechnya,” saysRussian Defense MinisterMarshal Igor Sergeyev.“This task must beaccomplished.”
Sadly, that will meanmore destruction andbloodshed in a region thathas yet to recover fromthe earlier war.
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Reader’s Response
Writer’s Response
What problems would peopleface who were suddenly forcedto abandon their homes?
Why might the Russians be sodetermined to hang on toChechnya?
Do you think that a country thesize of New Jersey can resist thehuge Russian army?
“We plan to liberate the wholeof Chechnya,” says the defenseminister. What do you think thismeans?
Why do you suppose theChechens might want theirindependence?
How does the writer help thereader understand the size ofChechnya?
What does the writer do in thesecond and third paragraphsfrom the end to provide abalanced description of the twosides at war?
What vivid verbs does the writeruse in the first paragraph? Listtwo that you think are especiallyeffective and tell why.
How does the writer addemotion to the end of the story?
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I first learned whatthe word ironymeant when I was
in sixth grade. The teachercaught a kid copying anoth-er student’s answers duringa test. As it turned out, theother kid hadn’t studiedeither, so the cheater wascopying all the wronganswers. ‘How ironic!’remarked Ms. Edwards, asshe gave them both zeros.
That’s what irony is. You expect one thing to happen, butsomething else happens instead. The kid who was cheatingexpected to get a good grade. Even if he hadn’t been caught,he would have got a bad one.
Life is full of irony. Sometimes it makes you smile; some-times it’s pretty sad. I was struck by the ironies in Chechnyawhen I wrote ‘Russia’s Bitter War.’ How ironic that Russiawas bombing its own people in order to preserve itself! Thatreminded me of an ironic quotation from the time of the U.S.war in Vietnam. An American officer said, ‘We had to destroythe village in order to save it.’ Doesn’t that sound a lot like theRussian Defense Minister saying, ‘We plan to liberate thewhole of Chechnya.’
What will he have left once it’s ‘liberated’? Howsad; how ironic!
✏ Russia is enraged with littleChechnya for being lawless and violent.But is it necessary to invade thecountry? Describe what you thinkRussia might do as an alternative toall-out war against Chechnya.
✏ Imagine that you and yourfamily were forced to leave yourhouse on very short notice, takingwith you only what you could carry.Write about what you think mighthappen. What would you pack? What particular difficultieswould your family face?
✏ Find out about a current conflict in the world. Write abalanced news article about it.
✏ What should the United States do when othercountries act in ways that are disturbing to us? Write adialogue recording an imaginary telephone conversationabout Chechnya between the American and the Russianpresidents.
IRONY
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One day some green iguanas were climbing trees on theCaribbean island of Guadeloupe (gwad-a-loop), when ahurricane hit. Fierce winds blew the trees down, and
heavy rains swept them to the shore. Soon the iguanas were atsea, floating north on a raft of tangled trees. The lizards held onfor dear life, as they bobbed along for 200 miles. They landedat last on the island of Anguilla (an-gwill-a).
Can land-loving lizards really ride the waves? Witnesses totheir arrival and scientists who studied it say it truly happened.More important, the iguanas’ voyage helps prove an old theoryabout how animals sometimes relocate to faraway places.
SURFING TO ANGUILLAGreen iguanas live in South America and the Caribbean, usual-ly no farther north than Guadeloupe. That’s why fishermen onAnguilla were amazed to spot the colorful creatures on thebeach in October 1995. The island is home to brown iguanas,
Invasion of the Green IguanasScientists discover that lizards took a rafting trip in the Caribbean Sea
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but the lizards on the beach were bluish green,with giant scales on their cheeks. Anguilla’sresidents contacted biologist Ellen Censky. “Ifirst thought, ‘No way!’” she recalls. But whenshe saw a picture, she knew something strangehad happened.
Censky learned that two powerful hurri-canes had hit Guadeloupe in September 1995.She realized the iguanas must have been
swept out to sea on uprooted trees.The iguanas were in bad
shape when the fishermen foundthem. “My guess is that it washot and dry on the raft,” saysCensky. “They were probablyrunning around trying to find
shade.”
TINY TRAVELERSScientists have long wondered howanimals come to settle on distantislands. In some cases, they may
have traveled over land bridges that at onetime connected islands with mainlands. Butscientists have also suspected that some smallcreatures traveled on floating trees. The igua-nas’ rafting trip is the first proof that groupscan move around this way.
Time will tell whether or not the greeniguanas become permanent residents ofAnguilla. Most have survived. At least onefemale is said to have had a nest of eggs—agood sign that the iguanas are settling in.
LEAPIN’ LIZARD! Thisgreen iguana cruised toAnguilla on a raft.
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Reader’s Response
Writer’s Response
Why wouldn’t the iguanas haveabandoned their trees when thewind blew them down?
Why did biologist Ellen Censkydisbelieve the people at first?
Do scientists have proof that theiguanas rafted to Anguilla?Explain your answer.
What problems might occurwith the arrival of a new specieson a small island?
What word does the writer usein the title that is calculated tocatch the reader’s attention?Explain.
What effect does the writerachieve by describing theiguanas’ journey as a “raftingtrip” and comparing it to“surfing”?
How would you describe thewriter’s style in the firstparagraph of this article? Whatother types of books or storiesdoes this style of writing remindyou of?
What is the effect of the lastsentence of the article? Givereasons for your answer.
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Everyone loves astory. Little chil-dren drive you
nuts at bedtime. ‘Tell me astory,’ they’ll beg, until yougive in. And at school, myfavorite teachers werealways the ones who toldstories. Now I find myselfasking my own children forstories. ‘Tell me somethingthat happened at schooltoday,’ I ask when I seethem in the evening.
So it’s no accident that whenever possible I start an arti-cle with a story. ‘Invasion of the Green Iguanas’ is a goodexample. There is some important scientific informationhere, but I didn’t want to start with that. Wouldn’t it havebeen boring if I’d begun with ‘Scientists have long been puz-zled by the question of . . . blah, blah, blah?’ Instead, Iformed a picture in my mind of those poor iguanas in a hur-ricane, clinging to their trees, and I started the article as if itwere a bedtime story: ‘One day some green iguanas wereclimbing trees . . .’ You half expect them to begin talking toeach other.
Of course, starting with a story is a way of catch-ing the reader’s attention. Eventually, you have toget to the hard facts. But it works, doesn’t it?
✏ Write the newspaper story thatfirst reported the sightings of the greeniguanas. Remember that at first therewould have been no proof of whatthese creatures were and noknowledge about where they mighthave come from.
✏ The local people on Anguillamust have been astonished todiscover strange green lizards ontheir beaches. Write a letter one ofthem wrote to Ellen Censky, the biologist who investigatedthe iguanas.
✏ Folk tales often feature animals as their heroes. Writean imaginative story about how an animal came to livewhere it does, using the simple style of a bedtime story.
✏ The iguanas must have had an amazing 200-milevoyage on their trees. Write an account of what you thinkhappened between the islands of Guadeloupe and Anguilla.Make up details that seem realistic to you.
STARTINGWITH A STORY
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The heart of Washington, D.C., was filled with theusual lawmakers, businesspeople, and tourists. Butthey were soon surrounded by the area’s original
residents: Native Americans wearing brightly colored,feathered costumes. It was early October 1999, and rep-resentatives of dozens of Native American tribes weregathering in the empty spot where the SmithsonianInstitution’s National Museum of the American Indianwill open in 2002. Some blessed the ground with ancientrituals to prepare for the construction of the five-story,$110 million museum.
The museum’s goal: “To show and tell the world whoand what we really are, and to use our own voices in thetelling,” says museum director Rick West, a SouthernCheyenne.
Senator Ben Nighthorse Campbell of Colorado, aNorthern Cheyenne, helped get the project started.Exhibits will represent more than 1,000 tribes. The sadchapters of the Native American story, in which millionsdied at the hands of settlers, will be part of the museum’smessage. But the Native Americans who will select themuseum’s content insist that Indian art and modern cul-ture will be a key feature of the museum.
Chief Billy Redwing Tayac blessed the site with tobac-co, water, and soil from a burial ground. His tribe, thePiscataway, lived in the Washington, D.C., area. He washonored to be back home for the historic occasion. “Thewater is still here. The earth is still here. And we are stillhere,” he said. “We’re very proud that Indian people todayhave a place to remember our ancestors.”
On Sacred GroundA new Native American museum
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Senator BenNighthorseCampbell
QuechuaIndians fromPeru bless themuseum site.
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Reader’s Response
Writer’s Response
Why is it significant that thismuseum is being built inWashington, D.C.?
What does museum directorRick West mean when he saysthat Native Americans are going“to use our own voices in thetelling”?
Why might “soil from a burialground” be an important part ofthe blessing ritual?
When Chief Billy RedwingTayac says, “The water is stillhere. The earth is still here,”what is he suggesting about theenvironment where his peopleonce lived?
How does the writer catch thereader’s attention in the firstparagraph?
In what sentence does thewriter suggest that the newmuseum will give a positiveview of Native American life?
How does the writer present theNative American point of viewabout the new museum?
Do you think the writer approvesof the new museum project?How can you tell?
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Rule one of goodreporting is‘Don’t give your
own opinion. Stay neutral.Stick to the facts and to theopinions of others.’
This sounds easyenough, but think about itfor a minute. A reportercan’t give everybody’sopinion. You have to select
a few that you think give a truthful impression of the eventyou are reporting. And that means making the decision toleave things out.
The same goes for facts. You can never tell the wholetruth about anything. You wouldn’t have room for all thethings there were to say. You have to make choices. WhatI’m getting at is that anything you write is going to be seenthrough your eyes, even if you are trying to be objectiveand factual.
After you’ve written an article, put it aside for awhile.When you reread it with fresh eyes, try to evalu-ate how objective it is. Is your writing balanced?Did you include different points of view?
✏ A Washington politicianopposes the $110 million beingspent on the new museum, saying itsounds like a waste of money. Writean argument that you would makein support of this project.
✏ Find out about a newbusiness, building, or project inyour community. Interview people involved with thisproject. Is everyone excited about it? Write a balanced,objective news article about the project.
✏ Native Americans revere their ancestors. Write aletter to an ancestor of yours that you have heard aboutbut never met, explaining why you would like to meethim or her.
ACCURATEREPORTING
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Giant, gassy Jupiter is the colorful king of the solarsystem. It’s the largest planet and the one with theGreat Red Spot—a 16,000-mile-wide storm—on its
surface. It’s one of only four planets known to have hazyrings around their middles. Yes, its pretty neighborSaturn has a reputation as the ring-bearing planet, butthat’s because Saturn’s rings are visible through a regulartelescope. The rings around Jupiter (and Uranus andNeptune) are made of more delicate stuff that’s nearlyimpossible to detect, even with a very powerful telescope.
In late 1998 scientists announced that they hadunlocked the mystery of how Jupiter’s rings are formed.While studying 36 new pictures taken by the Galileospacecraft, which has hovered around Jupiter sinceDecember 1995, scientists figured out that Jupiter’s ringsare delicate layers of moondust in orbit around the plan-et. They are made from the dust of four of Jupiter’s tiniestmoons.
ATTACK OF THE FLYING METEOROIDS!Bits of asteroids and comets, known as meteoroids, aredrawn toward Jupiter by the tremendous force of its grav-ity. On the way, many of them crash into the four closestof Jupiter’s 16 known moons: Metis (Med-is), Adrastea (A-dra-stee-a), Amalthea (A-mal-the-a) and Thebe (Thee-be).Meteoroids that get close to Jupiter are usually travelingat 25 miles a second—about 100 times the speed of a bul-
let! When one of them hits a tiny moon, the impact kicksup a huge cloud of dust.
If a meteoroid smacked into the Earth’s surface thathard, our planet’s gravity would pull any dust and debrisback toward Earth. But Jupiter’s little moons do not haveenough gravity to pull the dust back to their surfaces. Thedust escapes in a big powdery plume and streams intoorbit. The rings around Jupiter are made of dust fromthese collisions.
When the scientists got a good look at the dust aroundJupiter, they noticed a pattern. The brighter main ring,which is close to Jupiter, seemed to be framed by theorbits of two moons, Metis and Adrastea.
A fainter ring, farther from Jupiter, seemed to reallybe two rings—one inside the other. The inner ring stopsabruptly when it meets the orbit of the moon Amalthea.The outer ring stops at Thebe’s orbit (see the chart). Thesetwo rings together form the gossamer (goss-uh-mer) ring,which was first spotted by the Voyager spacecraft in 1979.Gossamer means delicate and wispy.
Jupiter’s tiny moons continue to take a constant beat-ing from comets and asteroids. So the dainty trail aroundthe planet may slowly grow thicker. Thousands of yearsfrom now, those four little moons may finally be bom-barded to bits. Their ghostly rings may be all that’s left ofthem.
Rings Around JupiterThe giant planet’s pale rings are streaks of moondust
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Gossamer Rings
Moon MoonMoon
Moon
Jupiter’s main ring, shown in pink, is the brightest. It is made of dust from Metis and Adrastea, two moons that are close together. The innergossamer ring, in gold, is made of dust from Amalthea. Dustfrom Thebe creates the outer ring, shown in green.
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Reader’s Response
Writer’s Response
How can the Galileo spacecraftdetect details about Jupiter thatpeople on earth cannot?
How would you explain to ayounger child what a moon is?
Why are Jupiter’s two outerrings referred to as the gossamerring?
What do you think the mostexciting thing about being anastronomer would be?
What image does the phrase“streaks of moondust” in thesubtitle suggest? Why might thewriter have used it?
By saying in the secondparagraph that scientists had“unlocked” the mystery ofJupiter’s rings, the writer issuggesting that the mystery islike something you find in anyhouse. What is it, and why isthis a good comparison?
Why would the writer includethe comparison of a meteoroid’sspeed to that of a bullet in thethird paragraph?
What do you suppose the writeris trying to get you to think ofwith the subhead “Attack of theFlying Meteoroids!”?
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Science is thrillingand often fun.People really want to
know about the latest discov-eries, but at times it’s prettytough to get the facts acrossto an audience that may nothave very much scientifictraining. Take yourselves, forinstance. Did you even knowJupiter had moons? Did youknow Jupiter was the largestplanet?
Being a science journalist means not only understanding thescience yourself but also being able to communicate these ideasto people who don’t have degrees in science. What you have todo is cut out the scientific language and make understandableconnections between the science and the world that your read-ers inhabit.
When I wrote ‘Rings Around Jupiter,’ for instance, I knewthat kids might have trouble understanding how so much dustcould be flung up by a meteoroid hitting a moon. Sure, the pointis these things move really fast, but how could I get that across tomy readers? I hit upon the solution of comparing a meteoroid’sspeed to that of a bullet. I was amazed to find that it’s 100 timesfaster!
I wonder if Superman can dodge a speeding meteoroid.
✏ Imagine that you have beenasked to talk to a group of secondgraders at your school about therings of Jupiter. Using informationfrom this article, and keeping yourlanguage clear and simple, writethe explanation you would present.
✏ People studying the skiesin early days had no knowledge ofthe science of astronomy. They made up stories toexplain what they saw in the heavens. Create a storyexplaining some astronomical event—the phases of themoon, the Milky Way, the sunset, etc.
✏ What’s the latest space news? Log on to NASA’swebsite, www.nasa.gov. Find out about some recentspace experiments. Write an installment of Space Newsfor your classmates, based on your research.
MAKINGSENSE
OUT OFSCIENCE
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Rachel Carson Elementary Schoolin Gaithersburg, Maryland, wasinvaded in 1998. To combat the
intruders, school officials banned hair-brushes. Kids were ordered to placetheir coats in plastic bags. Five nurseswere assigned to check 600 heads.Sound familiar? Yep, you guessed it.Head lice had invaded the school!
From New York to California, thehuman head louse is on the loose inschools. Each year, 10 million to 12 mil-lion Americans get head lice. Thesesame-seed-size insects make them-selves at home on human scalps and layeggs, called nits, that they cement tostrands of hair. Head lice do not carrydisease, but they are a nasty—and itchy—pest.
The head louse has been annoyinghumans for thousands of years.Archaeologists have found signs of lice inthe hair of ancient Egyptian mummies.
Modern humans use chemicals toget rid of the pests. For decades,chemical shampoos and rinses helpedcontrol head-lice outbreaks. In recentyears, outbreaks have become moreand more frequent. The tiny insectappears to have become harder to kill.Parents say that just days after treat-ing their kids for lice, the itchy bugsare back.
SURVIVAL OF THE FITTESTThousands of parents and school offi-cials call county health offices toreport that the ordinary lice-killingproducts just don’t seem to be work-ing. Wayne Kramer, an insect expertfor Nebraska, received 125 calls in thefirst four months of school. “I thinkit’s on the brink of being out of con-trol,” he says.
Many health officials fear that astronger kind of head louse hasemerged. Scientists believe that per-methrin (per-meth-rin), the mainchemical used in many lice-killingproducts, killed off weaker lice. Thatwould leave only the stronger lice,and permethrin just can’t kill them.
This theory has yet to be proved.But families who have experiencedthe problem say the theory soundsabout right. Says Michele Colburn,who recently spent six months bat-tling lice on her 11-year-old daughter:
“The lice would disap-pear from her head andthen reappear. I triedevery shampoo on themarket, but they wouldjust keep coming back.”
A NIT-PICKING
SOLUTIONWhat do the experts rec-ommend? The key isremoval of the nits. Liceeggs are much harder tospot than the full-grownlice. But if the nits arenot removed or combedout, the insects will reap-pear. So keep combing!
Lice on the Loose!Why are so many kids crawling with head lice?
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A fine comb isused to removeeggs, or nits.
Lice are tiny red-brown insects that feed on blood. Six claws help them cling tohair. The bug above is magnified and colored.
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Reader’s Response
Writer’s Response
Why do you suppose kids had toput their coats in plastic bags?
Why might scientists worryabout head lice becomingresistant to permethrin?
If head lice were larger, wouldthey be more or less of aproblem? Explain your answer.
What do you think the worstthing about having head licewould be?
By saying “Sound familiar?” inthe first paragraph, what is thewriter assuming about thereaders of this article?
The writer describes lice as“sesame-seed-size insects.”Why doesn’t the writer give theexact length of a louse infractions of an inch ormillimeters?
Do you think the writer agreeswith the theory that “stronger”lice are surviving? What makesyou think so?
Why might the writer havechosen the subhead “A Nit-Picking Solution”?
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Have you everheard a teachersay to a student
who is having trouble get-ting started on a paper,‘Pretend you’re talking tosomeone you know well,and write down yourwords’? A teacher said thatto me once, and I’m stillusing her advice.
Of course, there aretimes when you can’t ‘talk’ casually to your reader. After all,you can’t wear jeans everywhere you go either. But it’salways a good idea to picture the people you’re writing forand to tailor your language for them.
When I was writing ‘Lice on the Loose!’ for instance, Iknew that I was writing for kids, so I addressed them as ifthey were right in front of me in the room. And I got thefeeling they’d know something about the subject of headlice. That’s why I wrote, ‘Sound familiar? Yep, you guessedit.’ And you may have noticed that I ended with anotherremark that seems more like speech than writing: ‘So keepcombing!’
Give it a try when you’ve got writer’s block.Pick up your pen and start talking!
✏ Imagine that you live on a planetwhere bugs do not exist! You have beenassigned to investigate life on Earth foryour leaders. Write the report youwould submit about humanity’sproblems with head lice.
✏ Have lice ever been a problemat your school? Interview your schoolnurse about this topic. Write anarticle based on your interview. Anddon’t forget to try to picture youraudience as you write.
✏ Look closely at the photograph of the magnified headlouse on this card. Describe it as accurately as you can. In aconcluding paragraph, describe your feelings about thelouse, trying to explain why you react the way you do.
✏ Lice invade many classrooms. Do some researchabout ways to prevent the spread of lice. Ask your schoolnurse for help. Using this information, write a pamphlet forkids at your school on avoiding and treating lice.
“TALKING” TO YOURREADER
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On a crisp morning in May,Jennifer Bales, 14, got up at 6a.m. to feed her lambs. The sky
was brightening above her home in avalley near Cody, Wyoming. In thepast, other lambs that Jennifer hadraised had won ribbons at the countyfair. She had high hopes for her fournew lambs.
She filled a bucket with water andwalked across her yard toward thelamb pen. An eerie silence warnedher something was wrong.
“I stopped and just kinda lookedaround,” she says. “Then I saw themand ran.” Three of the lambs lay deadin the dirt, bloody and partly eaten.Fresh grizzly-bear tracks told the tale.
That night state wildlife expertsset a trap near the pen and caught a 2-year-old female grizzly. “She mayhave just been kicked out by hermother after waking up from hiber-nation,” guesses wildlife biologistMark Ternent. “She was looking forsomething to eat.” The next day thebear was hauled 100 miles intoYellowstone National Park andreleased.
“It was nice knowing they caughtit,” says Jennifer. “Bears are fine aslong as they stay away from homes.”
Keeping grizzly bears away frompeople is getting harder in the areaaround Yellowstone. The grizzly pop-ulation there is growing! In 1974 onlyabout 220 bears were left in thegreater Yellowstone region—an areathe size of Maine. In 1999, after 24years of protection under theEndangered Species Act, there wereas many as 600 bears. Now the gov-ernment is weighing a plan to stopgiving Yellowstone’s grizzlies specialprotection as a threatened species.
BEARS’ HOME ON THE RANGEIn the early 1800s, when the explorersLewis and Clark traveled across theRocky Mountains, 100,000 grizzlybears roamed a huge part of theAmerican West. Today, apart from abig population in Alaska, fewer than athousand remain. They live in onlythree spots: Idaho, northernMontana, and the Yellowstone region.
The grizzlies of Yellowstone arefamous. For many years they were fedgarbage in the park’s dumps just toentertain the tourists! Like the car-toon bear Yogi, they learned to preferpicnic scraps to nuts, berries, andwild game. In the 1970s the parkclosed the dumps, and grizzlies began
invading camps and nearby ranchesin search of scraps. Dozens, perhapseven hundreds, of grizzlies were shotby rangers and game wardens.Conservationists were worried thatthe bears would be wiped out.
In 1975 grizzlies came under theprotection of the Endangered SpeciesAct as a threatened species. It becameillegal to shoot them, and their habi-tats were protected. At Yellowstone,new rules required food and trash tobe stored in bear-proof containers.Some areas in national forests sur-rounding the park became bear pre-serves, where logging and road build-ing were banned.
CAN THE BEARS SURVIVE?Yellowstone’s grizzlies are the onlyones to make a recovery and the onlyones that may lose federal protection.Most conservation groups don’t wantthat to happen. They point out thatbear habitat continues to disappear ashouses are built in greaterYellowstone. Food sources for thebear are also in danger, including thecutthroat trout, which has beenthreatened by an invasion of laketrout.
But many people living in bearcountry feel that it’s time for the griz-zly to stand on its own four feet. Someare willing to keep their pets in atnight and not hang bird feeders,which attract bears, but many wantgame wardens to shoot bears thatinvade their yards or attack their ani-mals.
Jennifer Bales learned her lesson.Her surviving lamb, a smarty who hidin a pigpen during the grizzly attack,won second place at the county fair.Jennifer plans to raise sheep againthis spring. “But this time,” she says,“I’ll lock them up at night.”
The Bears Bounce BackCan Yellowstone’s rebounding grizzly bears livein peace with their human neighbors?
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A mother grizzly and two cubs on the lookout in Yellowstone
Jennifer Baleswith the lambthat survived
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Reader’s Response
Writer’s Response
How would you feel aboutgrizzly bears if you had anexperience similar to Jennifer’s?
How is the federal program ofprotecting Yellowstone bears avictim of its success?
Why has the bear populationdecreased so much since theearly 1800s?
Why is it a problem whengrizzlies prefer human garbageto their natural food?
If you lived in the Yellowstoneregion, which side of the bearissue do you think you’d take?Explain your answer.
Why doesn’t the writer explainwhat happened to the fourthlamb at the beginning of thearticle?
What details does the writerinclude to indicate that thegrizzly is a threatened species?
How does the writer create abalanced argument in the finalsection? Why is this importantto do in a news article?
What do you think the writermeans by the phrase “stand onits own four feet” in the second-to-last paragraph?
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Have you everheard someone say‘Now to round off
the evening,’ or ‘We round-ed off the meal withdessert.’ To round off some-thing means to give it a sat-isfactory conclusion. Afterall, a circle is a satisfactoryshape. Everything’s con-nected; there are no looseends.
Writers often like tofind a way to round off their articles or stories. One of myfavorite ways is to end the story in the same way I began.This really has the effect of making a full circle. Your readersare back where they started from, but with a little moreinformation.
In writing ‘The Bears Bounce Back,’ I found an ideal wayof rounding off my story. Jennifer Bales, who lost three of herlambs to a marauding grizzly, won a prize with the survivingfourth lamb. I started off with an account of the bear attack,and I could have told about the whole story at the beginning,but I saved the fourth lamb for the end. It gave the story ahappy ending and also allowed me to quoteJennifer, who made a very sensible suggestion: lockyour doors when hungry grizzlies are around.
✏ Many animals have beenprotected under the EndangeredSpecies Act. Research an animal thathas bounced back, thanks to thisprotection. Write an article based onyour research.
✏ Jennifer must have had aterrible time on the morning shefound her dead lambs. Writing as ifyou were Jennifer, describe thediscovery and what you didimmediately afterwards.
✏ Pretend that you are a local politician in theYellowstone region. Take a strong stand on the grizzly issue,either for or against protecting the bears. Then write acampaign speech you would give on the subject.
✏ “When it’s a question of choosing between peopleand animals, people must always come first.” Do you agreewith this statement? Support your opinion with informationfrom this article or other environmental issues with whichyou are familiar.
GOING FULLCIRCLE
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The Kharga Oasis, 125 miles southwest of Luxor,Egypt, is not the first place you would think tolook for mummies. There are no pyramids and no
fancy burial sites of great pharaohs. It is an ordinaryplace where ordinary farmers once lived and died.
But in ancient Egypt even ordinary farmers careful-ly preserved their dead. A stash of their mummies,found by Egyptian workers, offers precious clues aboutthe way everyday Egyptians lived 2,000 years ago.
Scientists from France spent 10 days a year, from1994 to 1997, digging at the site. Many royal tombs havebeen robbed by treasure hunters, but these graves hadbarely been touched. The mummies were in great con-dition, with hair and facial expressions intact.
What was life like for these long-ago farmers? It wasprobably harsh and brief. X-rays of 60 bodies show thatmany adults had swollen joints and deformed bones,which may have resulted from hard work. AncientEgyptians were not so tall as people are today, probablybecause their nutrition was not as good. Most died bythe age of 38, and many died in childhood.
Unlike the more famous, royal mummies, theseancient bodies will not show up in a museum. TheFrench team returned the bodies to their graves.Because of the remote location and the absence of rich-es to attract thieves, it is unlikely the tombs will ever bedisturbed again.
Remains of humble farmers offer new clues to life in ancient Egypt
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The mummies werefound in a cave dugout of a sandstonecliff, above. Thebodies are so wellpreserved thatscientists can takefingerprints fromthis hand of a girlwho died at age 12.
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French and Egyptian researchersremove the mummies from thecave to x-ray them.
Found: Plain Old MummiesFound: Plain Old Mummies
DID YOU KNOW?MUMMIES were prepared forburial in Egypt for more than3,000 years. About 70 millionbodies were mummified. Thechemical natron was used to drymany of the bodies.MUMMIES took about 70 days to prepare. First, theintestines, stomach, lungs and liver were removed. They wereput in jars and buried with the mummy. The brain was removedthrough the nose. It was considered unimportant!MUMMIES in early ancient Egypt were buried naked in thesand. Later they were wrapped in hundreds of yards of linen.Pets and valuable items were often buried with their owners. MUMMIES are not unique to Egypt. People of other cultures,including South America’s Incas, also preserved their dead. Invery dry climates, bodies are sometimes mummified naturally.
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Reader’s Response
Writer’s Response
What is surprising about thisdiscovery? What has it taughtresearchers?
Why would the famous, royalmummies be more likely to endup on display in museums thanthe ones described in thisarticle?
What surprising thing did youlearn about mummies?
Why do you think theresearchers returned themummies to their caves?
In the first two paragraphs, thewriter repeats the word ordinarythree times. Writers usually tryto vary their word choice. Whydidn’t this writer? What effectwas the writer aiming for?
In the second paragraph of theDid You Know? box, why doesthe writer use an exclamationmark? What effect does it have?
What evidence does the writerinclude to suggest that life washard for ancient Egyptianfarmers?
Why do you suppose the writergives no explanation about thepurpose of mummies?
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Have you heard itsaid that peoplethese days have
short attention spans whenit comes to reading? Thatmeans we’re not very goodat concentrating on longarticles or books. After afew minutes we lookaround to see if anythingmore interesting is happen-ing. Some experts blame all
the TV we watch. They say that those short, jumpy ads andcameras that are always zipping around from one shot toanother make us unable to sit down and read for more than afew minutes at a stretch.
I don’t know if this is true, but I have noticed that the waypeople write for newspapers and magazines is beginning tochange. Paragraphs and sentences have become shorter, andthere are more text items in boxes. Take this article, for exam-ple. When I first submitted ‘Found: Plain Old Mummies’ tomy editor, it was just one article with all the informationabout mummies included in a couple of body paragraphs. Hesent it back with a note: ‘Put the mummy info in a Did YouKnow? box. Kids will be more likely to read it then.’Did this change work for you? Was this article theright length for you? Did it keep your attention?
✏ Preparing mummies mayseem odd to us, but for 3,000 yearsit was a perfectly natural part ofEgyptian culture. Pretend that youare a scientist in the year 4000,and write a description of a strangeaspect of American life in the“ancient” days of 2000 (that is,now!).
✏ Imagine that you are anarchaeologist digging at a burial site in Egypt. Describewhat it would be like discovering a cave full ofmummies. Use information from the article, but feelfree to invent realistic details.
✏ Life is certainly easier for most people today thanit was 2,000 years ago. Write a description of threeinventions that you think have most contributed tothese improvements.
KEEPING ITBRIEF
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For centuries, travelers visiting the great cities of Europe have had tofill their pockets with all sorts of money. When in Rome, you mustpay as the Romans do: in Italian lire. In Paris, only francs will buy you
a croissant. And better exchange those francs for marks when you crossthe border to shop in Germany. Each country has always had its own cur-rency, with coins and colorful bills that honor its own national heroes.
In January 1999 that began to change. Banks in 11 European countriesbegan to do business in a new, shared currency called the euro. Leadersof those countries hope the euro will strengthen ties among their nationsand make trade, travel, and banking much easier. It will also give Europea currency that could become as important in the world as the mighty U.S.dollar.
For now, only electronic buying, selling, and banking will be done ineuros. Shoppers in Paris and Rome will still carry their francs and lire. Butin 2002, the new currency will replace the old ones in everyday life.
THE EURO ROLLS OUT SMOOTHLYThe euro’s birth has taken years of planning and tense discussions.Britain, Sweden, and Denmark were opposed to handing over control oftheir currencies to the new European Central Bank. They refused toswitch to euros. Greece wanted to join the euro movement but was reject-ed because of its weak economy.
Euro coins (see above) will allow for some national expression. Whilethey all look the same on the “tails” side, each country gets to pick its“heads.” Italy’s 1-euro coin features a famous sketch by Leonardo da Vinci.Austria’s shows composer Mozart; Spain’s depicts King Juan Carlos.
In its first week the value of a euro floated around $1.16. Europeanswere delighted. Said one French banker: “The euro got off to a flamingstart!”
New Money for EuropeAdios, peseta. Adieu, franc. Eleven nations switch to the euro
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Workers hand out leaflets in Frankfurt, Germany, to teach people about the euro.
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Bye-Bye, BillsSome of the world’s oldest and mostbeautiful currency is about to disappear. In2002, these bills will no longer be in use.
ITALY’S LIRADon’t be tooimpressed by this1,000-lira bill. It’sworth about 60 ¢. Itshows MariaMontessori, afamous educator.
FRANCE’SFRANCfirst appeared in1360! It lookedvery differentfrom this one,which showscomposerClaudeDebussy.
SPAIN’S PESETAThis 1,000-pesetabill features theSpanish explorerHernando Cortes,who conqueredthe Aztec Indiansof Mexico.
GERMANY’SMARKreplaced silvercoins in 1871.MathematicianCarl FriedrichGauss is on this10-mark bill,worth about $6.
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Reader’s Response
Writer’s Response
What might be one convenienceof switching to the euro?
Why do you think Europe is notswitching entirely to the eurountil 2002?
Why do you suppose eachcountry got to contribute adesign to the euro coins?
Why might a country refuse toswitch to the euro?
Why does the writer say “Adios,peseta. Adieu, franc.” in thesubtitle?
Reread the first paragraph. Thewriter is describing currenciesyou’ll find in different countries.The writer could have said, “InItaly they use lire, France thefranc, and Germany the mark.”How and why did the writer varythe presentation of thisinformation?
Why doesn’t the writer end thearticle by saying, in his or herown words, “The euro has gotoff to an excellent start”?
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I was a good writerin school, butthere was one
thing that I always founddifficult. I had trouble fin-ishing a paper. The teacherwould tell us to ‘wrap up’ orto ‘round off’ what we hadsaid in the body of thepaper. How do you do that?I wondered. Often my firstand last paragraphs cameout looking exactly thesame!
Well, I still don’t find that last paragraph easy to write, butI have learned a useful trick as a journalist: end with a quo-tation. Using someone else’s words for your closing sentencehelps add voice to your piece. Besides, a reporter isn’t sup-posed to be giving his or her own opinion.
When I was writing ‘New Money for Europe,’ it was clearthat most people believed the euro had gotten off to a goodstart. And I guess I could have ended the article in my ownwords—something like ‘The euro has been successfullylaunched.’ But that sounded boring. So I looked through mynotes and found this quotation from a French banker: ‘Theeuro got off to a flaming start.’
That’s much more effective. And I’d never havethought of using the word flaming!
✏ Europe’s paper money hastraditionally honored a wide varietyof distinguished citizens. Choose aman or woman whom you wouldlike to see on a U.S. bill, andexplain your choice. Send yourproposal to the U.S. TreasuryDepartment.
✏ In the United States wehave both coins and paper money. Does this makesense? Interview several people, including experts suchas bankers, and then write an article. Try to end yourarticle with a quotation.
✏ What would a society without any money belike? Describe how you think people would survive.Would there be any advantages to such a way of life?
FINISHINGWITH A
QUOTATION
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Sixth-grader Ivory Kelly finishedup an English assignment at theblackboard. Then . . . Ping! Ping!
He felt staples pelting his head. The12-year-old just knew who was dissinghim. He spun around and shouted atDeAngela Byrd. DeAngela claimedshe was innocent. Then she calledIvory a “guinea pig.” “Hosemouth!”he yelled back.
Their teacher, Linda Mann, didn’tsend them to the principal. She didn’teven make them stand in the hall.Instead, she sent them to work thingsout in a small storage room in thisNashville, Tennessee, school. Theroom is Glengarry Elementary’smediation (me-dee-ay-shun) center.
Mediation in school is a way tosolve disputes without having teach-ers punish students. Kids calledmediators are trained to listen toclassmates accused of misbehaving orfighting. Without taking sides, themediators help troubled kids come up
with their own solutions. It usuallytakes no more than 15 minutes.
At Glengarry, 30 students fromthird through sixth grade are trainedto settle fights. After calmly dis-cussing the staple attack and name-calling with sixth-grade mediatorsMichael Reese and Tracie Thacker,Ivory and DeAngela signed a pledge“not to mess with each other.”
NO DETENTION, NO TIME OUTMany U.S. elementary schools arestarting to give kids more responsibil-ity for discipline. In the past 10 years,one-tenth of the nation’s 86,000 pub-lic schools have started programs toresolve conflicts, mostly in middle orhigh schools. But educators want tobegin more mediation programssooner. They say elementary-age kidsare even better at talking about theirfeelings and deciding on a fair solu-tion than older kids are! When ateacher or principal is not involved,
“kids talk more freely,” says Glengarryprincipal Lorraine Johnson.
So far, mediation seems to workwell. In a 1996 survey of 115 Ohio ele-mentary schools with mediation pro-grams, two out of three noted adecrease in fights, and more than halfsaid fewer kids were being sent to theprincipal’s office. In New Mexicoreports of bad behavior in elementaryschools have dropped 86% sincemediation programs began.
Glengarry mediator DavidTownley, 11, says the method reallyworks, and not just in school. He usedhis new skills to help end a long-run-ning battle between his grandmotherand mother. “My grandmotherthought my mother kept spending toomuch on flowers she planted outsideour house,” said David. “I let both ofthem talk. Finally my mother agreednot to spend so much.” And nobodyhad to stand in the corner either.
Keep the Grownups Out of ItIn mediation, kids solve their own conflicts
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With kid mediators watching, Glengarry sixth-graders Meagan Murrah and Chris Golden agree not to break a school rule.
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Reader’s Response
Writer’s Response
What do you think mediators doin order to help solve conflicts?
Why do you think studentmediators have better successsolving student conflicts thanadults do?
Why do you supposeelementary school kids arebetter at mediation than highschool students are?
Do you think a mediationprogram would work in yourschool? Why or why not?
Why does the author includedetails about two specificincidents in the last paragraphsof the article?
In the last section, the authorsays that mediation seems towork well. Why does she alsothen give the results of a surveyabout the success of mediationprograms?
How does the author try topersuade readers thatmediation is a good idea inschools?
What kind of in-schoolpunishment is the authorfamiliar with? How do youknow?
Evaluate the lead of this article.Do you think it grabs a reader’sattention? Why or why not?
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I have greatrespect for kids. Ithink kids are
capable of doing a lotmore than people some-times think. That’s why Iwas so interested when Ifirst heard about thesemediation programs. Ilove sharing stories of kidsmaking a difference. I
wrote a draft of this article saying what mediation pro-grams are and that they are very successful. Well, the draftwas very boring to read. It just didn’t have any zing! I knewI had to elaborate. The story needed some interestingdetails and specific examples.
So I visited Glengarry Elementary School, which isn’tfar from where I live. I met Ivory and DeAngela. And Italked to their teacher, Linda Mann. I was there whenIvory and DeAngela met with the mediators MichaelReese and Tracie Thacker. I talked to all of them. Theygave me some examples of how mediation works for them.
When I went back to the draft of my article, I addedsome of those examples. And I added some quota-tions from the people I talked to at Glengarry.That added zing!
✏ Suppose you are a reporter.Write an article telling about asuccessful program that kids carryout in your school or community.Explain how it works and what itdoes. Give some examples. Thensend your article to a newspaper.
✏ Would you like to establisha mediation program in your school? Write a letter toyour principal. Share what you know about mediationand explain why it might work in your school.
✏ You are a television news producer who hasdecided to cover one of the mediation meetings atGlengarry. Write a note to your boss that explains whythis should be on your news program.
ELABORATING
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Dinosaurs vanished from the earth some 65 millionyears ago. But when did they first appear? InOctober 1999, scientists moved closer to answering
that question. An international team of paleontologistsannounced the discovery of what may be the oldestdinosaur fossils ever found.
The team, led by John Flynn of Chicago’s FieldMuseum, found the jaws of two unknown dinosaurspecies in a riverbed on the island of Madagascar, off theeast coast of Africa. The scientists believe the jawsbelonged to prosauropods, plant eaters with small headsand long necks.
“I like to think of them being somewhat like kanga-roos,” says Flynn. “They probably walked about on fourlegs and stood up on two legs to feed. They didn’t hoparound, but they were similar in size to a small kangaroo.”
HOW OLD ARE THE BONES?The precise age of the fossils has not been determined.The oldest known fossils are 228 million years old. Thesemay be 2 million years older. “The very first dinosaursmay well be these things,” says Neil Shubin, a dinosaurexpert at the University of Pennsylvania.
The fossils shed new light on an important time indinosaur history, when dinosaurs were dividing into meateaters and plant eaters. Apatosaurus, a 36-ton plant-eat-ing dinosaur that was one of the largest animals ever towalk the earth, is thought to have descended fromprosauropods. “This find,” says Flynn, “will help usunderstand what early dinosaurs looked like.”
New finds shed light on earlydinosaur history
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A team led by John Flynn, above, found this jawbonefossil of an early plant eater (right).
The Very First Dinos?The Very First Dinos?
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Why do you suppose scientistsare so interested in discoveringwhen dinosaurs first appearedon the earth?
How do you think scientists candetermine from an ancientjawbone that an animal was aplant eater?
Why does Flynn compare theprosauropod to a kangaroo?
Why would a long neck be anadvantage to a plant eater?
Why do you think the authorchose this topic for an article inTime for Kids?
In the second and lastparagraphs, the author makessure readers know what aprosauropod and anapatosaurus are. Why is thatimportant?
Why do you suppose the authorchose the photographs thataccompany this article?
Why do you suppose the authortalked to Neil Shubin in additionto John Flynn?
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Many writersthink drafting isthe hardest part
of the writing process.They stare at a blanksheet of paper, and theyjust can’t figure out howto get started. But I thinkdrafting can be the bestpart of writing. It’s thetime when you try out
your ideas and see where they lead you.Imagine jumping headfirst into a swimming pool.
That’s what drafting is. You plunge into your ideas inwhatever order they come to you. When you are drafting,you are thinking aloud on paper. But don’t think aboutpunctuation or rules of grammar or transitional sen-tences. Worry about those things later. This is your firstdraft. The idea is to get your ideas down on paper now.Then you can shape and revise those ideas in later drafts.You’ll want each draft to be a little better—tighter,smoother, more complete—than the one before. Oh, andsave all your drafts. You may find you like asentence or paragraph you wrote in one ofthem and want to use it in your final draft.
✏ Newspapers and magazinesare full of articles like this one thatare meant to provide information orto explain something. Choose akids’ magazine. Write aninformative article for it.
✏ Make an illustration or achart that shows the relative size of theprosauropod and the apatosaurus. Add others youknow about. Include the graphic in a brochure or aposter about dinosaurs.
✏ Imagine that you were part of John Flynn’s teamof paleontologists. Write a postcard home about thediscovery.
DRAFTING
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Frederick and Katrina Jonesare two Detroit kids whosefaces appear on statuesrepresenting slaves at theMuseum of African AmericanHistory.
When Frederick and KatrinaJones visit the Museum ofAfrican American History in
Detroit, Michigan, they can see thegreat achievements of blackAmericans from past generations.They can also see themselves.Katrina, 13, and her brotherFrederick, 11, are part of a museumexhibit. Molds of their faces and bod-ies were used to make statues ofAfricans, shown on a model slaveship.
“Vaseline covered my body beforepapier-mâché was applied from mystomach to my feet and later my faceand upper body,” Katrina recalls. “Icouldn’t move for over an hour, and Icouldn’t talk, because moving or talk-ing would have cracked the mold.”
“Seeing myself is kind of fun,” saysFrederick. “It was nice that kids got todo something about our heritage.”When he grows up, Frederick hopeshe can show his family the youthfulmodel and say, “That’s me!”
BLACK HISTORY ALL YEAR LONGThe museum, created in 1965, movedinto a grand new home in April 1997.It is now the largest African-
American-history museum anywhere.People talk about African Americansduring Black History Month. But thismuseum celebrates the achievementsof black Americans year-round.
“The purpose of the museum is topreserve the history and culture ofAfrican Americans,” says Rita Organ,curator of the museum. “I hope peo-ple will see that the contributionsAfrican Americans make extend intoevery facet of life and play an impor-tant part in American culture.”
Visitors are greeted by a splash ofbright, silky flags at the museum’sentrance. Each flag stands for anation where, centuries ago, Africanswere brought to be slaves.
In the museum’s Ring of Fame,the names of 60 great Africans andAfrican Americans grace the floor.Visitors to the inventors’ area can seeGeorge Grant’s invention, the golf tee.Also on display are Samella Lewis’original drawing for the design on thedime and the first traffic signal,invented by Garrett Morgan. TheCongressional Medal of Honorawarded to Christian Fleetwood isamong Organ’s favorite items on dis-play. Sergeant Major Fleetwood
earned it for heroism in a Civil Warbattle.
Detroit was one of the last stopson the Underground Railroad forslaves escaping to the “promisedland” of Canada. Many AfricanAmericans migrated to Detroit fromthe 1920s through the 1950s to workin automobile and defense factories.Today Detroit’s 750,000 AfricanAmericans are proud that their city ishome to the new museum. Organsays, “It makes sense to have it here.”
Remembering Their JourneyA new museum tells African-Americans’ story
DID YOU KNOW?African Americans have dreamed upmany inventions, large and small, thatwe use every day. Here are just a few:
GARRETT MORGAN invented the trafficsignal and the gas mask.
CHARLES DREW invented a system forstoring blood for emergency use in 1941.
J.L. LOVE invented the pencil sharpenerin 1897.
SANDY LOVE invented the refrigeratedvending machine in 1933.
LEWIS LATIMER perfected the light bulbin 1881 by adding a carbon-basedfilament to keep it lighted.
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Reader’s Response
Writer’s Response
Why do you think the makers ofthe model slave ship wanted tomake molds of real children’sbodies for the statues?
Why is it important to have amuseum that celebrates thehistory and culture of AfricanAmericans?
What do you think the museumcurator hopes visitors willremember after they leave themuseum?
Why does the writer begin thisarticle by telling about themolds made of Frederick andKatrina Jones?
Why does the writer includeinformation about theinventions of AfricanAmericans?
Why does the writer tell aboutone of the museum curator’sfavorite items on display?
How does the writer’s phrase“grace the floor” convey hisopinion of the display in theRing of Fame?
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When I visitedthe Museum ofA f r i c a n
American History inDetroit, I was especiallyimpressed by the many,many inventions madeby African Americans. Icopied down a huge listthat I wanted to write
about. But when I wrote the first draft of the article, Irealized that I couldn’t include all of the inventors. Itwas just too long a list!
Later, when I edited and proofread my final draft, Iwas still disappointed that I couldn’t fit in so many ofthose inventors. So I decided to add a sidebar.
I have found that sometimes a special feature like asidebar or a graphic of some sort—a map or a diagramor a chart—can be a good way to add information to anarticle. I always choose information that is clearly relat-ed to the topic of the article but is not necessaryto its main idea. And I make sure the specialfeature adds interest to the article.
✏ You are responsible forcreating a brochure that will beprovided to all visitors to theMuseum of African AmericanHistory in Detroit. Use theinformation in the article andsome additional research towrite it.
✏ Find out about a museumor historic site in your area that kids might enjoyvisiting. Interview someone who works there. Write anarticle for a local newspaper about this place. Focuson why it might appeal to kids.
✏ This article mentions several inventors, most ofwhom are not well known. Research one of theseinventors and write a profile of him or her.
SIDEBARS
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In the movies, they turn into vampires and “want tosuck your blood.” In real life, they aren’t so scary. Butthey can invade people’s homes at night. Nicholas
Custer, 11, had a close encounter. “I woke up, and therewas a black thing on my bed,” he says. “It turned out to bea bat.”
Nicholas’ family built a bat house to keep uninvitedguests outside. Now he and the 19 other students inBrenda Johnson’s class of 5th- and 6th-graders atPlainfield School in Meriden, New Hampshire, have anew pet project: giving bats a home. With just a little helpfrom Johnson, they are educating their rural communityabout their night-prowling neighbors. They are alsoteaching people how to build bat houses to welcome theflying mammals and asking them not to poison the bats,as some have done in the past.
Have these kids gone batty? Many of them have comethis close to bats. Heck, one bat even flew into VickyWiley’s hair! Why roll out the red carpet for them?
Giving bats a home, the kids say, helps the environ-ment in their farming community. Bats eat bugs that eatfarmers’ crops. This helps farmers grow crops withouthaving to use harmful chemicals to kill insects.
Mikaela Malsin, 11, says bats get a bad rap for no rea-son. “Bats aren’t gross,” she says. “They actually diebecause of people’s negative ideas.”
GETTING IN A BAT MOODBefore setting out to change people’s minds, the class hadto do loads of bat research. After all, they couldn’t justwing it! They read books, surfed the Internet, and con-sulted a local bat expert. The class learned that bats aren’tdirty and aren’t any more likely to have rabies than mostother mammals. In fact, they are said to be as clean as theaverage teenager! They also learned that killing batsincreases the mosquito population. That’s what happenson the island of Guam, where residents feast on bat meat,and then mosquitoes feast on the residents!
Next the kids built bat houses out of wood, tarpaper,nails, and a fiberglass screen—and plenty of elbow grease.They made 16 in two weeks!
They presented their newfound knowledge of bats tomore than 90 kids and adults at school. They performedskits and a puppet show and created a coloring book forthe younger kids. Then they went to town! They were intheir local newspaper and talked about at town meetings.Thanks to the local TV station, almost everyone aroundknows about their project—except the bats, which werehibernating down South since winter began. But the newbat houses, placed near such favorite bat hangouts asponds and barns, were waiting for them when theywinged their way back in May.
“It was real-life learning,” Johnson says. Although sheisn’t giving her students a grade for this project, shethinks they are batting a thousand: “I’m proud to be theirteacher!”
This Is No Fly-by-Night OperationStudents sink their teeth into a projectthat saves some threatened bats
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“Bats won’t always bethere if we don’t takecare of them,” saysErika Knight, kneelingbeside a bat house,right. Her class’scoloring book, below,helps spread the word.
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Reader’s Response
Writer’s Response
List two facts about bats thatyou learned from this article.
What are the puns, or plays onwords, in the title and subtitle?How do they relate to thesubject of the article?
How do you think bats might behelpful to people who don’t livein a farming community?
What are some commonmisunderstandings that peoplehave about bats?
The author wrote puns in thetitle and subtitle of the article.Find three other puns in thearticle itself. Why do you thinkthe author included them?
Why do you think the authorbegan the article by describingvampires in the movies?
Why did the author include adescription of the materialsused to make bat houses?
Why does the author explainthat the kids aren’t gettinggrades for the bat project?
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One thing I’velearned as a profes-sional writer: edit-
ing and proofreading my ownwork is extremely important.And, I’ve discovered thatpunctuation often makes abig difference. Punctuationmarks tell a reader when tostop, slow down, and watchout! They are the clues thathelp readers ‘hear’ the wordsin their own minds the way
the writer meant them. When I proofread my draft of this article, for example, I
decided some words should be especially emphasized. So Iunderlined them, which means they should be in italic type. Ieven found a couple of sentences I thought should sound sur-prising, so I added exclamation points to them. Of course I hadalready included quotation marks around the words thatNicholas Custer, Mikaela Malsin, and their teacher, BrendaJohnson, actually said.
Then I realized that I had used several word combinationsthat I needed to make sure readers realized went together as asingle idea. So I added hyphens. One example, in the title for thearticle, is ‘fly-by-night.’ I hyphenated that combination so thatyou would understand that those three words all gotogether to describe the word operation. Can you ‘hear’the difference?
✏ The bat is just one animal thatgets a bad rap for no good reason.Research another animal, such as theshark or the spider, that is equallymisrepresented. Write an article thatdescribes what this animal is reallylike.
✏ You are on the team that willproduce a skit to be performed forkids and adults about bats and thebat project. Write a draft of the skit.Decide what will happen, how many characters willbe in it, and what they will say.
✏ As an ecologist, you know that all living creatureshave a role to play in the environment, just as bats do. Writea letter to the editor explaining why another kind of animalneeds protection.
✏ Find out about a project people have undertaken inyour community to help a plant, animal, or natural place.Write an article about this project for your school or localnewspaper.
PROOFREADING FOR
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They are older than the dinosaurs, older than nearly everythingelse on earth. They have been used to cut glass, cure snakebites,and charm kings and queens. Famed for their flashing beauty,
diamonds are the hardest substances on earth and among the most use-ful. “Diamonds help us understand the history of the earth,” says geol-ogist George Harlow.
CRYSTALS FROM INNER EARTHMost diamonds were formed billions of years ago in an inner layer ofthe earth called the mantle. About 100 miles underground, the mantleputs extreme heat (1,800˚F) and pressure on carbon, the commonblack substance in coal and pencils. These forces turn black carbon into
clear diamond crystal. As the crystal grows,it may trap other chemicals inside, creatingwhat Harlow calls “a space capsule fromthe inner earth.”
How did diamonds arrive on the earth’ssurface? They were shot forth in boilingeruptions of melted rock hundreds of mil-lions of years after they were formed. Theseeruptions were smaller but much morepowerful than those of modern volcanoes.“The most recent one occurred about 50million years ago,” says Harlow, “thoughthere’s no reason one couldn’t happennow.”
Today diamonds are mined on everycontinent except Europe and Antarctica.South Africa once shone as the diamondcapital of the world. A huge rush there wassparked by a 15-year-old’s lucky diamondfind in a bed of gravel in the 1860s. NowAustralia is the king of diamonds, produc-ing 39% of the gems found each year.Thanks to new methods of finding gems,mines were opened just a few years ago inCanada and Colorado.
A BRILLIANT BUSINESSDigging for diamonds is an expensive andexhausting operation. Miners may digthrough about 250 tons of rock to find justone stone. And only a fraction of the 10tons of natural diamonds mined each yearare perfect enough to be fashioned intonecklaces, pins, and rings.
The 80% of diamonds found each yearthat are too flawed, oddly shaped, or smallfor jewels are still valuable. These stones,called industrial diamonds, are used to cre-ate thousands of products, from protectiveeyeglasses to computer chips.
Every day, workers cut, grind, scrape, orshape runways, building materials, andstreets using diamonds’ hard edges.Dentists drill through tooth enamel quicklywith diamond-tipped tools, and doctorsperform surgery with diamond-edgedscalpels.
Most businesses no longer buy costlynatural diamonds. They have switched tosynthetic, or man-made, diamonds. In 1955researchers at General Electric figured outhow to imitate the conditions of heat andpressure that turn carbon into diamond.The discovery made diamonds cheaper andeasier to shape for all kinds of purposes.
“Diamonds have made a large footprintin science, culture, history, literature, andtechnology,” says Harlow. “They’re justmagic.”
Dazzling DiamondsEarth’s hardest gems are onthe cutting edge oftechnology
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Cutters studied this 890-carat stone for three years before creatingthe famous gem “Incomparable,” top.
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Reader’s Response
Writer’s Response
Diamonds are measured bytheir weight in carats. Thediamond in most engagementrings is less than one carat,which is 1/100th of an ounce.How does this information helpyou understand the photo?
Why are diamonds so valuable?
The article mentions that manybusinesses now use syntheticdiamonds. Do you think manypeople would like to wearjewelry made of syntheticdiamonds? Why or why not?
What percentage of diamondsfound are made into jewels?Does this statistic surprise you?Why or why not?
Why does the author wait untilthe last sentence of the firstparagraph to tell you that he iswriting about diamonds?
Why does the author tell howdiamonds are formed?
How does the author let youknow how he feels aboutdiamonds?
Why does the author includequotations from a geologist?
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After visiting anexhibit on dia-monds at the
American Museum ofNatural History in NewYork City several yearsago, I became fascinatedwith these gems. Idecided to write an arti-cle about diamonds.
However, I realized I needed to do some research ondiamonds before I could write anything about them.
Sometimes when I write an article I already knowmost of what I want to say, but I always need to checkthat my facts are accurate. I started with my favoriteresource—an encyclopedia. I also checked severalencyclopedias on the Internet.
To make sure I had a variety of sources, I inter-viewed George Harlow, who organized the exhibit Isaw. I knew he knew what he was talkingabout! Between the encyclopedias andGeorge Harlow, I had all the facts I needed.
✏ Imagine that you attended thediamond exhibit the author saw. Write abrochure explaining to other visitorswhat they will see. Include informationabout diamonds from this article andfrom some additional research.
✏ Suppose diamonds arediscovered just outside of your town,and there is talk of opening adiamond mine. Write the newscastthat you will deliver on the local eveningtelevision news.
✏ Write a book for second graders that explains whatdiamonds are and how they are made. Using simplelanguage, try to give information as clearly as possible.Include illustrations.
✏ You were the miner who unearthed the 890-caratdiamond shown in the picture. Write a journal entry aboutthat day. Tell how you knew it was special, how you felt, andwhat you did.
DOINGRESEARCH
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Carrying a backpack can be haz-ardous to your health. Just askJordan Morgan, 10, of California.
“One time I fell off my bike andbruised my leg because my backpackwas too heavy!” says Jordan. He
weighs 100 pounds. His backpack,loaded with four books, a calculator, abinder, paper, glue, and gym clothes,can weigh 20 pounds! “Sometimes Ihave to stop and rest because it’s tooheavy.”
A Real Pain in the NeckKids with heavy backpacks should lighten up!
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Backpack injuries sent more than 10,000 kids to the doctor last year.
Jordan isn’t the only one whoneeds to lighten his load. In October1999 the American Academy ofOrthopaedic Surgeons (A.A.O.S.)reported that thousands of kids haveback, neck, and shoulder pain causedby their heavy backpacks. TheA.A.O.S. surveyed more than 100physicians in Illinois and Delaware.More than half said they have treatedkids for pain and muscle fatiguecaused by backpacks. The ConsumerProduct Safety Commission foundthat in 1998 U.S. kids ages 5 to 14made 10,062 visits to doctors’ officeswith backpack-caused aches.
Half the doctors in the A.A.O.S.survey said a backpack can do somedamage if it weighs 20 pounds ormore. A study by Dr. CharlotteAlexander of Houston, Texas, showedthat, on average, kids carry a back-pack that weighs 10% of what theyweigh. “That’s not a problem,” saysDr. Alexander, “but we found one 10-year-old with a backpack weighing 47pounds!”
How should you carry a heavyload? Use both shoulder straps, placethe heaviest items closest to yourback, and bend both knees when lift-ing. If you have lots to carry, try abackpack with hip straps or wheels.
Jordan Morgan is packing lighternow and feeling better. Says Jordan:“I don’t fall anymore or hurt myself.”
Does yourbackpack weightoo much?1. Weigh your backpack.2. Weigh yourself.3. Divide your weight by 5.
If your backpack weighsmore than this, you couldhurt yourself!
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Reader’s Response
Writer’s Response
The article focuses on some ofthe limitations of backpacks.What are some of theadvantages of carrying heavyitems in backpacks?
Were you surprised to discoverthat some kids carry backpacksthat are much too heavy forthem? Why or why not?
What symptoms do yousuppose most of those kids whowent to doctors because of theirbackpacks had?
What can kids do to keepthemselves from having to carryso much?
Why do you think the author’sfirst and last paragraphsfocused on one boy?
What do you suppose inspiredthe author to write about heavybackpacks?
Why did the author include theinformation in the box with thearticle?
Reread the sentence the authorwrote as a transition, or abridge, from the first paragraphto the second. How did theauthor try to connect these twoparagraphs?
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Sometimes whenyou have severalideas you want to get
across, it can be difficult tomove a reader from one toanother. You don’t want oneparagraph to sound as thoughit is completely unrelated tothe previous one, as if youhave begun to write about atotally different topic.Transitions can sometimespose a problem for me when
I write. So when I edit my first draft, I always read once forsmooth transitions.
Let’s look at this article. I connected the first two paragraphseasily enough with one sentence about Jordan being only one ofmany who needs to pay attention to how heavy his load is. And Iadded the first sentence of the third paragraph to make surereaders would follow my switch to talking about Dr. Alexander’sstudy, which wasn’t part of the A.A.O.S. at all.
The connection between the last two paragraphs seemedclear enough to me, since they’re both about the main topic. Youdon’t always need a transition sentence.
As you edit your work for transitions, put yourself in the read-er’s shoes. Ask, ‘Is the connection clear here? Will thereader understand the relationship between theseideas?’ If the answer is ‘no,’ add a transition.
✏ Dr. Charlotte Alexander isgoing to include your class in herstudy. Do her field work for her bysurveying your classmates and theweights of their backpacks. Write areport that gives her theinformation about backpacks inyour class.
✏ The principal of your schoolis also interested in the backpacksurvey. Present it to him or her in the form of a graph orchart that shows how many kids in your class carrybackpacks that are more than 10% of their weight, howmany carry packs that are about 10%, and how manyhave packs that are less than 10%.
✏ Now that you are interested in this issue, youdecide to educate people about the dangers of heavybackpacks. Write a brochure or make a poster thatexplains the problem and offers helpful hints.
TRANSITIONS
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When Pavel Friedmann was about 11 years old, hisfamily was forced to leave their home in Poland.The Friedmanns and other Jewish families were
moved into a walled-off, isolated area called a ghetto.While he was living in the ghetto, Pavel wrote a poemcalled “The Butterfly.” Part of the poem reads, “Such,such a yellow/Is carried lightly way up high/It went awayI’m sure because it wished to kiss the world goodbye.”
It was the last butterfly Pavel would ever see. He wasone of 6 million Jewish people who were killed duringWorld War II. The murder of Jews by members ofGermany’s Nazi Party from 1938 to 1945 is known as theHolocaust. It is considered to be one of the most evil actsin history.
Of the 6 million Jewish people who died in theHolocaust, 1.2 million were children. Eleanor Schiller, ateacher in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, was looking fora way to help her students understand the huge number
of young lives lost in theHolocaust. After she readPavel’s poem, an idea took flight.She decided to invite studentseverywhere to create 1,200,000 paperbutterflies to display for HolocaustRemembrance Day on April 23,1998. Says Schiller: “I wanted kids torealize that this is a world where we canall work together.”
The students at Schiller’s religiousschool, Chabad Academy, cut out butterflies for weeks.By March they had made about 125,000 butterflies.
Student Becky Hemmo, 13, says the project was spe-cial to her. “Butterflies are just like children—colorful andfree. Butterflies don’t live long, and these kids didn‘t livelong. We should remember what happened to stop it fromever happening again.”
A Million ButterfliesWith scissors and care, kids create a memorial
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Students at Chabad Academy help create 1.2 million butterflies.
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Reader’s Response
Writer’s Response
Why do you suppose PavelFriedmann wrote the butterflypoem?
What did the butterfly have thatPavel did not have?
How did butterflies come to bethe symbol of the children whowere killed in the Holocaust tothe students at ChabadAcademy?
Do you think that making 1.2 million butterflies helpedpresent-day children reallyunderstand how many childrenwere killed in the Holocaust?Why or why not?
Why do you think the writerwrote this article? Whatpurpose did the writer have inmind?
How did the writer try to helpthe reader understand thehorrors of the Holocaust?
Why do you think the writerincluded the quotation fromBecky Hemmo in the lastparagraph?
Why did the writer think it wasimportant to include part ofPavel’s poem rather than just itstitle?
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When I heard ofMs. Schiller’s but-terfly project, I
thought kids would beinterested. But I knowmany of today’s kids don’treally know much aboutWorld War II and don’tunderstand the Holocaust.Like Ms. Schiller, I feltthey should. So I madesure to include some back-ground information in the
article. After all, the whole reason for the project was theHolocaust. There wasn’t space in the article for too muchinformation, but I did include the basics.
Giving background information when you write an arti-cle can be tricky. In this one, for example, I could have pro-vided much more information about the ghettos and theHolocaust. In fact, I wanted to. There’s a lot more that Ithink kids should know. But I had to remember that here Iwas telling mainly about the butterfly project. If I addedtoo much more about the Holocaust itself, that projectwould be ‘lost.’
I had to keep a sense of proportion and remember togive only as much background information asreaders need to understand the main point of thearticle—in this case, the butterfly project.
✏ Find out more about theHolocaust and the people whowere killed, including those whowere not Jewish. Do someresearch and write a summary forthe class.
✏ Your school is planning a program for HolocaustRemembrance Day next April 23. Draft a proposal tothe planning committee, suggesting what kinds ofactivities should be included.
✏ You are the editor of your school newspaper.Write an editorial to be published on HolocaustRemembrance Day. Explain why everyone in the worldmust remember the Holocaust.
GIVINGBACKGROUNDINFORMATION
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Elizabeth Eckford felt the firstwet splotch of spit hit her skin.She held her head high. She
heard the angry, cruel words of theother students who were her age buta different color. She held her headhigh. But her dignity only made thosearound her angrier. So later, theypushed her down the stairs. She gotup. It was getting hard to hold herhead high.
Forty years have passed sinceEckford, then 15, became one of thefirst black students to enroll inCentral High School in Little Rock,Arkansas. On Thursday, September25, 1997, Eckford and Central High’seight other original black studentsreturned to the same steps they oncewalked under the protection of 1,000soldiers. This time, instead of armedguards, someone else held open theschool’s door for them: the president.
“Forty years ago today, theyclimbed these steps, passed throughthis door and moved our nation,”President Clinton said. “And for that,we must all thank them.”
NINE STUDENTS, ONE FAMOUS DAYPresident Clinton was an 11-year-oldboy in 1957, when Little Rock’s firstblack students bravely made theirway into Central High. Back then, thepresident was Dwight Eisenhower,and the governor of Arkansas was aman named Orval Faubus. Faubusbelieved in a system called segrega-tion, which kept black and white peo-ple separate—separate bathrooms,separate drinking fountains.
In 1954 the Supreme Court ruled
that school segregation was illegal.The famous decision, called Brownversus the Board of Education, meantthat Governor Faubus had to allowblack students into all of Arkansas’public schools. When he refused,President Eisenhower sent 1,000armed soldiers to protect the ”LittleRock Nine” from angry white mobs asthey entered Central High on thatSeptember day.
One of those nine students, MelbaPatillo Beals, recalled that day in herbook, Warriors Don’t Cry: “All I couldhear was my own heartbeat and thesound of boots clicking on stone.”
Today 60% of the students atCentral High School are black. Butmany who attended the anniversaryceremony pointed out that racismhasn’t completely disappeared in allthese years.
Elizabeth Eckford is the only oneof the Little Rock Nine who still livesin Little Rock. She was surprised tofind herself greeted as a hero duringthe anniversary. “I’m usually nobodyhere,” she told USA Today. “Peopledon’t attach any significance to me.”
Generations of Americans, thank-ful for her historic, proud walk intoCentral High, would disagree.
Heroes’
WelcomeNine civil rightspioneers come home
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Elizabeth Eckford faced a hateful crowd on her first day of school in 1957.
The “Nine,” with Clinton, revisited Central High.
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Writer’s Response
Why do you suppose PresidentClinton attended theanniversary ceremony atCentral High?
The Little Rock Nine could haveattended all-black schools. Whydo you think they decided toenter Central High instead?
How do you think the Little RockNine felt on the second day ofschool that year?
Why is it important toremember what the Little RockNine did 40 years ago?
Why does the writer include thephotograph of ElizabethEckford’s first day at CentralHigh in 1957? What issignificant about the photo?
Why does the writer use wordslike hero and pioneer to describethe Little Rock Nine?
How and why does the writer tryto compare the 1997 ceremonywith the 1957 event?
Why does the writer mentionthat some people feel racismhasn’t completely disappeared?
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This was a verypowerful story,and I wanted
readers to feel its emotion.I wanted them to feel as ifthey were there, in LittleRock in 1957. So I carefullychose my words, images,and quotations to drawreaders into the story.
I started the story byputting readers inElizabeth Eckford’s shoes.
How did it feel to get spit on and yelled at? I used sensorydetails, ‘wet splotch of spit’ and ‘angry, cruel words,’ to helpreaders ‘feel’ and ‘hear’ what Elizabeth felt and heard. Shehad to be very brave, and she was only 15! I repeated thephrase ‘held her head high’ to emphasize Elizabeth’s brav-ery.
I included quotations to help readers see how some ofthe students felt. For example, I used Melba Patillo Beals’squotation ‘All I could hear was my own heartbeat and thesound of boots clicking on stone.’ I thought this quote wasanother good way to put readers on the scene in 1957. I likedthe sound imagery of boots clicking on stone. It’s very pow-erful. Through the quote, you can hear Melba’svoice and feel her fear.
Did it work? Did you feel as if you were there?
✏ Suppose you were one of theLittle Rock Nine. Write a journal entrythat tells what happened and how youfelt about those events on your first dayin high school.
✏ You are the editor of yourschool newspaper. Write an editorialabout the anniversary of the LittleRock Nine. Describe the importanceof that day and the impact ofdesegregation on schools and on the UnitedStates.
✏ Imagine that President Clinton awarded each of theLittle Rock Nine a plaque honoring his or her participation inthe desegregation of the Little Rock schools. Think aboutwhat the plaque looks like and says. Design and inscribe it.
✏ As a TV newscaster, you know that the anniversary ofthe Little Rock Nine will lead the newscast. Write thefeature about their contribution to history.
APPEALING TO READERS’
EMOTIONS
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In elementary school, Hannah Kristan’s least favoritepart of the day was recess. “I never got to do anythingexcept sit there,” she recalls.Hannah, 12, was born with spina bifida (spy-na biff-
eh-dah), a condition that kept her spine from formingcompletely. She uses a wheelchair.
For kids in wheelchairs, most playgrounds are terribleplaces to play. Wheelchairs can sink in the parks’ soft sur-faces, and chairs won’t fit on the equipment.
Three years ago, Hannah heard about the HasbroNational Resource Center for Boundless Playgrounds, agroup that creates playgrounds for children of all abilities.Soon Hannah was raising money for a playground shecould use in her hometown of New Haven, Connecticut.
Now the new playground, named Hannah’s Dream, isbecoming a reality. Construction on it began on October26, 1999. It is scheduled to open in the spring of 2000.
Fun for All
Kids with disabilities help create playgrounds
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Matthew (above) rides the “boat swing”he designed, while Hannah (right) glideson the high-back swing.
At Jonathan’s Dream, Amy Barzach and pals
Hannah’s Dream will join eight other BoundlessPlaygrounds across the country. The first one was createdin 1996 by Amy Jaffe Barzach. She named it Jonathan’sDream in honor of her son, who died as a baby.
NO BOUNDARIESHannah loves visiting Jonathan’s Dream in WestHartford, Connecticut, where she can ride in a swingdesigned especially for kids who need extra support to situp.
Matthew Cavedon, 10, prefers the “boat swing” at theplayground. He designed it! Matthew, who was born witha joint disease and uses a wheelchair, came up with theidea for a swing with enough room for kids in chairs. “Iwanted to have a swing I could use,” he says.
The best thing about Boundless Playgrounds, saysfounder Barzach, is that they allow children of all abilitiesto play together. “These are not playgrounds just forhandicapped kids,” she says. “They’re for everyone.”
There are 29 Boundless Playgrounds in developmentacross the country. The group’s goal is to build 1,000 play-grounds—one within an hour’s drive of every child in theU.S. To learn more or to lend a helping hand, visitwww.boundlessplaygrounds.com.
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Reader’s Response
Writer’s Response
What does this article teach usabout an individual’s ability tochange things?
These kids are willing to travelan hour just to get to aplayground they can use. Whatdoes that tell you aboutplaygrounds and the kids?
How would you describeHannah’s and Matthew’spersonalities? Write a sentenceabout each one.
Why do you think theplaygrounds are calledBoundless Playgrounds? Whatdoes that mean?
How did the author make clearthat Hannah and Matthew areordinary kids? Why did theauthor want to do that?
Why do you think the authorgave the e-mail address ofBoundless Playgrounds?
Why did the writer say thatordinary playgrounds don’t workfor kids in wheelchairs?
Did the author persuade youthat Boundless Playgrounds is agood cause to support? How didthe author do that?
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After I decided towrite an article forTime for Kids
about the BoundlessPlaygrounds, I knew thefirst thing I needed to dowas to interview Amy JaffeBarzach, who started thewhole program. I listedsome questions to ask herabout the program andabout the parks.
It was a successful interview. I got some good informationfrom Ms. Barzach. Although I spent several hours talking toher, the main idea of my article was not her or the interview.It was the playgrounds program. I knew my readers would beespecially interested in what she had to say about the involve-ment of the kids for whom the playgrounds are especiallydesigned. To my great delight, she introduced me to HannahKristan and Matthew Cavedon. I had interesting interviewswith them. I wanted to know which rides they especiallyliked and why, and I was delighted to discover their roles ininventing rides.
When you interview someone, you need to choose infor-mation and ideas from that interview that suit your writingpurpose. My article worked well when I picked outand used only certain things from the three inter-views.
✏ You or someone you know hasa physical handicap that makes itdifficult to do some activities thatare ordinary to most people, suchas playing on a playground. Comeup with one or more ideas thatmight help solve one problem.Explain your ideas in severalparagraphs. Include sketches ifyou can.
✏ Start a local campaign for a BoundlessPlayground. Write a flyer explaining how people canhelp.
✏ Imagine that you are a newspaper reporter.Write a feature article about two playgrounds—anordinary one and a Boundless one. Tell how they arealike and different.
INTERVIEWTIPS
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Imagine a dinosaur so towering, itcould look inside a sixth-story win-dow. Oklahoma scientists have
proof that there was such a creature.Some vertebrae, or neck and backbones, of Sauroposeidon proteleswere revealed for the first time inNovember 1999. Sauroposeidon, alsoknown as “thunder lizard,” was 60feet tall. Its neck alone was as long asa school bus: 40 feet! The paleontolo-gists who studied the bones say theremay have been heavierdinosaurs—but none taller.
“They are very beautifulvertebrae,” said sauropodexpert Jack McIntosh ofWesleyan University.Dinosaur scientists werefascinated to see that thehuge vertebrae are madein part of bone as thin
and light as eggshells. If this sauropodhad had heavier bones, it probablywouldn’t have been able to lift its ownmassive neck!
Matt Wedel, a leader of theUniversity of Oklahoma team thatstudied the bones, namedSauroposeidon after Poseidon, the
Greek god who controlledthe seas and earthquakes.
Wedel figures that everystep this giant took
shook the groundlike a smalle a r t h q u a k e .
Sauroposeidon probably moved veryslowly and carefully, Wedel adds,because toppling over would likelyhave killed these tall beasts. “Theyprobably didn’t move any faster thanthey had to,” he says. He estimatesthat the dinosaur ate a ton of pineneedles and ferns daily.
There is one remaining mystery:Where’s the rest of this 110-million-year-old giant? The vertebrae werefound in Oklahoma in 1994.Paleontologists have searched highand low for the rest of the skeleton.Says Richard Cifelli, another paleon-tologist on the team: “The rest of itstill has to be there somewhere.”
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Cifelli shows howSauroposeidon would havedwarfed a modern human.
Wedel moves a neckbone. The dinosaurweighed 60 tons!
Meet Thunder Lizard!Meet Thunder Lizard!Scientists show off the bones of the tallest dinosaur ever
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Reader’s Response
Writer’s Response
How does Sauroposeidoncompare with other dinosaursyou know about?
The dinosaur’s bones werediscovered in 1994, but theywere not revealed until 1999.Why do you suppose scientistswaited so long to make thempublic?
Why do you think the sauropodexpert described the vertebraeas “very beautiful”?
How does the photo of thedinosaur’s neck bone helpreaders understand thedinosaur’s size?
Why does the writer compareSauroposeidon’s height to a six-story building and the length ofits neck to a school bus?
What else does the writer do totry to help readers comprehendthe dinosaur’s size?
How does the writer make clearthat it is this dinosaur’s size thatmakes it so special?
Why did the writer tell about themystery of the remainingbones?
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For someone whowrites about sci-ence topics, as I
do, knowing somethingabout the ancient languagesof Greek and Latin is veryimportant. Why? Becauseso many scientific words arebased on Latin and Greekwords. Knowing those rootwords helps me figure outwhat the words mean. Iteven helps me figure outhow to spell them.
And it reminds me of other little things, too, such as theway plurals are formed. For example, if vertebra was strictlyan English word, its plural would be vertebras, right? But theRomans who spoke and wrote Latin thousands of years agoformed plurals of words that ended in a by adding an e. Sovertebrae is the plural form of vertebra.
The technical names of some dinosaurs include the wordpart Sauro, which comes from the Latin word saurus, mean-ing lizard. Aha! Any scientist who looks at the nameSauroposeidon knows what classification of dinosaurs itbelongs to. It’s a wonderful naming system that allows scien-tists around the world to understand the relation-ships of animals. (They use it with plants, too.) Solearn ancient languages to learn science!
✏ Suppose you are Matt Wedel.Write a letter to other paleontologists toencourage them to join you in lookingfor the remains of Sauroposeidonproteles in Oklahoma. Explain theproject and provide some informationthat will interest them.
✏ Richard Cifelli is going to visita classroom to tell the kids aboutSauroposeidon proteles. Write asummary of what he should say. Adda diagram or illustration to show how big the dinosaur was.
✏ You are the University of Oklahoma’s public-relationsofficer. Write the press release announcing the discovery ofthe dinosaur bones and explaining their significance.
✏ Write a short skit that tells what happened when theteam first discovered the dinosaur vertebrae. What did thepaleontologists say and do? Were they excited? Give stagedirections, as necessary.
IT PAYS TOKNOW YOUR(LATIN AND
GREEK) ROOTS
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