TIME for Kids G3 Student Reader

In 2004 spacecraft from Earth The rover Opportunity took this
reappeared on Mars. Two larger snapshot of Mars’s surface.
rovers, Opportunity and Spirit,
touched down on opposite sides of
the planet. The twin rovers sent
back more than 100,000 images
of Mars! The rovers carried tools
that could scrape rock. So scientists
were able to see under the surface
of Mars rocks for the first time.

Future Missions NASA/JPL/Zuma/Corbis

The probes have uncovered signs
that Mars may once have had
liquid water—and maybe even life. There are plans to
send more spacecraft to study Mars. Someday scientists
hope astronauts will walk on its surface. This would be a
hard trip for people. It would take many months to get
to Mars and back. The astronauts would have to carry
everything they need—oxygen, food, shelter. They would
also need enough fuel to relaunch and return to Earth.

Many scientists think getting humans to Mars is worth
the time and money. They say Mars still holds many
secrets. Future trips may unlock some of them.

1976 The Viking 1 is 1986 The space shuttle
the first spacecraft to Challenger explodes
land on Mars. 73 seconds after liftoff.

1970 1975 1980 1985 1990

1973 The United States 1981 The space shuttle Issue 12 • 99
sends its first space station, Columbia, the world’s first
Skylab, into orbit. reusable spacecraft, is launched.

HOW SPIRIT LANDED

The rover Spirit reached Mars in 2004. Spirit currently
sends pictures of the Red Planet to Earth. This diagram
shows how NASA planned for Spirit to land safely.

1 SLOWING DOWN 3 TOUCHDOWN

Mars’s atmosphere slows down The air bag deflates so the
Spirit. Then a parachute opens rover can come out. It unfolds
and rockets ignite to make it its solar panels to gather
stop 50 feet above the planet’s energy for exploring
surface. the planet.

2 THE FALL 4 EXPLORATION

Protected by air bags, Spirit The rover can travel more than
separates from the parachute 100 feet a day to take pictures
and drops to the surface. and examine the surface.

1

2
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Daniel Maas/Maas Digital LLC

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(c) Jim Sugar/Corbis; (tr) Rao Guojun/China Foto/Getty Images Water
Troubles

Kilauea volcano in
Hawaii has been
erupting almost
nonstop since 1983.

New tools are helping to predict when
volcanoes will blow.

Water Troubles

Fresh, clean water is becoming even Anne Ackermann/Getty Images
more precious for millions of people
around the world.

E arth is about 75% water. But most ↑ In the U.S., kids play
in clean, fresh water.
of that water is salty. Only about 2.5%
of Earth’s water is fresh water—the What causes water shortages? In
kind we can drink and that plants some places, well water is being used
need to grow. Much of Earth’s fresh faster than wells can refill. In other
water is locked up in ice caps. In all, places, droughts—long periods
just 1% of Earth’s water can be used without enough rain—mean there is
for washing, drinking, cooking, and not enough water. Some parts of the
watering crops. United States are now having water
problems because of drought.
In the United States, we don’t
usually worry about having enough Evaporation is a big problem in
clean, fresh water. We turn on a some parts of the world. When the
faucet and there it is. We even play sun shines on water, the water turns
in it. In other countries, though, to vapor (gas) and rises into the air.
water is scarce. People in Africa, The water is gone before it can do
Asia, and Latin America have any good. The ground becomes dry
serious water shortages. and cracked. Nothing can grow.

Rao Guojun/China Foto Press/Getty Images ← In some Not all fresh water is safe to
countries, drink. Water in wells, lakes, and rivers
there’s no may contain organisms that cause
water to illness. Water can also be polluted
spare. by chemicals.

102 • Time For Kids

But the news isn’t all bad. Mansoor Kids to the Rescue
Ali, who works for the United Nations,
says water problems can be solved. Kids Three teenagers worked together to
and adults are learning how to protect win an important prize for helping to
water and to use it wisely. solve the water problem!

Stockholm International Water Institute
Karen Kasmauski/Corbis

↑ A boy drinks water from a lake in ↑ The winners of the
the country of Mali in Africa. 2005 Stockholm Junior
Water Prize
Clean Water Means Healthy Kids
When water is dirty, it can be dangerous Pontso Moletsane, Motobele
to drink. In one school in Romania, old Motschodi, and Sechaba Ramabenyane
broken-down pipes made the water dirty. all grew up in South Africa. Together,
Dirty water was making children sick. they created a system to irrigate
It was dangerous to get a drink or even (water) crops using less water. How
wash your hands. Then a Romanian did they do it? They created a watering
aid group and the Earth Day Network system that runs at night. The sun
came to help. They rebuilt the school’s doesn’t shine at night, so less water
pipes and bathrooms. Now there’s evaporates. The new system will help
plenty of fresh water to drink and South Africa save precious water.
wash with. — Kathryn Satterfield

Water Waste Rank Debris

Here are the top 5 types 1 Cigarettes and cigarette filters
of debris often found in 2 Food wrappers and containers
our oceans. 3 Caps and lids
4 Plastic drinking bottles
5 Bags

Issue 13 • 103

Game McGimsey/EPA/CorbisKaboom!

Volcanoes

Are a Threat

Volcanoes are a threat all over
the world. But scientists have new
ways to tell when they will erupt.

In 1980, Mount St. Helens

blew its stack. When the
volcano erupted, it caused
destruction for many miles.
Mudflows and clouds of gas
did damage, too.

Mount St. Helens erupted
again in 2005. It is one of at
least 550 active volcanoes on
land. They put the lives of
500 million people at risk.
Another 1,000 volcanoes
are under the sea. “Someday
one of these mountains will
erupt on a scale greater than
mankind has ever seen,” says
volcanologist Robert Tilling.

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Augustine volcano in Alaska What Is a Volcano?
erupts in 2006, sending a cloud
of ash and steam high into the air. A volcano is a crack in the
Augustine also blew its stack in earth. The opening is caused by
1986, when ash from a stronger gas and hot liquid rock, called
eruption landed in Anchorage, magma. The gas and magma
Alaska, 171 miles away. rise from deep inside the
earth. A volcano erupts when
gas and magma push through
the earth’s surface. Magma
that flows out of the ground is
called lava. Lava can sometimes
build up around a volcano and
form a cone-shaped mountain.
Lava can also pour along the
ground, destroying everything
in its path.

Some erupting volcanoes
put gas, dust, and ash into the
air. Very powerful eruptions
sometimes throw up huge
clouds of dust. The clouds
might travel thousands of miles
in the air. These dark clouds
block out the sun, making the
weather cooler in some areas of
the world.

High-Tech Detectives

The good news is that scientists
can now help keep people
safe. The U.S. Volcano Disaster
Assistance Program keeps an
eye on active volcanoes all over
the world.

Issue 13 • 105

Scientists can get to an active gases move inside the volcano.
volcano within 48 hours of the The satellite finds the location
first sign of trouble. of each sensor. A computer
puts the information together
Researchers also have to make a picture of inside the
new ways to know when a mountain.
volcano may erupt. They use
satellites to watch volcanoes. These tools helped scientists
Volcanologists put sensors at predict the eruption of Mount
the base of a volcano. Then Pinatubo in the Philippines.
they tune them to a satellite Officials detected the signs.
circling Earth. The sensors They sent out a warning. It
feel rumbles as magma and saved thousands of lives.

The Ring of Fire Key
= volcanoes
Many of the world’s volcanoes are lined up along the = Ring of Fire
Ring of Fire. This is a belt that circles the Pacific Ocean.
There are many volcanoes and earthquakes here. The
map shows some of the areas that are in danger.

Asia North
America

Pacific Ocean

South
America

AustraliaElizabeth Wolf
106 • Time For Kids

Keeping Out of No one can stop a volcano
Harm’s Way that is about to blow.
Volcanologists didn’t keep
Volcanologists once had to Hokkaido in Japan or Mount
climb on top of a volcano to Cleveland in Alaska from
measure the gases. But some erupting recently. Still, these
scientists were killed when scientists keep studying ways
the volcano erupted. Now to predict eruptions. They know
volcanologists can gather the that the only way to protect
same data on gases from planes people is to get them out of
flying overhead. They can do harm’s way in time.
their work and keep safe.

Violent Volcanoes

Volcanoes can cause lots of damage.
Here are a few of the most fatal ones in history.

Volcano Country Year Effect

Mount Tambora Indonesia 1815 Changes in climate cause
starvation around the world

Krakatoa Indonesia 1883 Tsunamis, huge waves,
cause flooding and damage

Mount Pelée Martinique 1902 Ash flows, containing hot
gas and rock, destroy the
town of Saint-Pierre

Nevado del Ruiz Colombia 1985 Mudflows made of volcanic (bkgd) Royalty-Free/Corbis
debris and water devastate
the town of Armero

Issue 13 • 107

No More Water

By Kenn Nesbitt

Both my parents told me not to,
but I did it anyway.
Now our water tank is empty,
and the well ran dry today.

Not a drop is in the reservoir.
The lake’s completely dry.
Everybody’s getting thirstier
and I’m the reason why.

All the rivers are depleted.
All the streams no longer flow.
All the seas and all the oceans
are devoid of H2O.

No, there isn’t any water,
not a drop is left to drink,
’cause I left the faucet running,
and it all went down the sink.

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(c) Chris Nash/Getty Images; (tr) Osvaldo Stigliano/Wide World Photos/AP Images Inca
Mummies

Big Country!

Explore the success and challenges of
the world’s largest democracy.

Welcome to India

Lindsay Hebberd/Corbis India is colorful festivals and

Some Indian women wear a crowded outdoor markets. It is
silk garment called a sari. the cold Himalaya Mountains
and the hot Thar Desert. India
India’s Largest Cities has large and modern cities. It
also has ancient villages. In India
India has about three times more it is easy to see the old and the
people than the United States. new side by side.
These are the five largest cities
in India. India is also a big country—
and not just in size. It has more
KEY than one billion people. India
= capital has over 20 official languages.
Its people have many cultures
Delhi Kolkata and religions.
Bangalore (Calcutta)
Indian civilization dates back
INDIA to 2500 B.C. Empires rose and
fell for thousands of years. Then
Mumbai Europeans reached India in
(Bombay) the late 1400s. They wanted to
trade for spices and silk. The
N British took control of India
in the late 1700s. In the 1800s,
W E Jean Wisenbaugh Indians fought against British
rule. Mohandas Gandhi led a
Chennai peaceful rebellion in the early
1900s. India finally won its
independence in 1947.

Indian Ocean S

110 • Time For Kids

A Land of Extremes Massimo Borchi/Atlantide

Today, India is one of the world’s ↑ The Taj Mahal is one of
most important nations. It is also the world’s most beautiful
one of the poorest. This south buildings. However, pollution
Asian nation has many resources. is staining its white marble.
However, many Indians do not
benefit from them. The rich and Steve Raymer/Corbis
the middle class live well. The
poor do not get good health care ↑ This busy street is in
or education. Many kids have to Bangalore. It is the third
earn money for their families. largest city in India.
So they cannot go to school. Issue 14 • 111

India also has pollution. Clean
water is scarce. Thick clouds of
smog hang over most big cities.
Many kids have asthma because
of the dirty air. Nowadays,
Indians are fighting the problem.
New cars must have devices to
control pollution. Old buses and
trucks cannot use the streets if
they pour smoke into the air.

Even with its problems,
India is powerful. Many cities
are centers of technology. India’s
leaders hope the future will be
brighter. They are counting on
young Indians to find ways to
make life better.

Johan Reinhard/NewsCom

Johan Reinhard examines bundled
mummies at the 22,000-foot-high site.

Johan Reinhard spent years looking for ancient ruins

in South America. As a result of his search, in 1995 he
found the 500-year-old mummy of an Inca girl.
The mummy was called the “Ice Maiden.”

A few years later, Reinhard made another discovery.
He found three frozen mummies on Argentina’s Mount
Llullaillaco (yew•yeye•YAH•koh). They were found
more than 20,000 feet high on the tall mountain.
The mummies were children between 8 and 15
years old. There were two boys and a girl.

112 • Time For Kids

Reaching the mummies was not Reuters/Courtesy El Tribuno-Walter Echazu ↑ This child was 8 to 15 years
easy. Workers had to remove five feet Osvaldo Stigliano/Wide World Photos/AP Images old when sacrificed to the
of earth to dig the mummies out. The Inca gods.
hole was very narrow. So a worker had
to be lowered into it by his ankles to lift
out a mummy! Still, the mummies were
in great condition. They were the best
preserved bodies ever found from the
Inca civilization.

Frozen in Time

Scientists think the children were an
offering to the Inca gods. The mummies
were wrapped in beautiful fabrics.
Pottery and statues made of gold,
silver, and shell were around them.

“Almost all of the statues are in a
state of perfect preservation, including
lids on the pottery and even food
offerings of meat jerky,” said Reinhard.

The Inca maiden
on display at a
museum in Salta,
Argentina. →

Issue 14 • 113

Rob Schuster

Physical Map of Argentina Other Inca mummies were
found before this. They were
↑ Mummies were located on frozen by the cold, dry weather
Mount Llullaillaco in the high in the Andes mountains.
province of Salta, Argentina. But those mummies had dried
out before they froze. So they did
114 • Time For Kids not have any soft tissue or blood.
The three mummies found by
Reinhard were different. They
froze before they dried out. As a
result, they still have blood frozen
in their hearts and lungs. Now
scientists can study the blood
and organs. They can learn more
about the health, diet, and lives
of the ancient Incas.

The mummies are like clues
to a puzzle. What secrets of the
Incas have been buried for 500
years? The scientists can’t wait
to find out.

Incredible Incas

The Incas were an Indian group in
South America. They ruled in the
Andes mountains about 500 years
ago. The empire of the Incas was
one of the richest in the Americas.
It was also one of the largest. It
stretched 2,300 miles along the
Pacific coast.

The Granger Collection, New York

Most of the Incas were farmers. ↑ This drawing shows the first
But they were also skilled builders meeting of Pizarro and Atahuallpa,
and craftsmen. The Incas built many the last Inca king.
roads to connect the parts of their
empire. They also made beautiful The Granger Collection, New York
objects from gold and silver.

The Inca empire lasted about 100
years. The Spanish overthrew it in
the early 1500s. They were searching
for treasure. They wanted the
gold and silver of the Incas. So the
Spanish killed Inca leaders and took
over their lands.

The Incas did not have a written
language. But they spoke a language
called Quechua. Today some Indians
of the Andes mountains still speak
Quechua.

← The Inca empire
ruled ten million
people. Many of
them were forced
to make public
buildings.

Issue 14 • 115

The

Inca Empire

At its peak the Inca empire was the largest nation
in the world. It stretched down the coast of South
America from present-day Colombia to Chile. This map
shows the land held by the Incas from 1438 to 1525.

Colombia
Quito
Ecuador

Brazil

Peru
Lima

Key La Paz
Bolivia
Inca Empire Chile
Modern Capitals
Argentina
scale Santiago

N

Elizabeth Wolf

116

Dead
Zones

Tsunemi Kubodera
takes the first photos
of the ocean giants.

(c) Franck Robichon/EPA/Corbis; (tr) Robert Simmon/NASA

Trouble in the Ocean

What’s causing “dead zones” in oceans
around the world?

Robert Simmon/NASA

The world’s oceans are
filled with life. But it’s
land-living human beings who
are creating “dead zones” in
coastal waters.

Over the past 40 years, dead
zones have appeared in almost
150 places around the globe.
Some are small, and some are
vast. The dead zone in the Gulf
of Mexico is as big as the state
of New Jersey!

No animals live in these areas.
There are no fish, no turtles, no
crabs. The reason is that the
water below the surface has no
oxygen in it. Without oxygen,
fish and other sea creatures die.

Too Much
of a Good Thing

We know what causes dead The light colors show
zones—chemical fertilizers the dead zone.

used on farms and lawns. The

fertilizer helps plants and grass grow.

But in the ocean, fertilizer is deadly.

118 • Time For Kids

When it rains, fertilizer
chemicals wash into rivers. Rivers
flow into an ocean. The chemicals
are dumped there.

In the ocean the fertilizer

causes tiny plants called algae to Robert Brook/Photo Researchers

grow rapidly. Soon the surface of

the ocean is covered with algae

for hundreds of miles. When

the algae die, they sink to the ↑ Green algae on the ocean surface

bottom. There, bacteria eat them.

The bacteria use up all the oxygen in the water.

Once the oxygen is gone, nothing can live.

Saving the Ocean

Governments around the world are trying to stop
dead zones from forming. One solution is to plant
trees and grass next to rivers. The plants will soak
up fertilizer before it reaches the ocean. Another
important solution is to use less or stop using
chemical fertilizers altogether.

Rob Schuster

1. Rain washes fertilizer 2. The river flows the runoff 3. The fertilizer causes algae
into river. (fertilizer) into the ocean. to grow, covering hundreds
of miles of ocean.

4. The algae dies off and sinks to the
bottom, bacteria eat the algae and
use up all the oxygen in the water.

Issue 15 • 119

William West/AFP/Getty Images

One GIANT Squid!

Scientists now have photos of one of Reuters/Corbis
the world’s most mysterious creatures.

By Jill Egan

Many strange creatures lurk deep in

the ocean. One of the most mysterious is
the giant squid. Some had been caught in
fishing nets or found washed up onshore.
No one had ever seen a giant squid alive
up close—or had even gotten a picture
of one.

That all changed a few years ago.
Researchers got the first pictures of a
giant squid alive and swimming in
the deep ocean.

This giant squid,
found in New
Zealand, was over
20 feet long! →

120 • Time For Kids

← Scientist Tsunemi
Kubodera points
to a giant squid.
It is on display
at the National
Science Museum
in Tokyo, Japan.

Oshikazu Tsuno/AFP/Getty Images

Tracking the Giant Squid

Scientists didn’t know just where to look for the squid.
It lives in the ocean, about 660 to 2,300 feet deep.
Then the scientists had a bright idea. They knew sperm
whales like nothing better than a tasty squid dinner.
Why not follow the whales? Scientists, led by Tsunemi
Kubodera, followed some sperm whales off the coast of
Japan. Their idea turned out to be correct. Just as they
thought, the whales led them to a giant squid.

Thomas Gagliano

• GIANT SQUIDS are invertebrates, • GIANT SQUIDS have eight arms

or animals without backbones. and two tentacles. The tentacles
They are the largest invertebrates bring food to their mouths.
on Earth.
• GIANT SQUIDS are hard for
• GIANT SQUIDS can grow to be
scientists to study because they
59 feet long! live in deep, very dark parts of
the ocean.
• GIANT SQUIDS (and colossal
Issue 15 • 121
squids) have the largest eyes of
any animal—about 10 inches across.

This photo shows the
giant squid attacking
the bait. →

National Science Museum/Wide World Photos/AP Images

The squid wasn’t going
to come to the scientists.
So they used a baited fishing
line to draw it in. The bait was
a single small squid and chopped up
shrimp. Scientists dropped a remote-control camera
into the ocean. Then they used the bait to attract
the squid. The trick worked. As the squid went after
the bait, the scientists snapped hundreds of pictures.
Eventually the squid swam away.

When the scientists raised the fishing line, they
discovered something amazing. The squid had left a
piece of itself. “It went after some bait that we had on
the end of the camera and became stuck, and left behind
a tentacle,” said Kyoichi Mori, a researcher. The tentacle
was about 18 feet long. It helped scientists learn more
about the giant squid. Thanks to Kubodera and his team
of scientists, the giant squid is a little less mysterious.

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Getting to Know a Giant

Scientists are learning more and more about the giant
squid. They study the bodies of dead squid as well as
photographs of living ones.

For example, scientists have learned that the giant
squid’s tentacles have suction cups lined with sharp
rings. These rings help the squid attach to its prey.
They also can protect the squid—causing large
scars on their main predators, sperm whales.

Mantle

Funnel

Tentacles

Head
Arms

Mike Maydak

Issue 15 • 123

How Diamonds
Form

Diamonds are rare and hard to
find. They form deep inside Earth.
The process takes thousands and
thousands of years.

Pressure and heat 100 miles

1 deep inside Earth
turn carbon into

diamonds.

2 Magma
Magma carries diamonds
toward the surface,
sometimes in volcanoes.

Diamond

3 Argosy
Pipes of rock rich in diamonds are
left behind. Diamond mines grow
around these deposits.

4
Erosion can wear away the rock that
holds diamond deposits. Pieces of
diamond break away. Water can carry
the pieces of diamond to other places,
such as riverbeds or beaches.

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