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Science
Seeking
a $1 million robot prize
At age nine,
Bill Zimmerly got his first book on computer programming.
And, when Warren Williams was a kid, he wanted to learn how
to build everything.
These two St.
Louisans are adults now. And they've pooled their talents
to enter an unusual national competition.
The U.S. Department
of Defense wants inventors to build a totally self-contained
military robot vehicle. It must be able to go 250 miles cross-country
without a driver or even remote control.
And the vehicle
has to complete the Los Angeles-to-Las Vegas route in less
than 10 hours. That's an average of at least 25 miles per
hour over all types of terrain.
The prize is $1
million.
Zimmerly and Williams
are entered as Team Phantasm against such scientific research
powerhouses as Carnegie Mellon University and California Institute
of Technology.
Carnegie Mellon
has a 30-member team and a budget in the millions. The Cal
Tech budget it estimated at $400,000.
Carnegie Mellon's
basic vehicle is a Hummer. The St. Louis team's basic vehicle
is a Kawasaki ATV.
Williams said,
"We have the smallest team and no budget."
But, they believe
their life-long experiences and small-team flexibility let
them compete.
Zimmerly said,
"When I was a 9-year-old, I went to the library and found
a book on computer programming. I've been hooked (on computers)
ever since." At 46, he's now semi-retired after 27 years
as a computer programmer for a variety of companies.
Williams, who
is 38, has been building things most of his life. For a time
it was customized homes. Now, he works at calibrating a wide
variety of measuring devices for companies such as Boeing.
He said, as a
kid, he wanted to build "all aspects of a trip to the
moon."
The two of them
first pooled their skills while Williams was competing in
national and international BattleBot competitions. Those contests
pit robots against each other to see which can disable or
destroy all other entries.
Williams said
he wanted to program his robots with simpler, but more powerful,
software. "My professor at Meramec (Community College)
suggested Bill," Williams said. Zimmerly is an expert
in Forth, a language using fewer lines of instruction than
other software to achieve goals.
About their self-contained
all-terrain vehicle, Zimmerly said the programming is about
80 per cent complete. Williams said the construction is about
60 per cent finished.
In mid-October,
they took delivery of their prototype 2004 Kawasaki Prairie
ATV.
But, when their
vehicle is ready to try the desert course in March, even Kawasaki
won't recognize its machine. For one thing, all the sheet-metal
will be removed. And, there's no need for any seats because
there will be no driver.
Williams said,
"We'll take it down to the frame."
The tires will
be replaced by individualized tank treads. Those are made
by a company, Mattracks, in northwest Minnesota. The three-sided
tank treads are bolted on to the axles just like the runner
wheels.
Then, there's
the "mushroom" canopy that will be over the entire
vehicle. This canopy is divided into four "flower petal"
sections. If the vehicle flips over, these unfold and flip
the vehicle back on its treads. Williams said, the vehicle
is programmed to be "self-righting."
And the vehicle
will be "covered with sensors," Williams added.
With the help
of Zimmerly's super-fast software, this will allow the vehicle
to use its sonar and radar to track at least eight different
targets at one time. Those targets might be big rocks, ditches
or other obstacles in the vehicle's path.
The sonar/radar
waves let the vehicle "see" like a bat, that uses
sound-waves to fly at night. These messages then tell the
vehicle's computers to steer around trouble.
One criticism
of regular ATVs is that they can be unstable and tip over
on rough ground. But, Team Phantasm's vehicle--with no rider
sitting tall in the seat--will have a "very low center-of-gravity,"
adding stability.
And the "mushroom"
canopy will be there to turn it right-side-up if there is
a mishap.
The vehicle will
use a gasoline engine but also will have battery power. There
are super-efficient solar panels to recharge batteries.
By using simpler
Forth programming, the team feels it will be able to pack
more instructions into the computer navigation system. Navigation
will use a Global Positioning System to double-check location
against detailed surface maps stored in the vehicle's computer.
These are the latest digital maps from the U.S. Geological
Survey.
Team Phantasm
wants to begin testing its machine by the end of December.
One sponsor has donated use of 5 acres of land in south St.
Louis County for preliminary testing.
The national competition
starts in California in early March.
(Young Saint
Louis.com will follow progress of the robot competition.
Also, if you'd like more information about the St. Louis team's
efforts, see its website at:
www.iidbs.com/phantasm.zkb.)
Books
Special
focus on Lewis&Clark books
Young Saint
Louis.com is planning monthly features on the historic
Lewis&Clark Corps of Discovery. This month, we focus on
reviews of books written especially for kids.
The November Lewis&Clark
review below is of Charles Bohner's book, "Bold Journey."
This preview also will point out other books reviewed in past
YSL.com editions.
For instance,
in October, 2003, a review told of the trip through the eyes
of Sacajawea. An Indian, she was the only woman on the Lewis&Clark
exploration. To re-read the review of Scott O'Dell's book,
"Streams to the River; Streams to the Sea", click
here.
Back in February,
2001, author Roland Smith's book, "The Captain's Dog,"
was reviewed. This told about the Lewis&Clark trip through
the eyes of Seaman, Lewis' Newfoundland dog. For that review,
click here.
Then, way back
in October, 2000, YSL.com reviewed the book, "Lewis
and Clark for Kids." That book was a serious description
of written material and maps used by the explorers. The book
also included 21 hands-on projects that kids could do.
That book is a
good resource book for kids in middle grades who are studying
Lewis and Clark. There also are good ideas for parents and
teachers in the book. To read that review,
click here.
Remember, YSL.com
book reviews are linked directly to the Amazon.com
website. That way, you and your parents can order any of the
books directly from the YSL.com website. All books
reviewed on this website have similar links to Amazon.com
to make it easy to buy the books you like.
An
eighteen-year-old goes west
with Lewis and Clark
Hugh McNeal was
a new recruit in the army. He spent most of his young life
helping his father build riverboats. His father didn't like
Hugh's disinterest in the work, so he told Hugh to join the
army. In his first six months after enlisting, all Hugh experienced
was boredom and homesickness. When an army captain shows up
on the river near where Hugh was stationed, Hugh can't resist
telling him how poorly his keelboat is constructed. It turns
out that the captain was Merewether Lewis. Lewis needed men
with boating experience to go on an expedition with him to
reach the Pacific Ocean.
Hugh joins the
group along with another soldier from his post. They are promised
land of their own as a reward if they make the trip and come
back alive. Soon Captain Lewis is joined by his friend Captain
William Clark. The two are quite different from each other.
Lewis is slim, serious, and moody. Clark is a larger man,
a red head with a sense of humor and boundless energy. Hugh
had started off on the wrong foot by criticizing the keelboat
that Captain Lewis had designed, so he found that Lewis was
especially hard on him.
Young as he was,
though, because of his ability to make repairs to the boats
and keep them sailable on the river, Private Hugh McNeal became
a valued member of the Corps of Discovery. Early in the expedition,
Hugh wondered often whether he had made the right decision.
The work was much harder than he had expected. The stories
of how cruel the Indians could be to their captives was very
frightening. But Hugh found that the men were formed into
a well-disciplined group of soldiers. Under the leadership
of the two Captains, Hugh believed the band of soldiers could
survive any hardship they met. They started the long journey
up the Missouri River after spending the winter near St. Louis.
Hugh McNeal was
a real live person. Records show that he was one of the members
of the Corps of Discovery. Charles Bohner, author of "Bold
Journey," fills in details of Hugh's part in the Lewis
and Clark expedition and what happened to him after the great
adventure. Even though most of it is fiction, it helps bring
history to life for us readers.
A
twelve-year -old hustler discovers
there's money in pet funerals
Ernie Castellano
was always trying to make a fast buck. In fact, he thought
of himself as a businessman in a kid's body. His latest enterprise
- selling cheeseburgers in the school cafeteria at lunchtime
- landed him in trouble with the school principal. Ernie's
dad had to leave work and come to school. He was so mad, he
told Ernie one more get-rich scheme and he would be totally
grounded.
When Ernie hit
on the idea of conducting funerals for kids' pets, he had
to be sure his dad didn't find out about it. Keeping his business
a secret from his dad was difficult. After all the business
had to be advertised. Ernie charged fifteen dollars for a
funeral. For that Ernie provided decorated coffins, a funeral
procession, a short sermon over the deceased, and a sympathetic
mourner who could cry on cue. He'd even turned a vacant lot
into a pet cemetery. Even Ernie was amazed at the amount of
cell phone calls he received asking for his funeral services.
Funerals this
elaborate required several employees beyond just Ernie. He
lined up a kid to make an individually designed and decorated
coffin for each deceased pet. Another employee dug the grave.
A girl called "Swimming Pool" was the one who cried
on demand. Ernie was now an employer. As with many successful
businesses, the employees thought they deserved bigger earnings
than what they had been promised to begin with. Ernie saw
his profits being threatened. Things got so bad, Swimming
Pool went on strike.
You can tell by
the cartoon-like figures on the cover of the book that "The
Beloved Dearly" is meant to keep its readers laughing.
Still, silly as the plot might seem, there are some serious
moments as the story unfolds.
Two
eleven-year-old best friends experience
their last summer together in the neighborhood
Margaret wasn't
sure which was tougher - waiting for her friend to move away
or experiencing the loneliness after she had gone. Knowing
that her best friend, Maizon, was going away to a private
school in the fall made the summer difficult for Margaret.
Margaret was the quiet and more reflective one of the pair.
Maizon was more brash and outgoing. Both were smart, but Maizon
was the smartest one in their school.
When Maizon was
given a scholarship to go to an exclusive private girl's school,
Margaret didn't know how she could deal with losing her lifelong
friend. The summer had been an especially hard one for Margaret
because she lost her father to a heart attack. Her mother
not only had to deal with her own grief but had to go to work
in order to support the two of them.
The girls had
promised to write each other regularly. Margaret was shocked
when weeks went by and none of her letters to Maizon was answered.
Margaret had to go on and make her own way now at school,
because Maizon was no longer there to take the lead. After
a surprising phone call from Maizon, both of the girl's lives
take a dramatic turn.
"Last Summer
with Maizon" is a short and quickly read paperback. It's
one that you will go back and think about a lot after you
have read it.
A
story of a young girl, wild mustangs,
and dangerous cougars
Samantha Forster,
or Sam for short, lived near the Calico Mountains in the State
of Nevada. She was a good rider and knew a lot about horses.
Her best friend was Jen Ely. Jen's mother was one of Sam's
teachers at the middle school. Jens' father worked for Linc
Slocum, a wealthy businessman who was buying out ranchers
in the area. Jen had several brothers, and Jake, the youngest,
was noted for being a good animal tracker. Although she wouldn't
admit it, Sam had a crush on Jake. She respected his knowledge
of horses and his concern for other kinds of wild animals.
When the book
begins, the characters are just finding out that a cougar
was roaming around the local ranches. There was concern that
the cougar, or mountain lion, might pose a danger to horses
and even to people in the area. Linc Slocum wanted to get
a license to shoot the cougar and mount its hide on the wall
of his stable. Sam and Jake are upset at Slocum's eagerness
to kill the animal. They wanted to see the cougar driven up
higher in the mountains where it would not be a threat to
the ranchers.
As the story
unfolds, Sam becomes involved in various adventures with the
wild horses. And, as you might expect, she meets up with the
cougar and her nearly grown cub on several occasions. And
of course, Sam manages to get Jake involved in these encounters,
some of which are life threatening.
"Phantom
Stallion, the Challenger" by Terri Farley is the sixth
volume in the "Phantom Stallion" series. If you
like it, you may want to read some of the others. Perhaps,
if you really like horse stories, you might want to start
with volume 1, "The Wild One," and read them all
in sequence.
Health
Kids'
doctor shares their experience
Teenager Rachel
Arney and other kids listen closely when their doctor tells
them how to cope with cerebral palsy. That's because Dr. Janice
Brunstrom has battled CP all her life, just like them.
Dr. Brunstrom
is a St. Louis Children's Hospital pediatric neurologist and
mother of a 10-year-old. She's living proof that CP kids can
have ambitious life goals.
She doesn't just
tell kids. She often participating right along with them in
therapy sessions.
Recently, Dr.
Brunstrom was down on the gym mats with Rachel and other kids
taking martial arts lessons. Getting lots of physical activity
is some of Dr. Brunstrom's most important advice.
Rachel said, "Dr.
Brunstrom doesn't get pushed around. She shows us how she's
willing to stick up for herself."
That's a very
good lesson for kids who will live with CP all their lives.
Fourteen-year-old
Rachel is an 8th grader at Parkway South Middle School. In
addition to martial arts, she likes to swim and play basketball.
And she has a
plan for her future. "I want to be a veterinarian. I've
grown up around animals. I have two dogs now," she said.
Cerebral palsy
is a chronic but nonprogressive illness that usually affects
movement and posture and can affect brain development. Balance
is often a physical problem for CP kids.
That's where Dr.
Brunstrom's emphasis on sports comes in.
Rachel said her
martial arts training has helped her greatly with balance.
But, she says she likes swimming the best. She swims at a
nearby Y pool.
Ten-year-old Christian
Fletcher also credits his martial arts classes with helping
his balance. He also likes to learn new moves. His favorite
is the "tiger claw." That's a blocking and attack
move aimed at an opponent's face.
The fourth grader
at Marvin Elementary School is also planning on a veterinary
career. "That way, I can help animals get better,"
he said.
When 15-year-old
Tiffany Eickhoff was asked if Dr. Brunstrom's own CP experience
helps get her message across, she said, "Oh yes, a lot."
The Oakville High
School sophomore said, "(Dr. Brunstrom) doesn't like
the word can't. She says you have to try."
Although Tiffany
still uses a cane, she said sports have improved her balance
"a lot." It's helped with her upper body strength.
She's added basketball and swimming.
She said she's
been seeing Dr. Brunstrom for a little over a year. "I
began after I started feeling sorry for myself." She
said the doctor's example has helped with her mental state.
"Dr. Jan
has inspired me to become a doctor. She's like my mentor,"
Tiffany said.
Teenager Tori
Haar comes all the way from Breeze, Ill., to be in Dr. Brunstrom's
program. "She's taught me I can do anything if I set
my mind to it," she said.
One of the lessons
for Tori was: "She knows how it hurts if people make
fun of you. I want to be a doctor so I can work with little
kids with CP."
Dr. Brunstrom's
personal background provides a good object lesson for her
patients. She was born three months premature and weighed
just three pounds. Her cerebral palsy crippled her legs. And
her parents were told she might be mentally retarded.
Instead, she's
been through college, medical school and advanced training
in pediatrics and pediatric neurology. She heads the world's
most comprehensive center for CP kids.
"I have an
inherent stubborn streak and I have a guardian angel. God
gave me a drive and my parents fought for me," she said.
Her therapy emphasis
on sports is exactly opposite to her doctors' advice when
she was young. "I was summarily dismissed from sports.
My therapist was against them," she said.
"Now, I get
my hands on every sport I can," she said. Those sports
have stretched to include ballroom dancing. She added, "I'm
my own experimenter."
And she tells
her sports instructors not to be easy with the kids. Those
are her instructions for instructors from Gateway Defensive
Systems, who teach the martial arts.
Her most important
personal lesson? She said, "I'm okay the way I am. I
don't have to worry about disability."
That's the lesson
she wants all her CP patients to learn also.
Money
Kids
learn about stock market risks
Twelve-year-old
Katherine Greenberg doesn't consider herself much of a risk
taker. The Wydown Middle School sixth-grader said, "I
like my money too much."
But, she and other
math kids are in the midst of a study of stock-market investing.
The goal is to see which team can earn the best return on
a make-believe $100,000 investment.
In early October,
the kids in Ms. Suellen Slais' math class took a "stock
market IQ" quiz. Economics teacher Barbara Flowers of
the University of Missouri-St. Louis asked the kids to answer
15 true-or-false questions about investing and the stock market.
Katherine's team
tied for first in the quiz, which was given over a closed-circuit
video. Some quiz items were easy. For instance, Question 1:
"Stocks are items found in the storeroom of a grocery
store."
Others were tougher.
Question 15: "When the stock market goes up, it causes
the economy to grow."
Flowers' said
the answer to Question 15 was false. She said, "The stock
market doesn't make the economy go up or down. The economy
moves the stock market."
Many of the Wydown
kids have money deposited in bank savings accounts. But, not
many own stocks or have an investment plan.
Eleven-year-old
Peter Brody said he hopes to find out "how people succeed
and how people fail in the stock market."
Asked about his
willingness to take risks, Peter said, "Some risks I'll
take but most of the time I won't." He said one example
of a personal risk-taking involved his making friends with
someone other kids didn't like.
He said, "Other
people told me that the kid was weird. But, I took a chance
and he turned out to be a good friend."
Peter said his
parents have purchased a mutual fund to help pay for his college
education. He also has a bank savings account, where gifts
of money are deposited. But, he doesn't have a stock investment
plan.
Twelve-year-old
Alex Harper said he takes risks when he goes to his saxophone
lessons without having practiced. He said, unfortunately,
his music teacher is very good at catching on that he hasn't
practiced.
"Then, I
have to not only practice that lesson but also practice the
new lesson," he said.
Eleven-year-old
Ellen Archie said she does have a savings account but no stock
investment plan. "But, my Mom and Dad buy and sell stocks,"
she said. Ellen added she thought those investments were mostly
in media stocks.
Eleven-year-old
Shelby Sternberg said she thought she was more likely to take
risks when she was on her own. "I imagine when I'm in
the investment club, I'll be more conservative," she
said.
After the introduction,
the kids were given three weeks to study up on the stock market.
Then, they had to make decisions on which stocks to put in
their portfolio.
After the make-believer
purchases, they were to watch how the stocks did in the stock
market. (The Missouri Council of Economic Education (MCEE)
tabulates the scores of kid teams across Missouri. The visit
that website, log on to: www.umkc.edu/mcee)
On December 9,
the kids are to meet again with UMSL economics teacher Flowers.
They'll report how their $l00,000 investment fared, depending
on the market fluctuations.
Ms. Flowers told
the kids, "Look for products you know and all your friends
like and buy." Then, she said consider the stock of companies
that make popular products.
Ellen Archie said
she'd probably recommend companies that "make teenagers'
clothing because they like to buy that sort of stuff."
She said she isn't very clothes conscious "but many others
are."
Shelby Sternberg
is another who will recommend "clothing stores that are
real popular."
Peter Brody said
he'd probably recommend retail stocks such as Wal-Mart and
Target. But, he said he's definitely against company involved
with airplanes. "The airplane industry is doing terrible,"
he said.
Alex Harper said
he likes computer industry stocks like Microsoft.
One of the questions
in the Stock Market IQ quiz asked them to decide, true or
false, whether "Buying stocks is a sure way to make money."
The answer: False.
The Wydown kids
will have a better idea of what that means when they report
their own investment results. (Young Saint Louis.com
will give you an update on their results.)
Lifestyle
Helicopter
kicks off Red Ribbon Days
Crestview Middle
School's Red Ribbon Week anti-drug theme was "Make a
Louder Noise." What better way to create unusual noise
than have a military helicopter drop in on a school rally.
That's just what
the school's TREND chapter arranged on Thursday, Oct. 16.
The Missouri National Guard helicopter certainly was an attention-getter
for kickoff of the school's annual anti-drug campaign.
The school's band
and chamber chorus started the rally. Then, the two-man helicopter
dropped out of the sky with its engine and rotors creating
lots of noise. After the rotors stopped turning, kids got
a chance for an up-close view of the helicopter.
The helicopter
rally was a unique added feature of this year's Red Ribbon
Days at Crestview. The school also had more traditional activities
during Red Ribbon Week October 20-24.
Each day, there
were different activities to emphasize the drive to avoid
drugs, alcohol and smoking. Members of the TREND chapter also
distributed special pledge forms during lunch hours. Kids
were asked to sign the forms as a way to promise to stay drug-free.
Also, home-made
posters and ribbons were posted throughout the school.
For eighth-graders
Kim Gallagher and Hannah Hamby, this is their second year
as TREND chapter members. There are about 15 chapter members
from three grades at Crestview.
About her chapter
membership, 13-year-old Kim said, "I like to be a trend-setter."
The members did all the planning for this year's Red Ribbon
Week activities. The activities included special "dress-up
days," when kids dream up unique costumes to wear to
school.
In addition, there
were special presentations every day of the week. For instance,
seventh graders head American Lung Assn. representatives talk
about the dangers of smoking.
The TREND chapter
members are active at other times of the year also. Many activities
center around school fund-raisers. The chapter members have
participated in canned food collections to help area food
kitchens.
Thirteen-year-old
Hannah said the chapter also sponsored a Heifer Project fund-raiser.
That raised money to purchase a young cow that was sent to
a farm family in a third-world country. She said the group
also sponsored a clothing drive.
As a sixth grader,
11-year-old Christina O'Keefe is in her first year in the
TREND chapter at Crestview. The west St. Louis County school
is for sixth, seventh and eighth graders.
Christina said
her favorite activity leading to Red Ribbon Week was making
posters. But, she added the TREND chapter membership is a
good way to make friends. "I like working with other
kids," she said.
She also likes
to circulate the Red Ribbon message that "drugs are bad
for you and can mess up your life."
Eleven-year-old
Karen Saettele is another first-year chapter member. She said
her elementary school had Red Ribbon Week but she said she
also received anti-drug messages at her church.
She said she attends
St. Louis Family Church. Karen said, "Our pastor admitted
he had done drugs when he was younger. Now, he talks to us
about not doing them."
Eleven-year-old
Samantha Laiderman is another first-time TREND chapter member.
She said her elementary school also celebrated Red Ribbon
Week but didn't have a student chapter organization.
She said she likes
the idea that the chapter members "got to plan what to
do during the Red Ribbon Week." She added, "I like
to be on the inside."
Samantha said
her parents "like that I get to do something after school."
She added, "That makes them happy."
One of the other
Red Ribbon Days activities available for kids are "lock-ins."
These are overnight events where anti-drug messages are mixed
with fun activities. For instance, in October, a number of
the Crestview kids took part in a lock-in at The Pointe. That's
a recreational complex in Ballwin that has everything from
basketball courts to a running track and a large swimming
facility.
Teacher Susan
Harms is the TREND chapter coordinator at Crestview.
Concerning the
helicopter appearance, she said, "We thought the noisy
helicopter would fit right into our theme, 'Make a Louder
Noise.'" It turned out that it did and the kids had a
good time inspecting the military aircraft, which was piloted
by two Army pilots.
Sports
Looking
for faster times in Read, Right, Run
Nine-year-old
Andrew Wilhite and 11-year-old Eli Clampett already have run
better times for a mile than last year. But, as yet, 11-year-old
Kevin Brotherton hasn't.
They are among
about 50 St. Luke the Evangelist School kids entered in the
Read, Right & Run program. The 26-week fun activity is
sponsored by the Spirit of St. Louis Marathon.
The program ends
next spring with a four-day Family Fitness Weekend April 1-4,
2004. Other weekend highlights will be two major 26.2-mile
adult marathon runs.
Saturday, April
3, St. Louis hosts the 2004 Women's U.S. Olympic Team Marathon
Trials. Sunday, April 4, the Spirit of St. Louis Marathon
will be held.
In last spring's
fitness weekend, Read, Right & Run kids ran their final
miles in a downpour of rain. Despite that, St. Luke School
has signed up more kids for this year.
Teacher Carolyn
Landwehr is the school's coordinator for Read, Right &
Run. She said, "Last year, the kids really enjoyed it.
I felt I needed to do the program again this year."
Actually, Read,
Right & Run is more than just running.
Kids are challenged
to read 26 books, run 26.2 miles and do at least 26 acts of
kindness.
(If you or
your class would like to take part in Read, Right & Run,
there's still time to enroll. For information, see the Spirit
of St. Louis Marathon website at www.stlouismarathon.com
or call the office at (314) 727-0800.)
Last year, Andrew
Wilhite said his best time for a mile was 9 minutes, 47 seconds.
But, by mid-October this year, the fourth-grader already had
posted a time of 8 minutes, 2 seconds. He's hoping he can
get under 8 minutes before next spring.
He said his favorite
RR&R activity is "trying to beat my times for the
mile."
Sixth grader Eli
Clampett said his best time last year was 8:32. He's already
gotten that down to 8:10 this year. He said the farthest he's
run at any one time is two miles. He likes to run around the
neighborhood with his older brother, Seth.
Fifth-grader Kevin
Brotherton's best time last year was 8:31. But, he admits
he hasn't been able to beat that time so far this year. Kevin
said he sometimes runs in his neighborhood with his dad.
Most of the St.
Luke kids know their exact times because they do their RR&R
running during gym class. Their gym teacher times each of
their mile efforts. These are listed on the Read, Right &
Run record sheets each student compiles.
The record also
is used to list each book they read and each good deed they
do.
Nine-year-old
Lauren Baxter is another of the St. Luke kids who's entered
again this year. Although she likes the running, the third-grader
said she likes the reading part the best.
She said she had
fun running during the final weekend last spring. "But,
I would have had more fun if it hadn't been raining,"
Lauren said.
Third-grader Lauren
said she's already read several books for the RR&R program.
She said her favorite book is "Herbie Jones." That's
one of a kid's book series and she plans to read more of them.
Six-year-old Mikailla
Northern is one of the younger kids who had experience in
last year's RR&R. Teacher Landwehr said, "Mikailla
and I ran hand in hand in the rain last spring."
The little girl
also stayed around while her mother, Kim Fuhr, competed in
last year's Spirit of St. Louis Marathon.
Mikailla said
she also likes to read. "I read a lot to my mom,"
she said. One of this year's books was titled, "How Many
Dragons Behind the Door?"
Even before reading,
she knew the answer to the title: 12 dragons. "I looked
in the back of the book and counted them," she said.
The kids do a
wide variety of good deeds.
Lauren Baxter
said her best deed was "cleaning my mom's car without
her asking me."
Andrew Wilhite
said his favorite was the time he helped his grandmother take
care of his two-year-old cousin. "She was having a tough
time so I took care of him so she'd get a rest," he said.
"I played blocks with him and made him laugh a lot,"
he added.
Kevin Brotherton
said he's done good deeds in school and home. "I helped
the teacher by cleaning the boards," he said. At home,
he and his sister, Abby, baby-sat a young cousin.
One of Eli Clampett's
good deeds involved collecting waste paper and bringing it
to school for recycling. Older kids at St. Luke do good deeds
for an older resident who lives alone in the neighborhood.
Museum
Kids
visit Great Rivers Museum
Twelve-year-old
Steve Austin last month got a chance to be a "virtual"
river barge operator. He also saw how a real Mississippi River
lock and dam works.
The Glencoe, Mo.,
kid was in a school group that visited the new National Great
Rivers Museum in East Alton, Ill. It's right next to the giant
Melvin Price Locks and Dam that spans the Mississippi.
The new museum's
grand opening was October 15. It's filled with interactive
displays. One lets kids experience what it's like to be a
towboat operator trying to fit a bunch of big barges into
the locks.
After the virtual
reality experience, kids can go outside for a tour of the
real locks and dam. If they're lucky, they can watch a real
skipper fit full-sized barges in the locks.
Steve said, "I
like the museum's interactive parts. They explain a lot about
the river."
About the real
locks and dam, the seventh-grader said, "I thought it
might be smaller but it turned out to be larger." The
visit was Steve's first to the Melvin Price locks and dam.
The bigger of
two locks can handle a towboat and up to 15 barges at one
time. Once inside, the towboat and barges are lifted 20 feet
or more so they can proceed up or down the Mississippi River.
In the upper
reaches of the Mississippi River, the U.S. Corps of Engineers
maintains a series of 29 locks and dams. Without the locks
and dams, it would be impossible for big boats and barges
to get up and down the river.
The locks and
dams create "slack water" pools to keep the river
deep enough for travel. There's a fall of nearly 500 feet
in the Mississippi from St. Paul, Minn., and St. Louis.
Sisters Veronica
and Elaina Hoppe of Eureka, Mo., have been on the Mississippi
River before. But, this was their first visit to the museum
and the locks and dam.
Eleven-year-old
Elaina enjoyed the chance to go atop the locks and dam and
look down. "It was bigger and higher than I had thought,"
the sixth-grader said.
Thirteen-year-old
Veronica said she liked the chance to see different water
levels. "I could see two bodies of water next to each
other. One was up and the other down," she said.
The girls have
been on rivers lots of times. Their family lives near the
confluence of the Big and Meramec rivers at Eureka and have
taken lots of float trips. They had been to the Mississippi
to watch the eagles.
The Melvin Price
Locks and Dam is a popular place for eagle watching in the
winter. That's because the river current going through the
dam keeps the water from freezing.
Their tour guide
said, "The fish get dazed going through the dam. That
makes them easy for the eagles to catch."
Eight-year-old
Kayla Rico of O'Fallon, Mo., was one of the younger school
kids taking the tour of the museum and locks and dam.
Her favorite part
was going to the top of the locks and dam. She climbed on
the railing and looked down into the river. The walkway on
the locks is 80 feet above the river.
Kayla said she's
a good swimmer but she's sure the Mississippi River current
would be too much for her.
The new museum
explains a lot about the history of the Mississippi River
and the importance of river traffic. St. Louis is the second
biggest port on the Mississippi, second only to New Orleans.
Before the railroads
and paved highways came, river boats carried lots of passengers.
Now, the Mississippi
is used to transport lots of grain, coal, fertilizer and other
bulk goods. Seventy million tons of bulk commodities go through
the Alton facility every year.
If you like rivers
and history, the National Great Rivers Museum is a good place
to go.
The museum is
open seven days a week, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. There are guided
tours of the locks and dam three times a day.
There's a good
chance you'll be able to see how the locks work.
To learn more,
check the Corps of Engineers website at www.mvs.usace.army.mil.
Then click on Recreation tab, then River Project
Region, then Museum.
Also, you can
learn about other recreation opportunities near the locks
and dam. On the website's Recreation layer, click on
Recreation Sites for more than a dozen fun sites.
Or you can call
(636) 899-2600 for information or for advance
tour registration.
Profile
Sixth in a
series
Kid
prepares to excel in lots of areas
Thirteen-year-old
Ryan Nikodem wants to excel in lots of things. And he's willing
to expend extra preparation effort to reach his goals.
One future goal
for the 8th grader is to be a major contributor on the Chaminade
High School soccer team.
Another is to
volunteer for a variety of community activities that help
both young and old.
And, that's all
while continuing to earn good grades.
Ryan is in Chaminade's
middle school classes this year. He's making extra preparations
now so he'll be ready for the challenges of high school and
college.
This willingness
to prepare even extends to his baby-sitting. He said he looks
after younger kids nearly every weekend.
To be ready, Ryan
completed a class to become a certified baby-sitter. Then,
he followed that up with CPR classes. "I wanted to be
better prepared," he said.
This willingness
to prepare for his goals helped him earn a 2003 St. Louis
Young Achiever of the Year award last spring. The annual awards
go four elementary, four middle school and four high school
kids for school and community accomplishments and service.
(Young Saint
Louis.com announced the 2003 Achievers in the May, 2003,
edition. This is the sixth in a series of profiles of the
four elementary and four middle school winners.
(To read the
May announcement story, click
here. For the June profile of Kristen Delia, click
here. For the July profile of Meghan Biotnott, click
here. For the August profile of Alexander Ecklund,
click
here, and the September profile of Mark Council, click
here. For Julia Epplin-Zapf's October profile, click
here.)
Another way Ryan
is preparing for the future is investing money from his baby-sitting,
umpiring and gifts in the stock market. With help from dad,
Ryan has begun investing.
"I started
last year and so far I'm ahead of the money I put in,"
he said.
He's been preparing
himself for high school soccer by playing on school and select
teams.
His Scott Gallagher
select soccer team won the Missouri Cup in 2002. His team
finished second in the 2003 competition, losing in the Cup
finals to another Gallagher team.
His team plays
in a league and also travels to tournaments. He's been as
far as Chicago and played last month in a meet in Champaign,
Ill.
A mid-fielder,
Ryan is playing in the 14-and-under division this year. Also,
he plays for his school team in a CYC league.
"We went
undefeated in CYC last year but they wouldn't let us advance
in tournaments. They consider our school team to be a select
team too," he said.
Ryan said he like
playing mid-fielder because he gets to play both offense and
defense.
"Chaminade
has a 9th grade team. Next year, I hope I can play at least
with the 10th grade team, if not the varsity," he said.
To prepare, he
trained a lot in the summer to improve his ball control. He
also has running routes in a couple of the neighborhoods near
home to improve his stamina.
He's stepping
up his volunteer work this year. "I'm going to be going
to a nursing home once a week," he said.
He's already an
altar boy at St. Catherine Laboure Catholic Church. In addition
to helping serve mass, he helps prepare for the Fall Festival
and Book Fair fund-raisers there.
The church has
an elementary school. Ryan went there before going to Chaminade.
Through the church,
he also umpires baseball and volunteers as a referee for soccer
games. He gets paid for umpiring but said, "I just volunteered
for soccer because they needed an extra ref."
At school and
in his neighborhood, he also helps kids with computer problems.
"I've had
a laptop since sixth grade and I've gotten real familiar with
computers. Now, I help other kids install software and printers
and help with normal problems," he said.
Ryan wants to
be a dentist, like his dad, Gerard. About college, he said
he'd like to go to either Creighton University in Omaha, Neb.,
or Notre Dame. His father earned his dental degree from Creighton.
(For more information
on Young Achievers, see the website at www.iln-gateway.org.)
Things
to do
Challenger Center to open,
also trout fishing
The Challenger Learning Center opens this month and will
be a neat place to learn about space travel.
Also, if you like the outdoors in the fall, you can try to
catch trout right near your home.
Those are just a couple of the Places to Go, Things to
Do during the month of November. Each month, Young
Saint Louis.com picks interesting events that help you
learn your community while having fun.
The Challenger Learning Center will open Nov. 17. It's located
on the campus of the new McClure South-Berkeley High School
in north St. Louis County.
The center will be a space education resource for families
throughout the St. Louis metro area.
There will be opportunities for hands-on experience. The
center has simulated space station and mission control rooms.
Tasmyn Front is the director of the new center. She said,
"The center is a fabulous opportunity for kids."
The center will be open for both school groups and for the
general public. You should call (314) 506-9144 for
reservations. To learn more about the center, check its website
at: www.clcstlouis.org.
2003 Winter Trout Program
The 2003-2004 Winter Trout Program will begin in November
in 16 St. Louis area lakes.
The Missouri Department of Conservation doesn't give advance
notice of the exact stocking schedule. That's so no one can
camp out waiting for the stocking trucks to come to their
neighborhood lakes.
But, when the stocking is completed, the MDC posts notice
on a Fish Stocking Hot Line at (636) 300-9651. Also,
you can ask for a St. Louis Area Winter Trout Program brochure
by calling (636) 441-4554.
The brochure lists all of the lakes to be stocked with a
map showing where the lakes are.
Also, YSL.com ran a short article in October, 2003,
with more details and a list of the lakes. To read that article,
click
here.
The MDC has stocked rainbow trout in St. Louis area lakes
during cold weather months since 1989. The stocking this year
will continue through February, 2004.
St. Louis County parks
have indoor ice skating
The indoor skating season opens in St. Louis County parks
on November 1.
Indoor rinks are at three locations:
- In North County at the North County Recreation Complex,
2577 Redman Ave.
- In West County at the Greensfelder Recreation Complex
in Queeny Park.
- In South County at the Kennedy Recreation Complex at
6050 Wells Ave.
There are lots of open skating times. Each complex also has
special skating events during the season, which extends into
March, 2004.
For information, check the Parks Department's website at
www.stlouisco.com/parks. Or you can call each recreational
complex: North County, (314) 355-7374; West County,
(636) 391-0922, or South County, (314) 894-3089.
St. Louis Science Center
events in November
The St. Louis Science Center has a variety of interesting
events during November.
To commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Wright brothers'
first flight, the center has a number of events which would
be fun for kids and their families.
* A new Flight gallery will be installed in the underground
tunnel and lower level of the James S. McDonnell Planetarium.
For up-to-date information on the installation, either call
(314) 289-4444 or visit the center's website at www.slsc.org.
* On Nov. 8, there will be a one-woman performance by Sandra
Campbell. She will portray the life of Bessie Coleman, the
first African-American pilot. The show is at 1 p.m. and free
to the public.
* On Nov. 8-9, there will be an Airplane Roundup, Paper Airplane
Fly-off and Community Science Day. It will be from 9:30 a.m.-4:30
p.m. on Saturday, and 11:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m. on Sunday. Again,
this is free.
* From Nov. 8, 2003-Jan. 4, 2004, Women in Aviation and Commercial
Aviation exhibits will be available at the center. These exhibits
are free.
Then, holiday programming at the center opens in November.
Starting on Nov. 22, "Santa vs. the Snowman" will
be showing at the center's OMNIMAX Theater. This show will
pit a lonely Snowman against Santa in a digital computer animation
film.
St.
Louis History
From Missouri Historical Museum
Veterans Day with a Missouri
angle
Veterans Day is a national holiday. This year's celebration
marks the 50th anniversary of the holiday that celebrates
the nation's veterans.
It's also a good time for St. Louis area kids to learn something
about the country's military history.
The Library of Congress has a neat website that tells about
the country's veterans in their own words and pictures. The
War Stories section provides audio and video-taped
interviews. To view and hear the stories go to www.loc.gov/warstories.
Some of the interviews were donated by professional folklorists.
Those are people who tell stories to audiences. But, many
of them are by ordinary people who knew the veterans they
are recording.
Another website with some interesting material is Infoplease.com.You
can check the Veterans Day material at www.infoplease.com/spot/veteransday.html.
One of the items listed involves a Missourian who wasn't
identified as a casualty of the Vietnam War until 26 years
after his death.
St. Louisan Michael Blassie was shot down near the Cambodian
border in 1972. But, he wasn't identified until 1998 when
DNA testing disclosed his identity. His body was then reburied
in St. Louis.
The U.S. Army has a website which gives a complete history
of Veterans Day. To check out this interesting website go
to www.army.mil/cmh-pg/faq/vetsday/vetshist.htm.
President Woodrow Wilson proclaimed the first holiday as
Armistice Day. That was on Nov. 11, 1919, a year after the
end of World War I.
Armistice Day became Veterans Day in 1954. President Dwight
Eisenhower signed the name-change legislation on June 1.
Air Pollution in St. Louis
November, 1939, marked one of the worst periods of air pollution
ever in St. Louis.
That was one of the by-products of swift population and industrial
growth in the area. In 1900, St. Louis was the fourth largest
city in the whole United States, behind only New York, Philadelphia
and Chicago.
The energy source for much of this growth was soft coal.
And soft coal meant dirty air....lots of dirty air.
For nine days in November, 1939, a blanket of smoke covered
the St. Louis downtown district.
One of those days was labeled Black Tuesday. The air was
so black that city street lights were turned on at midday.
People couldn't even see buildings across the street.
Front page editorials in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch called
for extreme measures to clear the air. Union Electric Co.
agreed to put scrubbers on its power plants.
For information, see the website of the St. Louis Regional
Clean Air Partnership. The address is www.cleanair-stlouis.com.
"Meet Me in St. Louis",
the movie
The old-time favorite movie, "Meet Me in St. Louis,"
was released in November, 1944.
The film tells the story of a year in the life of the Smith
family during the time of the 1904 World's Fair in St. Louis.
The movie might seem sort of corny by today's standards.
But, it gives a picture of a time 100 years ago and it starred
a lot of famous actors and actresses. Judy Garland was in
the lead role.
But, others who had strong movie careers include Margaret
O'Brien, Mary Astor, June Lockhart, Marjorie Main, Leon Ames
and Chill Wills.
The gift shop at the Missouri Historical Museum still has
copies of the film available for sale. You might like to check
out what your grandparents were watching nearly 60 years ago.
From "St. Louis 365"
Local historic footnotes
include first aerial bombing
The first aerial bombardment happened in Southern Illinois
back in November, 1928. That's when one band of crooks tried
to wipe out another group with dynamite bombs.
Another odd-ball November first in the St. Louis area history
included the first radar speeding tickets issued in 1953.
And, as the St. Louis Cardinals failed to reach the playoffs
despite an $83-million payroll, check out this salary note:
Cards pitcher Dizzy Dean was offered only $15,000 for next
season after winning 30 games in 1934.
These are among the 150 items of St. Louis history listed
in the November chapter of "St. Louis 365". That's
a book of historical tidbits by local historian Joe Sonderman.
(This book is available in local book stories or at www.booksonline.com.
Sonderman has given Young Saint Louis.com permission
to quote from his book.)
Here are 10 of the historical entries selected from "St.
Louis 365":
November 1, 1855: Disaster struck as Missourians celebrated
the completion of the Pacific Railroad to Jefferson City.
A special inaugural train carrying dignitaries plunged into
the Gasconade River as a bridge gave way. Thirty-four people
died and 100 were injured. The mayor of St. Louis was seriously
hurt and the president of the City Council was killed.
November 5, 1971: Former Cardinal third baseman and
outfielder Mike Shannon was named as Jack Buck's partner on
the Redbird broadcasts. Shannon's playing career had ended
in 1970, when he learned he suffered from a kidney ailment
during spring training.
November 9, 1968: St. Louis was shaken by a 5.5 earthquake.
Damage was minimal, and only one person was seriously hurt.
A guide told shaken tourists that the Arch "sways all
the time" in order to avoid panic at the top. The quake
was centered 120 miles southwest of St. Louis and was felt
in 23 states.
November 12, 1928: "Ripley's Believe It or Not"
says the first aerial bombing on U.S. soil took place in Southern
Illinois. Members of the Shelton Gang dropped bombs from an
old Curtiss Jenny over the Shady Rest hideout of the Charley
Birger Gang. Most of the dynamite bombs were duds, and no
one was hurt.
November 16, 1818: The birthday of St. Louis University.
The forerunner of SLU, St. Louis Academy, was founded on this
date by Bishop William DuBourg in a private home. It closed
in 1827. But, Bishop Rosati reorganized the school in 1829.
He brought in Jesuits from Florissant to teach. In 1832, the
school received its charter from the state. It was renamed
St. Louis University, the oldest college west of the Mississippi
River.
November 17, 1953: KSD-TV announced plans to bring
color television to St. Louis by the first of the year. General
Manager George Burbach said the station hoped to broadcast
the Rose Parade in color. He admitted that there were probably
only about a half-dozen color sets in St. Louis.
November 18, 1953: Four St. Louisans had the dubious
distinction of being the first speeders here to be nabbed
by radar. The radar unit weighed 40 pounds and was packed
in the trunk of a police car on the side of the road. The
drivers pleaded guilty to exceeding the 40-mile per hour limit
on the Express Highway (U.S. 40) and paid a total of $150
in fines.
November 23, 1934: Dizzy Dean demanded $25,000 to
pitch for the Cardinals in 1935. Owner Sam Breadon was offering
$15,000 to Dizzy and $7,500 to brother Paul. In 1934, Dizzy
won 30 games, while Paul won 19.
November 25, 1820: Governor Alexander McNair signed
a bill making St. Charles the capitol of Missouri upon admission
to the Union. The building at 206 North Main would serve as
the capitol until 1826, when the seat of government was moved
to Jefferson City.
November 29, 1901: The birthday of Monsanto. John
F. Queeny, a moonlighting purchasing agent for the Meyer Brothers
Drug Company, started the Monsanto Chemical Works with $1,500
of his own money and another $30,000 borrowed. The company
was named for his wife, Olga Melendez Monsanto Queeny.
Math
Puzzler
Some
"substitution" Math
Puzzlers for November
Mr. Math Puzzler
has provided some questions for November that involve substituting
numbers for either letters or punctuation marks.
And some of the
Puzzlers can be answered by educated guesses as well as trial
and error.
That should give
you ample opportunity to have fun while getting a "feel"
for math by trying different approaches.
Mr. Wayne Hesse
is our Mr. Math Puzzler. He's an eighth grade math teacher
at Green Park Lutheran School in south St. Louis County.
Of course, he
wants his students to learn math completely. But, he thinks
that the learning can happen easier if the kids have some
fun while they are doing it.
He's brought that
philosophy of fun to Young Saint Louis.com. The Math
Puzzler competition has been on line more than two years.
Maybe you could
suggest to your math teacher that she give you extra credit
if you enter the Puzzler contest.
If any of our
contestants get all six answers correct, we publish their
names in the following month. That's also the time when we
give the explanations for the previous month's questions.
Also, as an added
incentive, we enter all kids who get six right answers into
a drawing for $10 Border's book certificates. Up to three
certificates will be awarded each month.
If you are a first
time entrant, you might like to review past questions and
answers to find out how Mr. Math Puzzler thinks.
Use the Past
Stories tab on the home page. Then pick as many past issues
as you'd like to look at past questions and answers. Be sure
to pick issues that have been published since September, 2001.
The answers to one month's questions are included in the next
month's edition.
(For example,
to see the October, 2003, questions and answers, click
here.)
When you think
you're ready, come back to this story and try your luck.
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 November, 2003, Math Puzzler Contest:
Name: __________________________________
Age: ____
Address: ___________________
School: _______________
City:____________________,
State:_____ ZIP__________
Contact phone
no.(____)____________________
The
Math Puzzlers
(November, 2003)
1. Let us follow
the hour hand and minute hand of a clock for 24 hours. How
many times do the hands form a right angle during that period?
Answer: _______________
2. Add arithmetical
symbols in the spaces between the 4's to make each equation
true. Remember, you may use parentheses also.
4
_ 4 _ 4 _ 4 = 3
4 _ 4 _ 4 _ 4 = 6
4 _ 4 _ 4 _ 4 = 7
4 _ 4 _ 4 _ 4 = 8
4 _ 4 _ 4 _ 4 = 24
4 _ 4 _ 4 _ 4 = 28
4 _ 4 _ 4 _ 4 = 32
4 _ 4 _ 4 _ 4 = 48
Answer: _____________
3. If 73 hens
lay 73 dozen eggs in 73 days and if 37 hens eat 37 kilograms
of grain in 37 days, what weight of grain corresponds to one
dozen eggs?
Answer:
_____________
4. In a certain
town with 100 men, 85 are married, 70 have a telephone, 75
own a car and 80 own a house. What is the least possible number
of men who are married, have a phone, own a car and own their
own house?
Answer: _____________
5. The same two
numbers are added on the left and subtracted on the right.
Each variable represents a different digit. That is, if A
= 3, then B can't = 3. Find all the digits.
X
Y Z X Y Z
+ A B
- A B
------- ------
C D E F
B G A
Answer: _____________
6. Replace each
star (*) with a digit to make the equation true.
***, 4** X 7 = 6,743,*56
Answer: _____________
Mr.
Math Puzzler was too tough in October
The number of
entries was up in the Math Puzzler competition in October.
But, for the first time in awhile, there were no entrants
who got all the answers correct.
That's the first
time in several months that Mr. Math Puzzler has stumped all
the entrants.
For awhile, we
thought Mr. Puzzler had gone soft on his questions. But, in
October, he put in some Puzzlers that required educated guessing
and some ingenuity, rather than just established formulas.
In October, we
also started again to get group entries from individual schools.
That must mean
that some of you have been asking your math teachers to give
some extra credit if you enter the Math Puzzler competition.
Wayne Hesse is
our Mr. Math Puzzler. He's an eighth grade teacher at Green
Park Lutheran School in south St. Louis County.
For years, he's
given his math students extra "fun" questions to
finish after their regular assignments are done. In class,
those puzzles might be actual wooden or metal puzzles or they
might be paragraph problems on paper.
His students can
do those extra puzzles for both fun and extra credit.
That's what the
Young Saint Louis.com Math Puzzlers are all about.
Learning math while having fun. And without the pressure of
getting a formal grade.
Be sure to ask
your math teachers if he or she will give extra credit for
entry in the YSL.com competition. We have new questions
every month.
Each month, we
remind new entrants to check out some previous questions and
answers to learn how Mr. Math Puzzler thinks. The Puzzlers
started over two years ago so you have plenty of examples
of both the questions and the answers.
Just click on
to the Past Stories tab at the top of the homepage.
Pick any month after September, 2001, and you'll have examples
of questions and answers. When you are ready for the November,
2003, questions, click here.
Remember, if you
get all six answers correct, we publish your name next month
along with the November answers.
Also, as an added
incentive, we put all entries with six right answers into
a hat. Then, we draw up to three and award $10 Border's book
certificates to them.
The
October Math Puzzlers answers
1. Two towns are
linked by a railroad. Every hour on the hour a train leaves
each town for the other town. The trains all go at the same
speed and every trip from one town to the other takes five
hours. How many trains are met by one train during a one-way
trip?
Answer:
11 trains
The explanation:
Since the trains are traveling toward each other, one train
will meet another every 30 minutes. There are nine 30-minute
points in a five-hour period. Then, there will be one other
train in the depot when our train leaves and another in the
depot at the destination point. That adds to 11 trains met.
2. Timothy spent
all his money in five stores. In each store, he spent $1 more
than half of what he had when he came in. How much did Timothy
have when he entered the first store?
Answer:
$62
The explanation:
The best way to do this is to start at the end of the sales
spree. To be able to have something to spend in the fifth
store, Timothy would need to have had $3. (That's $2 being
half of the amount from the previous store plus the $1 extra.)
Then, we go backwards. He'd have entered the fourth store
with $6 plus the $1 extra or a total of $7. Using this same
pattern, he'd have had $14 plus $1 or $15 in the third store;
then $30 plus $1 of $31. Double the $31 and he started with
$62.
3. How many ways
can you read POP off the diagram below? Letters must touch
each other horizontally, vertically or diagonally. Any P can
be both the first and letter of a single POP? (Hint: Remember,
you can spell backwards as well as use some back-and-forth
spelling.)
P
P
O P
P
O P O P
P
O P
P
Answer:
64
The explanation:
There is no formula for this. But, starting with the P's on
the four peaks of the figure, you can achieve four POPs each
for a total of 16. Then, you can find 8 POPs with the four
mid-line P's or 32. Then, for the center P, you can find 16
other POPs. That's a total of 64.
4. Which three
digits are represented by X, Y and Z in this sum?
XXXX
YYYY
ZZZZ
-----
YXXXZ
Answer:
X=9, Y=1, Z=8
The explanation:
9
9 9 9
1
1 1 1
8
8 8 8
--------
1
9 9 9 8
5. Consider all
the whole numbers from zero through one billion. What is the
sum of all the digits needed to write down these numbers?
Answer:
40,500,000,001
The explanation:
This is a question that uses a very old formula. The way to
find the number of digits in all those numbers is to add the
digits in a series of lines that starts with the first digit
and the digits in the last number before one billion, which
is 999,999,999.
- That looks
like this:
0 + 9 + 9 + 9 + 9 + 9 + 9 + 9 + 9 + 9 + 9 = 81
- The second
pattern is:
1 + 9 + 9 + 9 + 9 + 9 + 9 + 9 + 9 + 9 + 8 = 81
- Continuing,
you find there are 500,000,000 million pairings, all totaling
81 digits.
- Multiply
500,000,000 by 81 and you get 40,500,000,000.
- But, you
need to add one extra digit to represent the final digit
in one billion, thus the answer of 40,500,000,001.
6. In a stable,
there are men and horses. In all, there are 22 heads and 72
feet. How many men and how many horses are in the stable?
Answer:
8 men, 14 horses
The explanation:
You can set up two formulas to represent the two parts to
this question. We'll use M for men and H for horses.
The "head"
quotation: H x M = 22
The "feet"
quotation: 4H + 2M = 72
Then, multiply
the "head" quotation by -2 so we can eliminate one
portion:
-2 (H + M) = -2 (22) becomes -2H - 2M = -44
Then subtract
the "feet" quotation:
-2H
- 2M = -44
4H + 2M = 72
------- ---
2H =
28
-- --
2 2
H
= 14
If there are
14 horses, there have to be 8 men.
Fun
& Games
Fun
& Games
More TV Trivia
When you're
done, click here for the answers.
- Who does "everybody
love"?
- This old Korean
War sitcom doesn't refer to potatoes.
- After the
football game on Sunday, CBS serves up how many "minutes"?
- The Saturday
morning TV diet is usually _______ for kids.
- Shows that
keep coming back around are called _______.
- The most sought
after item in the family living room/great room is the ______.
- What TV moose
just doesn't seem to ever go away?
- Which old
primetime cartoon gave us a glimpse of a future that has
yet to arrive?
- What is the
least favorite time on PBS for most people?
- What is probably
the most irritating thing about sitcoms?
Crossword Puzzles
When you have
completed the puzzles, you can click
here to find the answers!
Young
Saint Louis.com #1
| Across |
Down |
1.
not fully developed
3. to achieve
4. gives to a cause
5. seeking to excel
8. offers good advice |
2.
tries many things
4. warranted, liccensed
6. corrective treatment
7. ability to persist |
Young
Saint Louis.com #2
| Across |
Down |
1.
two or more converge
3. simulation, not real
5. hands on involvement
8. stock market basis
9. items for trade
10. a long run |
2.
highs and lows
4. conserving, reusing
6. dwells in area
7. the first team |
Young
Saint Louis.com #3
| Across |
Down |
1.
unwinged aircraft
3. before main event
7. promote a candidate
8. made to order
10. product for preview |
2.
fine tuning
4. pass around
5. direction selection
6. different, set apart
9. the central focus |
