Innehållsförteckning för Issue 257 från The Week Junior US

On March 11, a total of 10 high school seniors from across the US were awarded top prizes in the Regeneron Science Talent Search (STS), a prestigious national competition. This year, 2,471 students submitted entries, which was the highest number of applicants since 1967. What is the competition? STS is the country’s oldest and most distinguished youth STEM competition. It was started in 1942 by a nonprofit organization now called the Society for Science, in partnership with Westinghouse Electric Corporation. The computing company Intel began overseeing STS in 1998, and the drug company Regeneron took over in 2017. Each year, Regeneron awards $3.1 million in prizes to students and their schools. Past winners have gone on to start companies, lead government agencies, invent medical treatments, and win major awards, including…

A WELCOME ARRIVAL A sloth pup was born at the San Diego Zoo in California, the first since 2022. The baby boy is busy bonding with his mom, and the public will be able to see him soon. “This adorable little dude is growing up fast,” the zoo said. EARNING BADGES Two brothers from Idaho have visited all 63 US national parks—and 108 other sites run by the National Park Service—and received a Junior Ranger badge from each one. Jeremy and Peter Rush, ages 8 and 6, are thought to be the youngest brothers to complete the challenge. A LITERARY LANDMARK The 200,000th Little Free Library (LFL) is open! To celebrate the milestone, the nonprofit that creates the book boxes donated it to Benjamin E. Mays IB World School, an…

Activist, author, organizer, and speaker Mikaela Loach, age 27, has dedicated her life to fighting for climate justice and protecting our planet. In her new book for middle-grade readers, Climate Is Just the Start, she shares stories from her activism journey while explaining the climate crisis and its broader impact. Loach was born in Jamaica and moved to England, where she grew up in the countryside. At about age 5, she saw news coverage of a tsunami that struck countries that border the Indian Ocean, leaving many people without homes, food, or shelter. Upset by the devastation, she organized a bake sale to raise money for relief efforts. It taught her a lesson she has carried ever since. “Always choose to be active in the face of an issue you…

Every year, researchers discover thousands of new species. A new species could be one that scientists had not yet recorded, had incorrectly identified in the past, or have encountered for the first time. In the five years since The Week Junior’s launch, experts have documented a wide variety of species that were previously unknown to science. The year 2020 was an exciting one for primatologists (scientists who study primates). They identified a new type of monkey, called the Popa langur, as well as the 25th member of a group of little lemurs. Jonah’s mouse lemur lives in northeast Madagascar and is about the size of a person’s fist, with a white stripe between its big eyes. The following year, a group of whales living off the coast of Florida turned…

Laysan albatross Age is just a number for the world’s oldest known wild bird. Wisdom, a Laysan albatross who is at least 74 years old, has brought about 30 chicks into the world. In fact, she is now raising another chick on a Pacific island. ● LIFE SPAN: Over 50 years in the wild ● HABITAT: The Pacific Ocean and Hawaiian islands ● SIZE: About 2.5 feet long, weighing 5 to 10 pounds ● DIET: Squid, crustaceans, fish, and fish eggs ● FUN FACT: A young Laysan albatross can spend three years at sea without touching land.…

GROUPED TOGETHER “Quintet” is a word used to describe a group of five people. It is often applied to a musical group (like the boy band quintet *NSYNC, left). Quintet comes from the Italian word quintetto. MONEY MATTERS US President Abraham Lincoln is featured on the $5 bill as a tribute to his leadership during the Civil War (1861–1865), one of the most significant events in US history. Fun fact: A $5 bill in circulation lasts for about five years! DO THE MATH The number 5 is a prime number—a special number in mathematics that is only divisible by itself and the number 1. It is also the sum of two prime numbers! 2 + 3 = 5 NOTEWORTHY Composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart wrote his first known piece at age 5, a…

What’s the best way to get a dog to follow commands? Some very patient pups wore goggles with cameras to help scientists find out. Experts from the University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna, in Austria, put the eye gear on 20 pet dogs. The test subjects included a range of breeds, from mutts to terriers, retrievers, and shepherds. During the study, a researcher knelt on the floor in front of a dog and put a bowl down on each side of her. One bowl held a treat, and the other did not. The researcher tried to direct the dog’s attention to the bowl with the treat using various combinations of gestures. She pointed at the bowl, looked at the bowl, or did both at the same time. The researcher also pretended…

NCAA TOURNAMENT PREVIEW What’s happening Each spring, the top college basketball teams play in the NCAA (National Collegiate Athletic Association) tournament, also known as March Madness. The field consists of teams that won their conference tournaments and those chosen for their strong regular-season records. The winner of each game moves to the next round. Men’s teams to watch Auburn, led by Southeastern Conference (SEC) player of the year Johni Broome, received the #1 overall seed. Duke, another #1 seed, is seeking its sixth NCAA title. Their top player, freshman sensation Cooper Flagg, has been out with an ankle injury but is expected to be ready for the first round. Experts are also looking at St. John’s, a #2 seed coached by Rick Pitino. He has led three teams to the…

Alexanderand the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day, a beloved picture book by Judith Viorst about an unlucky boy, has inspired a new film. Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Road Trip is a comedy about a boy named Alexander Garcia and his family’s vacation filled with mishaps. It premieres March 28 on Disney+. In the film, Alex finds a mysterious statue in his family’s attic. He thinks it is the source of his bad luck and that his family is cursed. After his mom, a travel writer, gets an RV, she takes the family on a road trip to Mexico to reconnect with their cultural roots. Many things go wrong along the way, convincing Alex the statue needs to be returned to its rightful place.…

MLB the Show 25 is a new sports video game. It is out now for the PlayStation 5, Xbox systems, and the Nintendo Switch. It is the official game of Major League Baseball (MLB). This is the 20th anniversary of the popular series, and for the first time ever, there are three players featured on the cover: Paul Skenes of the Pittsburgh Pirates, Elly De La Cruz of the Cincinnati Reds, and Gunnar Henderson of the Baltimore Orioles. An updated version of the game is released each year, and the Show 25 has many new features, including a big one in the Road to the Show mode. As in the past, gamers use the mode to design a ballplayer and try to steer the athlete up the ranks to the…

All Creatures Great and Small By James Herriot “This book is about a newly graduated veterinarian named James Herriot. He gets a job offer in a small rural town in England called Darrowby. This book kept me reading because I always wanted to find out what happened to all the different animals he was treating. It is enchanting to read and leaves you wanting more!” Ginny, 12, Washington Do you have a book to recommend? Send your review to hello@theweekjunior.com.…

Ingredients • ½ cup chocolate chips• Colorful sprinkles• 1 cup vanilla ice cream• ⅓ cup milk• Whipped cream, for topping Instructions 1. Place the chocolate chips in a small bowl that is just wide enough to fit the rim of a large glass (or two small glasses). Microwave in 20-second intervals, stirring after each, until melted and smooth. 2. Invert and dip the rim of a glass into the melted chocolate, then immediately coat the chocolate rim in sprinkles. Set aside to harden. 3. Combine the ice cream and milk in a blender and blend until smooth. 4. Carefully pour the shake into the prepared glass and top with whipped cream. 5. Add a festive paper straw and enjoy. Recipe makes 1 large shake or 2 small ones. FUN FACT…

Hungry hippos, human-style Families recently gathered in Michigan to play a real-life version of the board game Hungry Hungry Hippos. In the tabletop game, people try to scoop plastic marbles into the mouths of mechanical hippos. Instead, this event took place on an ice rink, where teams raced around on sleds and used laundry baskets to scoop up as many colorful toy balls as possible. The game was part of the World of Winter, the nation’s largest winter festival. “Put me in, coach!” one person joked after seeing a video online. A fresh take on making music Some say not to play with your food, but tell that to the Vegetable Orchestra. For more than 25 years, the Austria-based group has been producing tunes by hollowing out veggies like celery,…

1 In what year was the first issue of The Week Junior published? 2 Which baseball player is one of three people on the cover of the video game MLB the Show 25? a) Aaron Judge b) Elly De La Cruz c) Francisco Lindor a ☐ b ☐ c ☐ 3 What did Mikaela Loach study in college before becoming a full-time climate activist? a) Engineering b) Medicine c) Physics a ☐ b ☐ c ☐ 4 True or false? Wild cougar cubs were recently seen in Michigan for the first time in 100 years. True ☐ False ☐ 5 Researchers have uncovered a royal tomb believed to belong to what ancient Egyptian ruler? 6 A treefrog discovered in Ecuador in 2023 was named after which fantasy author? a) C.S. Lewis…

To celebrate our fifth anniversary, we invite you to share five good deeds you’ve done by filling out this form. Have you helped a neighbor or donated food? We’d love to read about any kind act you have performed. If you’d like to share your form with us, have an adult email it to hello@theweekjunior.com. Some forms may be published in future issues. Extra forms can be found at kids.theweekjunior.com/activities. By submitting this form to hello@theweekjunior.com, you give The Week Junior consent to print it in the magazine and online. Please get your guardian/parent’s permission before sending anything to us.…

It’s official: The number of moons orbiting Saturn has nearly doubled. On March 11, the International Astronomical Union (IAU) recognized 128 additional moons. This brings Saturn’s total moon count to 274, which is twice as many as all other planets in the solar system combined. Jupiter is second with 95. A moon is an object that orbits a planet but is not a star. An international team of scientists discovered Saturn’s new moons in 2023 using the Canada France Hawaii Telescope in Hawaii. The new moons are a few miles across. That’s tiny compared to Earth’s moon, which is 2,159 miles across. Because of their size, scientists think the newly identified Saturn moons are small pieces that broke away from larger moons during powerful collisions about 100 million years ago.…

On March 11, President Donald Trump’s administration fired more than 1,300 people who work for the Department of Education (DOE). Nearly 600 workers also chose to leave. This means the DOE, which previously had 4,133 employees, will now have a workforce of about half that size. What is the Department of Education? The DOE is a US agency that works to ensure equal access to education for all students. Its budget of $283 billion provides less than 10% of public school funding across the US, most of which pays for programs for students with disabilities and supports low-income school districts. It doesn’t mandate what schools teach—state and local school districts determine that. At the college level, the DOE implements the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), which allows students…

Greenland Greenland is Earth’s largest island, found at the far north of the planet. Despite its name, the island is about 80% covered by ice. In some places, tourists can walk on glaciers and view icebergs that rise more than 300 feet in the air. Greenland offers many outdoor activities, such as hiking, paddleboarding, and ice fishing. It also features fjords (narrow inlets of the sea) and the midnight sun, an Arctic phenomenon in which the Sun does not set for months during the summer. Many animals—including Arctic foxes, polar bears, whales, reindeer, and seals—live in Greenland.…

Rainforest mammals The London Zoo’s Rainforest Life habitat is experiencing a baby boom. It has recently welcomed the births of several endangered mammals, including two golden lion tamarins (pictured above) and an Alaotran gentle lemur. False killer whales A total of 157 false killer whales, members of the dolphin family, became stranded on a beach on the Australian island state of Tasmania. Experts were unable to return the whales to the ocean due to weather conditions and currents.…

For the first time in more than 100 years, a team of researchers has uncovered the ancient tomb of an Egyptian king. The burial place belonged to the pharaoh (ruler) Thutmose II, who ruled Egypt about 3,500 years ago. Experts are calling it the biggest discovery of its kind since King Tutankhamun’s tomb was found in 1922. Thutmose II ruled for about 10 years beginning in about 1480 BCE, which was during Egypt’s 18th dynasty. His tomb was discovered underneath a waterfall in the Theban Mountains. It was about a mile west of Egypt’s Valley of the Kings, a site in Upper Egypt where numerous pharaohs were buried. Archaeologists (scientists who study objects left by people long ago) discovered the tomb in 2022. At first they thought it belonged to…

In 1858, the world’s first nearly complete dinosaur skeleton, a hadrosaurus, was found in New Jersey. Eight years later, a dryptosaurus—a type of Tyrannosaur—was found about 10 miles away. About a mile from there, in Mantua Township, the Edelman Fossil Park and Museum of Rowan University will open on March 29. The museum was built next to a quarry where experts have recovered more than 100,000 fossils of marine and land animals. “We have one of the most incredible windows in the world into the last moments of the dinosaurs,” paleontologist and geologist Kenneth Lacovara, the museum’s founding executive director, told The Week Junior. Inside the museum, visitors can learn about dinosaurs as well as ways to protect the Earth’s future. One set of galleries (rooms) focuses on the Cretaceous…

Labyrinth PG (Available to rent or buy on major platforms) “This movie follows Sarah, a girl fed up with looking after her baby brother, Toby. She loves a fairy-tale book, Labyrinth, and wishes that its goblins would take Toby away. She doesn’t expect it to happen, but it does. Sarah begs the goblin king, Jareth, to give Toby back and he agrees—but with a catch: Sarah must get through his obstacle-filled maze. Along the way, she makes friends with a grumpy goblin, a friendly furry beast, and a fox-like knight. I got a behind-the-scenes book about the movie, Labyrinth: The Ultimate Visual History, and can’t stop reading it!” Lila, 12, Wisconsin Do you have a film or TV show to recommend to other kids? Send your review to hello@theweekjunior.com.…

(Greenwillow Books) Cincinnati’s great-great-great grandfather is 135 years old because he once drank water from the fountain of youth. When 12-year-old Cincinnati visits him at his nursing home, he can’t talk, so she steals his diary to learn more about his past adventures. She discovers that years ago he removed a clay artifact from a mummy’s tomb in Peru. She thinks this may be why their family is cursed. The artifact will be displayed in a New York City museum where her mom works in the fundraising department. Cincinnati asks her friend Felix, whose dad also works at the museum, to create a forgery (look-alike version) of the artifact so she can return the original. Cincinnati switches out the pieces and carefully places the original in her bag. But while…

The Funniest Joke Book Ever for Kids By Alan Katz, illustrated by Ellen Duda (Scholastic Inc.) Jokes are organized by topic, such as animals, medicine, and sports. One favorite: “Why did the pie go to the dentist? It needed a filling!” Just in time for April Fools’ Day, the book contains ideas for practical jokes. Ages 7–10 LOL 101 By David Roth and Rinee Shah (Chronicle Books) This book provides a visual guide to help you write your own material. It provides many strategies with examples for coming up with your own jokes. It also gives helpful tips about how to deliver a joke, such as with the right timing and emphasis on words, so it sounds even funnier. Ages 7–12 The Mad Libs Silly, Hilariously Funny, Belly-Busting Joke Book…

5 WAYS TO CUT PARTY WASTE 1. Wrap creatively. Kraft paper and string make an eco-friendly alternative to shiny gift wrap and bows that can’t be recycled. 2. Go easy on tape. Instead of clear plastic tape to wrap gifts, use environmentally friendly paper tape, like washi tape. 3. Skip the glitter. Glitter is a microplastic, which is a big part of global pollution. Add color to decor with dried flower petals instead. 4. Reuse wrap. Whenever you receive a gift, save the wrapping—like gift bags and bows—so you can reuse them again. 5. Use regular dishes. Pass on paper and plastic products, and serve party foods on washable glass or ceramic dishware.…

Five years ago this week, our editorial team sent the first issue of The Week Junior to the printer. After all the preparation leading up to that day, it was an amazing feeling to know that the issue would soon arrive in children’s homes throughout the country. We marked our first birthday a year later and celebrated our first 100 issues the year after that. Now we are 5 years old and so excited to share this milestone with you! To celebrate, we created special content throughout the issue and marked it with a burst with a number 5 inside. We hope you enjoy it all! We also invite you to participate in our Five Good Deeds initiative by filling out the form on the next page. We think any…

When The Week Junior went to press on March 18, US astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore were embarking on a 17-hour journey on a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft to return to Earth from the International Space Station (ISS). The two had arrived at the ISS last June for a one-week stay, but their return was delayed due to a malfunction in their capsule. During their nine months, they performed spacewalks and conducted research.…

What you need to know • School lockers became popular in the US in the early 1900s, especially during the flu pandemic of 1918. • They were a safe place for students to store their books, bags, and coats without spreading germs. • According to one source, about 49% of public schools in the US provided lockers to students as of 2017–18. • Some school districts are switching to smart lockers that can be opened with a tap of a student ID. It’s a classic scene in movies and television shows: rows of lockers lining the hallways of a school, with students meeting up in front of them to chat and swap out their books. But in real life, lockers are more of an outdated blast from the past that…

Antarctic krill (small shrimp-like creatures) are an important food for larger animals such as penguins, seals, and whales. An estimated 700 trillion krill live in the ocean around Antarctica, but fishing and climate change may be affecting their numbers. Counting them accurately is a mind-boggling task, yet scientists have found a way. The new method involves studying how the number of krill changes the amount of light seawater absorbs—a process that affects the color of the water. Researchers collected krill to study this effect. Cait McCarry from the University of Strathclyde in Scotland said, “We start with seawater, then we add in a krill and take a measurement [of how much light the water absorbs]. Then we add another krill and take another measurement.” The scientists will use this information…

Dr. Gabrielle Fadl Veterinarian, Bond Vet Barking serves as dogs’ primary means of communication. It can indicate excitement, a warning, a call for attention, or even anxiety. For instance, a dog might bark to alert its owner to a stranger’s presence, express excitement when playing, or seek attention when it feels neglected. Do you have a question for an animal expert? Send it to hello@theweekjunior.com. Find out more about Bond Vet at bondvet.com.…

A new smartwatch has lasers that track hand movement, allowing a user to control their devices with gestures made in the air. The makers of CenWatch said it first scans a wearer’s hand and fingers. Then, when they tap or swipe in real life, it translates those movements into writing, drawing, typing, scrolling, tapping, or clicking. CenWatch, which is still in the developmental phase, can operate smart TVs, augmented reality glasses, and smart home devices like speakers. It also has a screen that displays the date, time, and battery level.…

Animals, They’re Just Like Us! (Disney+) (Hulu) (Nat Geo Wild) Many wild animals engage in behaviors that appear to be similar to human behaviors. This new docuseries highlights several of these animals, including Gouldian finches (above) that socialize, monkeys that floss, flamingos that apply makeup, and elephants that babysit. The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim (Max) This animated film (rated PG-13) is set in the world of J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings book series. It follows a king and his daughter as they defend their people and lay the foundation for Helm’s Deep, a famous Tolkien fortress. SC+ (Disney+) ESPN’s sports news show, SportsCenter, now has a streaming spin-off for younger audiences. Each day the hosts break down the biggest stories and tackle fun topics,…

What inspired this book? I am passionate about archaeology, the study of human history through artifacts, and I wanted to combine that with my love of adventure stories involving puzzles and collecting treasure. Have you always enjoyed adventures? Yes! The Indiana Jones films, The Mummy, and Pirates of the Caribbean were my favorite movies when I was younger. Why do you like writing for kids? Young people today are smart and direct yet still in touch with their sense of wonder. I love looking at the world through their lens. Favorite museum? The American Museum of Natural History in New York City because I love to view the dinosaur bones there. Place you’d like to visit? I’ve always wanted to go to the Pyramids of Giza in Egypt.…

Birthdays are a major occasion to celebrate. But there’s also joy in recognizing life’s smaller moments, such as mastering a new skill, acing a presentation, or achieving a personal best in your favorite sport. Research shows celebrating small moments boosts self-confidence, fosters gratitude, and increases your sense of well-being. Here’s how to get started. Pick something to celebrate First, think about what you’d like to celebrate. It can be a recent milestone, or you can start planning to celebrate a special moment that’s coming up in the future. Reflect on any achievements in and out of school. For example, maybe you did better than you expected on a difficult test. Perhaps you tried something brand-new, like joining stage crew for the school play or participating in the county spelling bee.…

Keyword crossword Once you have completed the crossword, transfer the letters in the yellow boxes, in order, into the boxes below to get the answer to the Keyword question. ACROSS 1 Linguine or macaroni, for example 4 Thread comes rolled around it 7 Word on a Mother’s Day card 8 These may hang from a snowy roof 9 Sound of an approaching ambulance 10 Periods lasting 365 days (on Earth) 12 Difficult to bend 14 They’re found all over a corkboard 16 Flipping circus performer 18 Item found in a hen’s nest 19 Hot ___ sundae 20 Submit your name for a raffle drawing DOWN 1 Devices for filling bicycle tires 2 Japanese warrior 3 Being that might arrive in a flying saucer 4 Glistening in the light 5 Bird…