The Denver Post • 1

CK Reporter of the WeekMihir Mahale, Highlands Ranch

Author and activist, Richard Louv, has grown up writing about nature. From his fi rst article published in the town paper when he was 13 to

nine published books, he has raised much awareness of what he calls, “Nature Defi cit Disorder”, which is becoming a seemingly common diagnosis for many kids around the world.

In short, too many modern children never get outdoors, away from the sidewalks and out into nature.

The cure, he says, is Vitamin N.Some of his fondest childhood memories were

spent with his dog, spending hours in nature: “Nobody knew where I was. . . except my dog!”

He shares his defi nition of nature which is, “being in the meaningful presence of species not my own,” adding “I leave the defi nition of nature up to the poets.”

When asked his favorite activity in his book, he immediately answers, “Hiking With Bigfoot,” which was actually created by his son, Matt.

He writes, “Pick an area with reported activity, and hike . . . at a place and time of year when berries are ripe, where ferns, water plants, and other edibles are plentiful. Try hitting the trunk of a tree with a large piece of wood and quietly wait to see if anything knocks back.”

Spending time in nature has been shown to reduce many symptoms, from obesity to anxiety, and to help one’s immune system as well as to benefi t depression.

Louv even says, “Nature makes me feel more peaceful.”

“Vitamin N,” Louv’s most recent book, is a guide to getting out in nature and helping to heal “Nature

Defi cit Disorder” which has become common in this modern day and age where society is dominated by technology.

It focuses on helping both kids and adults unplug and enjoy what gifts the natural world has.

From activities such as writing suggestions to climbing trees, there are 500 ways to help make nature a bigger part of daily life.

Otherwise, Louv warns that, “You begin to not trust that empty lot over there, with beautiful trees, because you’re afraid it won’t be there tomorrow.”

Nature is being taken bit-by-bit from modern lives and Richard Louv is standing up for a revolution against “Nature Defi cit Disorder.”

May 24 , 2016

When educators connect, we do great things for students.REGISTER NOW FOR ISTE 2016

#ISTE2016isteconference.org

Few surprises but many laughs

photo/Clarise Reichley

By Clarise Reichley,11, a CK Reporter from Denver

Supplement your summer with ‘Vitamin N’

“Angry Birds” has come to theaters, so defi nitely gather your family and watch some of the funniest, craziest birds out there!

A new species called pigs suddenly arrive on the birds’ island by ship.

All the birds are mesmerized by all the pigs’ belongings except one bird named Red (Jason Sudeikis).

He is very suspicious of the pigs and with the help of his friends he investigates them.

Once the pigs gain everybody’s trust in the bird’s village, they steal the birds’ eggs! So, it’s up to all the angry birds to get their eggs back.

“Angry Birds” is a funny, fast-paced movie that can get anybody laughing a whole lot! Even though this fi lm is animated, you can still tell the actors and actresses were enthusiastic and well cast for their parts.

Also, the movie has humor that will make both kids and adults laugh. Even when catastrophe strikes, the hilarious birds ease it up with funny comments and jokes.

Throughout the movie they introduce supporting characters and eff ects which are very small but add a lot to the story and make it absolutely hilarious. For example, when the pigs take the eggs, in the background every bird has its own reaction that makes it very enjoyable to watch.

I believe PG was a good rating for this movie. It was obviously for children but could also attract older viewers as well because of the few jokes kids may not understand while the parents would be laughing a lot!

I think this movie would be a good one to see as a family for these reasons.

The only thing I would change about this movie is that it’s very cliched and you are basically able to predict what is going to happen right away.

It could have been an even better movie if they went off the normal tracks and a bit diff erent route than expected. They could have put in more twists and turns throughout the movie to keep you more involved.

But, overall it is a very amusing, cute movie I would recommend to all families!

By Innagen Roberts,13, a CK Reporter from Lakewood

The Denver Post • 2

If you’ve visited Yellowstone National Park, you know that it’s quite common to see bison causing a

traffi c jam.Sometimes they’re wandering down the road like

this mother and child, other times, they’re nearby and the traffi c stops to watch, and seeing nature is one reason people come to national parks.

But, if you’ve visited any of our National Parks, you also know there are signs telling you the rules. Some are to prevent damage to the park, some are for your safety and some are for the safety of the animals who live there.

Last week, a bison calf died because of people who didn’t obey a very common rule: Leave baby animals

alone. Let their parents take care of them.Instead, the tourists thought a baby bison would

be too cold in a place where bison have been born for millions of years. They loaded a newborn bison into their car and took it to a ranger station.

By the time the rangers got it back to its herd, it was too late: The other bison would not accept it, and the now-homeless baby had to be euthanized.

This is only one example of people breaking rules in parks. People have even been injured trying to take selfi es with grown bison, something so foolish that it might be funny if the danger were not so real.

Enjoy our National Parks this summer. But don’t be foolish: Follow the rules.

Breaking rules in National Parks dangerous for people, animals

The question of how long people have lived in North and South America is diffi cult to answer.

For many years, anthropologists have believed that the fi rst humans came across a land bridge that once connected Alaska and Russia at what is now the Bering Strait, then spread throughout the Americas.

But that theory may need to change.A few years ago, paleontologists found

bones and tools in an underwater sinkhole in Florida. At fi rst, they thought the items had just drifted in the currents there.

But further study has shown that the site was once above ground and was a place where mammoths and other megafauna were butchered for their meat.

The people who worked at this site knew how to make very specifi c tools and had a good food-processing system worked out.

It makes two very large changes in how we think about people in the Americas.First, it shows that people were already way down in Florida 15,000 years ago,

about 1500 years after we thought they fi rst crossed the Bering Straits. And, not only were they there, but they had been there long enough to know

how to hunt the local animals and to have established ways of processing the food they found. They weren’t new to the area when they set up this site.

There’s more: It was thought that, once people arrived, they quickly hunted the megafauna, the huge prehistoric mammals, into extinction. This fi nd suggests that, instead, people and mammoths and other giant animals lived alongside each other for quite a while.

It especially suggests that anthropologists need to do some more research and more thinking about how, and when, people fi rst came here.

Long ago, women didn’t have equal rights with men. Wives and daughters couldn’t make their own deci-sions without a man’s permission. One woman helped

to change that.Her story is told in “The Extraordinary Suzy Wright,” by

Teri Kanefield.It was 1714, when, at age 16, Susanna Wright began her

journey with her family from England to the American colonies in search of religious freedom.

From a very young age, Suzy, as she was called by her friends and family, showed leadership which helped her gain the respect of Quaker leaders.

These relationships were key to her life because she wasn’t viewed as a typical colonial woman, meant to be a good wife and mother.

As an unmarried woman she was able to become a politi-cal adviser, lawyer, activist, and a representative for the Indians.

The book takes you throughout the settlement of the Quakers and how they adapted to this new Quaker among them.

This text is organized with visuals such as maps and photographs.

Author Teri Kanefield uses many historical sources to get a better understanding about Suzy Wright’s life.

Suzy has been an inspiration to me. She has shown me that you can develop a leadership skill at a young age.

I thought it might be an easy read because of all the paintings, illustrations, and photographs, but it was chal-lenging because of the high level vocabulary.

I would recommend this book for kids crazy about his-tory.

I am not as passionate about history as others may be, but I still believe Suzy Wright was an “Extraordinary” person and a role model for girls.

Pioneer woman in the � eld of women’s rights

photo/Richard Wang

Rules: Every row across, every column down and each of the six smaller boxes must contain numerals 1,2,3,4,5 and 6, one time and one time only.

The solution to this week’s puzzle is on Page 4.

On this date in 1962, Boulder native Scott Carpenter became the fourth American in space, orbiting the Earth three times in his Mercury capsule, so our answers this week will begin with the letter A for his capsule, “Aurora 7.”

1. Colorado’s third most populous city, it is in Arapahoe, Adams and Douglas counties

2. One of the fi rst animals in the dictionary, it lives in Africa and eats ants and termites.

3. In the Disney version of “Sleeping Beauty,” this is the name of the drowsy princess.

4. The metal that is made from bauxite ore.

5. The Roman goddess of the dawn

6. America’s fi rst father-and-son presidents shared this last name.

7. The formal name for what most people call “The Northern Lights”

8. Author of “The Little Mermaid, “Thumbelina,” “The Ugly Duckling,” “The Emperor’s New Clothes” and other stories.

9. The name of the avenue in Boulder that Scott Carpenter grew up on. (Come on, you can do this!)

10. Able to use either the left or right hand for writing and other tasks equally well.(answers on Page Four)

Researchers with a mastodon tusk that shows signs of being worked on by ancient butchers. (AP Photo/Univ of Michigan)

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By Natalia Zavaleta ,11, a CK Reporter from Lakewood

The screens this summer are full of superhero movies and, while most of the readers who answered our question are okay with that, not everyone is into every part of the trend.

Just over half said they like their action scary, but about a fi fth want it toned down a little, while a quarter just aren’t into it.

As for the “parental guidance” in PG13, most kids said they can go to these movies, if they want, but we’d have learned more about that if we had asked for ages on that answer.

Here’s what we asked you, and what you told us:

How do you feel about dark, action-fi lled superhero movies?A. Not my thing 26%B. Okay, but keep it kind of PG 19%C. The more � ghts and explosions, the better! 52%D. Doesn’t matter: My folks won’t let me watch them. 3%

Now here’s our next question:How did your school year turn out?A. I’m pleased. Got good grades and felt I earned them.B. Could have been better, but I’m okay with it.C. I need to make some changes for next year.D. I’m not on a traditional school calendar.

To answer this question, go to http://nextgen.yourhub.com

We asked you, you told us:

Readers split on action � icks How long have we been here?

“In that early time, when women were expected to take their opinions ready made from [men], this little

Quaker lady was able to hold her own with the best of them.” -Anne Hollingsworth Wharton, American Writer

and Historian, 1920

The Denver Post • 3

is produced by Denver Post Educational Services

Executive Editor: Dana Plewkadplewka@denverpost.com

CK Editor: Mike Petersoncoloradokidseditor@gmail.com

We welcome your comments.

For tools to extend the learning in this feature, look under “Youth Content” at:

www.ColoradoNIE.com

eEditions of the Post arefree of charge for classroom use.Contact us for information on all

our programs.

Denver Post Educational Services101 W. Colfax Ave.Denver CO 80202

(303) 954-3974(800) 336-7678

Stories without bylines were written by the editor.

(see Page Three)

10 right - Wow!

7 right - Great!

5 right - Good

3 right - See you next time!

1. Aurora 2. aardvark 3. Aurora 4. aluminum 5. Aurora 6. Adams 7. Aurora Borealis 8. Hans Christian Andersen 9. Aurora

10. ambidextrous

Hot Links to Cool Sites!

NASA’s Space Placehttp://tinyurl.com/ckspace

NIE Special Reporthttp://tinyurl.com/ckniereport

Headline Geographyhttp://tinyurl.com/ckgeography

Pulse of the Planethttp://tinyurl.com/ckpulseplanet

How to become a NextGen Reporter!http://tinyurl.com/colokidsreporter

To read the sources for these storiesPrehistoric Butchering Site

National Park Rules

go to http://www.tinyurl.com/ckstorylinks

Chapter Two: StragglersOur story so far: It is 1813. Caleb lives in Fordsburgh, New York, where his stepfather runs a general store and

trading post. Caleb has just been caught sketching designs from a scrimshaw powder horn when he was supposed to be doing his chores.

“If you wouldn’t waste so much time, Pa wouldn’t get so mad at you.”

Caleb glanced through the falling snow at his stepbrother Alex, who was sitting on a log watching him split wood in the dark. He put another piece on the block, then reached back and tugged the collar of his shirt, trying to keep it from scratching the painful welts on his back.

“And he wouldn’t switch you so much if you had the sense to start crying sooner,” Alex added, knowing full well why Caleb was moving so stiffly. “You know he always stops five or six hits after you start crying. Why do you just stand there and let him keep beating you?”

“If I gave in, you’d call me a chicken for it,” Caleb said.Alex picked up a clump of snow, which he made into a small ball. “I’d rather be a chicken

than a fool,” he said, tossing it at the chopping block. “You’re just stubborn. I wouldn’t take a beating like that over a bunch of stupid pictures.”

Caleb swung the ax up and brought it down, sending the two halves of wood flying from the block. One good thing was that he had been drawing on a piece of paper and not in his journal.

His stepfather had torn up the paper with the pictures from John Gabriel’s powder horn that Caleb had so carefully copied, but at least his book of drawings was safe under the straw in the barn loft.

Caleb had been so intent on the markings of the scrimshaw powder horn that he didn’t notice the door of the store open, didn’t hear his stepfather come up to John Gabriel’s horse, where Caleb was carefully copying the designs onto the paper.

He put another piece of wood on the block and split it, then another. The beating with the hazel branch was bad enough, but he knew it wasn’t over.

When his stepfather started switching him, the Mohawk trapper had gathered his furs, got on his horse and rode away from the store in disgust.

That big beautiful, thick dark otter, the wide beaver pelts and the packet of little muskrat furs would all end up being traded to somebody else, and Dan McKenzie would blame his stepson, not himself.

But Caleb had already been punished in a way that hurt more than any beating. He had seen the look of pity that John Gabriel gave him as he rode away. John Gabriel

was a good man, and Caleb was ashamed.As he split wood in the snow and dark, that shame helped him make up his mind.“I’m going away,” he said quietly, as he leant the ax against the block and began to gather

the split wood and pile it by the store wall.Alex looked at him through the falling snow. “Going? What do you mean?”“I’m going to Ogdensburgh. I’m going to join Forsyth’s Rifles. I’m going to the war.”Alex laughed. “Forsyth won’t take you. You’re only 14, same as me! You have to be 16 just

to join the militia, never mind the regular army!” “They won’t ask questions when they see I can handle a gun. Anyway, I’d rather get shot

by the British than beat to death here,” Caleb said. He’d finished stacking the split wood and picked up the ax again, but paused as he placed

a new piece of wood on the chopping block. “When my ma married your pa, I thought I was getting a new father, but it hasn’t worked

out that way. Your pa just got himself a free mule to whip.”“You make him mad, drawing when you ought to be working,” Alex said. “I know he’s hard

on you, but all your drawing is just foolishness.”“I do plenty of work. You know I work as hard as you do,” Caleb said. “You just work slower

to make it last longer.”“Well, that’s a fact,” Alex said, and laughed. “I guess I’m smarter than you.”Caleb started to reply, but then both boys looked toward the road. They could hear

voices coming through the snow in the dark, and then the creaking sounds of wood pulling against itself, and horses, and more voices.

“You won’t have to run away to them,” Alex said quietly. “They’re coming here!”And through the swirling snow slowly came the shapes of a dozen men in uniform,

walking, and a horse-drawn sledge jostling along the rutted, snow-covered road into the clearing in front of the store.

Alex stood to go fetch his father, but the dog had already begun to bark inside the store and Dan McKenzie stepped out on the porch as a tall, heavy-set sergeant walked up.

“We’re going to need to camp in your clearing,” the man said. “We may need some supplies.” There was a pause as he and Dan McKenzie looked at each other. “We can pay,” the sergeant added, and the storekeeper relaxed.

“It is them!” Caleb said quietly to Alex. “See their green coats? We saw them when we went up to Ogdensburgh to fetch the flour shipment, remember?”

“You’re going to have to cut your own firewood,” McKenzie was saying. “I don’t have but enough for winter, myself. How long do you reckon on staying?”

“Just long enough for any stragglers to catch up,” the sergeant replied. “The British have taken Ogdensburgh.”

by Mike Peterson, c. 2012 - illustrated by Christopher Baldwin, c. 2012

For a teaching guide, go to http://tinyurl.com/ckserial

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