TIME for Kids G3 Student Reader

Warning System in Tsunami Sensors:
the Pacific How They Work
The Indian Ocean didn’t have
a warning system in 2004. But 1 A sensor on the sea floor
the Pacific Ocean did. The detects changes in water
warning system in the Pacific pressure. The sensor sends
Ocean links 26 nations, its data to the buoy on
including the United States. the surface.

The Pacific warning system 2 The buoy sends the data
has three parts. First, there to a satellite.
are special gauges to detect
ocean quakes that could cause 3 The satellite sends the data
a tsunami. Next, there are back to a station on land.
sensors on the sea floor. They Scientists at the station look
detect changes in how hard at the data. They decide
the water presses down on whether to send out a
them. A rise in pressure could tsunami warning.
mean a big wave is passing
over—maybe a tsunami wave. 3
Last, there are gauges that
measure the sea level near the 2
coast. The gauges can tell if
the water is rising along the 1
shore. If the rising water is a
tsunami, scientists will issue
a warning.

Joe Lemonnier

Issue 6 • 49

Tsunami North Atlantic
Warning Network America Ocean

Sensors have been placed Pacific Ocean
on the ocean floor to help
detect tsunamis. The red
crosses show where the
sensors are located.

South
America

New Indian
Ocean System
After the 2004 tsunami, officials pushed to
build an Indian Ocean network. Why wasn’t there one
already? In the past the Indian Ocean had faced fewer
tsunamis than the Pacific. So people thought there
wasn’t a need. But two years after the tsunami, the
new system was online.

50 • Time For Kids

Arctic Ocean Asia
Europe

Africa

Indian Ocean

Australia

Southern Ocean Key

Tsunami sensors

Joe Lemonnier

The system is not complete, but it’s still ready to
go to work. Twenty-five new gauges are there to detect
earthquakes. Three new tsunami sensors have been
placed on the Indian Ocean floor. Most countries
around the Indian Ocean have created centers to receive
tsunami warnings and send them out to the public. The
whole system should be up and running soon. This is
one system scientists hope they’ll not use often.

Issue 6 • 51

By Lisa Westberg Peters (bkgd) Royalty-Free/Corbis

Please set the
continental plates
gently on the
continental shelves.
No jostling or scraping.
Please stack the
basins right side up.
No tilting or turning
upside-down.
Please scrape the mud
out of the mud pots.
But watch out!
They’re still hot.
As for the forks
in the river,
just let them soak.
Remember,
if anything breaks,
it’s your fault.

52

(c) Ariel Skelley/Getty Images; (tr) Gates Foundation/Corbis Gates Is
Generous

Businesses help people make
their dreams come true.

They didn’t start out as Americans, but immigrants David Frazier/PhotoEdit
still go after the American dream.

People come to the United States from

around the world. They may not speak
good English when they arrive. They may
have little education. To make a living,
some immigrants work picking fruit,
sewing clothes, and doing other jobs that
require few skills. Soon, though, many
immigrants learn enough to start their
own businesses.

Coming to America, ↑ This immigrant woman earns a
Finding the American Dream living by picking fruit.
Often, people from India go into the
hotel business. Some people from Spencer Grant/PhotoEdit
Korea make clothes or sell groceries.
Many people from Mexico, who came
to pick fruit, now own farms and
vineyards. At first, these businesses are
small, but they are big enough to make
a living. Even the children work in the
businesses. When those children grow
up, many go off to college.

This immigrant family owns a store. →
54 • Time For Kids

Coming Home to the Family Business Peter Kim and his father
In the past, many of the children of immigrants had
little interest in their families’ business. But that trend Stephanie Diani
seems to be changing. Instead of walking away from
their parents’ businesses, grown children of
immigrants are coming back. They’re taking a second
look. Many are discovering they have good ideas to
make their parents’ businesses better.

That’s what happened with Peter Kim, a Korean
American from southern California. He went back to
help with his father’s failing clothing business. With
his new ideas, he turned the company into a
big success.

Priti Patel’s family came from India. At age 8,

she was counting change and working the front desk. Citizenship: the true

“I used to hate it,” she says. “Everybody else gets to go American dream
AP Photo/Nick Ut

home after school and get a snack.

I had to help at the hotel. On Americans Born
weekends I had to cut grass.” Outside the U.S.

About 12 percent of Americans are born

When friends drove by and saw outside of the United States. Here are the

her working, she would feel regions they come from.

embarrassed. Later, though, Patel 8.0%
earned a business degree. She Other
returned to her family business. Regions
Today she runs one of her
family’s motels. 6.3% 36.9%
South Central
These Americans are finding America America
a way to build on the American
10.1%
Caribbean

13.7% 25%
Europe Asia

dreams their parents worked so

hard for. Thomas Gagliano
• Note: Because numbers are rounded, figures do not add up to 100%

Issue 7 • 55

Bill and Melinda Gates
use their money to aid the poor.

Bill Gates is one of the richest people in the Dan Lamont/Corbis

world. He has more than $50 billion. He is fast ↑ Bill Gates is very
becoming the most generous person as well. rich. He is using
It all began when Bill and his wife, Melinda, his money to
made a big decision. They founded a charity, help people.
the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Then
they used it to give a lot of their money away. Bill and Melinda
want to improve the
How did Bill Gates get so rich? His money health of people
comes from making computer software. Gates around the world.↓
began to program computers at age 13. In 1975
he and a friend founded a company and named
it Microsoft. The company makes important
tools for computers, e-mail, and the Internet.
Today Microsoft is the world’s largest computer
software company.

People do not become as rich as Bill and
Melinda Gates very often. The Gateses feel
that with success comes responsibility.
They want to use their money to
help others. That is why they
started the charity.

Naashon Zalk/Corbis

56 • Time For Kids

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation School is
spends billions of dollars. It gives money important to
to students so they can go to school. The Bill and Melinda.
foundation also gives money to libraries Their foundation
for computers and other materials. helps kids learn
to read.↓

The Gateses’ newest goal is funding

medical research. Their foundation has

given over $1 billion to improve the

health of people in countries with a lot Gates Foundation/Corbis

of poverty. The money is used to fight

diseases such as malaria. Malaria is

spread by a bite from a mosquito

infected with a parasite. The

disease kills 2,000 kids in Bill and Melinda
Africa each day. Gates Foundation:

In 2008, the Gates Money Given by Year
Foundation said that
it would give an extra This graph shows how much money
$168.7 million to work on the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation
gives away. It is a lot of money!

the problem of malaria. $2.25

This money will support $2.0 $2.0B

the work of developing a $ Billions $1.75 $1.7B
malaria vaccine. A vaccine $1.5 $1.4B $1.6B
is given to people before $1.5B
they get a disease. It protects
them against that disease $1.25 $1.2B
in the future. This way, Bill $1 $1.0B
$0.75
$749M

Gates said, there is a chance $0.5

to “eradicate [wipe out] $0.25

malaria altogether.” $0
2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007

Years

Issue 7 • 57

Bill and Melinda Gates
Foundation Grants Funding
fromfro1m9199494totoJJuunnee22000808

Program Areas

Global Health

$9,608,044,880 •

United States

$5,346,286,359 •

Global Development

$1,770,725,657 •

Another worry of Bill and Melinda Gates
is hunger. In many parts of the world food is
limited. People often lack tools and training
to improve farming. The Gates Foundation
is working in these areas. Its goal: “Increase
opportunities for people in developing countries
to overcome hunger and poverty.”

The Gates Foundation is helping people in
the United States too. It works on education. The
foundation gives money for school programs and
libraries. It also helps kids pay for school. This
work is based on the idea “that when all people in
the United States have the opportunity to develop
their talents, our society thrives.”

58 • Time For Kids

The Gates Foundation is private. A private
foundation is set up by persons rather than
companies. Most private foundations don’t have
nearly as much money as the Gates Foundation
does. Many have less than $1 million. Still, these
foundations are able to do a lot of good. They
usually focus on their local communities. They
often give money to students for school and
support local programs.

For being champions of global health
worldwide, and for using their wealth to help
people who need it most, the world owes Bill and
Melinda Gates big thanks. The same goes for the
many smaller private foundations across the
United States that lend a helping hand to those
who need it most.

Foundations often help students pay for college.↓

Tom Rosenthal/SuperStock

Issue 7 • 59

Philanthropy means helping those in need. Here is a list of
the five largest foundations for philanthropy in the United
States. The list is based on the total worth, or assets.

Foundations Total assets in
billions of dollars
1 Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation — Established: 1994
$0 $10 $20 $30 $40 $50
Founders: Bill & Melinda Gates; Bill Gates was a co-founder
of Microsoft Corporation $38.9B

Areas of interest: international development, world health, U.S. education $13.8B

2 The Ford Foundation — Established: 1936

Founder: Edsel Ford, son of Henry Ford, founder of the Ford Motor Company
Areas of interest: social issues

3 J. Paul Getty Trust — Established: 1982 $10.1B

Founder: The estate of J. Paul Getty, founder of the Getty Oil Company
Area of interest: visual arts

4 The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation — Established: 1968 $10.1B

Founder: The estate of R.W. Johnson, head of the Johnson & Johnson Company
Area of interest: health

5 The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation — Established: 1967 $9.3B

Founders: Will and Flora Hewlett; William Hewlett was co-founder
of the Hewlett-Packard Company

Areas of interest: social and environmental issues

If you had a foundation, what would you support?

60

(c) Bowers Museum of Cultural Art/Corbis; (tr) The Granger Collection Friends
of Freedom

Inside the United States are
hundreds of independent nations.

AFbrreadheraimckLDinocuogllnasansd
A president and a former slave
formed a lasting friendship.

Abraham Lincoln was President Douglass wanted a prompt end

of the United States. Frederick to slavery. He also wanted equal

Douglass was once a slave. What rights for men and women. He

could these two men possibly have wanted black men to be part of

in common? the U. S. army. He even wanted

Both Lincoln and Douglass everyone to be paid the same
came from poor homes. Both amount of money. These ideas
struggled to get the chance to learn upset many people, but Douglass
to read and write. Both men were felt that he was right.

superb writers and speakers. Both Lincoln believed in most of

cared deeply about freeing slaves. the same ideals. Lincoln, though,

At first, Frederick Douglass wanted to move more slowly.
thought Lincoln was a foe. Lincoln Douglass became frustrated.

said he wanted to free the slaves, Then, on New Year’s Day, 1863,

but Douglass thought he was taking Lincoln issued a statement. That

too long to do it. statement, the “Emancipation

Bettmann/Corbis Proclamation,” said that all men

should be free. Soon Lincoln

announced the end of slavery.

He also said that black men would

be included in the U. S. army.

← Lincoln reads the draft of the Emancipation
Proclamation to his cabinet.

62 • Time For Kids

The Granger Collection 1800 The Life of
The Granger Collection Frederick
Douglass

1820 1818 Born in Maryland

↑ Abraham Lincoln ↑ Frederick Douglass

Douglass was thrilled. Soon the two 1840 1838 Escapes slavery
men became friends. Douglass met with 1860 1845 Publishes autobiography
Lincoln at the White House. 1880 1848 Attends the first
1900 women’s rights convention
When Lincoln was elected President in Seneca Falls, NY
for the second time, Frederick Douglass
came to the inauguration. After Lincoln 1863 Advises President
was sworn in, there was a big party. Lincoln on the Civil War
Policemen outside the White House
forbid Douglass from coming in. They 1877 Becomes a marshal
said that no black men were invited. for the District of Columbia
Then Douglass sent word to Lincoln.
Right away, word came to allow 1889 Becomes the U.S.
Douglass in. “Here comes my friend,” minister to Haiti
Lincoln said, and took Douglass by the
hand. “I am glad to see you. I saw you 1895 Douglass dies
in the crowd today, listening to my
inaugural address.” He asked Douglass
how he liked it, adding, “There is no
man in the country whose opinion I
value more than yours.” — Lisa Jo Rudy

Issue 8 • 63

American Indian groups (l) Wide World Photos/AP Images; (r) Superstock/Corbis
have their own nations
within the United States.

Great Seal of
the United States →

The United States is a free,
independent country—a nation.
Its people are not restricted and have

the power to govern themselves. The

people of the United States are in

charge of creating their own laws. They ↑ The U.S. Capitol
are also allowed to defend themselves

against other nations. Marilyn Angel Wynn/Nativestock

Inside the United States
are hundreds of other free,
independent nations. These
are American Indian nations.

Indian tribes were nations
before the United States was
formed. They are still nations.
The Constitution of the United
States says that Indian nations
and the United States should
deal with each other nation
to nation.

64 • Time For Kids

Bettmann/Corbis

Flags of two nations:
American and Santa Ynez
Band of Chumash Indians ↓

Marilyn Angel Wynn/Nativestock/Corbis ↑ Treaty-signing between the U.S. government
and the Sioux in Wyoming, 1868

Chippewa-Cree powwow at the The United States, though,
Rocky Boy Reservation in Montana doesn’t have to deal with every
group of Indians that calls itself a
nation. Which groups are accepted as
nations? There is a long, complicated
process to decide. It can take years
for the United States to decide that a
group of Indians should be accepted
as a nation or denied recognition.

To be accepted as a nation, the
group of Indians must be able to
show that it has been around since
before the United States started.
It may also have to show that the
group has signed treaties that
were accepted by the United States
government.

Issue 8 • 65

Once a group of Indians is • The right to tax members
accepted as a sovereign, or and nonmembers doing
self-governing, nation, it gains business with members
many important rights. These
include: • The right to use and give
out or sell land
• The right to create its own
government • The right to make laws

• The right to decide who is a American Indian nations
part of its sovereign nation have many rights. Still, there
are limits. For example, Indian
• The right to manage relations nations cannot put a non-Indian
among its members in jail. — Lisa Jo Rudy

• The right to decide who
inherits what

United Nancy Carter\North Wind
Nations Picture Archives

There are more than 560 federally 1923 The Navajo Nation
recognized American Indian tribes in
the United States. Federally recognized The Navajo Nation’s modern tribal government
means these tribes have a special legal was established and recognized. It includes
relationship with the U.S. government. parts of the states of Arizona, New Mexico, and
Here are just a few: Utah. Navajoland is over 27,000 square miles,
making it the largest area of American Indian
66 • Time For Kids land in the United States.

Narragansett Indian Tribal Police, Rhode Island ↓

The Indian Citizenship Act
of 1924 gave citizenship
to all American Indians
born in the United States.
Before then, only some
had full citizenship.

Victoria Arocho/Wide World Photos/Wide World Photos/AP Images

Steven Georges/
Press-Telegram/Corbis

Phil Schermeister/Corbis

1936 The Minnesota 1968 The Ysleta Del Sur What tribes
Chippewa Tribe Pueblo Tribe are in your
community?
The Minnesota Chippewa Tribe’s government The Ysleta del Sur Pueblo Indian Tribe’s
was recognized. The Chippewa, or Ojibwe, government was restored recognition.
can be found in the northern United States It was founded in 1682 after a revolt
and Canada. The Minnesota tribe was set up against the Spaniards. The community is
in 1934. It is a central form of government located in Texas and is the only Pueblo in
for six Chippewa bands. the state. The tribe is also known as Tigua.

Issue 8 • 67

MARY
Youngblood

Mary Youngblood loves music. As a child

she learned to play the piano, the violin,

the classical flute, and the guitar. When

she became an adult, she learned about

her Native American heritage. That was

when she tried the Native American flute

for the first time. Traditionally, the Native Photo by Catherine Daley, Courtesy of Mary Youngblood

American flute has been played by men.

Mary is the first woman to play it professionally.

Mary has recorded many albums and received lots
of awards. She is proud of her culture and her music
helps keep Native American traditions alive.

ThE LIFE oF MARy Youngblood 2000

Won Best Female

Artist at the

1971 Native American
Moved to
1958 California Music Awards 2007
Born in Seattle,
Washington, Won Grammy
June 24
1999–2000 Award for Best

Won Flutist Native American

of the Year Music Album

1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010

1968 1998
Learned to
play flute Released

(bkgd) Marilyn Angel Wynn/Nativestock.com/Getty Images first album
1993 2003
68
Played Native Won Grammy

American flute Award for Best

professionally Native American

Music Album

Mysterious
Pyramids!

Not all flowers are sweet.
Take a whiff of the world’s
smelliest bloom.

(c) Scott Barbour/Getty Images; (tr) Michael T. Sedam/Corbis

FloThwiser Stinks

People flock to see (and smell) one of the world’s largest flowers.

By Jill Egan

T housands of people flocked When titan arums bloom, the
to the Brooklyn Botanic flowers put out an odor that
Garden. They wanted to smells like the rotting body of
see a rare flower called a a dead animal. That’s why many
titan arum. The huge plant was people call the plant by another
over five and a half feet tall. Yet, name: corpse flower! The titan
it’s not the size that visitors will arum grows in the country of
remember. The most striking Indonesia. The people there
thing about the titan arum bloom used to believe the plant would
is its awful smell. One whiff of its eat them!
scent makes most people choke
and hold their noses!

Michael Forster Rothbart/ Alessandro
University of Wisconsin-Madison Chiari of the
Brooklyn
↑ This titan arum at the Botanic
University of Wisconsin is Garden
nicknamed Big Bucky. stands next
to Baby
before it
reaches
full size. →

70 • Time For Kids Leeann Lavin, Courtesy
Brooklyn Botanic Garden

Creepy Baby When this plant grows in the
wild, its scent attracts beetles
The gardeners at the Brooklyn and bees. Titan arum’s pollen
Botanic Garden have a nickname sticks to their legs and bodies.
for their plant. They call it “Baby.” When they fly to other titan arum
Baby had been growing in plants, they carry the pollen
Brooklyn for ten years but had with them. Some of the pollen
never bloomed before. In 2006, rubs off on the flower, helping
Baby finally bloomed. It was the it to reproduce. The odor of the
first titan arum to bloom in New titan arum can be so strong that
York City since 1939. humans can smell it over half a
mile away! In Indonesia people
Before it bloomed, Baby dig up the rare flowers to sell
grew more than 30 inches in just to collectors. This is illegal. But
nine days. That quick growth is the plant’s biggest threat is the
normal. Some of the flowers can destruction of its habitat.
reach nine feet tall. Scientists
knew Baby was almost ready Brooklyn resident Sandy
to open up when it stopped Vergano saw Baby just before
growing. The huge blossom it bloomed. “It smelled fine
took about two hours to open. when I saw it,” he said. “It
Then the bad odor began to looked beautiful, which was an
float through the air. interesting contrast to the way
it is supposed to smell.”

Indonesia

Titan arum is native to
the forests of Sumatra,
Indonesia. Can you
find it on the map? →

Joe Lemonnier

Issue 9 • 71

For more than 100 days, Brad Lang/State Press at ASU

scientists dug deep into an
ancient Mexican pyramid. Down
and down they went day after
day. Then suddenly a great
room opened in front of them,
and it was one creepy room!

Scientists first saw a dark,

dusty space full of bones.

A human skeleton sat on the ↑ This human skeleton was found in
floor. Then around it they the pyramid. A researcher is cleaning
noticed the bones of large dirt from the bones.

birds and two big jungle

cats. Next they saw stone knives

in the dirt. The strange burial room

is in the Pyramid of the Moon. The

pyramid was built more than 1,000

years ago in the city of Teotihuacán

(tay•oh•tee•wah•KAHN).

The people of Teotihuacán made Saburo Sugiyama/ASU
knives out of obsidian. This is
lava that has hardened. →

72 • Time For Kids

A City’s Puzzling Past But the city was a mystery to
them, too. They thought the
Teotihuacán is an ancient city gods built it. Teotihuacán means
nearly 2,000 years old. It is “Place of the Gods.” The Aztecs
empty now. It once had 150,000 thought the gods created the
people. However, around the sun and moon there. That is why
year 600, something perplexing the city’s two main pyramids are
happened. The people who built called the Pyramid of the Sun
the city disappeared. No one and the Pyramid of the Moon.
knows why they left or where
they went.

People from Europe came to
the area in the 1500s. At that
time the Aztecs ruled the area.

Finding the Pyramid of the Sun

This map shows where Teotihuacán is located in Mexico.

UNITED STATES

MEXICO Gulf of
Mexico

Pacific Teotihuacan CUBA
Ocean
Mexico
City

KEY
Capitol

Burgandy Beam SOUTH
AMERICA

Issue 9 • 73

Peeling a Pyramid Brad Lang/State Press at ASU

Experts are still looking for clues about the ↑ This is a statue
city’s builders. They know most of them were found in the
farmers. Yet there are very few facts about pyramid.
their daily lives. The people of Teotihuacán
had a system of writing. They wrote in a
language that used small pictures as symbols.
Still, experts can’t read their language.

Researchers hope the Pyramid of the
Moon will reveal clues about its builders.
The pyramid was built one layer on top of
another. The people of Teotihuacán “would
build a small pyramid, then a larger one
over it, and then a third one after that,”
says George Cowgill. He is an expert on
Teotihuacán. Much of the pyramid is still
unexplored. Nevertheless, experts are
peeling away its layers. They hope to
unwrap Teotihuacán’s secrets.

David Frazier/Corbis

Teotihuacán
and the Aztecs

A.D. 100–400—Pyramid of the Moon built.

A.D. 100 400 800

400—Teotihuacán reaches its 600—People of Teotihuacán disappear.
greatest power and wealth.

74 • Time For Kids

Robert Frerck/Odyssey Productions

↑ The biggest pyramid at ↑ In Teotihuacán schoolchildren
Teotihuacán is the Pyramid of the rest on the steps of the
Sun. It is 700 feet on a side—almost Pyramid of the Moon. The
as long as 18 school buses. giant Pyramid of the Sun
looms in the distance.
↑ The Pyramid of the Moon is not as
tall as the Pyramid of the Sun. But
it was built on higher land, so the
tops of the two pyramids are the
same height.

↑ The Pyramid of the Moon is about
140 feet tall—about the size of a
14-story building.

↑ The Pyramid of the Sun is taller
than the Statue of Liberty.

Gianni Dagli Orti/Corbis
Bettmann/Corbis

1500—Aztecs take over the area around 1519—The Spanish come to North America
Teotihuacán. The ancient city is in ruins. and begin conquest of the Aztecs.

1200 1600 2000

1200—Aztecs come to the Valley of Mexico. 1998—Scientists start digging into
the Pyramid of the Moon to
uncover its secrets.

Issue 9 • 75

(bkgd) PNC/Photodisc/Getty Images By Laura E. Richards

Once there was an elephant,
Who tried to use the telephant—
No! No! I mean an elephone
Who tried to use the telephone—
(Dear me! I am not certain quite
That even now I’ve got it right.)
Howe’er it was, he got his trunk
Entangled in the telephunk;
The more he tried to get it free,
The louder buzzed the telephee—
(I fear I’d better drop the song
Of elephop and telephong!)

76

(c) Koji Sasahara/Wide World Photos/AP Images; (tr) LEGO Teen
EMTs

Prince Hisahito could one day become Emperor of Japan.

Teens to the Rescue! LEGO

These emergency medical service
members are all well trained,
certified, and in their teens.

Post 53 EMTs,
left to right: Wells
Landers, 18; Kate
Kevorkian, 17;
Annie Maybell, 17;
Emily Stout, 17

Emily Stout’s heart raced as she and her
crewmates jumped out of their ambulance

on I-95 in Darien, Connecticut. Slumped against EMTs at work↓

a concrete barrier was a stunned-looking Chris Baker/Stone/
man. His leg was bloody. His crushed car Getty Images

lay just a few feet away.

Within minutes, Emily and the others
placed the victim in a special collar to
protect his neck. They bandaged his leg,
and lifted him onto a stretcher and into
the ambulance. Then they sped off to
nearby Stamford Hospital. There they
wheeled him into the emergency room.

78 • Time For Kids

Uppercut/Getty Images

An ambulance rushes to
the scene of an accident.

Emily and 58 other teen They are on call 120 hours
volunteers work for the Darien a month. They carry radio
Emergency Medical Service. transmitters everywhere, even
Their service is called Post 53. to class. They drop everything
It is the only ambulance service when they’re called.
in Darien.
“Once, I had to leave three
With some help from trained minutes before Harry Potter
adults, these teens take about ended,” Emily Stout says. All
1,450 calls each year. They the work is worth it. Just ask
respond to car crashes and Jim Cloud. When Cloud’s heart
heart attacks and even help stopped, the teens got it
deliver babies. “They’re superb,” started again. Jim’s wife says:
says Timothy S. Hall, Stamford “They saved his life. They’re
Hospital’s chairman of surgery. magnificent.” — Molly Lopez
“I’ve had cases where patients
wouldn’t have lived without Courtesy Stamford Hospital
them.”

Post 53 was started in 1969 as Dr. Timothy Hall says
an Eagle Scout project. Teens the teens have saved
who join the team must pass a the lives of some of
screening, do 140 hours of his patients.→
training, and take an exam. At
the end, they become certified
emergency medical technicians.

Issue 10 • 79

Long Live the Emperor!

By Renee Skelton

On September 6, 2006, people all over Pool/AP Pool/Corbis

Japan celebrated the birth of a baby boy.

He is the first son of Prince Akishino and

Princess Kiko. Some people say he saved

the monarchy of Japan.

A monarchy is a form of government

that is ruled by a person called a monarch.

In many countries the monarch is a

king or queen. In Japan the monarch is

an emperor. Monarchs are not elected. ↑ The sleeping Prince Hisahito
Their position is passed down by birth, lives up to his name, which
from parents to children. In Japan the
means “serene.”

AP Photo/Imperial Household Agency

law says that only a male can become the

emperor. The present emperor has two sons.

They are princes. One of these princes will

sit on the throne when the present emperor

dies. Who would become emperor next? Before

September 2006 the princes had only daughters.

A daughter could not become the monarch.

A Female Ruler? ↑ The future
emperor enjoys
Some people said the law should be changed. playing with
Other countries have female monarchs. For example, blocks.
Queen Elizabeth II is the monarch in Britain. Why not
Japan? But tradition is very important to the Japanese.
They did not want to change the way things had been

done for hundreds of years.

80 • Time For Kids

Emperors, like this one from the
Song dynasty, gained more power
over the years. ↓

An Ancient Monarchy Charles & Josette Lenars/Corbis

Japan’s monarchy is very old. In fact, time military leaders called shoguns
it is the oldest in the world. The (SHOH•guhnz) also became
history of the monarchy starts in important. These shoguns began to
the 600s and 700s. Several leading control Japan. By the early 1800s,
families began to fight for power. the emperors had no real power. In
One family became more powerful fact, many Japanese people didn’t
than the others. The head of that know there still was an emperor.
family declared himself emperor,
or ruler. He took the name Jimmu
(jee•moo). For several hundred
years, this powerful family and its
friends were the government. They
made rules. They kept order. A
male member of the family always
became emperor. Other male
members of the family ran different
parts of the government.

Over the next few hundred years,
many wealthy, strong landowners
gained power. By the 1100s the
monarchs used soldiers called
samurai (SAM•oo•reye) to protect
them and keep order. Around this

Issue 10 • 81

The Monarchy lost all power. He became just a
Makes a Comeback symbol of the state. That is still
how the emperor is seen today.
In the late 1860s, the emperor The Japanese people elect their
became strong again. A group of leaders, but the emperor is still an
samurai overthrew the shoguns. important symbol of the nation.
They brought back the power
of the monarchy. A 15-year-old Alinari Archives/Corbis
emperor known as Meiji (may•jee)
took the throne. He ruled until the
early 1900s. This was called the
Meiji era.

In 1889, Japan wrote its
constitution. The constitution
made the emperor the head of
the government. It also created
jobs for people to help run the
government.

Japan’s military grew stronger
during the late 1800s and early
1900s. By 1936 military leaders
were in control of the government.
The emperor agreed with whatever
they wanted to do. When Japan
lost World War II, its leaders were
punished. A new constitution was
written for Japan. The emperor

↑ Tokugawa Yoshinobu was Japan’s
last shogun. He lived from 1837
to 1913.

82 • Time For Kids

With the birth of the baby
Prince Hisahito, the Japanese
monarchy has avoided a big
problem. Most people in Japan
have said that they wouldn’t mind
a female emperor. The Japanese
won’t have to worry about this
dilemma for many years. For
now, the emperor will be a male.

Bettmann/Corbis

↑ Under Emperor Meiji’s
rule, Japan became an
industrial power.

Japan Issue 10 • 83

Official name Nippon (Source of the Sun)
Capital Tokyo
Size 146,000 square miles—
almost the size of California

Population 127,417,244 (2006)
Largest cities Tokyo, Yokohama, Osaka,

Nagoya, Sapporo
Official language Japanese

Currency Yen
Head of government Prime minister

Head of state Emperor

DAJ/Getty Images

Mighty Monarchs

Math class isn’t the only place you’ll find plenty of rulers.
There are currently 45 countries that recognize monarchs as
heads of state. Some monarchs hold all of the power. Other
monarchs are symbols of the nation but hold no real power.
Below is a map showing some of the modern-day monarchies.

Bahamas Denmark Burgandy Beam

Population: 307,451 Population: 5,484,723
Name of monarch: Name of monarch:
Queen Elizabeth II Queen Margrethe II

Arctic Ocean

Europe Asia
Africa
North Atlantic Ocean
America

Pacific Ocean

South Indian Ocean
America

Australia

Southern Ocean

Antarctica

Morocco Jordan Cambodia

Population: 34,343,220 Population: 6,198,677 Population: 14,241,640
Name of monarch: Name of monarch: Name of monarch:
King Mohammed VI King Abdullah King Norodom Sihamoni

84

Kids Give
a Hand

(c) Sylvain Cazenave/Corbis; (tr) Tom Hanson/Wide World Photos/AP Images RWde aheve Learn about the
science behind
surfing. It may
keep you afloat!

Freedom Fighter

TFK catches up with a hero Courtesy Free The Children
of kids’ rights.

By Andrea Delbanco

K“ ↑ Kielburger and friends at a Courtesy Free The Children
ids can make a difference,” new school in Ecuador.
Craig Kielburger said. That was
in 1995, when he was 12. Craig is in the United States. But in Pakistan
now in his twenties, and he still school was not free. Children from
believes it’s true. When he was 12, poor families went to work instead
he started a group that has helped of to school. In North America laws
kids all over the world. The group protect children.
is still going strong.
It is illegal for young children
How did Craig get started? In to work in Canada and the United
seventh grade he learned something States. But in Pakistan and many
that made him angry. It was about other countries, Craig learned,
the life of a boy in the country children were often forced
of Pakistan. to work.

When the boy was four years Craig wanted to help those who
old, he was sent to work in a carpet didn’t have the same advantages
factory. He worked 12 hours a day, as he and his friends. As a result,
6 days a week. He could not go to Craig and some friends started
school. He could not even play. Free The Children.
He had no freedom at all.

Craig compared that with his
own life. Laws in Canada said that
kids must go to school. Education
was free to all kids. That is also true

86 • Time For Kids

Craig and his friends decided “We got teased by other kids,
that Free The Children should who said you can’t change things,”
raise money to build schools. Craig he says. Still, Craig didn’t give up.
hoped that learning would help kids Now he wants more kids to help.
in poverty live better. He also hoped “Go to freethechildren.com. Bring
his peers would become conscious it to your teachers,” he said. “As you
global citizens. gain more confidence, friends will
join you. It just gets easier.”
Today, Craig’s charity has more
than one million members in 45 Helping Hand
countries. Most of them are kids.
The money they have raised has Here are some tips to help you
done many good things. It has start a service project.
helped build more than 500 schools
around the world. It also pays for 1. Identify a problem
health care in poor communities. In that exists in
2006 the group opened a new school your community.
in Sri Lanka, a country in Asia. They
worked with Oprah Winfrey to pay 2. Learn about the (t to b) Pascale Constantin
for the school. problem and think
about ways to solve it.

Craig has had a lot of success. 3. Set a goal for the
However, he still remembers his project. Decide what
harsh start in seventh grade. supplies and
help you’ll need.

↓ Students attend a school in Sierra 4. Get your school involved!
Leone, Africa. Encourage students,
teachers, and parents to
help you with your project.

5. Have fun! Knowing
that you are making
a difference in your
community should
bring you joy.

Issue 11 • 87

Surf’s Up! Jim Russi/AFP/Getty Images

By Renee Skelton

Rafa Rivas/AFP/Getty Images

Kelly Slater is sitting on his surfboard in the ocean.
He’s waiting, but he isn’t bored. Not when he
sees a wall of water coming. When it comes, he
jumps up on his board. Slater rides across the wave.

The Champion

Kelly Slater has won more world surfing
championships than anyone else. He knows how
to stay on a board. Like all surfers, Slater must
do a little dance to balance all the forces around
him. That’s how he stays upright as a wave carries
him along.

88 • Time For Kids

A Balancing Act

To surf, you must be able to manage a few forces.
The first one is gravity. Gravity is the force that
pulls things toward Earth. Gravity presses downward
on the surfer. It helps Slater keep his feet on the
board. Buoyancy is the other key force. It helps
things float or rise in liquid or gas. Buoyancy is the
upward push of the water on the surfboard. The
design of the board is important. It floats, even with
a surfer on top.

Kelly Slater is an eight-time
world champion surfer.

Issue 11 • 89

The energy of the moving wave is Rick Doyle/Corbis
another important force. It is based on the
speed and weight of the water. As the wave Rafa Rivas/AFP/Getty Images
moves forward, it pushes the surfboard
along. The wave is tipping forward, so the
surfer must slide down its front surface.
Gravity is at work again.

While these forces are at work, the
surfer must stay balanced. Kelly keeps his
weight along the centerline of the board.
This keeps him from tipping to one side
or the other. If he tips too far, gravity
will send him off the side into the water.
If he moves too far back or too
far forward, the board will tip,
and gravity will force Kelly
into the water.

Some surfers ride small
waves. Others, like Kelly Slater,
ride giant waves. But all surfers
are the same in one way. If they
don’t keep the forces of nature
in balance, they’ll wipe out!

Slater grew up in
Cocoa Beach, Florida. →

90 • Time For Kids

The History of Surfing

The first surfers were the Polynesian people of the South
Pacific Islands. Surfing was an important part of their
culture. Sailors from Europe first wrote about surfing in the
1700s. They saw people surfing for fun when they sailed
near Hawaii. Over hundreds of years surfing has developed
into the sport we know today. One thing however hasn’t
changed— surfers from around the world travel to Hawaii
to have fun riding the big waves.

North Wind/North Wind ↑ An illustration of early surfers
Picture Archives in Hawaii

Riding a Wave

The main forces acting on a surfer are
gravity (downward) and buoyancy (upward). A surfer
must keep all the forces in balance to have a good ride.

1. Buoyancy: pushes up on Gravity
surfboard, keeping it afloat. 3

2. Gravity: pushes down on surfer, 24
helping her stay on the board. 1

3. Gravity: pushes the board and Issue 11 • 91
surfer down the face of the
breaking wave.

4. Speed and weight of water:
push the surfer toward shore.

Phil Scheuer

By X. J. Kennedy

From coast to coast some like to fly
Or tack up rock-star posters,
And that’s all right, I guess. But I
Like riding roller coasters.

A roller coaster—it’s the most.
I love that first huge scare
When you go shooting down to find
You’re sitting on thin air.

Old timbers thunder under wheels,
Shrill screams and hollers sound,
While, tilting, round a curve you roar,
A mile from solid ground.

Whiz! up a slightly lower hill!
The cold steel bar shoves hard
Against your two tight-knuckled fists—
Now squeaky brakes bombard

Your ears with squeals—the slowing wheels
Declare your trip all done
And, dizzily, you stagger off—
What misery! What fun!

Brownstock Inc./Alamy

92

(c) NASA; (tr) Bettmann/Corbis The Final
Frontier

All Eyes
on Mars

NASA spacecraft are giving us the
closest looks ever of the Red Planet.

Corbis

Where No People
Had Gone Before

By Renee Skelton

Thousands of years ago, people He viewed the moons of Jupiter and
the rings of Saturn.
couldn’t travel into space. They
watched the sun, moon, and stars. Into Space
People recorded their cycles. They
saw how the positions of bodies in In time people didn’t want to
the sky changed with the seasons. just look into space, they wanted
to go there. In the early 1900s,
Ancient Egyptians used the scientists such as Robert Goddard
location of the stars to mark the experimented with rockets. They
seasons. They let farmers know hoped they would one day fly into
when to plant and harvest crops. space. By the late 1950s, scientists
The Mayans of Central America had designed huge missiles that flew
observed the sky, too. They made an from one part of Earth to another.
accurate calendar. It was based on
Earth’s movement around the sun. Galileo was the first person to
The Mayans even made tables observe space through a telescope. ↓
that predicted eclipses. Later,
Europeans discovered the makeup Bettmann/Corbis
of the solar system. In 1609, Galileo
made a telescope that let him see
mountains and “seas” on the moon.

94 • Time For Kids

Space Pioneers

These American and Russian astronauts are great space explorers. Sally Ride
This time line shows when each hero went on his or her most
famous space mission.

Bettmann/Corbis

1961 1962 1969 1983
Yuri Gagarin spent John Glenn spent Neil Armstrong spent Sally Ride spent
1 hour, 48 minutes 4 hours, 55 minutes 8 days, 14 hours 14 days, 7 hours
in space in space in space in space

1960 1965 1970 1975 1980 1985

Then in April 1961, the first The Next Frontier
rocket took a man into Earth’s orbit.
He was Russian cosmonaut Yuri People have not been back to the
Gagarin. About one month later, moon since 1972, but robot probes
American astronaut Alan Shepard have sent back close-up photos of
flew into space. Soon after, President every planet in our solar system.
John Kennedy challenged American
scientists. He asked them to put a What’s next? Some people hope
man on the moon by the end of the we will build a base on the moon.
1960s. In July 1969, Apollo 11 went Others want astronauts to travel
into lunar orbit, and soon after, Neil to Mars. No one is sure where our
Armstrong became the first man to explorations will take us next. But
step onto the surface of the moon. they will continue to go where no
people have gone before.

Issue 12 • 95

Mysterious

Mars

Technology helps to solve
secrets of the Red Planet.

By Renee Skelton

Mars is getting pretty crowded The blood-red Mars has
inspired fear and fascination.
these days. It has three spacecraft
orbiting it. Two robot rovers NASA Hubble Space Telescope/EPA/Corbis
are on the surface looking at
rocks and searching for water. Later, in 1659, Christiaan
There are plans for more Mars Huygens sketched Mars. In the
spacecraft in the future. Humans 1700s some astronomers wrote
might even walk the surface that people might live on Mars.
by 2019! By the early twentieth century,
books even told of cities and
First Looks canals full of water on the planet.

Interest in Mars is not new. The Why are we still so curious
astronomer Galileo first saw the about the Red Planet? One reason
planet through a telescope in 1609. is that it is close to Earth. People
are unable to go to many other
96 • Time For Kids planets. But we could visit Mars.
Even more important, scientists
think Mars may have once had
living things.

NASA

NASA, the United States space
agency, sent the first spacecraft close to
Mars in 1965. It was Mariner 4. Next
several other Mariner probes, or small
craft, carried cameras to Mars. These
were flyby missions. They flew close to
Mars but just zoomed by. They took
the first close-up pictures of Mars as
they passed it. But the surface was still
largely unknown.

After the flybys NASA was finally

able to put spacecraft in orbit around ↑ The Mars Reconnaissance
Mars. As they circled the planet, Orbiter is one of many
orbiters got much closer to Mars’s craft to circle the planet.

surface. They sent better views of Mars back to

Earth. Mariner 9 reached Mars in 1971. Later

more orbiters were sent. They mapped the planet.

They also studied Mars’s atmosphere.

Because of its blood-red color (which Issue 12 • 97
comes from iron-rich dust), Mars was named
for the Roman god of war.

Size: About one quarter the size of Earth
Surface: Canyons, dunes, volcanoes, and

polar caps of water ice and
carbon dioxide ice

Red Color: From soil loaded with iron

oxide (rust)

Atmosphere: Mostly carbon dioxide
Temperature: Between 80°F and –199°F

Revolution: 687 Earth days
Moons: Two

NASA/Roger
Ressmeyer/Corbis

← Spirit (left) and Opportunity
have given us the most up-close
views of Mars ever taken.

NASA

Today there are three working On the Planet
spacecraft in orbit around Mars.
NASA launched two of them. For many years scientists have
The Mars Odyssey reached the Red wanted to land a craft on the
Planet in 2001. Next, in 2006, the surface of Mars. Finally they got
Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter joined their wish in 1976. That’s when
it. The European Space Agency NASA’s Viking 1 landed on Mars.
put the Mars Express in orbit It did not prove or disprove if
in 2003. These spacecraft still there was life on Mars. But it
return pictures of Mars’s surface sent back the first pictures
to Earth. They have mapped the from Mars’s surface.
planet. Their instruments study
Mars’s atmosphere. The craft NASA’s next landing came in
observe weather and changing 1997. The Mars Pathfinder first
seasons. They also study the went into orbit around Mars.
surface of the planet. The Mars Then it landed, with a small robot
Reconnaissance Orbiter can even rover named Sojourner. The tiny
“see” water that is underground. rover explored the surface of
Mars. It also took pictures.

Early Exploration

A time line on the first 25 years of
the United States space program.

1961 Alan Shepard Jr. 1969 Apollo 11
becomes the first astronaut Neil
American in space. Armstrong becomes
the first human to
walk on the moon.

1960 1965

1962 John Glenn is
the first American
to orbit Earth.

98 • Time For Kids