6-1 Little Women
Little Women is a popular American novel written in 1868. P
It was written by Louisa May Alcott and was inspired by her life growing up with three sisters. P
The story follows the lives of four sisters named Meg, Joe, Beth and Amy March. P
The setting is Massachusetts, U.S.A. at the time of the civil war. P
The girls' father is away fighting the war and they must live their lives normally even though he is away. P
Joe is the main character in the book. She is creative and strong. P
She wants to tell people what she thinks and not be looked down on for it. P
She wants to write a great novel. P
She is unlike women of that time because they do not say what they think. P
Women at that time were expected to be quiet and reserved and behave in proper ways. P
What is most surprising about Joe is that she falls in love with a man who asks her to marry him. P
Most men at that time would ask the father of the girl instead of asking the girl directly. P
Meg is her older sister and is very different from Joe. P
Meg is beautiful and charming. She is a governess in a wealthy household. P
Because of this, she is allowed into a more private society and is able to spend time with wealthy people. P
She seems to look for happiness in a relationship with a wealthy man, but finds eventually that money does not bring happiness. P
Instead, she finds true love with a man who is not wealthy. P
6-2 Journey to the Center of the Earth
Jules Vern is a famous French writer. P
He wrote many adventure stories that captured the imagination of his readers. P
One of his most popular stories is Journey to the Center of the Earth. P
This story follows the adventures of Axel, a young German gentleman, his uncle Otto, the scientist, and their guide Hans. P
These three men seek an adventure that goes beyond the surface of the earth. P
They begin their journey by entering a crater in the Icelandic wilderness. P
They follow the crater down into the darkness. P
When they take the wrong path, they run out of water. P
Axel almost dies, but Hans saves the day when he discovers an underground river. P
They follow the path of this river as it goes down deeper and deeper into the earth. P
Eventually they come to an underground sea and attempt to sail across it. P
They find out that a giant sea monster lives here, and they almost drown when this monster gets into a fight with another giant sea creature. P
They are eventually thrown to the shore, but their raft is destroyed. P
They must build another, and while they build the raft on the shore of the underground sea, they discover that there are prehistoric humans, giant humans, living in this underground world. P
Eventually they build another raft and are saved when the raft is ejected from a volcano many miles from where they started their journey. P
Even though this is a piece of fiction, some people still believe the story is true and seek to find the mysterious world under the earth's surface. P
6-3 Solitaire
Fifty-two cards. One person. What could you possibly do? P
Play solitaire, of course. Solitaire is a card game that is played with just one person. P
However, solitaire isn't just one game, it is many different games you can play all by yourself. P
The goal in each of the games is to beat the system not another opponent. P
Winning does not mean defeating another player, P
it means accomplishing a seemingly impossible goal: getting all the cards off the playing board. P
Most of the time in solitaire games, the player will arrange his or her cards in a certain layout and then move cards either one at a time or in groups to remove them from the board. P
As the player is moving cards off the board, he or she is able to uncover other cards that have been hidden up until that point. P
These cards are usually in piles of various amounts under the showing cards. P
The player usually has to find the aces for each suit (hearts, diamonds, clubs and spades) before he or she can move the cards off the playing board and onto the discard piles. P
He can play cards onto one another on the playing board by arranging them in numerical order from highest to lowest. P
The highest card is a King, then the queen and jack and then the number cards starting with ten. P
Each suit has thirteen cards ranging from ace to king. P
6-4 American Football
Most people in the world, when they hear the word football, P
think of a sport where there are two teams and no one but the man guarding the goal is allowed to touch the ball with his hands. P
The goal is protected by the goalie, and the opposite team can only kick the ball to one another to get it down the field and into the opposing team's goal. P
In the United States, though, football means something entirely different. P
American football is a sport that one does not often see in other areas of the world. P
In this game, there are still two teams trying to move the ball to the opposite end of the field in order to score. P
Instead of using their feet like in the game of soccer, these men will either throw the ball to one another or hand the ball to one another to try to score points. P
There is no goal, but the end of the field is called the end zone, and when a team gets the ball into the end zone it scores six points. P
The team can score another point by kicking the football between the goal posts, P
two posts high in the air marking the target area for the kick. P
This combination would give a team seven points for their score. P
If a team is not able to get the ball into the end zone but can still kick the ball through the uprights, the team receives three points. P
The man who kicks the ball to score points is called the kicker. P
The man who throws the ball to another player to score points is called the quarterback. P
6-5 Dominoes
Have you ever thought of making your own set of dominoes? P
It's really not that hard and can be done in just one afternoon. P
Traditionally, dominos were made from ivory or bone, but you can make yours from heavy paper or wood. P
Each domino is one unit wide and two units high. P
That means if your domino is one inch wide it should be two inches high. P
This rectangular tile is then divided into two square sections, and each section has a specific number of dots or pips on it. P
The number of dots on each domino represents a combination that could show on two dice. P
If you rolled two dice, both could have one spot on them. P
The tile with one dot on each of the two squares represents this throw. P
Another roll of dice might have one one and one two. P
This domino would have each of these numbers of spots on one square. P
When you are making your dominoes, mark one set with one dot on one square and on the second square dots ranging from one to six. P
This will give you one set. Then make a second set with a two on one square and the other square dots ranging from one to six. P
That will be your second set. P
Then do the same thing with three, four, five and six on one square of the tile. P
When you finish, you will have thirty-six dominoes. Now you are ready to play a game! P
6-6 Chess
A very intellectual game, chess has been a hobby around the world for hundreds of years. P
The modern game of chess was derived in the mid 1400's from an Indian game called shatranj. P
Chess is primarily a game of strategy, and many strategies have been developed through the years. P
There are many worldwide chess competitions each year. P
A chessboard is grid of squares. P
There are several types of pieces on a chessboard, and each can only move according to an assigned pattern. P
Each player has the same pieces though one player's pieces are white and the other player's pieces are black. P
The most common piece is the pawn. Each player has eight pawns. P
Pawns can only move towards the opponent, usually one square at a time. P
Each player also has two rooks, two knights and two bishops. P
Bishops can only move diagonally, rooks can only move directly forward or directly to the side. P
Knights can move in any direction but can only move a limited number of spaces. P
The most powerful piece is the queen. She can move in any direction for any number of spaces. P
All of these pieces must work together to protect the king. P
If your opponent captures the king, the game is over and you have lost, so watch how you move your pieces. P
6-7 Double Dutch
Do you like to jump rope? Have you ever tried to jump two ropes at the same time? P
Jumping rope with two ropes moving opposite directions at the same time is called Double Dutch. P
There is some debate whether Double Dutch originated with the Dutch settlers to the United States or whether it emerged in the urban areas of the U.S. Regardless of its origins, P
Double Dutch has become a popular game in the Unites States, and its popularity is growing even more. P
You need at least three people to play Double Dutch. P
Two people will turn the ropes in opposite directions. P
These are called the turners. One or more person jumps in the center of the ropes. P
This person may do tricks like touch the ground or hold one foot and hop on the other. P
They may also sing or say chants with the turners and the people watching. P
This helps them jump at the right times. P
Double Dutch is a complicated game, and learning how to jump without getting tangled in the ropes can be very difficult. P
In fact, it is so difficult that the New York public schools made Double Dutch a varsity sport in 2009. P
If you want to learn more about Double Dutch, you can watch the documentary Doubletime created in 2007. P
If you try Double Dutch, it is sure to be a challenge. P
6-8 Checkers
How much fun can you have with twenty-four round disks of black and red? P
You can have lots of fun if you know how to play checkers. P
Checkers is a simple game. Two people play the game at one time. P
One person controls the black pieces and the other controls the red pieces. P
You use a checkerboard for the playing area. P
The checkerboard is a grid of alternating black and red squares. P
There are sixty-four squares on the board, but you only play on thirty-two of them. P
To begin the game, each person should place his checkers on the twelve red squares nearest himself. P
These squares will be on the three rows nearest to the player. P
The checkers can only move one space per turn and must stay on the red squares. P
This means that all moves are diagonal. P
The checkers must also continue moving toward the opposite end of the board and cannot move backwards. P
There are two exceptions to the rules for moving checkers. P
The first exception is if the other player's checker is blocking the direction you would like to move in. P
If there is not another checker on the square beyond the first one, you may jump over your opponent's checker and capture it. P
When you capture it, remove it from the board. P
It can no longer play. The second exception to the movement rule concerns checkers that have been "kinged". P
Once a checker reaches the last row of the opponent's side of the board, the opponent must place a second checker on top of the first one. P
This "king" can now move both forward and backward. P
A kinged checker is the most powerful piece in the game, and you should do whatever you can to get all your checkers kinged. P
6-9 Rock, Paper, Scissors
What do you do when there is only one piece of candy left and three different people want it? P
Leave the decision up to luck by playing Rock, Paper, Scissor. P
Rock, Paper, Scissor is a simple game used to make a decision. P
Two or more people play and select either a rock, paper or a pair of scissors to play for their turn. P
These choices are represented by how you place your hand. P
To symbolize a rock, you place your hand in a fist. P
To symbolize paper, your hand should be flat with the fingers out. P
To symbolize scissors, put only two fingers out and separate them like an open pair of scissors. P
Players start the game with their hands behind their backs and standing in a circle. P
At the same time, everyone says, "Rock, paper, scissor, shoot!" P
When everyone says, "shoot" the players put their hands into the center of the circle with their hand in the correct position to represent their choice. P
Luck will determine the winner, and it is also possible to have no winner for a hand. P
If one person chooses rock, it will beat anyone with scissors because a rock could smash and destroy a pair of scissors. P
If one person plays scissors, it will beat anyone who chooses paper since scissors can cut paper. P
Finally, paper will beat rock because a piece of paper can cover a rock. P
If two players choose the same item, it is a tie and you should repeat the round. P
Rock, Paper, Scissor is not only fun, it is a good and fair way to make decisions. You should try it. P
6-10 Pool
Pool is a simple game, but it is not so simple to play. P
You need some special items to play pool, and you cannot play it if you do not have them. P
First, you need a pool table. A pool table is about three and a half feet wide by seven feet long. P
The table is made of a piece of slate that must be perfectly flat. P
The slate cannot tilt in any direction or it will affect the way the balls move on the table and therefore make the game unfair. P
The table also has six pockets: one in each corner and two along the center of the long sides. P
These pockets are where the players will try to hit the balls. P
The slate table is covered with cloth, usually some type of felt, and is very smooth. P
Most of the time, the fabric is green. P
When you purchase a pool table, the person who installs it will have to use a special tool to make sure the table is level and there is no tilt to the slate. P
Once you have the pool table correctly set up, you will need to get the pool balls. P
These balls are only about 2 ΒΌ inches in diameter and are quite heavy. P
For a standard game of pool, there should be fifteen colored balls and a white ball called the cue ball. P
The fifteen balls will be numbered from one to fifteen. P
Seven balls will have just a stripe of seven different colors around their middles and will be mostly white. P
The other eight balls will be solid colors in the same seven colors, but there will also be a solid black ball. P
The black ball is ball number eight. The balls should be arranged in a pyramid at one end of the table. P
You can use a rack, a triangular shaped tool, to arrange the balls correctly. P
Then all you need is your pool cue, the special stick used to hit the ball, and you will be ready to play. P
Now you just have to learn the rules. P
6-11 Bocce
How much fun can you have with eight medium sized balls and one small one? P
You can have a lot of fun if you know how to play bocce. P
As you know, you need only nine balls to play bocce. P
These balls are specially made for bocce, you cannot use just any balls you have around the house, and bocce balls are very heavy. P
The eight bigger balls are four colors, two of each color. P
The little ball is white and is called the belina which means "little ball" in Italian. P
To start playing, one person should throw the belina into an open, flat area. P
It is best to play on sand, but you can also play on grass. P
The belina is now the target. The players should now take turns tossing their balls at the belina. P
The team whose ball is farthest from the belina should throw before the other players until only one team has any balls left. P
That team should then throw their ball. P
The person who gets closest to the belina wins the points for that round. P
If another person is close when it is your turn, you can do two different things. P
You can try to throw your ball closer and score the point. P
Your other choice is to aim at the other person's ball and try to move it away from the belina. P
This works best if your first ball is close to the belina already. P
If you have one ball closer to the belina than anyone else, you score one point. P
If both of your balls are closer to the belina than anyone else's, you score two points. P
6-12 Sardines
Do you know what sardines are? They are fish. P
Do you know how they are packaged? P
They are squeezed tightly together in a can. P
Can you guess what the game of sardines might be like? P
It does not involve fish or cans, but it does involve being packed tightly together, and it can be a great deal of fun. P
It is easy to play the game, too. Here is how you do it. P
Choose one person to hide in a building or an outside area. P
You want the area to be fairly big to make the game interesting, but if it's too big the game will be too hard. P
Everyone else playing should close their eyes and wait a certain length of time, something like one or two minutes. P
During this game, the one person goes to hide. P
When the time is up, everyone who had their eyes covered must now look for the person that is hiding. P
The seekers should be quiet when they look because they do not want the other players to know when they find the hiding person. P
If you find the hiding person, you should get into the same hiding place with them. P
Then anyone else who finds them should also hide there. P
It will not be too hard to hide when there are just a few people hiding in the once place, P
but when there are more and more people it is time to squeeze together like sardines. P
The loser is the last person to find the group. P
This is a fun but slightly crazy game. P
Why don't you try it the next time you are with a group of people with a sense of humor? P
6-13 The Earth's Layers
Though we generally only experience the outside of the earth, the earth consists of four layers. P
The outermost layer is the crust, and this is where humans, animals and plant life live. P
Fish and aquatic life also live on the earth's crust. P
The oceanic crust is the area of land covered by oceans. P
It is usually about 8 km thick. The other type of crust is the continental crust. P
This is the area of land that makes up the continents and where people live. P
It can be from 32 to 40 km thick. Both types of crust are made of rock. P
The inside of the earth is called the core. P
The core is very different from the crust. P
There are two parts to the core. P
In the very center of the earth is the inner core. P
This is a solid sphere of metal. P
The next layer is the outer core. P
This layer is also metal, but it is liquid. P
Both the inner core and the outer core can have temperatures as high as 4982 degrees Celsius. P
Between the crust and the outer core is the mantle. P
The mantle is the thickest layer of the earth. P
The temperature of the mantle is between 871 and 2204 degrees Celsius. P
Although the mantle is solid, it moves because of its high temperature. P
6-14 Types of Rocks
If you don't count rock and roll, the study of geology defines three different types of rocks. P
These are classified based on how they are formed. P
The first type of rock is the igneous rock. P
These rocks are formed when liquid rock becomes solid. P
Rock can become liquid when the temperature is high enough. P
Liquid rock is called magma. P
Magma is most commonly found inside volcanoes. P
This magma can cool underneath the earth's surface and become rock. P
It can also emerge from the inside of a volcano and on to the earth's surface. P
When magma comes out of a volcano it is called lava. P
The lava then cools and forms igneous rock. P
Some igneous rocks you might know are pumice, obsidian and granite. P
Sedimentary rocks are the second type of rock. P
When rocks break into little pieces, these pieces are called sediment. P
This sediment can gather together in areas under the earth's surface in places called sediment beds. P
When the great weight of the earth presses down on these sediment beds, it presses the sediment back together to form larger rocks again. P
These rocks are sedimentary rocks. P
Common sedimentary rocks include shale, sandstone and limestone. P
The last type of rock is the metamorphic rock. P
When something undergoes a metamorphosis, it changes. P
A common metamorphosis is the change of a caterpillar into a butterfly. P
Sometimes heat, pressure or other circumstances may cause one type of rock to change into another. P
Igneous, sedimentary and metamorphic rocks can become other metamorphic rocks. P
Some common metamorphic rocks are marble and soapstone. P
6-15 Earthquake
Have you ever experienced an earthquake? P
Earthquakes can be a frightening experience, and they can cause a great deal of damage. P
Earthquakes are caused when pressure releases along cracks in the earth's surface. P
A continent may seem like one large piece of land, P
but that land is really made up of smaller pieces which fit together like a puzzle. P
These pieces move very slowly, but sometimes too much pressure builds up from their movement. P
When that pressure releases it causes an earthquake. P
Scientists measure the strength of earthquakes with machines called seismographs. P
The Richter scale, created by Dr. Charles Richter, measures the strength of an earthquake on a scale of one to ten. P
Earthquakes which register between one and three don't usually cause damage, and they usually aren't felt by humans. P
Earthquakes that measure between three and six on the Richter scale usually cause slight damage, P
and humans can feel earthquakes of this magnitude. P
Earthquakes which measure between six and nine and even above that will cause major damage. P
An earthquake with a measurement of six can cause damage for 160 kilometers from the center of the quake. P
If an earthquake measures greater than eight, the damage can spread for hundreds of square kilometers. P
Earthquakes of this strength don't usually happen more than once a year. P
6-16 Types of Volcanoes
Are you an active person? P
An active person does lots of things, keeps busy and is involved in many activities. P
Volcanoes can also be active. P
An active volcano is one that has erupted recently or will erupt in the near future. P
An eruption will cause smoke to come out of a mountain and lava, or liquid rock, will follow. It is an amazing and terrifying sight. P
The lava will shoot up into the air and land on the ground burning anything in its path. P
This lava will kill anything is comes into contact with. P
When it cools it will become igneous rock. P
The volcano is like a tunnel into the center of the earth. P
When pressure builds up under the volcano it can cause it to erupt. P
This pressure takes a long time to build up before it can cause a volcanic eruption. P
When a volcano has not erupted or has not erupted for a long time but it will erupt soon, it is called a dormant volcano. P
Dormant means asleep, but as you probably know almost anything or anyone who sleeps is going to wake up again. P
When a volcano is not building any pressure and will not erupt again, the volcano is called extinct. P
6-17 The Rock Cycle
Do you have a bicycle? A unicycle? A tricycle? P
Cycle means circle, and all of these things have one or more circles for wheels. P
Believe it or not, rocks have a cycle, too. P
It all starts with liquid rock called magma. P
Magma is very hot, and when it comes out of a volcano it becomes igneous rock. P
Over time and weather, that igneous rock is broken into tiny pieces called sediment. P
This sediment gathers in pockets in the earth's crust. P
More and more sediment settles on top of it causing pressure. P
This pressure will push the sediment together into large rocks or layers of rock. P
It is now sedimentary rock. P
The sedimentary rock continues to go lower and lower in the earth's crust where the temperature gets higher and higher. P
At some point, the heat and pressure combine with the sedimentary rock to create metamorphic rock. P
This isn't the end because that metamorphic rock continues to get hotter and hotter. P
Eventually it will melt and become magma. P
Once it does, we are back at the beginning of the rock cycle. P
It can take millions of years for one type of rock to become another, so this cycle is definitely slow. P
If you can understand how rocks change over time in the rock cycle, you can understand how the earth is always changing. P
You can also predict how the earth may change in the future. P
6-18 Pompeii
Perhaps the most famous volcano eruption is the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in Pompeii, Rome in the year 79 a.d. P
For many years, researchers thought the ash released by Mount Vesuvius is what killed the people there. P
Recent discoveries, on the other hand, suggest that the people actually died instantaneously from the extreme heat coming off the volcano. P
When the volcano erupted, temperatures of 250 degrees Celsius reached ten kilometers from the volcano and killed people immediately. P
There was a remarkable amount of ash covering the town after the eruption, but the people were already dead. P
Historians say the ash rained for six hours and had twelve different layers. P
The final depth of the ash was twenty-five meters. P
Another remarkable volcanic eruption happened at Sarychev Peak in 2009. P
The peak is located in Russia and is near the routes planes take from American to Asia. P
During this eruption, the force from the volcano actually blew a hole through the clouds above it. P
The astronauts at the International Space Station took a remarkably clear picture of the tower that reached five miles into the air. P
This pillar was made of smoke, steam and ash. P
The eruption was so serious that it actually forced airlines to delay some flights. P
6-19 Make Your Own Seismograph
A seismograph is the tool scientists use to measure the strength of an earthquake. P
It's really quite easy to make your own seismograph at home. P
You will need a pen, a roll of paper, a weight and a rod or a stick. P
First attach the rod to the ceiling so it is free to move. P
You can use string tied to a hook on the ceiling to do this. P
Then attach the weight to the bottom of the rod. P
Finally, attach a pen to the bottom of the weight. This is the seismograph. P
When the earth is still, the pen will not move. P
If the earth begins to shake, the pen will move. P
The more the earth shakes, the more the pen will move. P
This will tell you if there is an earthquake. P
You will need a way to measure the strength of the earth's movement. P
You will now need your paper roll. P
Set up the paper so that the tip of the pen rests on the paper. P
You must have some way for the paper to move beneath the pen. P
If the earth is still, you will have a straight line along the length of the paper, P
but when the earth begins to move the pen will also move. P
When this happens, you will have jagged lines on your paper rather than a straight line: P
the larger the movements of the earth, the larger the jagged lines on your paper. P
If you keep your paper moving, you will always know when the earth begins to shake around you. P
6-20 Crystals
Crystals are a specific type of rock which form from a collection of molecules. P
These molecules, when they come together, will follow a pattern. P
This means they will arrange themselves in the same way all the time. P
Crystals start out very small and grow larger and larger. P
Even though they change in size, they do not change their shape. P
The shape of a crystal depends on the molecular structure of that mineral. P
Quartz and amethyst are two popular crystals. P
The most common crystal is probably table salt. P
A crystal of salt is shaped like a cube or a box. P
Crystals are symmetrical which means they are the same on both the left and the right. P
You can form your own salt crystals very easily. P
Start with a glass of warm water, and add table salt until no more will dissolve in the water. P
Then pour the water into another container but do not let the salt get into the container. P
If you leave the container alone, the water will evaporate and salt crystals will begin to form. P
If you give the water a long time to evaporate, you will have a smaller number of crystals but they will be large. P
If you heat the water to make it evaporate quickly, you will have more crystals but they will be smaller. P