Q: How Can students do well in school?

Max-Being well in school is an important thing, so every school’s teachers may ____ this question, or it can affect the schools fame. But, there are many ways to let a student do well, we should teach the students “the way”.


Many schools have big problems-many bad kids. We can all think about this scene- many kids playing, running in the corridors, and may talk and laugh, even playing paper airplanes when teaching, and let the teachers mad. As many American schools, the teachers will give a punishment, mostly writing sentences. Also, there are many more problems by doing homework, like not writing, or always wrong at questions, is also a problem that can’t do well.


The only way to let the students do well in school, is to change his (hers) behavior. But students can do well in school by good grades, being quiet when teaching, no running in corridors, but the worst problem will be playing food fights at the cafeteria. As the way teachers look, first change a small problem at school, then maybe about months after, that student can do well at school.


We should change the students’ problem, but do not punish them too much. That way, we can let students do well at school.

Queen of the Bee

Queen of the Bee



Fourteen-year-old Anamika Veeramani wins the 83rd annual Scripps National Spelling Bee


By Andrea Delbanco






Stromuhr. Most people don't know what the medical word means, or how to pronounce it. But Anamika Veeramani, a 14-year-old from North Royalton, Ohio, knew how to spell it. The challenging word won Anamika a trophy and more than $40,000 in cash and prizes at the 83rd annual Scripps National Spelling Bee on Friday. Three spellers tied for second place.


A total of 273 spellers took part in the three-day competition, held in Washington, D.C. Contestants ranged in age from 8 to 15. The final rounds aired on ABC on Friday night.


V-I-C-T-O-R-Y


Anamika tied for fifth place at the Scripps Bee in 2009 and was one of the favorites at the competition this year. Anamika sat through a tense commercial break before she got the chance to spell the winning word. She kept her cool, standing still with her hands behind her back, waiting to smile until the trophy was presented to her. "I usually have a poker face," says Anamika. But she admits the spelling was stressful, and winning was surreal. "It was just really nerve-wracking," she said. "The commercial breaks didn't really help."


"This has been her dream for a very, very long time," says Anamika's father, Alagaiya Veeramani. He says his daughter studied spelling for as much as 16 hours on some days. Now, having won the top spot at Scripps, Anamika can no longer spell competitively. "I've been doing spelling for such a long time," Anamika says. "It's kind of sad." She says she wants to spend more time golfing, dancing and writing.


A Winning Streak


Anamika is the third Indian-American champion in a row. Although Indian-Americans make up less than one percent of the population of the United States, they have an impressive winning streak at spelling bees. Indian-Americans have won the top spot at Scripps in eight of the last 12 years.


"All of the past champions inspire me," Anamika says. "They're all amazing people."


Max-Spelling Bee is a great game to play, and tests players’ word spelling. This game may have a race, or you can play it yourself. Spelling Bee is one of those popular contests, and many kids to teens join the race. Spelling contests have many rounds-from about a hundred or more contestants join the first round, to the final round with only a few contestants. This game is also exciting, but also gives stress to the contestants, because if they spell wrong one word, they’re out of the contest! So maybe the contest will be splendid to watch if this contains a lot of geniuses. I know Spelling Bee contests tests not only regular words, it also tests geography! But I know, Spelling Bee Geography tests are as hard as Spelling Bee. We may also want to know what questions it will ask. As Spelling Bee, they will ask words which can’t find in the dictionary. At Geography Spelling Bee, they would ask some peculiar places, seas or some spots. Also, a great prize will be awarded for the winner of Spelling Bee. Don’t just know the race is hard, the contestants may take a few months to practice, and sometimes can’t get the champion!

The American Idol Finale

The American Idol Finale


An inside-look at this season's last two shows

By TFK Kid Reporter Claire Epting



The season nine American Idol finale was a spectacular two-day event held at the Nokia Theater, in Los Angeles, California, from May 11-12. The first night featured the singing competition between the two performers that made it to the final round: Crystal Bowersox and Lee DeWyze. After their performances, both singers seemed tired and relieved that it all was over, and they both offered their thoughts on what the last night was like. "I'm pleased with my performances, and I had a good time, so that's what really counts," Bowersox told reporters.

DeWyze felt the same way. "I'm proud of what I did," he said. "I had a really good time doing it. Everything up to this point has been amazing. I'm really appreciative of the whole thing."

The Results Are In

The next night, it was time for the final results show. On the red carpet before the show, several former American Idol contestants gave their opinions. Michael Sarver, the tenth-place finalist last year, said: "It's tough to say, but I'm thinking Lee might have a little bit of an edge. They're both wonderful and both will no doubt have great careers, but I'm thinking Lee."

William Hung, who became an American Idol sensation on season three, had a different opinion. "I think Crystal is the favorite," he said. "They are both wonderful performers, but I still have to say that Crystal is the favorite." Hung also reflected on how being on the show had changed his life. "I went from being a regular college student to someone who is now recognized wherever I go. It is amazing."

Lilly Scott, a top 24 finalist from this season, agreed with how powerful the show is. "I can't believe how many people watch!" she said. "My life has changed so much because of it, all good. I'm touring this summer, singing, living this dream, having lots of fun." And whom did Lilly think would win? "I'm rooting for both of them," she said. "Both Crystal and Lee are my buddies, they have been since day one, so I couldn't be more proud of them, and whoever wins, I'll be happy."

Many Idol contestants from years past paraded down the red carpet, along with the two finalists from this year and judges, Simon Cowell—who was taking part in his last American Idol show—Randy Jackson, Ellen Degeneres and Kara DioGuardi. There were also appearances from many of the people who would be performing later in the evening.

At the end of the two-hour episode, host Ryan Seacrest revealed the winner. The new American Idol is: Lee DeWyze!

Everyone loves singing and dancing competitions shown on TV. Like most people in America like “American Idol”, British people like “British Got Talent”, and many more people in many more countries like other competitions. I don’t watch American Idol, but I watch “So You Think You Can Dance(or called SYTYCD in short)” on AXN. You can see many competitors dance, and good judges, but also some competitors feel sad or anger when they are being eliminated. After the Top 20, the contestants (paired) started to dance music made from some musicians, and some teachers taught them. At this competition, you can see many kinds of dance, like hip hop, tango, etc. After every episode of elimination, judges choose the champion in the Top 4, and get a quarter of a million dollars. I also like such competitions that attended in Taiwan. I especially like Super Idol, which is on the 4th season, tests the competitors’ singing and dance (if needed). In this competition, you can see a lot of great contestants that get a high score, sure, this needs singing to do this job. I know, many people get famous by competitions, like Susan Boyle. I really like this kind of show!

Bieber Fever

Bieber Fever



How the Internet made Justin Bieber a star


BY CLAIRE SUDDATH






Justin Bieber has a warm smile and overgrown hair that he brushes forward into his face. His giant high-tops are always untied. The 16-year-old musician seems at first like nothing more than the latest in a line of teen idols, such as Britney Spears, Miley Cyrus and the Jonases. But Bieber is something else entirely: the first real teen idol of the digital age, a star who became famous thanks to the Internet.


The Path to Fame


Bieber didn't arrive through the normal channels: he wasn't a child model; he was never on Star Search or the Disney Channel; his parents didn't audition him for commercials. In 2007 he was 12 years old and living in Stratford, Ontario, in Canada, with his mother, Pattie Mallette.


Mallette began posting videos of her son's musical performances on YouTube so that relatives could see him in action: Bieber participating in a local talent show or singing and playing guitar at home. He covered pop and R&B songs: Matchbox Twenty, Stevie Wonder, Alicia Keys. And he was good. Really good. So good that strangers started watching his videos. Within months, his Internet following numbered in the thousands. Not bad for a middle-school student.


Late one night in 2007, Scooter Braun, an Atlanta-based promoter and music manager, was surfing the Internet when he stumbled upon a grainy home video of Bieber belting out Aretha Franklin's "Respect." "It was such raw talent," Braun says. Two weeks later, he flew Bieber and his mother to Atlanta and became his manager.


Building a Fan Base


Braun and Bieber spent the next six months building a fan base. Bieber would post new songs on YouTube, respond to messages from fans and interact with them. Even now, with 2.2 million Twitter followers, he frequently responds to fans' questions and retweets their greetings. "I also try to read all of my fan mail," he says.


Among other artists, word of Bieber's talent quickly spread. Justin Timberlake wanted to work with him. So did Usher. "He sang and played the guitar for me, and I was like, Wow, this kid has even more talent than I did at that age," he says. The R&B star struck a business deal with Braun; a record contract soon followed.


By the time Bieber released his first, seven-song album, My World, in November 2009, he had 50 million YouTube subscribers and was one of the most discussed topics on Twitter. Four songs issued as singles had already topped the Billboard charts, making him the first artist to have four hit songs before ever releasing an album.


New Kid on the Block


By the time My World 2.0 debuted at Number 1 in March, Bieber was everywhere. The video for his single "Baby" was viewed more than 107 million times. He performed on The Late Show with David Letterman, on The Tonight Show and at the White House.


By album sales, he is already more popular than the Jonas Brothers, 'NSync or New Kids on the Block were at the same point in their careers. Usher calls him "the beginning of a new generation of artists." Bieber is simply grateful for what's already happened. "I feel like I just won the lotto," he says.


Max-Justin Bieber is a great singer now, even he is only 16. Many people think he is not a original teenidol, because he didn’t do anything in the past few years. I think: “he can sing well, and put his video in Youtube, and got famous because many people watched his videos.” After putting the videos, a manager saw his videos, and thought he was great. The manager let him sing a lot of songs, and became popular, even after some people want him to die after his album released.


Justin Bieber’s manager put his MV on Youtube, and many people watched it. Justin Bieber sang some of those songs with Ludacris, and Sean Kingston. Now, his song “Baby” viewed more than 163 million times. He also has his first album, hosted television shows, and sang at the White House. I don’t really know a singer can become popular because of putting videos on Youtube!

U.S. Team creates first “synthetic life”

U.S. Team creates first “synthetic life”-Max



Biology and chemistry is getting developing, so some biologists started to copy cells in a sheep called Dolly, made into stem cells, and put the cell into another sheep. After the baby sheep is born, the biologists saw this sheep is actually the same as Dolly. And at 1998, biologists used leftover baby embryo and made into stem cells for the first time! After that, many biologists started to investigate stem cells. After 15 years of research, 4 thousand million dollars, the U.S. has made first synthetic life, by manmade, but not like “babies are born when somebody is pregnant”. Sure, we don’t even know how it’s going in the next few months, maybe it will be born, or die. Manmade DNA is very hard to make, even harder by copy sheep’s cells. But I think since after this develops, many countries can make those things after the years go by, and more manmade people will be made in the future.

A Disastrous Oil Spill

Workers race to contain an oil slick that is threatening wildlife in the Gulf of Mexico

BY VICKIE AN



Cleanup crews are racing against the clock to contain a hazardous oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. The slick is the result of an explosion that occurred on April 20 aboard the Deepwater Horizon oil rig, 50 miles off the coast of Louisiana. The thick, black ooze is threatening miles upon miles of coastline in four states, and putting hundreds of species of wildlife in danger.

One Big Mess

There were 126 workers aboard the oil rig at the time of the blast. An oil rig is a large, offshore platform that is used to house workers and machines needed to drill oil wells in the ocean floor. Most of the workers escaped. Eleven people are missing. The cause of the explosion is under investigation. The rig was owned by Transocean Ltd., and operated by the energy company BP.

Since the blast, an estimated 42,000 gallons of oil have been spewing daily from an undersea well, located 5,000 feet below the disaster site. As of Monday, the sticky spill had grown to more than 1,800 square miles. That's larger than the state of Rhode Island. Oil from the leak may ooze up on the white-sand shores of Florida as early as this weekend.

"We've never seen anything like this magnitude," said George Crozier, executive director of the Dauphin Island Sea Lab in Alabama. "The problems are going to be the beaches themselves. That's where it will be really visible."

Scientists and environmentalists worry about the huge impact of the slick on sea life in the area. The waters are home to a variety of marine animals, including dolphins, sea turtles and sea birds. Plant life can also suffer from the spill. "It's already a fragile system," says Mark Kulp, a geologist at the University of New Orleans in Louisiana. "It would be devastating to see anything happen to that system."

Cleaning Up

So far, remote-controlled submarines have been unable to shut off the oil well. Workers will begin drilling a relief well to reroute the oil on Thursday. The process could take months. Crews have been working since last week to skim oil from the water's surface, but time is starting to run out.

In a last-ditch effort, the Coast Guard planned to start burning off the oil slick on Wednesday. Workers will use fireproof containment booms, or a string of floating barriers, to rein in some of the thicker oil. Then they will set it on fire. This will cause the oil to harden into balls of tar that can be removed from the water more easily. Authorities do no expect the burn area to affect marine life. The total cost of the cleanup could add up to $1 billion

Max-This disastrous oil spill spilled a few thousand gallons of oil, and it blasted at that time. Because the disaster was close from the Louisiana coast, so marine animals and some land animals are in danger. Without the oil spill, we know that these animals are safe. When the oil is on the sea, many fish cannot breathe because there is not enough oxygen, and even die. Sometimes the birds will also have oil on their wings and can’t fly, and will be stuck on the shore. Also, after the oil spill, many pieces of land are been covered with oil, so they might clean up the scene. Every day, it still leaked a few thousand gallons of oil, so there might be a bigger area of land covered with oil. This oil spill may cost a lot of money by just only cleaning up. There must cost more money by saving animals from extinction.

An Undersea Census

An Undersea Census



Scientists worldwide are conducting a survey of all marine life, large and small


BY VICKIE AN


While the U.S. government conducts a census of its citizens, scientists around the world have been carrying out a count of their own. But this census is a bit fishy. In fact, it's taking place in the deep blue sea!
More than 2,000 scientists from 80 nations are involved with the Census of Marine Life. Researchers kicked off the count in 2000. They hope to tally every living thing in the ocean--even creatures so small they are invisible to the naked eye. The findings of the 10-year survey will be reported on October 4, in London, England.


Little Things Count, Too

Since the census began 10 years ago, more than 5,000 new forms of marine life have been discovered. Census updates in the past have focused on bigger species, such as the city of brittle stars found off the coast of New Zealand. Now, researchers are zeroing in on the tinier creatures, such as microbes, zooplankton and seaworms.

How can you count something you can't even see? By collecting plenty of samples. Scientists have been studying samples of water from more than 1,000 different sites. Remote-controlled vehicles are also used to explore the ocean floor.

From the census, researchers have discovered that roundworms, a microscopic animal, rule the deepest and darkest parts of the sea bottom. They have also identified 7,000 species of zooplankton, a tiny animal that some call sea bugs. That number is expected to double in the final census report. "Scientists are discovering and describing an astonishing new world of marine microbial diversity and abundance," said Mitch Sogin, of the Marine Biological Laboratory, in Woods Hole, Massachusetts.


Doing the Math


These creatures may be little, but there are a lot of them. An estimated nonillion of these microscopic creatures live in the oceans. What's a nonillion? In numbers, a nonillion is equal to 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000. (That's 30 zeroes!) That number is so big that a nonillion microscopic microbe cells weigh as much as 240 billion African elephants.

"Such findings make us look at the deep sea from a new perspective," says Pedro Martinez Arbizu, of the German Center for Marine Biodiversity Research. "Far from being a lifeless desert, the deep sea rivals such highly diverse ecosystems as tropical rainforests and coral reefs."

Max-Plankton, which they may be as smaller as we can’t see, but it is the food for most of the fish species, even sharks eat them for food. There are many kinds of plankton, some are big, and some are small. A few centuries before, we may not know this thing will be growing in the ocean, but now, we know that plankton really exists. Scientists use different kinds of ways, depending to its size. They may see and catch big plankton, but when finding small kinds of plankton, they just collect a cup of water to use a microscope to see the plankton. After we know that this ocean has a lot of plankton, we must protect them. Because when there is no plankton in this ocean, the food chain in the ocean will be destroyed, and sooner, all of the fish may die! Finding this plankton will give us a lot of knowledge.