Kids News - Articles for Grades 6-8

Ghost, a pit bull mix with honey brown eyes and gorgeous white fur, is making headlines for becoming the first deaf dog to join the K-9 team in Washington state’s and, possibly, even the country’s history. What makes the achievement even more remarkable is that, just a few years ago, the narcotics detection dog, was deemed “unadoptable” and scheduled to be euthanized....

On January 8, 2018, as Amazon Inc.’s stock soared to an all-time high of $1250 a share, its founder and CEO Jeff Bezos, who owns 17% of the company, dethroned Microsoft billionaire Bill Gates to become the world’s richest person. Since then, the company’s stock has risen an additional 20 percent, increasing the entrepreneur’s net worth from $105 billion to $125 billion! To put it in perspective, that is more than the GDP of over 125 of the world’s 195 nations....

Stereo, or 3D, vision is what enables humans to gauge the depth and distance of surrounding objects. The right and left eye capture slightly different images and send them to the brain, which merges them and then calculates the proximity of everything in the vicinity. The ability, which requires an intricate network of neurons and lots of processing power, can also be found in a select group of animals like cats, horses, owls and sheep, as well as one insect — the praying mantis....

American singer and songwriter Pharrell Williams is known for his upbeat nature and colorful style. It should, therefore, come as no surprise that the “Happy” artist has decided to pay tribute to Holi, the Hindu festival of colors with the release of the Hu Holi “Powder dye” collection. Created in collaboration with Adidas, it includes five sneakers, four apparel styles, and a towel — all of which sport a beautiful mix of colors. While the stunning footwear and clothing, which range in price from $80 to $250, will be released worldwide on March 16, they will be available in India on March 2 to coincide with the celebration of Holi....

After mesmerizing sports fans worldwide for 16 days, the 2018 PyeongChang Olympics drew to a close on February 25 with a spectacular light show, featuring 300 Intel drones and K-Pop music. While Team USA, which had the fourth highest medal count with 23 in total, saw virtuosic performances from all its 241 athletes, it was female competitors like 17-year-old snowboarder Chloe Kim that shone the brightest. For the first time in 20 years, American women, who won five of the nine gold medals and thirteen overall, secured more medals than their male counterparts....

Deep funding cuts to public school programs is forcing districts around the US to reduce or even eliminate arts education. The Philadelphia school system is no exception. Its once robust music program has been struggling because a large number of the instruments are damaged, with no funds to repair them. Now, thanks to “Symphony for a Broken Orchestra,” an initiative spearheaded by Temple Contemporary, some of the wounded cellos, violins, and trumpets are getting a new lease on life....

With over 3,500 exoplanets confirmed as of January 2018 and more being observed on a regular basis, the discoveries have become almost routine. However, all the planets found thus far have been within the Milky Way, the galaxy that contains our solar system. Now, scientists from the University of Oklahoma believe they may have found evidence of trillions of planets beyond our galaxy....

In mid-January, Cape Town officials announced that the world-class South African city of four million residents would run out of water on April 12. The date, nicknamed “Day Zero,” has since been postponed multiple times, thanks to the intense conservation efforts by locals, a sharp reduction in agricultural water usage, and a 10 billion-liter donation from the private reservoirs of the Groenland Farmers Association. The city now has enough water to sustain the current level of usage until July 9, giving residents hope that the rainy season, which begins in June, will be more normal than has been the case lately....

Though animals are continually evolving to adapt to their environment, it is hard to observe the process real time in the wild. Now, some international scientists have stumbled upon a unique group of West African dwarf crocodiles that may be in the midst of mutating into a new species....