All
News Stories
Science
$1
million robot car race is on
Two St. Louisans
have built a robot car that thinks for itself. This month,
they find out whether it works well enough to win a $1 million
prize.
Last November,
Young Saint Louis.com told the story of St. Louisans'
Bill Zimmerly and Warren Williams. The two are adults now,
but YSL.com thought their story was a good object lesson
in perseverance for kids.
And Zimmerly's
interest in computers and Williams' in manufacturing dated
all the way back to when they were your ages.
They are now entered
in a Department of Defense competition to build a robot car
that can go long distances with no driver and no remote control.
The final course
will be 250 miles from Los Angeles to Las Vegas on Monday,
March 8. The St. Louisans won a lottery drawing and their
vehicle will be the first to try the course.
The St. Louis
entry missed its March 8 start time because of a faulty radar
unit. (YSL.com will give a recap of the trial action
in its April edition, which goes on-line April 1.)
The DOD wants
a military vehicle that can conduct missions with no human
intervention.
Zimmerly and Williams
have been underdog from the beginning of the competition.
They are the smallest team and have the least amount of financing.
Other competitors
include such research powerhouses as Carnegie Mellon University
and California Institute of Technology.
Those institutions
have big research facilities and staff and huge budgets.
The two have given
their vehicle the name 'Ladibug.' Part of the reason for that
name is that, when the vehicle's domed top is in place, it'll
look like a giant ladybug.
The St. Louis
entry was built in William's garage. Work included lots of
night and weekend hours because both men have "day jobs."
One night in February,
they worked "an all-nighter" to do vehicle modifications.
The next day, Williams got a friend to fly him to Chicago
to find out from the manufacturer why the radar equipment
wasn't "seeing" right.
Williams flew
back the same day because he had to be at his regular job
Monday morning.
Their vehicle
started out as a new Kawasaki ATV. But, the final robot doesn't
look much like the original.
All the sheet
metal and seats were gone. After all, there is no driver.
The four wheels
have been replaced by treads, like those on military tanks.
The top looks like a big mushroom. Cover segments can extend
to right the vehicle if it tipped over.
They also modified
or replaced the gear shift, brakes and steering
Customized radar
and sonar are the vehicle's "eyes" and "ears."
The sensors tell the on-board computer where the obstacles
are. The computer moves controls to change course.
The vehicle "knows"
where it is because the computer has a GPS system. The computer
matches GPS satellite messages against latest digital maps
of the LA-to-Los Vegas route.
Field-testing
the robot vehicle wasn't easy because of St. Louis' winter
weather.
Zimmerly and Williams
left for California very early in March. That will give them
a couple days for outdoor testing in much warmer climate.
One thing they
need to check are the actual test routes. Williams said, "There
are seven possible routes and we won't know until the last
minute which one will be used."
They then need
to load the proper route data into the computer. That way,
the computer can compare the GPS satellite signals to the
actual route.
Although the two
men don't have much money, they have been getting substantial
help through donations and volunteer labor.
Two men from Williams'
"day job" are helping with design modifications.
Brian Bean helps fabricate metal and plastic parts while Chris
Milan is helping align systems.
Kawasaki has donating
two more ATVs for use as transportation at the California
test site. In addition, they will have technicians on site
to fine-tune the robot.
The team has use
of a donated 36-foot motor home. Another sponsor provided
an enclosed trailer to take the robot vehicle to California.
Williams said
the crew plans to live in the motor home so they can be close
to their robot at all times. "That's my life work there.
I don't want to be very far away from it," he said.
(If you'd like
more information about the robot car competition, you can
check the St. Louis team's website at www.iidbs.com/phantasm.zkb.)
Storytelling
Kids
create storytelling artwork
Kids in the ST-ART
Club at Washington Middle School have created original artwork
to promote the upcoming St. Louis Storytelling Festival. Some
kids drew on their own storytelling experience for art ideas.
Thirteen-year-old
Amanda Lehr actually had performed at the annual festival.
"I read the story, 'The Legend of Lightning Larry,' when
I was in fourth grade," she said.
This year, the
25th annual St. Louis Storytelling Festival will be held May
5-8. There are dozens of storytellers performing at 24 different
locations throughout St. Louis.
Young kid storytellers
have their own separate performance. The Ruthilde Kronberg
Youth Storytelling Concert will be Saturday, May 8, beginning
at 10 a.m. It'll be in the Cowboy museum section under the
Gateway Arch.
The storytelling
festival is a great place for kids and their families. To
learn more about the festival and how to attend, go to www.umsl.edu/~conted/storyfes/
The Washington
Middle School artwork will be on display at the entrance of
the Arch's underground museum. Washington Middle is in the
Mehlville School District.
Amanda said the
"Lightning Larry" story was about a frontier "gunslinger",
who helped convert bad guys into good guys. But, for her storytelling
poster, she pictured an adult mouse reading the story of "Stuart
Little" to a bunch of little mice.
She did her poster
art all in black pencil. "I like color but I have trouble
blending the colors together. I'm more comfortable in black
and white," she said.
Thirteen-year-old
Jared Herbst was one of the art kids who mentioned storytelling
experiences from elementary school. "We had a storyteller
come regularly. Ours told a lot of Native American stories,"
he said.
For his poster,
Jared used colored pencils to draw a stylized "village
storyteller" performing for kids. His artwork showed
all of the people with their eyes closed.
"Eyes aren't
my greatest strength but, in this poster, the closed eyes
are part of my style," he said.
Thirteen-year-old
Erica Bushman said the main character in her poster was patterned
after "a lady storyteller I saw on TV."
Erica said she
likes to tell stories. "I tell stories to my younger
cousins when I visit them in Texas. I love to read to them,"
she said. Erica said cousins like ghost stories before they
go to bed.
The storyteller
in 12-year-old Melanie Martin's poster art is a horse. "I
have an Indian horse taking two girls out for a ride at night
and telling them a story. The story is about stars,"
she said.
She used markers,
color pencils and crayons for her artwork.
Thirteen-year-old
Kira Klein's poster art also has an Indian theme. It shows
an Indian woman telling stories to small Indian children.
"I know they had stories about the Earth and their ancestors,"
she said.
Kira said storytelling
has been a part of her life. "My parents and grandparents
read and told me stories when I was little," she said.
The eighth-grader
said, "When I baby-sit, I tell the kids stories. I also
read stories to my younger brother and sister."
Fourteen-year-old
Emily Martin drew on the movie, "Finding Nemo,"
for her poster. Her crayon drawing shows an adult turtle telling
stories while swimming with baby turtles.
Emily is the older
sister of Melanie. Emily said she'd like to work for the Disney
company in movie illustration when she grows up.
Fourteen-year-old
Alisha Matthews took a Arctic theme for her poster picture.
She has an Eskimo telling a story to a bunch of penguins.
Asked about the idea, she said, "It just popped into
my mind; I wanted to do something fun."
She was another
of the art kids who was exposed to storytelling in elementary
school. "The woman was a fantastic storyteller,"
Alisha said.
But, her big hobby
is golf. Last month, she competed in a youth tournament in
New Orleans. Asked about a career, she said, "I want
to be a pro golfer on the LPGA tour."
Thirteen-year-old
Kate Stieren said the storyteller in her poster "is modeled
after a storyteller who came to our elementary school. We
all loved that." But, Kate admitted she took some liberties
with the storyteller in her poster.
"I had my
storyteller as an eccentric woman with funky jewelry and clothes,"
she said.
Entertainment
Muny
tryouts draw 1,000 kids
Julia Boudreau,
Claire Krusie and Melissa Needles were among the first-timers
at last month's auditions for The Muny's summer season. They
had lots of company; 1.000 kids showed up.
The 13-year-olds
Parkway Central Middle School friends came to auditions together.
But, the auditions
had "veterans" also. Thirteen-year-old Brittany
Smith was on hand for her fifth audition. She won parts in
Muny plays for the last four summers.
Just before the
kids' auditions, The Muny announced the seven shows for its
86th season in Forest Park. Three of the shows will have a
number of spots for kids, according to marketing director
Laura Peters Reilly.
Those shows will
be "Meet Me in St. Louis," "Annie" and
"Music Man." A fourth show, "42nd Street,"
will have roles for older teens. Other shows on the 2004 schedule
include "Cats," "Breakfast at Tiffany's"
and "Guys and Dolls."
The three Parkway
Central first-timers were interested in qualifying for any
of the shows.
But, Brittany
Smith was hoping to earn a part in "Annie." She
had appeared as an orphan in a previous "Annie"
in an earlier Muny season. She also had performed in three
other Muny plays, "Sound of Music," "Wizard
of Oz" and "Cinderella."
Ten-year-old Susan
Mandelker was another "veteran" of Muny auditions.
This was her fourth time. But, it was the first time she hadn't
come with her older sister, 12-year-old Alison.
Alison has dropped
out of singing and dancing this year in favor of soccer. She's
a member of a select soccer team and decided to bypass the
Muny auditions this year.
Susan is also
a member of the Muny Kids organization. That's a select group
that puts on short variety performances to publicize The Muny.
Last December, she performed at the Governor's Ball in Jefferson
City.
Twelve-year-old
Brett Clark was another first-time performer at the auditions.
He said his voice teacher, Nancy St. James, "thought
the auditions would be a good experience."
All six of the
kids had hopes of a career in acting, singing or dancing.
But, several had
other plans if their entertainment career plans didn't work
out.
Julie Boudreau
said she wanted to be a movie actress when she grew up although
"I know it takes a lot of work."
"I don't
want to give up my dream. But, I want to go to college so
I'll have something to fall back on if acting doesn't work,"
she said.
Claire Krusie
said she wants to get parts at the Muny and The Fox Theatre
before moving up. "But, if I can't do that, I'd like
to be a pediatrician," she said.
Brittany Smith
wants to be a dancer or actor on Broadway. But, she's also
thinking about being a pharmacist.
Even first-timers
at Muny auditions have plenty of singing, dancing and acting
experience.
Brittany said
she's had dance lessons for 10 years. In addition to her four
previous Muny performances, she's also in the chorus at school.
Her younger brother, 8-year-old Patrick, was in a play at
the Fox when he was four.
Julia Boudreau
said she was in community theater when she lived in Green
Bay, Wis. Since moving to St. Louis, she's been in her school
and church choirs. She's also auditioned for a part in "Oklahoma,"
to be performed at the St. Louis Jewish Community Center.
Claire Krusie
also has performed at the Jewish Center and at the Chesterfield
YMCA.
Melissa Needles
said she had sung in a choir since she was seven and danced
since she was five. "I wanted to audition for the Muny
last year but I wasn't prepared. This year, I took vocal lessons
so I was ready," she said.
Susan Mandelker
has had dancing lessons for four years. She began singing
lessons last year. She's a veteran of three previous Muny
performances.
Brett Clark is
now a sixth grader at Chaminade Preparatory School. He's tried
out for a part in a part in a dramatic play, "Fools."
In his previous school, he had parts in a number of Broadway
musicals staged there.
"Also, in
physical education there, we had a month of dancing,"
he said. Most was jazz dancing, "with some tap,"
he added.
For more about
The Muny, you can go to its website at www.muny.com.
Followup:
Neil Shastri is on Broadway
Eleven-year-old
Neil Shastri has had roles in lots of theatrical shows around
St. Louis. But, last month, he earned his first role on Broadway.
Last summer, he
played in Shakespeare Festival and Muny productions in Forest
Park.
This spring, he'll
have a principal character role in Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical,
"Bombay Dreams." That musical makes its Broadway
debut in April.
Neil and his sister,
Anita, were profiled in the June, 2003, edition of Young
Saint Louis.com. In Followup stories, YSL.com
likes to keep track of new developments in lives of kids from
past issues.
To read the previous
YSL.com article, click
here.
Last month, Neil
and his mother, JJ, moved to New York as rehearsals for the
Webber musical were getting underway. "Bombay Dreams"
is already a hit in London and is being adapted for the New
York stage.
The musical is
about the film industry in India, which is called Bollywood.
Neil will fit
right in to the cast. He's of Indian descent and from a theatrical
family.
Although he was
born in the United States, both his parents were born and
married in India. Also, father Jay, who is an architect, was
considered for several years to be the St. Louis' best theatrical
dancer.
Neil was first
noticed by the Webber team through a video audition. He then
flew to New York for a live audition and received the role
of "Munna." Neil plays a 10-year-old who has a principal
character role in the musical.
Books
This
month's book reviews
A
homeless boy in twelfth century
Korea wants to be a pottery maker
Tree-ear was
a penniless orphan who lived under a bridge in a small Korean
town. He was named "Tree-ear" after a kind of mushroom
that grew out of old fallen trees without anyone knowing where
they came from. Tree-ear shared his under-a-bridge shelter
with an older homeless person named Crane-man. Crane-man was
so named because he had only one complete leg that he could
stand on. The two scavenged for food out of garbage dumps
and shared what they found with each other. Both were too
proud to beg and too honest to steal.
The town was
a pottery town. It was famous for its unusual clay deposits
which made it possible for its potters to make vases and pots
that were in demand all over Asia. One potter, named Min,
made pottery that was more beautiful than any of the other
craftsman. Tree-ear liked to hide in the bushes around Min's
workplace and watch the old potter turn his pottery on his
wheel. Tree-ear longed to try his own hand at pottery making.
Once, when Min
seemed to be gone, Tree-ear slipped into the workplace to
look at some items that were on shelves. Accidentally, he
broke one piece. While Tree-ear was trying to figure out what
to do, Min appeared and charged him with trying to steal his
work. Tree-ear pleaded his innocence and offered to work for
nine days helping the potter in order to pay for the broken
piece. Grumpily, Min accepted the offer.
Min sent Tree-ear
to the forest to collect wood for the furnace used to heat
the kiln. Its was hard and lonely work. Then Tree-ear was
given other jobs to do. At the end of the nine days, he asked
if he could continue to work for the potter. Min reluctantly
agreed. Min's wife seemed to be happy that her husband had
a new helper. She was much nicer to Tree-ear than Min was.
One day, an announcement
was made that the Emperor's emissary was coming to town and
would inspect all the potters' works. He would grant a commission
from the royal court to the best potter. Such a commission
would make the winning potter much wealth and lead to his
becoming famous all over the empire.
Can the lowly
Tree-ear in any kind of way help his master become the winner
of the Emperor's commission? Would Min ever accept him as
worthy of learning the pottery trade and, someday, take over
the aging Min's work? The reader's route to finding these
answers is one filled with adventure and surprises.
A
pioneer girl fights asthma at a time
when little is known about the disease
Ten-year-old Lizzy
Baker loved living with her family in the log cabin home on
their small farm. They had all traveled with their belongings
on a covered wagon from Pennsylvania to land just west of
Virginia. For the past four years, Lizzy had lived with her
two sisters, Hezzy, twelve, and Nan, who was eight. Their
father was a farmer. Their mother supplemented the family
income by weaving cloth and making blankets and articles of
clothing to sell.
Each fall, when
the pollen was heavy in the air, Lizzy suffered from attacks
of asthma. During these attacks, Lizzy found it difficult
to breathe and she and her family feared each time that she
would not recover. When the heavy frosts came in early winter,
Lizzy would return to her normal health again. Each year,
the asthma attacks were getting worse.
When she was ten,
her family took her into the nearest town to be seen by a
doctor. His treatment was costly and Lizzy felt even worse
after following his recommendations. An elderly mid-wife,
named Ma Silver, who delivered babies for the farm women,
was able to help ease some of Lizzy's symptoms.
Each fall, the
Baker family and their concerned neighbors gathered round
hoping that the active and much-loved Lizzy would survive
until the frost came. There was no effective way known to
treat asthma in those days. There were rumors that living
close to the sea and breathing sea air did help some people
with asthma to live better lives. But that did not seem to
be possible for Lizzy, whose family was just managing to survive
on their small farm.
Mr. Beaumont,
a well-to-do plantation owner from Charleston moved into an
abandoned neighboring cabin. He was there temporarily on a
land-buying trip. He brought his wife, Miss Sarah, and son,
William, with him along with a couple of slaves. The dress
and manners of these gentry were very much in contrast to
the customs of the farm families living there on the frontier.
How the wealthy
Beaumont family and the hardworking but poor Baker family
became acquainted makes up a good part of the plot. Can the
relationship of these two families have some bearing on keeping
Lizzy alive and healthy? In reading this interesting story,
a reader learns a lot about frontier life.
What
if you wished on a star and your wish came true?
Tollivers' Hollow
was just a family farm like a number of other small farms
in the surrounding mountain area. The Tolliver family included
Louise, her younger brother Willie, and their mom, Mrs. Tolliver.
The father, Jack Tolliver, had mysteriously disappeared seven
years earlier. Of course, in naming the family you have to
include Molly Cow, their milk cow, and the old sow with all
her piglets. The farm was in the shadow of Old Giant, the
mountain, and some people in the area thought the land might
be a little haunted.
Willie liked to
bug his sister, Louise. One evening when Louise was talking
about wishing on a star, Willie laughed at her. After poking
fun at her star watching, he went off to feed the pigs. Louise
said to him, "You are a pig!" and went on looking
at the evening star. "Star light, star bright, first
star I've seen tonight, I wish I may, I wish I might, have
the wish I wish tonight." Louise went on to milk the
cow and thought no more about it.
A little later,
when Willie failed to show up for supper, Mrs Tolliver asked
Louise if she knew where Willie was. Of course she didn't
but she went out and called Willie's name several times. There
was no response other than an owl hooting up in the trees.
Next morning, Willie was still missing. Mrs. Tolliver was
worried and called the sheriff to report the missing boy.
Interestingly, when the sheriff started looking around the
farm, he noticed a large white pig running around. No one
had seen the pig before. There was no sign of Willie.
By now you've
probably guessed what happened to Willie. It took Louise a
while before she guessed the terrible truth. With her wish
she had turned her brother into a pig! To make things worse,
the sheriff and his brother were talking about having a town
barbecue. The pig that nobody recognized was to be the main
attraction!
The rest of the
story is concerned with how Louise tries to undue the damage
she has done with her unusual powers. Does she only get three
wishes? Are there other magical things she might have to do?
Can she save poor Willie in time? Could her father's mysterious
disappearance be related to these strange goings on? You need
to read the book to find out.
A
book about a horse that's not really a horse
Molly Moore lives
in Tennessee, "practically the horse capital of the whole
world." But she doesn't have a horse! Her neighbor, Freddy
Westover, has a beautiful Tennessee Walking Horse named Strolling
Joe. But will he let Molly ride it? Nooo. Occasionally, Molly
gets to ride Freddie's old mare, Della, who can hardly move
because of arthritis.
But, for Molly
a miracle happens. On her tenth birthday, her father takes
her to a horse sale at Lawton's stock farm on Duck River near
Williamsport. He has sold an old tractor to an antique dealer
for twice its value. He said Molly could have half of the
money to buy a horse for herself at the auction. Molly is
so excited! She can just see the beautiful young colt she
intends to buy. Unfortunately, her father only had $70.00
to spend on a horse and the first colt they bid on sold for
$150.00.
By the time horse
number 13 came up for bidding, Molly thought it was no use.
The $70.00 just wasn't going to be enough. The last horse
was a gaunt sorrel mare.
Molly's dad checked
the mare's teeth and went back into the small group of bidders
still left at the sale. One laughing bidder said, "I'll
bid $25.00 for the flea-bitten sorrel." The rest of the
crowd stayed silent. The auctioneer asked, "who'll offer
$70.00?" Molly covered her face with her hands when her
dad nodded. She had told everybody at school she was going
to get an elegant young racehorse for her birthday. Instead,
she was getting a skinny, old mare.
When they loaded
the mare into the trailer and started home, Molly's dad was
excited. He thought they had bought a well-bred horse that
could be fattened up and would make a good riding horse for
Molly. Molly worked hard at not showing how disappointed she
really was.
It turns out that
Molly's dad was only partly correct. The mare did start to
look better with good food and good care. She was smart and
had a good disposition too. But Molly, her dad, and everybody
else were in for a big surprise! To find out what kind of
ending this horse story has, you need to read Marguerite Henry's
"Brown Sunshine of Sawdust Valley." You'll be as
surprised as anyone at how Molly ends up with a Tennessee
champion "horse that's not a horse."
Lewis
& Clark
Another in
Lewis & Clark series
A
neat place for kids: Cahokia Mounds
Before starting
his exploration up the Missouri River in 1804, Meriwether
Lewis took a short sightseeing hike. He explored a one-of-a-kind,
ancient Indian fort.
The fortifications
Lewis saw was a tiny part of the vast Cahokia Mounds complex.
That area now is on a United Nations list of significant archaeological
sites in the world.
Other places on
that list include the Egyptian pyramids and the Great Wall
of China.
Lewis went on
his hike from Camp Dubois in the winter of 1804. That was
200 years ago. But, the Cahokia Mounds' history is much, much
older.
Archeologists
say the Cahokia Mounds area was home to more than 20,000 Indians
in the 1000 to 1200 A.D. period. It was the largest Indian
settlement in all of North America.
The Indians of
that era are gone. But, the Cahokia Mounds earthworks have
been preserved. It's a fun place for sightseeing. A very large
interpretative center has lots of exhibits.
For information,
you can visit the area's website at www.cahokiamounds.com
Also, you can call the center at (618) 346-5160. A
good upcoming event is Kids' Day on May 23.
Scott Mandrell
is a St. Louis school teacher. He's on a leave-of-absence
to play the role of Captain Meriwether Lewis in a two-year
reenactment tour now going on.
Last month, Mandrell
hosted a special "Lewis and Clark Then and Now"
internet class broadcast from the Cahokia Mounds interpretative
center.
Mandrell said
Lewis included mention of his sightseeing trip in his official
journals. But, Mandrell said, "Lewis didn't have a sense
of the age" of the Indian area. He also saw only a small
part of the unique complex.
The projected
Indian population of 20,000 was gigantic for that ancient
time. A typical Indian village back then would be only about
500 people.
During the February
class broadcast, Mandrell interviewed two Indian experts.
They were Dr. Mark Esarey and Dr. John Kelly.
Esarey is the
site director of Cahokia Mounds. Kelly is a lecturer in archaeology
at Washington University.
Kelly also is
doing research in the Grassy Lake area near Roxanna, Ill.
That's the area where Meriwether Lewis made his sightseeing
hike 200 years ago.
The whole Cahokia
Mounds area spreads over a wide area.
Dr. Esarey said
you can think about the pre-historic Indian settlement as
being a little like the current St. Louis metro area. There
wasn't just one big city. Rather, there were individual settlements
with space between, just like the suburbs of today.
The settlements
were formed about families or clans. But, so many clans came
together that Cahokia Mounds was a cultural and economic center
for a huge area.
The biggest earthworks
at Cahokia Mounds is called Monks Mound. Archeologists believe
it was built in up to eight different stages. At its peak,
it's over 100 feet high and the base covered 14 acres.
That amounts to
22 million cubic feet of dirt. That's quite a construction
job when you consider the Indians carried the dirt in baskets.
In those days,
there was a wooden stockade around Monks Mound and 16 other
mounds. The circumference was nearly two miles.
Also a feature
of Cahokia Mounds were circular patterns of wooden poles.
They were celestial calendars so Indians could keep track
of the seasons by shadows cast by the sun at different times
of the year.
Those circular
structures are called Woodhenge. That's a play on words of
the ancient rock calendar in Britain that goes by the name
of Stonehenge.
Of course, proving
the existence of Woodhenge is harder that placing Stonehenge.
The reason: wood. With over 1,000 years gone by, all the wood
has rotted. But, archeologists discovered pits dug in circles
and came up with the calendar idea.
The archeologist
was Dr. Warren Wittry. He found traces of up to five different
Woodhenge installations.
The Cahokia Mounds
class was just one of dozens of internet appearances by the
Lewis&Clark reenactors. You can follow the whole tour
on a couple websites.
The Lewis and
Clark Education Initiative site is at www.lewisandclark.net.
Then, Apple Computer is providing an educational resource
site at www.ali.apple.com/lewisandclark.
Sports
Tennis
girl overcomes broken leg
Last month, 12-year-old
Haley Fournier showed she'd come all the way back from a severely
broken right leg. She finished fourth in her division in the
Missouri Valley's Sweet 16 regional tennis tournament in Topeka.
The Belleville,
Ill., sixth grader competed in the 12-and-under division.
The tournament matches the best players by age in a multi-state
area of the Midwest.
She even saw some
benefit from the break of both bones below the knee in her
right leg. She said the six months recuperation "made
my left leg and foot much stronger."
The broken leg
occurred during a championship soccer game in Memphis, Tenn.
"I had a break-away and collided with the goalie on the
other team," she said.
With both bones
broken, she had to keep all weight off the right leg for awhile.
During the healing, she used a wheelchair, a walker and crutches
to get around. Her left leg got lots of extra work when she
had to stay off the broken one.
Haley is a student
at St. Teresa Catholic School in Belleville. She started playing
tennis when she was nine but has been in competitive tennis
for only about a year.
In addition to
tennis and soccer, she's also on a select basketball team.
All of the teams
involve out-of-town competition and lots of practice.
Obviously, that
makes for a busy schedule. In a typical week, she'll practice
tennis five days a week, basketball, twice, and soccer, two
more days. Then, there are games or matches about every weekend.
"Sometimes,
I'll practice all three sports on the same day," she
said.
But, she makes
sure her school work is done. She's been on St. Teresa's high
honor roll for the last two quarters. She often does homework
while riding to practices and games.
"And, if
I've got a test coming, I may skip one of the practice clinics,"
she said.
Haley comes from
a tennis family. Both her father, James, and mother, Alison,
play. Also, her older sister, Taylor, 13, and younger sister,
Shae, 10, are tennis competitors.
They have a younger
brother, 7-year-old Carson, who is getting ready to play.
Shae competed
in the same 12-and-under age bracket with Haley in the Sweet
16 meet in Topeka. She finished 11th in the bracket against
players as much as two years older.
Haley said her
older sister can overpower her but she's only lost to her
younger sister once. "Just after I got the cast off my
right leg, she beat me," Haley said. "But, that
was the only time," she added.
At 4'10"
and 78 pounds, Haley lacks some power but makes up for that
in speed.
She said she thinks
that her competing in soccer and basketball helps her tennis.
"Those games also teach you to move your feet,"
she said.
The instructors
at the Sunset Tennis Center in south St. Louis County stress
the need to keep their feet moving. That constant movement
let kids react quicker to shots. "In tennis, you're always
on your toes," she said.
During clinics,
the Sunset instructors also pair players of like ability,
regardless of age or gender. That means Haley gets to match
strokes with boys as well as girls.
Haley said she
thinks her quickness is one of the strongest parts of her
game. "On short balls at the net, I put those away pretty
easily," she said.
The serve-and-volley
part of her game is the weakest. "Most of the time I
can serve pretty fast. But, if I'm not playing well, I take
a lot off of my serve just to get it in," she said.
Despite the high
time commitment, Haley likes the fact she's playing three
sports. She changed her soccer team because her previous coach
had wanted her to concentrate on that one sport too much.
Last October,
Young Saint Louis.com featured an interview with Dr.
Jay Noffsinger of Saint Louis University. He urged young athletes
to play several sports, rather than specializing too early.
He said early
specialization cause many kids to "burn out." He
said 70 per cent of kids quit athletics by the time they are
15. To read this earlier article, click
here.
Haley said she
hasn't planned for college yet. However, she said she'd like
to be a professional tennis player or a teacher when she grows
up.
Although she now
favors tennis as a career, her favorite women athlete is Mia
Hamm. Hamm was a star on the U.S. soccer team which had such
international success.
Reading
Illinois
kids in Read, Right & Run
Kids at Columbia,
Ill., Middle School had plenty of obstacles in their first
year in the Read, Right & Run program. But, neither a
serious school fire nor icy streets could stop them.
Read, Right &
Run is an area-wide student-activity program that has kids
combine reading books, doing good works and running. It's
sponsored by the Spirit of St. Louis Marathon.
It ends with an
area-wide Family Fitness Weekend April 1-4, 2004.
In addition to
lots of family fitness activities, the weekend includes two
adult marathons. First, there's the 2004 Women's U.S. Olympic
Team Marathon on Saturday, April 3. Then, the Spirit of St.
Louis Marathon will be held Sunday, April 4. .
(The Read,
Right & Run program has been going on in schools since
last fall. However, there are plenty of individual activities
for family and kids at the Family Fitness Weekend. For information
how you can participate, log on to the St. Louis Marathon's
website at www.stlouismarathon.com.)
At the time Coach
Jon Wehrenberg was starting the Columbia program last fall,
about 30 per cent of the middle school burned down. Among
the facilities lost was one of the school's gyms, cutting
down on opportunities for running indoors.
Then, after the
first of the year, a series of area-wide storms coated city
streets and sidewalks with ice, cutting down on outside running
too.
Two of the kids
in the Columbia program had a neat answer for meeting the
running requirements.
Fourteen-year-old
Angela Mayer has done much of her running on a treadmill in
the basement of her home. "I usually run about a mile
at a time but I'm going to increase that," she said.
Thirteen-year-old
Chris Coulter said the indoor treadmill he used was at The
Training Room, a Columbia fitness facility. "I try to
run two miles each day," he said.
For many of the
others, they still got in a lot of running in gym and basketball
practices. Also, when track starts, they'll be able to catch
up on the running requirement.
But, the sponsors
of Read, Right & Run wanted the program to stress more
than just physical fitness. So, they added reading and character-building
components.
Fourteen-year-old
Erik Roediger said he gets plenty of exercise, with basketball
and track. But, he said the reading requirement "makes
me read more." He said he likes books but "I don't
ordinarily read at home."
He said he likes
adventure stories. One of books he read was "Far North."
That tells of high school kids who are in a plane crash in
Alaska. They have to survive in the wilderness before they
are rescued.
Chris Coulter
said the reading requirement also made him "read a lot
more books than I would ordinarily."
Fourteen-year-old
Trent Blank and 13-year-old Emily Schmidt liked the "good
deeds" portion of the program.
Emily said the
reading is easy for her. "I've read about 25 books already
this year," she said. She's also active in scouting activities
that involve lots of service projects.
But, she said
keeping a Read, Right & Run diary "helps me to realize
all the things I do in the community." Her good works
includes helping with Girl Scout and Brownie projects and
she helped with a Boy Scout food drive.
She also helps
her mother in PTA projects.
Blank said he
thought the "good deed" requirements will "make
me a better all-around person."
The Columbia kids
participate in many activities, including scholars programs.
Angela Mayer plays
clarinet and Erik Roediger plays trumpet in the school band.
Chris Coulter
is on the School Improvement Committee. That's a teacher-student
group that tries to make Columbia Middle a better school.
"I help to give the student viewpoint," he said.
He helps with
a soup kitchen run by his church, First Baptist Church. He
also helps clean the church.
All of them said
they were looking forward to taking part in the Family Fitness
Weekend in Forest Park at the beginning of April. They do
the final two-plus miles of their total marathon distance
of 26-plus miles during the weekend.
Earth
Day
Another in
Earth Day series
An
Earth Day Grocery Bag project
The annual St.
Louis Earth Day weekend isn't until late in April. But, local
kids can take part in an Earth Day craft project at the Butterfly
House, starting in March.
The Earth Day
Grocery Bag Project will be on each of three Saturdays prior
to the Earth Day Weekend in Forest Park. That weekend will
be Saturday and Sunday, April 24-25.
The Butterfly
House's grocery bag decoration project will be held on Saturdays,
March 20, April 3 and April 17. Hours each day are 11 a.m.
to 2 p.m. Kids do their decoration in the classroom at the
Butterfly House in Faust Park.
(Also, learn
about upcoming spring and summer gardening projects. See sidebar
below.)
Donna Dupske is
the educational services manager at Butterfly House. She will
lead the grocery bag project each Saturday.
She said the grocery
bag decoration is a part of an effort to "get environmental
awareness out into the community."
The project works
this way:
Kids report to
the Butterfly House just like they would for a regular Saturday
craft day. Kids pay a regular $4 admission. Then, you get
the supplies needed to decorate the grocery bags with "conservation-type"
themes.
Ms. Dupske said
kids can use decorating ideas for protection of animals, plants,
air, water or soil.
You can make up
your own designs. Or there will be a variety of Earth Day
posters from which you can get ideas.
Craft days are
held at the Butterfly House every first and third Saturday
of a month. Other types of crafts include making bird feeders,
beaded crafts and "insect" head bands.
The Butterfly
House picks up blank grocery bags from area Schnucks and Dierberg
stores. Then, after the kids decorate them, the bags are given
back to the stores, where they will be used to sack customers'
groceries.
In addition to
the bags, the supplies include both paints and markers, Ms.
Dupske said.
The grocery bag
decoration is becoming a regular feature of world-wide Earth
Day celebrations. The activities are coordinated on the internet.
This year will
be the 11th year for the project on the internet. That makes
it the oldest and largest internet educational activity.
Ms. Dupske said,
in previous years, grocery bag decoration results were reported
in such countries as Australia, Croatia, Mexico, Canada and
Japan.
The project even
has its own website at www.earthdaybags.org.
The results of St. Louis area bag decoration will be on the
website, Ms. Dupske said.
For more Butterfly
House information, visit www.butterflyhouse.org.
For more complete
information about the 2004 St. Louis Earth Day activities,
visit the website at www.stlouisearthday.org.
To read YSL.com's
February, 2004, Earth Day advance story, click
here.
Another
Earth Day activity: Gardening
The Butterfly
House also is helping to plan gardening activities during
the Earth Day period.
Does your school
or kids organization have a gardening project? If so, tell
your teachers or leaders about the two upcoming gardening
conferences.
The first Outdoor
Gardening Education sessions will be held Friday, March 12,
from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. This meeting is for teachers in Madison
County, Ill. It will be held at Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville.
There is a general
Children's Gardening Conference to be held Monday, April 26,
at the Missouri Botanical Garden. That session will be from
8 a.m. to 4 p.m.
The conference
is open to teachers and kids' group leaders from both Missouri
and Illinois.
St.
Louis History
This Month
in St. Louis History
Rich
Irish history in St. Louis
St. Patrick's
Day will be Wednesday, March 17. Of course, the holiday didn't
start in St. Louis but the city has a rich Irish history.
If you are of
Irish descent or interested in Irish history, there's an interesting
website where you can get lots of neat information. It's called
The Kerry Patch and is located at
http://members.gtw.net/~seamus/KerryPatch.htm.
Things about Ireland
and the Irish will be the main feature of the March edition
of YSL.com's This Month in St. Louis History.
(Information for this feature is provided monthly by the
Missouri History Museum.)
Other historic
happenings in March that have St. Louis roots are two births
and one death.
The births are
of famed Missouri artist George Caleb Bingham and Olympic
champion Jackie Joyner-Kersee. The death anniversary is for
William Christopher (W.C.) Handy, who wrote the most famous
song about St. Louis, "St. Louis Blues."
The
Irish in St. Louis
The Kerry Patch
website represents research by Diane Shaw, who gives a personal
touch to the history of St. Louis' Irish. The title, Kerry
Patch, comes from the name given to an old neighborhood where
most Irish lived.
Ms. Shaw said
St. Louis was "somewhat tolerant" of immigrants
from Ireland. She said that allowed individual Irish to succeed
if they tried.
She cites John
Mullanphy, who was St. Louis' first millionaire, and Jeremiah
Conner, St. Louis' first sheriff.
Ms. Shaw said
the history of the Kerry Patch in St. Louis started around
St. Patrick's Catholic Church, then and now at Sixth and Biddle.
There are a flood of Irish in the early 1800s. In 1950, the
population of St. Louis was 43 per cent Irish.
Many of them settled
in the Kerry Patch, which was greatly expanded on land donated
by Mr. Mullanphy.
Ms. Shaw's website
includes a lot of internet and book links which include more
history about the Irish in St. Louis.
A
book, The St. Louis Irish
William Barnaby
Faherty, a professor emeritus in history at St. Louis University,
has produced another look at the Irish in St. Louis. This
is an adult book but will be interesting reading for some
kids.
He also talks
about the flow of Irish immigrants into the Kerry Patch on
St. Louis' near north side. Along with the French and Germans,
the Irish have had a big part in the development of St. Louis.
The book is titled:
The St. Louis Irish: An unmatched Celtic Community.
The book is available at the St. Louis History Museum or through
the University of Missouri Press.
George
Caleb Bingham
One of Missouri's
most famous artists, George Caleb Bingham, was born on March
20, 1811, in Virginia. But, the family moved to Missouri when
Bingham was eight.
He became one
of the most famous Missouri artists. But, he also was entangled
in the state's controversial politics of the Civil War. He
was sympathetic to the South in a state where many skirmishes
were fought between Northern and Southern troops.
The St. Louis
Art Museum has a large collection of Bingham's paintings.
His works achieved widespread acclaim for capturing the feeling
of Missouri of the 1800s.
For more information
about Bingham, visit www.geocities.com/SoHo/Exhibit/5437/GCBind.html.
Jackie
Joyner-Kersee
Jackie Joyner-Kersee
was born in East St. Louis, Ill., on March 3, 1962. She is
considered to be one of the best female athletes in the world.
Much of her stardom
is associated with track and field. She won three gold, one
silver and one bronze medals in the Olympic Games. She was
the first woman to score more than 7,000 points in the heptathlon.
She won the first
of four consecutive National Junior Pentathlon Championships
at 14. She also starred in volleyball and basketball in high
school. After earning a basketball scholarship at UCLA, which
earned All-America honors as a four-year starter for the Bruins
at forward.
Her UCLA coach
Bob Kersee urged her to focus on the heptathlon in track and
field. The two were married in 1986.
She and her husband
have established a multi-purpose facility for kids in East
St. Louis.
For more information
about Joyner-Kersee, visit www.sportsstarsusa.com/olympians/joyner-kersee_jackie.html.
W.C.
Handy
Composer W.C.
Handy was neither born or died in St. Louis. But, the world-famous
"Father of the Blues" is forever tied to our city
after composing the world-famous "St. Louis Blues."
He was born in
a log cabin on Nov. 16, 1873, in Florence, Ala., and died
March 28, 1958.
For more about
Handy's life, visit www.wchandyfest.com/history/handybio.htm.
This website also includes a recording where the composer
sings his "St. Louis Blues."
From "St.
Louis 365"
American
flag flies over St. Louis in 1804
The American
flag flew over St. Louis for the first time in March, 1804.
Also, there were lots of St. Louis sports highlights during
the month of March in years past.
The Sporting
News newspaper started in March more than 100 years ago.
The best St. Louis Browns baseball player was born in this
month. And probably the greatest individual performance in
the NCAA basketball championships came in St. Louis.
These are just
a few of the 155 items of St. Louis history listed in the
March chapter of "St. Louis 365." That's a book
of historical items compiled by local historian Joe Sonderman.
(This book
is available in local book stories or at www.booksonstlouis.com.
Sonderman has given Young Saint Louis.com permission
to quote from his book.)
Here are 10 of
the items listed in the March chapter of "St. Louis 365."
March 10, 1804:
The American flag was raised over St. Louis for the first
time by Captain Amos Stoddard. The United States had bought
the Louisiana Territory from France, but it hadn't been transferred
to France from Spain. Captain Stoddard performed that ceremony
on March 9th. The French flag flew over St. Louis for one
day before he raised the American flag.
March 12, 1989:
The curtain came down on the Ambassador Theatre. The chandeliers,
staircases and even sections of the plasterwork were auctioned
off. The Ambassador was once the home of the "Skouras
Brothers Missouri Rocket Girls," which evolved into the
world-ramous Radio City Music Hall "Rockettes."
The theater was torn down in 1997 to make room for a plaza
in front of the Mercantile Bank headquarters.
March 17, 1886:
The first issue of The Sporting News hit the newsstands.
Al Spink, a former reporter for the Post-Dispatch, established
the paper in St. Louis. Spink is credited with naming Sportsman's
Park. (The Sporting News continues to be published in St.
Louis.)
March 17, 1969:
The Cardinals traded the hero of the 1967 season, Orlando
Cepeda, to the Braves for Joe Torre. Torre would go on to
become the National League MVP in 1971. Torre would manage
the Cardinals from 1990 to 1995. He was fired in 1995 and
went on to manage the New York Yankees. (He continues to
manage the Yankees today.)
March 18, 1948:
The Saint Louis University Billikens beat New York University
to win the National Invitational Basketball Tournament championship.
At that time, the NIT was the premiere tournament in college
basketball.
March 21, 1904:
The new St. Louis water works was completed in a rush, just
in time for the 1904 World's Fair. The new system brought
an end to the days when St. Louis water had "body."
Nervous fair officials had installed their own water purification
system in case the new water works wasn't on line in time
to keep the fountains from being fouled with muddy, brown
water.
March 23, 1806:
The Lewis and Clark Expedition began their return trip from
the Pacific Coast to St. Louis. They reached St. Louis on
September, 23, 1806. The round trip took two years and four
months, covering over 4,000 miles.
March 24, 1893:
The greatest player in St. Louis Browns baseball history was
born in Manchester, Ohio. George Sisler played for the Browns
from 1915 until 1928 and managed them from 1924 until 1936.
He hit .407 in 1920 and .420 in 1922, ending his career with
a lifetime average of .314. Sisler was one of the original
12 players inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1939.
March 26, 1973:
UCLA's Bill Walton hit 21 of 22 shots and scored 44 points
as the Bruins beat Memphis State in the NCAA championship
game at the St. Louis Arena. Walton's performance is still
considered one of the greatest individual performances ever
in an NCAA championship game. (Walton continues to be active
in sports as a network and cable television commentator.)
March 30, 1890:
The Great Blizzard of 1890 began. Officially, 20.4 inches
of snow fell here on the 30th and 31st. That's still the all-time
record for the worst snowstorm in St. Louis history.
March 31, 1964:
The seven-month long demonstrations by the Congress of Racial
Equality (CORE) at Jefferson Bank and Trust came to an end.
The first large-scale civil rights protest here forced the
bank to hire five African-American clerical workers. CORE
organized the protests. The bank obtained injunctions against
the protesters and many civil rights leaders were arrested
and sentenced to jail time or fines.
Things
to do
Places to Go,
Things to Do
Spring,
summer and history events to see
There are some
neat historical events to see in March. But, it isn't too
early to plan for spring and summer activities. Also check
out summer camp registrations.
Each month, Young
Saint Louis.com gives advance notice of local activities
that would be fun for kids and their families to attend. Some
are events for March, Others will be farther in the future
but need registration in March.
The events:
Kids
get free money at 3-Flags ceremony
The 200th anniversary
reenactment of the famous 3-Flags ceremony is scheduled for
St. Louis March 9-14. One special thing for kids is the U.S.
Mint giving away new Louisiana Purchase nickels.
The original 3-Flags
ceremony in 1804 was when Spain deeded territory to France
and France re-deeded Louisiana Purchase land to the United
States. All that happened in two days on the St. Louis riverfront
some 200 years ago.
The actual flag
reenactment ceremony is scheduled for the Gateway Arch on
Sunday, March 14.
Just before the
Sunday ceremony, the U.S. Mint is giving away new nickels
to all kids 12 and under. Adults and collectors have to pay
for their newly-minted coins.
The 3-Flags festivities
are actually a six-day event, March 9-14, with events at several
locations.
Others of special
interest to kids include the Tent of Many Voices and a special
original ArtCorps sculpture. The Tent of Many Voices has special
storytelling. Two artists will be on hand to install the unique
sculpture.
Both of those
events are to be held near The Muny in Forest Park.
For a complete
listing of 3-Flags events and how to attend, go to: www.umsl.edu/~loupurch/3flags.html.
Battle
of Military Miniatures
On that same March
weekend, the St. Louis Parks Department will host the games
event call the Battle of Military Miniatures at Jefferson
Barracks Park.
The Big Muddy
Historic Gaming Alliance uses hundreds of military miniatures
to show strategy for past military battles. The battles include
the Persians vs. Spartans, Grant vs. Lee in the Civil War
and the British vs. Germany in the African desert during WWII.
For details on
this and other park events in March go to
www.stlouisco.com/parks.
Art
of the Osage Indians
The St. Louis
Art Museum is opening a big exhibit of art of the Osage Indians
on March 11.
The Osage figured
prominently in the Lewis&Clark Journey of Discovery. The
Art Museum has launched its exhibition as a part of St. Louis'
200th anniversary of that journey from St. Louis to the Pacific.
For more information,
see the museum's website at www.slam.org.
Getting
ready for the birds of spring, summer
The Missouri Department
of Conservation has some classes to help you get ready for
birdwatching in the spring and summer. Also, there's a class
to help you bring the birds to your yard.
At the Rockwoods
Reservation, there are two bird classes especially for elementary-age
kids and families. On March 22, kids ages 7 to 10 are invited
to a Birds of a Feather class to help you spot migratory birds
coming back to Missouri.
Then, on March
26, there's a Beginning Birds class for families. You'll learn
the basics of bird identification and get some practice finding
birds with binoculars.
For information
and registration, call (636) 458-2236.
At the Busch Conservation
Area, there's a Summer of Song class on March 13. This will
help you make a garden and trim your deck to invite one of
Missouri's greatest songsters, the house wren.
There's also lessons
in building houses to attract the wrens.
For information
and reservations, call (636) 441-4554.
New
reservation opportunities for campgrounds
The Missouri Department
of Natural Resources has plans to expand its reservation system
in Missouri state parks this summer.
Last year was
the first time you could make reservations in state parks
and campgrounds. A total of 2,000 campsites in 24 state parks
were opened.
This year, 350
more sites in 10 state parks and historic sites have been
added.
For a list of
the parks and how to make reservations, see
www.mostateparks.com. For reservations, you can
call 1-877-422-6766.
Gifted
Resource Council's Summer Academies
It's not too early
to make reservations for the Gifted Resource Council's 2004
Summer Academies. The academies are scheduled for June and
July.
Because the academies
fill up quickly, now would be a good time to call for information
and make reservations. The number is (314) 962-5920.
The academies
which help kids improve their knowledge and creativity are
on various subjects. For elementary and middle school kids,
there the Ancient Academy and Space Academy.
There's also a
Advanced Space Academy, which includes a trip to Chicago.
There, the kids will go to the Adler Planetarium and the Astronomy
Museum.
For information,
see the GRC's website at www.cybam.com/grc.
Math
Puzzler
Algebra,
educated guesses for March Puzzlers
Mr. Math Puzzler
has come up with March questions that involve finding answers
with simple algebra and educated guesses. They should be somewhat
easier.
That should make
it possible to figure the answers without detailed calculations.
Mr. Math Puzzler
is Wayne Hesse, a math teacher at Green Park Lutheran School.
He comes up with six Math Puzzlers each month to help you
have fun with unusual math questions.
He has been helping
Young Saint Louis.com with this extra-curricular math
fun since September, 2001.
That means he's
created questions and answers to over 175 Puzzlers.
If you're ever
asked to provide a fun exercise for a games party, you could
come up with plenty of brain-teasers. You could just go to
the Past Stories tab on the home page and print out
as many Puzzlers as you'd need.
And even better,
you don't have to think up the answers. You can print out
answers just by moving ahead one month. The answers always
are published the month after the questions are asked.
Those past issues
also can help you figure out answers to new Math Puzzlers.
The past questions and answers helps you figure out how Mr.
Math Puzzler thinks.
Remember, first-time
entrants to the Math Puzzlers very seldom win. But, after
you study past questions and answers, you'll be better able
to answer the new questions.
For instance,
to check February questions and answers, just
click here.
A reminder:
These Math Puzzlers can be quite challenging, especially for
younger kids. Remember, we don't mind if you get help from
a parent or older brother or sister. In fact, you might want
to make this a family activity.
Here's how to
enter:
- Print out
the following entry form.
- Fill out your
name, address and telephone number.
- Give your
answers to the six Math Puzzlers.
- Put your completed
entry into a stamped envelope.
- Mail your
entry to:
Math Puzzler Contest
Young Saint Louis.com
231 So. Bemiston Ave., Suite 800
Clayton, MO 63105
- All entries
must be postmarked by the 15th of the month
to be eligible.
-------------Clip
here to make entry-------------
Entry
for March, 2004, Math Puzzler Contest:
Name: ___________________________________
Age: ____
Address: _____________________
School: ______________
City:_____________________,
State:______ ZIP__________
Contact phone
no.(____)____________________
The
Math Puzzlers
(March, 2004)
1. The capacity
of a ferry boat is either 48 children or 36 adults. If 20
children already are on the ferry boat, how many adults still
can get on?
Answer: _______________
2. Name all the
squares with an edge that will touch Square D when the figure
below is cut out and folded into a cube.
Answer: _____________
3. The length
of a rectangle is increased by 10 per cent and its width is
decreased by 20 per cent. What percentage more or less is
the new area compared with the original area?
Answer:
_____________
4. Find all the
two-digit numbers that give a sum of 154 when the original
number and the number obtained by reversing its digits are
added together.
Answer: _____________
5. A ball is dropped
128 feet from the roof of a building. Suppose that with each
bounce, the ball goes up exactly half its previous height.
A man is sitting at his desk on the second floor. How many
times will he see the ball (going up or down) if his eye level
is 15 feet above the ground?
Answer: _____________
6. Laura and Sam
are having lunch. Laura is paying for the lunch, but she has
only $23,92. If she wants to leave a 15 per cent tip, what
is the most she can spend on the lunch for the two of them?
Answer: _____________
The
Hsu brothers win again in February
We may have to
give Eric and Phillip Hsu a permanent trophy in the Math Puzzler
competition. The two brothers from Chesterfield again got
all the Puzzler questions correct in February.
That marked the
third consecutive month the two brothers answered all the
Puzzlers correctly. The two also won in December, 2003, and
January, 2004.
In February, they
were the only two entrants who had the right answers for all
six. Therefore, both get the bonus prize of $10 Border book
certificates.
Under the simple
YSL.com rules, the contestants who get all six answers
correct have their names published the following month. And,
YSL.com also provides gift certificates for up to three
winners.
We had some first-time
entrants in the February Puzzler contest. One of them was
able to answer all but one of the questions correctly.
Mr. Math Puzzler
is Mr. Wayne Hesse from Green Park Lutheran School. He comes
up with a wide assortment of Math Puzzlers each month.
Why don't you
ask some of your friends to enter the fun competition. Maybe
you can make a Math Puzzler party and all try to answer the
March questions correctly.
Before entering,
you might like to look at past questions and answers. You
can do that by going to the Past Stories tab on the
home page. Look up any edition since September, 2001, and
click on to the Math Puzzler answer story.
The article will
give you the questions and detailed answers on how you could
arrive at the correct answer.
Then, you'll be
ready to enter the March competition. To get the March entry
blank and questions, just click here.
Here are the answers
to the February Puzzlers:
February
Math Puzzler answers
1. What fraction
of the numbers from 1 to 1,000 have the digit 7 as at least
one of the digits?
Answer:
271 of 1,000
The Explanation:
Except for the 700s, there are 19 numbers in each 100 which
have the digit 7 as at least one of the digits. Nineteen times
9 is 171. Then, all the numbers in the 700-799 sequence have
a 7. So, 171 plus 100 equals 271 of the 1,000 numbers.
2. How many zeros
are at the end of the whole number 100(!)? (Example, 100 times
99 times 98 times 97 times.... times 2 times 1)
Answer:
24 zeroes
The explanation:
100(!) is read as one hundred factorial. In figuring the number
of zeroes, remember that every time there is a 5x2 there will
be a number ending in zero. So there are 20 multiples of 5
from 1 to 100 (Such as, 5, 10, 15, 20.....100) But, there
are also 4 double multiples of 5. (Such as 25, 50, 75 and
100) So 20 plus 4 is 24.
3. An ice cream
store advertises 31 flavors of ice cream. How many different
double-decker cone combinations are possible if both flavors
have to be different? (It doesn't matter which flavor is on
top or on the bottom.)
Answer:
465
The explanation:
This is a matter of determining math permutations. You want
to know how many combinations of 31 flavors that are taken
two at a time. The answer is 31 times 30 equals 930 and then
divided by two or 465.
4. What is the
ones digit of 71998?
Answer:
9
The explanation:
You don't need to go through the entire sequence 1,998 times.
Rather, set up a chart and look for patterns that develop
as you go along. For instance,
7
to the first = 7
7 to the second = 49
7 to the third = 343
7 to the fourth = 2,401
7 to the fifth = 16,807
7 to the sixth = 117,649
7 to the seventh = 823,543
7 to the eighth = 5,764,801
Right away,
you see there is a pattern of having the ones digit show up
as a recurring 4-number sequence of 7, 9, 3, 1. Then, in going
to the 1998th power, you will run through that sequence 499
and 1/2 times. The number nine is the second in the four-number
pattern. Therefore, the ones digit at 7 to the 1998 power
will be 9.
5. One news carrier
can deliver 75 newspapers in 2 hours. How many papers can
4 carriers deliver in 4 hours?
Answer:
600 papers
The explanation:
Mr. Math Puzzler likes to figure these answers by using a
chart:
|
Carriers
|
Papers
|
Hours
|
|
1
|
75
|
2
|
|
4
|
300
|
2
|
|
4
|
600
|
4
|
6. How many rectangles
can you find in the grid shown? (Hint: Remember a square
is a special kind of rectangle.)
Answer:
60 rectangles
The explanation:
This is another that lends itself to a chart form so you can
keep track of the number of various sized rectangles.
|
1x1
size: 12
|
1x2
size: 17
|
2x3
size: 7
|
|
2x2
size: 6
|
1x3
size: 10
|
2x4
size: 2
|
|
3x3
size: 2
|
1x4
size: 3
|
2x4
size: 1
|
|
--
20
|
--
30
|
--
10
for total of 60
|
Fun
& Games
Fun
& Games
Trivia - U.S.
Wars and Generals
When you're
done, click here for the answers.
- Who was the
commanding general of the colonial army in the Revolutionary
war?
- In the War
of 1812, who was the general who led American fighters at
the Battle of New Orleans?
- What Mexican
general defeated the Texans at the Alamo only to lose later
to Texas forces led by Sam Houston?
- At the end
of the Civil War, what confederate general surrendered the
army of the southern states at Appomattox Court House?
- Who was the
commanding general of the Union Army at the end of the Civil
War?
- What Civil
War general, now buried in St. Louis, led Northern troops
in the famous "March through Georgia"?
- Who was the
commanding general of the allied army in Europe at the end
of World War II?
- What controversial
American general was commander of U.S. forces in the Pacific
at the end of World War II?
- What colorful
World War II general made his name by leading American armored
forces to victories in North African early in the war and
then went on to later lead fast-moving forces into Germany?
- Name a huge
automobile manufacturing company and a large maker of breakfast
cereals that both have "general" in their names.
Crossword Puzzles
When you have
completed the puzzles, you can click
here to find the answers!
Young
Saint Louis.com #1
| Across |
Down |
1. exceptionally
large
3. added structures
5. side of circle
6. study of past sites
7. specialized workers
8. strongly built
9. play past figures |
2. explanatory
4. built by Egyptians |
Young
Saint Louis.com #2
| Across |
Down |
3. purposeful
group
4. personal perspective
6. staying on task
7. surroundings related
9. individual parts
10. means of transportation |
1. comes
before
2. changes
5. star related
8. from a distance |
Young
Saint Louis.com #3
| Across |
Down |
1. ordinary,
usual
4. a meeting w. purpose
7. thinking machine
8. get in the way
11. sensitivity to
12. purposeful building |
2. take part
in
3. a long run
5. close to city
6. gives chance to win
9. exercise machine
10. reach out |
Young
Saint Louis.com #4
| Across |
Down |
1. a picture
3. fills prescriptions
7. group of singers
9. all nations involved
10. depicted humorously |
2. recovery
from injury
4. past generations
5. unusual, odd
6. the category
8. the one before |
Saint Louis Zoo Visit
| Across |
Down |
2. look like
gators
5. eat lots of fish
6. always carry a trunk
10. kids' favorite ride
11. have long necks |
1. include
snakes
2. run really fast
3. humps on back
4. has huge mouth
7. fierce, with stripes
8. fly inside and out
9. white if polar |
Jokes
Let's start
with some dumb riddles
Why wouldn't they
let the butterfly into the dance?
Because it was a mothball!
What do you call
a hippy's wife?
Mississippi!
What's round
and bad-tempered?
A vicious circle!
What do you call
a wicked old woman who lives by the sea?
A sand-witch!
If your clothes
are stolen, what do you go home in?
The dark!
Why do elephants
never forget?
Because nobody ever tells them
anything!
Why don't bats
live alone?
Because they like hanging around
with their friends!
Why did King
Kong climb the Empire State Building?
Because he wouldn't fit in
the elevator!
What has one
foot and four legs?
A bed!
More bumper
stickers
- I soupport
publik edyukashun
- So many pedestrians…so
little time
- I took an IQ
test and the results are negative
- I'm in shape…round
is a shape isn't it?
- MONEY TALKS…but
all mine ever says is GOOD BYE
- Support Search
and Rescue - Get lost!
- Keep honking…I'm
deaf!
- Why is "abbreviation"
such a long word?
A big finish
with our usual knock knocks
Knock, knock.
Who's there?
Luke.
Luke who?
Luke through the keyhole and find out!
Knock, Knock.
Who's there?
Figs.
Figs who?
Figs the doorbell and I won't have to knock!
Knock, knock.
Who's there?
Repeat.
Repeat who?
Who…who…who!
Answers
to Fun & Games
Trivia - U.S.
Wars and Generals
- George Washington
- Andrew Jackson
- Santa Anna
- Robert E.
Lee
- Ulysses S.
Grant
- William Tecumseh
Sherman
- Dwight Eisenhower
- Douglas MacArthur
- George S.
Patton
- General Motors
and General Mills
Crossword Puzzles
Note that the
words used in Young Saint Louis.com crossword
puzzles are all taken from the articles appearing in this
months issue.
Young
Saint Louis.com #1
| Across |
Down |
1. exceptionally
large
3. added structures
5. side of circle
6. study of past sites
7. specialized workers
8. strongly built
9. play past figures |
2. explanatory
4. built by Egyptians |
Young
Saint Louis.com #2
| Across |
Down |
3. purposeful
group
4. personal perspective
6. staying on task
7. surroundings related
9. individual parts
10. means of transportation |
1. comes
before
2. changes
5. star related
8. from a distance |
Young
Saint Louis.com #3
| Across |
Down |
1. ordinary,
usual
4. a meeting w. purpose
7. thinking machine
8. get in the way
11. sensitivity to
12. purposeful building |
2. take part
in
3. a long run
5. close to city
6. gives chance to win
9. exercise machine
10. reach out |
Young
Saint Louis.com #4
| Across |
Down |
1. a picture
3. fills prescriptions
7. group of singers
9. all nations involved
10. depicted humorously |
2. recovery
from injury
4. past generations
5. unusual, odd
6. the category
8. the one before |
Saint Louis Zoo Visit
| Across |
Down |
2. look like
gators
5. eat lots of fish
6. always carry a trunk
10. kids' favorite ride
11. have long necks |
1. include
snakes
2. run really fast
3. humps on back
4. has huge mouth
7. fierce, with stripes
8. fly inside and out
9. white if polar |
