Indholdsfortegnelse for Issue 155/156 i The Week Junior US

On April 4, former President Donald Trump (who held the office from 2017–2021) was charged with crimes by a court in New York City. It is the first time in US history that a current or former President has faced criminal charges. Trump is also a Republican candidate for President in the 2024 election. What happened? Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, a Democrat, convened a grand jury in January. (A grand jury is a group of citizens who decide whether there is enough evidence to charge someone with a crime. They do not decide whether someone is guilty.) Members of the jury heard testimony about whether Trump did something illegal during the 2016 Presidential campaign. On March 30, they voted to indict (pronounced in-dite) Trump, which means to charge him…

AN ANCIENT FIND A 9-year-old fossil collector named Eli made an exciting discovery at a UK beach. During a family outing, Eli spotted a fossil of an ammonite, a mollusk related to octopuses and squids. His first thought when he saw it was, “Oh my God, that’s big!” Experts say it’s 200 million years old. TRIPLE DIGITS Soccer superstar Lionel Messi scored his 100th goal in men’s international soccer—the third player to achieve the feat. Messi, captain of Argentina, the reigning world champs, hit the milestone in a game against Curaçao on March 28. By halftime, he had 102 goals. “He deserves all the praise,” his coach said. FOREVER FRIENDS Best buddies Felix and Cinnamon—a dog and a goat—will stay together after being adopted by a family in North Carolina.…

Crew chosen for Moon mission The selection of four astronauts for Artemis II, the first crewed mission to the Moon in more than 50 years, was announced on April 3. They are (above, clockwise from front) Reid Wiseman, Christina Hammock Koch, and Victor Glover of NASA and Jeremy Hansen of the Canadian Space Agency. Artemis II, planned for a November 2024 launch, will fly beyond the Moon, possibly farther than any human has traveled. Skateboarding stamps released The US Postal Service has introduced four new stamps (shown above) celebrating skateboarding. Each “Art of the Skateboard” Forever stamp was designed by a different artist. “People don’t really give credit to how skateboarding has helped communities and changed the mindsets of many people across the nation,” said one of the artists, Di’Orr…

Zaila Avant-garde, who made history in 2021 as the first Black American to win the Scripps National Spelling Bee, is now an author with two children’s books coming out this spring. Both are aimed at encouraging readers to think creatively about words. “The idea of becoming an author was really fun for me,” the now 16-year-old told The Week Junior. She said she has loved books since a very young age. One of her role models growing up was human rights activist Malala Yousafzai, who wrote I am Malala. Avant-garde’s first book, It’s Not Bragging if It’s True: How to Be Awesome at Life, will be out on May 2. It’s a middle-grade book she co-wrote with Marti Dumas. In it, she shares personal stories, including what it was like…

On the southern and western coasts of South Africa, tiny white huts have been appearing on beaches. The structures are being built to protect African penguin families from the hot sun—a strategy conservationists say is working. African penguins spend most of their time in the cool water of the South Atlantic Ocean. But in order to breed and incubate (help to hatch) their eggs, they have to be on land. Unfortunately, the birds’ black coats absorb heat from the scorching African sun. If they return to the water to cool off, they cannot guard their eggs and young chicks from predators. To stay safe and cool, the penguins would usually dig burrows in layers of guano (bat and bird poop) that had built up over thousands of years. However, in…

Fin whales Last year, a group of whales near Antarctica was caught on video. According to a new study, the group contained about 970 fin whales, one of the largest groups ever recorded. The whale’s population is rising after a drop in the 1900s. Purple martins The number of purple martins in North America has been declining. A recent study found that the birds are consuming mercury, a toxic metal, while spending winters in the Amazon basin, which may make them unable to migrate.…

Geoffrey Mutai Geoffrey Mutai of Kenya set the course record for men at the 115th Boston Marathon in 2011, finishing in 2 hours, 3 minutes, 2 seconds. Buzunesh Deba A runner from Ethiopia, Buzunesh Deba, set the course record in Boston for women in 2014. She ran the race in 2 hours, 19 minutes, 59 seconds. Deba has placed in the top 10 at the Boston Marathon four times. Marcel Hug In 2017, Swiss adaptive athlete Marcel Hug won the Boston Marathon in the men’s wheelchair division and set a new course record with a time of 1 hour, 18 minutes, 4 seconds. Hug is a fivetime winner of the event. Manuela Schär Manuela Schär from Switzerland set the course record in the women’s wheelchair division in 2017, in 1…

A new moai statue has been found on Rapa Nui, also known as Easter Island. The moai are massive human figures carved out of volcanic rock more than 500 years ago. The newly discovered statue was found in a dry lake bed in a volcano crater. Rapa Nui is located in the Pacific Ocean, more than 2,200 miles west of Chile. It was originally settled by Eastern Polynesian people from the nearby Polynesian islands between the years 600 and 800. Islanders carved nearly 1,000 statues between the years 1100 and 1650. The figures are thought to represent their godlike ancestors. Many moai stand up to 33 feet tall and weigh more than 80 tons. They are often positioned in rows atop stone platforms with their backs to the sea. The…

2023 SONY WORLD PHOTOGRAPHY NATURAL WORLD AWARDS FINALISTS…

On March 30, the 2023 Major League Baseball (MLB) season began. This year, the league implemented new rules designed to make games faster and more exciting. The biggest change is the addition of a pitch clock. It limits how long players can take to enter the batter’s box and how much time pitchers can take between throws. Violations result in an automatic ball or strike, depending on the offense. There were 14 violations on Opening Day, but the games were also 18 minutes shorter than the average game in the 2022 season. The pitch clock rule also limits the number of times a pitcher can throw the ball to first base, which has increased stolen base attempts. Across the 15 Opening Day games, there were 21 steals out of 23…

In Latin America, the mythical chupacabra is a dog-like creature that sucks the blood of other animals. The new Netflix film Chupa is a story about a boy who meets one. Chupa is set during the 1990s, when there were real news reports about goats in Puerto Rico being found with wounds resembling vampire bites. (Chupacabra loosely translates to “goat sucker” in Spanish.) The film’s main character is Alex, a quiet 13-year-old who is visiting family in Mexico. As talk of chupacabra sightings circulate, Alex finds and bonds with a chupacabra cub he names Chupa. “They are both alone and dealing with the loss of a parent,” director Jonás Cuarón told The Week Junior. When scientists begin a hunt for Chupa, Alex and his family must protect the creature and…

Descendants (Disney+, Prime Video, Google Play) “This movie musical is about four kids whose parents are famous Disney villains. They have grown up on the Isle of the Lost, where all villains have been banished. In Auradon, the land of the good guys, a new prince gains power and gives the four kids a chance to attend a school in his world. While there, they find their kindness and courage—and also save the day when their evil parents invade. I recommend this movie because it teaches kids that you can be strong, and it is exciting and funny. I also love that everyone gets to fight, even the girls.” Alice, 8, Montana Do you have a film or TV show to recommend to other kids? Send your review to hello@theweekjunior.com.…

Double spring crisscrosses This two-in-one spring puzzle features birds in the top grid and flowers in the bottom grid. Both the bird and flower names are mixed together in the list between the grids. To complete the two grids, use your knowledge of the birds and flowers you recognize, along with how all the words must be placed to fit into the grids. BIRDS 3 letters AUK JAY MUM 4 letters CROW DUCK HAWK IBIS IRIS KITE LOON 5 letters CRANE DAISY EGRET GOOSE HERON LILAC RAVEN ROBIN STORK 6 letters AZALEA CUCKOO DAHLIA LUPINE MAGPIE ORCHID PIGEON PLOVER THRUSH VIOLET ZINNIA 7 letters GRACKLE JASMINE PELICAN SKYLARK SPARROW TANAGER 8 letters CARDINAL FLAMINGO GERANIUM HIBISCUS HYACINTH LARKSPUR MAGNOLIA MARIGOLD PARAKEET PRIMROSE 9 letters ALBATROSS COLUMBINE CORMORANT DANDELION EDELWEISS GOLDFINCH…

Editor-in-chief: Andrea Barbalich Executive editor: Mindy Walker Senior editors: Gail O’Connor, Jennifer Li Shotz Features editor: Joey Bartolomeo Senior research editor: Douglas Grant Senior staff writer: Alisa Partlan Staff writer: Felissa Allard Associate editors: Brielle Diskin, Brandon Wiggins Creative director: Dean Abatemarco Production director: Paul Kramer Senior art director: Victoria Beall Photo editor: Nataki Hewling Contributors: Stephanie Abramson, Lily Alt, Karen Cicero, Erica Clark, Stacy Cousino, Diane Debrovner, Susie Dent, Truman Devitt, Dave Howard, Joy Howard, Jodi Levine, Ruth Margolis, Bari Nan Cohen Rothchild, Liz Callahan Schnabolk, Asha Sridhar, Jordan Zakarin Senior VP: Sophie Wybrew-Bond Managing director, news: Richard Campbell Brand director, news: Sabine Bullmore VP, consumer marketing: Nina La France Consumer marketing director: Leslie Guarnieri Head of growth marketing: Colleen Shire Ho Interim publisher: Stevie Lee (stevie.lee@futurenet.com) Account director:…

On April 4, the Nordic nation of Finland, in Europe, became the 31st member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, a military alliance of countries, mainly in Europe). Finland, which shares an 832-mile border with Russia, applied to join NATO after Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022. Finland’s membership strengthens NATO’s stance against Russia. Finland and the nearby country of Sweden applied to join NATO at the same time and were quickly approved by all but two member nations: Turkey and Hungary. Turkey accused Finland of protecting people who oppose Turkey’s government, and Hungary said Sweden was spreading lies about Hungary’s government. Turkey and Hungary softened their position on Finland in recent days and approved its admission to NATO, but both are still blocking Sweden. “It is a great day…

The nation’s population patterns are moving back to what they were before the pandemic, a new study by the US Census Bureau has found. (The Census is the count of the US population that is done every 10 years.) The 10 fastest-growing US counties in 2022 were in the South or West, and some cities regained population they had lost in the Covid-19 years. What did the report find? Maricopa County in Arizona, which includes Phoenix and Scottsdale, gained the greatest number of people (56,831) of any county in the US. The fastest-growing county was Whitman County, Washington, which had experienced a population drop of 9.6% between 2020 and 2021 but expanded by 10.1% last year. Six of the 10 counties that gained the most population in 2022 were in…

France New rules for electric scooters In an effort to improve safety, the French government announced that people will now have to be at least 14 years old to ride an electric scooter on roads in France. Prior to the new guidelines, riders had to be 12. Fines will also increase from about $38 to about $150 for people caught carrying a passenger, which is not allowed. On April 2, residents of Paris, the nation’s capital, voted overwhelmingly to ban the scooters there, starting in September. Gibraltar Local language at risk of dying out Experts worry that a local dialect is dying out in Gibraltar, a British territory on the southern coast of Spain. The Llanito language developed from a combination of English and Spanish words. Now, though, English and…

This national park was designated a Unesco World Heritage Site in 1978 because of its ancient dwellings dating back to the 6th century. The 52,000-acre park was the home of the ancient Pueblo people and is sacred to 26 tribes. Its landscape is defined by dramatic mesas (mountains with a flat top), canyons, and cliff dwellings. This expanse is home to about 200 species of birds, such as the Mexican spotted owl; 74 different mammals, including wild horses; and more than 1,000 types of insects, including the black swallowtail butterfly.…

Jordan Baur Keeper, Denver Zoo Bees buzz mostly because of how fast their wings beat—up to 230 times per second! Some buzz while on flowers to make pollen fall. Honeybees also buzz to help cool or warm the hive. My favorite reason is for communication! Bees communicate in many ways, but buzzing is easiest to notice. Do you have a question for a zookeeper? Send it to hello@theweekjunior.com. Find out more about Denver Zoo at denverzoo.org.…

Scientists from Keio University in Japan have discovered that when two people work together on a task, their brains synchronize (start working in the same way). This area of research is known as second-person neuroscience. It uses a technique called hyperscanning, which records the activity of multiple brains at the same time. For the study, the scientists divided 78 people into 39 pairs. Each pair was asked to perform what the study called a “highly free and creative” task: to design and furnish a digital room inside a computer game. The partners sat opposite each other and completed the task together, creating a room that satisfied them both. There were no limits on time or how much they spoke to each other. Each partner also completed the task on their…

On April 2 and 3, the women’s and men’s National College Athletic Association (NCAA) basketball tournaments came to an exciting close after more than two weeks of competition. Louisiana State University (LSU) won the women’s title, and the University of Connecticut (UConn) won the men’s title. Third-seeded (ranked) LSU beat second-seeded University of Iowa, 102–85, for their first-ever national title. Iowa was favored to win the championship after they knocked out last year’s winners, the University of South Carolina, in the semifinal. But Iowa was unable to match LSU’s depth, talent, and athleticism on the court. In the game’s first quarter, the lead went back and forth. LSU seized control in the second quarter and led, 59–42, at halftime. Iowa cut the lead to 77–69 early in the fourth quarter…

Coach’s Name: Patricia Ui Team: Lonestar Field Hockey Club “Coach Pat has been my coach since I started playing field hockey in 2018. She always makes practice fun and she is very motivational. She has improved all aspects of my gameplay because she is always pushing me to be my best. She encourages me to take risks and try different things in practice, because that’s the time to make mistakes and learn from them. She has helped grow my love of the game by being so supportive.” Eliana, 12, Texas To nominate a Coach of the Week, send your coach’s name, photo, sport, and team to hello@theweekjunior.com. Include your name, age, state, and a few reasons why your coach is great.…

Unicorns Descriptions of single-horned animals date back to Greece in 400 BCE. Drinking from a horn was said to be healing. European and Asian myths made them wise, magical horses. Dragons For centuries, folktales from the Middle East, Europe, China, and other regions included stories about winged, serpent-like beings that breathe fire. At times, fossils were mistakenly identified as dragon remains. Mermaids The common depiction of these beings is rooted in Greek and Roman myths, but the word “mermaid” is a compound of the Old English words “mere,” meaning sea, and “maid,” which means young woman.…

The most popular soccer video game in the world recently expanded its rosters. On March 15, an update to FIFA 23 brought all 12 clubs in the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) to the game for the first time. The NWSL is the top women’s professional soccer league in the US. The NWSL is the third full women’s league to be added to FIFA 23. When the game launched last fall, it included the Women’s Super League from England and the Division 1 Féminine from France. Before that, only women’s national teams, including the one from the US, were part of the franchise. The update includes each NWSL team’s roster of real-world players, including stars Alex Morgan, Sophia Smith, and Mallory Swanson. Gamers can play NWSL teams in tournaments, head-to-head…

The Week Junior spoke with M.T. Anderson, author of Elf Dog & Owl Head. He has also written graphic novels, nonfiction, and picture books. Did you write this book during the pandemic? Yes, the story takes place in the late spring and summer of 2020, and that’s the exact time period when I was working on it. What was your life like during that time? I was living alone in a house in Vermont with no companions except for my beloved dog, LaRue, who died in 2021. LaRue was a strange-looking dog with long legs and giant ears, and she seemed very much like a magical dog. Every day, we would go on walks of five or six miles through the mountains. When did you start writing books? In middle…

A family in France learned that a valuable piece of art had been hanging behind their door since 1900. The work, which is titled L’Avocat du village (“The Village Lawyer”), was painted by Pieter Brueghel the Younger in about 1615 and is estimated to be worth more than $867,000. Malo de Lussac, who identified the artwork, said the family had no idea that the painting they had lived with for so many years was more than “just a bit of decoration.”…

The night before this issue went to press, the University of Connecticut men’s basketball team clinched the national title—and cheers erupted in my house (p18). That’s because UConn is my son’s favorite college team and he was so excited for this victory. He chose UConn to win in the tournament bracket he filled out and wore the same UConn T-shirt and hat while watching each game the team played in. I guess the gear was good luck! I’m happy for my son, for UConn, for Louisiana State University for winning the women’s tournament for the first time, and for every team that gave their all this season. Cheers, also, to legendary sportscaster Jim Nantz, who retired as the voice of the tournament after the game. “Everybody has a dream, everybody…

April 10, 1971 “Ping pong diplomacy” begins On April 10, 1971, a US table tennis team arrived in China, becoming the first Americans to enter China in more than 20 years. The team was well received and became known for bringing the two countries together using what was called “ping pong diplomacy.” Chou En-Lai, then China’s top leader, said, “You have opened a new chapter in the relations of the American and Chinese people.”…

Last October, Aaron Judge of the New York Yankees hit his 62nd home run of the season, setting a new record for Major League Baseball’s American League. A fan caught the ball that day—and later sold it for $1.5 million. The same week, Cal Raleigh of the Seattle Mariners hit a home run to send his team to the playoffs, and the ball was caught by a teenager attending his first pro baseball game. “Nothing, nothing will ever compare to that moment,” the teen said. But he didn’t keep the ball. Knowing its importance to the team, he gave it back, and Raleigh gave him signed memorabilia in return. What do you think? Should fans keep home run balls? Yes—it’s a forever memory for a fan Catching a home run…

A strip of land that runs between North and South Korea, setting a boundary between the countries, has unexpectedly become a wildlife haven. The land, known as the demilitarized zone (DMZ), was blocked off when the Korean War ended. Both countries had been at war since 1950, when the North invaded the South. The fighting ended in 1953, and the DMZ was created as a buffer zone between the two countries. Since then, human activity in the 150-mile-long area has been restricted, which has helped nature thrive. Scientists, who were allowed into the DMZ for research, have found 6,168 species of wildlife living there. This includes golden eagles, mountain goats, wildcats, lizards, and otters, as well as flowers and herbs. Using remote cameras, they were also able to spot an…

The Boston Marathon is one of the most prestigious running competitions in the world. This year it will take place on April 17. Ancient origins The roots of all marathons go back to a legend from Ancient Greece about a soldier who ran from the Greek town of Marathon to Athens, to bring news of victory by the Greek army. To honor that legend, the first-ever marathon was held at the 1896 Olympic Games in Athens. This inspired John Graham, the US Olympics team manager and a Boston Athletics Association member, to organize the first Boston Marathon in 1897. That race, won by John McDermott of New York, had 15 runners who competed on a course that was 24.5 miles long. In 1924, the race went to its current distance…

AUK company called iHelios has created a thin film that can replace traditional home heating systems. Called Radiant, it can be installed in the ceiling, under floors, or behind walls. Traditional home heating systems, like radiators, heat up the air in a room. Radiant uses electricity to produce infrared light, a source of energy that’s invisible to the human eye but warms objects and people. iHelios says the system cuts energy consumption by at least 30% and up to nearly 100%, in part by letting people heat only one room at a time.…

The world of Nintendo’s popular Super Mario video games has expanded to the big screen. The Super Mario Bros. Movie, an animated action-adventure, is now playing in theaters. The character of Mario, a plumber, has been a video game icon since appearing in Donkey Kong in 1981. In 1985, he began starring in his own games, which are set in the Mushroom Kingdom. The film tells the story of how Mario and his brother, Luigi, ended up there and has many Mario game characters. Although actor Charles Martinet has voiced the brothers in the games for more than 30 years, he did not voice the characters in the movie. He does make a special voice appearance, however. Chris Pratt (Peter Quill/Star-Lord in the Guardians of the Galaxy films) voices Mario,…

By M.T. Anderson, illustrated by Junyi Wu (Candlewick Press) When the pandemic shuts down school, Clay misses seeing his friends. His two sisters are also getting on his nerves. He walks into the woods near his house to play Frisbee by himself, which he knows is pointless. That’s when he finds an unusual white dog with a jeweled collar. After playing fetch, Clay realizes there’s something magical about the dog. She can retrieve the Frisbee without Clay seeing her do it. It’s his first sign that the woods are enchanted. He soon learns that it holds magical paths, an underground kingdom, an owl-headed society, and a Giant. Clay returns home with the dog and tells his family the dog is an “elf-hound.” Clay and Elf Dog have adventures in the…

LEMON BERRY MUFFIN BITES Ingredients • Cooking spray• 1 cup flour• 1 teaspoon baking powder• ¼ cup brown sugar• 3 tablespoons granulated sugar• ½ teaspoon kosher salt• 1 tablespoon poppy seeds• ½ teaspoon lemon zest• 6 tablespoons milk of your choice• 1 egg, at room temperature• ¾ teaspoon vanilla extract• ¼ cup melted butter• 1¼ cups fresh blueberries Instructions 1. Heat the oven to 350° F and coat a mini muffin pan with cooking spray. 2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, brown sugar, granulated sugar, salt, poppy seeds, and lemon zest. Make sure to get rid of any lumps. 3. In a small bowl, whisk together the milk, egg, vanilla, and melted butter. 4. Pour the wet ingredient mixture into the dry mixture and stir…

Diners need a big appetite to tuck into a slice of pizza from LaManna’s bakery in Canada. The huge slices are nearly three feet long (the length of a guitar), and each one comes in its own giant wedge-shaped box. Some of LaManna’s slices are topped with doughnuts, churros, cookies, or jellybeans. But if pizza and sweets don’t sound like an enticing combination, the “Big Slice” can also be made with regular pizza toppings.…

1 True or false? A family in Queens has been receiving mail kids sent to Spider-Man. True □ False □ 2 In the book Elf Dog & Owl Head, what does the magical dog first fetch for Clay? a) A bone b) A Frisbee c) A tennis ball a □ b □ c □ 3 Tiny white huts are being built to protect African penguins in what country? ___________________ 4 The most expensive baseball ever sold was a home run ball hit by which player? a) Aaron Judge b) Sammy Sosa c) Mark McGwire a □ b □ c □ 5 What is the name of the special dinner on the first two nights of Passover? ____________________ 6 Scientists predicted that robots are most likely to take over which task…