stories

  New Pathways     If you cannot get from one place to another, maybe you need a bridge, tunnel, or road. A person trained as a special kind of engineer can help you. Civil engineers design and construct highways, harbors, bridges, and tunnels. These engineers have specialized training in physics and math. Frequently, they are also talented architects.     Most people think of bridges as structures that cross waterways, but bridges have been built to go across other wide spaces as well. Centuries ago, bridges were usually made of wood and rope. They were built to help people cross deep canyons between mountains. Now bridges are often constructed in large cities. They allow people to cross between buildings and tall skyscrapers.     Engineers build bridges primarily for cars, trucks, and trains. Sometimes several levels are built, one for cars and trucks and one for trains. Cars and trucks may be routed through different levels, but what about people? T...

  New Products from TVC     Check out the new products from TVC, your number-one source for fine electronic products for over 50 years. This year we've got some great items for the whole family. TVC Landmark TVs --Our company offers better ways for you to receive high-quality digital TV broadcasts in your home. You can't get shaper TV signals from any other product on the market. The V-TEK system lets you link up two video sources, such as HDTV receivers and DVD players. Using our system, you can alternate easily between the two sources. Ad-Free TV --Wouldn't it be pleasant to watch your favorite shows without ads? With our Comfree V10 system, you can watch programs without interruptions from ads. Digital TV --With TVC digital, it doesn't get any sharper. It comes with first-rate picture and sound features. The experts in home entertainment at TVC have made a TV that is clearly better than any other digital product. Got Game? --The XG port is the latest in video game TV...

The Destruction of Pompeii     The city of Pompeii was located in southern Italy. It was not far from where the present city of Naples stands. Pompeii was a busy, prosperous city with a population of about 12,000. A few miles to the north, stood Mount Vesuvius, a volcano. However, Mount Vesuvius had not erupted for a long time, so no one realized it was still active.     Then on August 24, A.D. 79, Vesuvius erupted violently. The eruption totally buried Pompeii and several nearby towns. Huge piles of volcanic ash and debris covered everything! According to records, some people managed to escape. However, many did not.     For many centuries people forgot that Pompeii had ever existed. Then in 1748, some small discoveries in the area led to the excavation of a temple in Pompeii. That was the beginning of many years of excavation and restoration. Some of that restoration still continues to this day.     Pompeii is an amazing archaeological site beca...

  The Edible Schoolyard     What does a certain school in California have that most other schools don't have? King Middle School has a garden. The garden is part of a cooking and gardening program called the Edible Schoolyard. The idea for the program came from Alice Waters. Waters started a restaurant that makes food from fresh ingredients.     Something delicious is always growing in the garden. Students are learning a different type of ABCs--asparagus, beans, and carrots! They grow fruits, vegetables, and flowers. Teachers and students work together in the program. Parents and local farmers support the program.     In the garden, students take care of the soil and plants. They harvest the crops. Students can explore and sample new foods directly from the garden. They learn firsthand the ways in which fresh food is healthy for your body. A classroom kitchen is also part of the program. In the kitchen, students prepare and eat healthy dishes made from...

  Crossing the Seas     Ships are one of the oldest and most important forms of transportation. Giant tankers carry oil and other liquids. Refrigerator ships carry fresh fruits, meats, and vegetables. People traveled across the ocean on ships before airplanes became widely used. Now people take vacations on cruise ships.     Throughout history, nations became rich and powerful by taking control of the seas. When they lost that control, they also often lost their power.     Probably the earliest "ship" was a log that someone used to cross a lake or river. Later people tied logs together to create rafts and discovered how to use trees to make canoes. In places where wood was scarce, people made boats out of animal skins. They sewed the skins into a bag, filled the bag with air, and used the bag as a float.     By about 3000 B.C., the Egyptians had discovered how to use sails to move boats. They also learned how to make boats out of planks of wo...

Bicycle Stunt Riding     To many people, riding a bicycle is a pleasant pastime. To some, it's serious exercise. And to a brave few, it's a way to impress an audience and win medals and fame.     The members of this last group compete in a sport known as bicycle stunt riding. The sport made its entry into the X Games a few years ago. In this type of riding, bikers perform airborne tricks and acrobatics. The tricks have names such as the Tail Whip, Can-Can, and Truck Driver. In competition, bikers go through a cycle of four different events.     In the dirt-jumping event, bikers launch themselves off dirt ramps and perform high-flying tricks in the air. In a flatland performance, a biker performs tricks of balance and strength while rolling along a flat surface. Street stunts consist of jumping over boxes, rails, and pipes. In the vert, a biker performs stunts on and over a halfpipe similar to those in snowboarding and skateboarding.     The star o...

  Paul Bunyan and the Popcorn Blizzard     Everyone knows that Paul Bunyan was a mighty big hero who headed for the West and became a lumberjack. While there, Paul hired hundreds of men to help him clear the forests and create land for farms.     One spring, when some of the forests had been cleared, the farmers planted corn. When summer came, the sun got hotter and hotter, and the cornstalks grew as tall as trees! As the cornstalks grew, so did the kernels of corn.     One morning, after the scorching sun rose, it was hotter than ever. When Paul went out, his lumberjacks stood near him because his shadow provided the only shade. While the men were working, they suddenly heard a loud popping sound. All across the fields, the corn kernels were bursting as loud as firecrackers! The popped corn flew through the air and then fell to the ground, forming large piles. Meanwhile, the men who had been sweltering were now shivering because they thought the popco...

  Solar Winds Blow Past Earth     A few years ago, science experts warned that some people might have trouble with their TV and phone services due to a huge explosion on the sun. Even though that never happened, it is true that explosions on the sun, called solar flares, can affect Earth.     Solar flares are giant explosions on the sun's surface. They occur in places where the sun's energy is very strong. The flares send brilliant blasts of gas and energy into space. These blasts, called solar wind, blow through the solar system.     Problems can occur when energy from solar wind reaches Earth. These winds can harm satellites, create power failures, and even cause problems with cell phones.     luckily, a magnetic field surrounds Earth. This is what causes compass needles to point north. It acts as a strong shield to protect against solar winds. However, sometimes a small amount of energy from a solar wind makes it through Earth's atmosphere...

  A Difficult Choice     Mr. Singer rang the doorbell and Diane went to open the door for her neighbor.      "Hello, Diane," said Mr. Singer, "I'm here to look at the kittens you're giving away. I saw your ad for free kittens in the local newspaper yesterday."      "Hi, Mr. Singer, come on in," replied Diane. "Our cat had a litter of five kittens, but we still have two left. So you can have your choice!"      Diane reached down for the basket containing the two tiny kittens. She gathered up the two adorable animals so that Mr. Singer could get a better look.     "They're both really cute," said Mr. Singer, as he gently petted their fur. "Tomorrow is my daughter Brenda's birthday, and she's wanted a kitten for such a long time." He looked from one kitten to the other and asked, "How am I going to choose between them when they're both so terrific?"     Diane smiled, but didn't say a word, as...

  Author Interview     Raymond arrived at the local bookstore to interview Franklin MacDonald, his favorite author. Raymond was a writer for his school newspaper, and he had sent Mr. MacDonald an e-mail several weeks earlier to request this interview. When Raymond received a response granting the interview, he was absolutely thrilled!      Now he was about to interview the author he admired the most. Franklin MacDonald was sitting at a table near a display of his latest bestseller, The Basketball Mystery . Raymond was carrying his own copy of the bestseller with him. As Raymond extended his hand, the author greeted him warmly, and said, "Please call me Franklin." Then Raymond began asking him the questions he had written on index cards: "Where do all your ideas come from? Do you ever worry that you'll run out of ideas?"      Franklin responded that many of his ideas were taken from events in his own life. He kept an "Ideas" folder, and whenev...

  The One-Pound Cell Phone     Cell phones seem to be our constant companions these days. Today there are more cell phone subscribers than there are wireline phone subscribers.     In the world of wireless communication, how did we get from the telegraph to the cell phone? In 1842, Samuel Morse, inventor of the telegraph, had something to prove. He wanted to show that an underwater cable could transmit signals just as well as copper wires on poles. But when a passing ship, pulled up the cable, Morse chose to carry out the experiment without the cable. He sent telegraph signals through the water itself. He was able to achieve this because water conducts electricity.     This gave inventors ideas, and they began alternating between experiments with wire lines and wireless telegraphs. In 1865, a dentist transmitted telegraphic messages a distance of 18 miles. He used Earth's atmosphere, instead of water, as a conductor of electricity by launching kites en...

  Robert Frost     Robert Frost, one of America's most famous poets, was born in San Francisco in 1874. When he was just eleven years old, his father died. So his mother moved with Robert and his sister to Lawrence, Massachusetts, where they lived with their grandparents.      As a young man, Frost briefly attended college, and then settled down on a farm in New Hampshire with his wife, Elinor. During this period, he lived the life of a country farmer, which he described in many of his poems.      In 1912, he sold the farm and moved his family to England. It was there that his talents as a poet were at last recognized. He published two collections of poems-- A Boy's Will,  in 1913, and North of Boston,  in 1914. When he returned with his family to America in 1915, he had become a well-known poet.      During the next part of his life, Frost taught at the university level and continued to publish his poetry. Most of hi...

  Hair     When you study your image in the mirror, what do you notice first? If you answered "my hair," you're in the majority. Your hair and nails are composed of keratin, a type of protein. The hair roots are beneath the skin in small pockets called follicles. As new hair cells form in the follicles, old ones are forced outward through the surface of the skin.     In other words, the hair that's visible on the skin's surface of dead cells. The hair on your head grows about a half-inch every month. When a hair ceases to grow, it falls out and is replaced by a new hair.     Taking care of your hair is important. Use a gentle shampoo, and make sure you rinse it out thoroughly. Try to let your hair dry naturally because blow-dryers and curling irons can be damaging. Research shows that what you put in your body, rather than the expensive products you put on your hair, counts the most. Eating a nutritionally balanced diet is the surest way to have health...

  Go Fly a Kite     Is flying a kite a pastime that you find extremely enjoyable? Follow these simple, concise instructions to make your own outstanding homemade kite. Supplies:     Two wooden dowels (one each at 20 inches and 24 inches), sheet of paper at least 26 inches square or a heavy plastic trash bag, tape or glue, lightweight string or twine, craft knife (for use under adult supervision), pencil, scissors, ribbon, ruler Instructions:     Using the craft knife under adult supervision, carve a deep notch in both ends of each dowel. Use the pencil to mark a spot located 10 inches from one end of the shorter dowel. Position the shorter dowel crosswise over the longer dowel, matching up the marks and making certain that all notches are parallel to the ground. Bind the dowels together by wrapping the string tightly several times around the center in an X motion.     Build the kite frame by twice threading the string tightly through all the ...

  Jane Addams      Jane Addams was born in Cedarville, Illinois on September 6, 1860. Jane was fortunate to be raised in a prosperous family. She and her sister attended college, which was quite unusual at that time. After graduating from college, Jane traveled to Europe. It was there that she became interested in changing social conditions for those who were less fortunate.      In 1889, Jane and a college classmate started Hull House in Chicago, Illinois. Hull House was a very special kind of neighborhood center for immigrants from every nation. Through Hull House, Jane worked for better housing, parks, and playgrounds. She sought labor laws to protect women and children. She started day nurseries for the children of working parents. She also worked to improve education and healthcare for all people. Through her efforts, Hull House became the most famous settlement house in the United States.      Jane was one of the leaders in the mov...

  Picture This     Imagine that you are sitting in a darkened room that has a tiny round window, barely the size of a quarter. The window allows some light to enter, perhaps from a moonlit forest, casting an image of trees on the wall opposite the window. This is the basic principle on which a camera operates.     A camera consists of three main elements that are similar to the parts of a human yey. All cameras contain a device called a shutter. The shutter allows light to enter the camera, just as you use your eyelids to let in or shut out light. On some cameras, photographers control the amount of light by altering the length of time the shutter remains open.     These cameras have a diaphragm, which also controls the amount of light entering the camera. The diaphragm is like the iris of your eye, which expands or contracts to limit the amount of light entering it.     Light that enters a camera passes through a curved piece of glass or pla...