Bear Essential News July 2019, Tucson Edition

40 YEARS!

Bear

essential news

®

November 2018 • •Phoenix July 2019 TucsonEdition Edition••www.bearessentialnews.com www.bearessentialnews.com

To the MOON! Celebrating 50 Years

In This Picture: Find a popsicle, a sun hat, a racquet, a bag of popcorn, a slice of pizza, a pair of sunglasses, the sun, a bottle of water, NASA and the word HOT!

FEATURE

NEWS

NEWS

FAMILIES

CONTEST

Moon L andin g at 50

US W ins World Cup!

A Passion for Strings

Spacefest

Enter to W in !

Celebrating a historical step pages 10, 11 & 12

Spotlight on meeting Buzz Aldrin News Highlights page 3

& more news kids can use Scoops pages 5, 6, 8 & 14

Science & Astronomy Back Cover

Detective Pikachu Page 15

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July 2019

B Letters to Boomer

Bear Advertisers!

Reserve your space Now in our August & September Family Destinations & Field Trip Guide.

Write to Boomer Bear at

Bear Essential News • 2525 E. Broadway Blvd., #102 • Tucson, AZ 85716

Hurry, Deadline is July 22, 2019

or e-mail your letters to boomer@bearessentialnews.com

Dear Boomer Bear, NASA should send astronauts to Mars because they should do further research into Mars having life.

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Volume 40 • Issue 11

Editor & Publisher

Sales Director & Publisher

Stephen B Gin

Nancy Holmes

City Editor

YR Coordinator

Copy Editor

Art Director

Mike Loghry

Gary Shepard

Renee Griffith

Julie Madden

Yours truly, L.B.

Dear L.B., Wouldn’t that be exciting—after all these robotic missions with rovers and orbiting satellites, to actually have astronauts looking for evidence of life on Mars? The UofA and ASU have played important roles in exploring Mars and looking for signs of water. That’s where scientists think life could be found!

Dear Boomer, I think NASA should send astronauts to Pluto next. Then we could see the size of it.

Sincerely, A.M.

Hi, A.M. The dwarf planet Pluto is fascinating with its blue skies and spinning moons. But it’s 2.7– 4.7 billion miles away from us, so

Readers are winners, Boomer Bear

Yours truly, S.S.

The costs were high to get us to the moon, but the scientific discoveries and inventions that came of it are amazing. To celebrate the 50th of our first step on another celestial body, check out my feature “To the Moon!” on pages 10 –12.

Goin’ boldly, Boomer Bear

Love, J & M

Congratulations, J & M! Your entry in my Caption and Coloring Comics Contest inspired me.

Thank you for enjoying Bear Essential News and putting so much thought and great coloring effort into your entry.

Thanks, J.H. Boomer Bear, Yes, it’s important for us to continue to explore space! The more we know, the more it may help us.

Great thoughts, G.L., J.H. & S.S.!

Dear Boomer, Thank you for choosing our comics to win. We used our gift card to buy Ninja Turtles named Mikey and Ralph.

We love the Ninja Turtles. We like reading your newspaper, too!

Hi, Boomer.

It’s important that we continue to explore space to try to find more planets like Earth.

Your friend, G.L. Dear Boomer.

I do think it is important to continue exploring space because otherwise we will never know what’s out there.

Let’s explore! Boomer Bear

An Award-Winning Arizona Original for Kids & Families

Sponsored by

getting astronauts there and back safely would be a challenge. It would be amazing to explore Pluto!

Dear Boomer, The best part of my summer so far has been getting my advanced child care diploma!

Sinerely, A.H.

Way to go, A.H.!

Such an impressive effort.

Your buddy, Boomer Bear

Good luck, Boomer Bear

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News Highlights

3

From the Archives!

US Women Win 2nd Straight World Cup

STADE DE LYON, France—Some of the press, soccer weaved through defenders and kicked a powerful fans and even their competition called them arrogant, left-footed goal. The U.S. team ended up winning the provocative and unapologetic, but the U.S. Women’s World Cup 2-0.

National Team captured the glory it was after by winThis World Cup win is one for the record books. ning the FIFA World Cup for a second straight time on This is their fourth World Cup, more than any other July 7. country. This team Playing for the also scored 26 championship, the goals this World U.S. women faced Cup, more than a young and tough any women’s team Netherlands team, has since its start which had made in 1991. And this it to a World Cup is only the second finals and is the time a country has reigning European won back-to-back champ. The World World Cups, GerCup is held every many being the four years and is other in 2003-07. a huge draw for “We are such a soccer fans. A dozproud and strong en to two dozen and defiant group qualifying national of women. We've photo courtesy of Fox teams compete done exactly what U.S. Women’s Team players show off their World Cup trophy! in the month-long we've set out to tourney. do, what we wanted to do,” Rapinoe said after the win.

Going into the championship, the United States Her six goals and three assists over the month earned had never trailed any of its opponents throughout the her the Golden Boot and the Golden Ball MVP award.

World Cup and had scored 24 goals. The team likes to The success of the women’s team compared to the score fast, putting a lot of pressure on the other team.

U.S. men’s team has put focus on the subject of equal But the Netherlands played tough defense, and the pay and accommodation. The women’s team is suing teams were scoreless at the half. But at 61 minutes, the U.S. Soccer Federation and is beginning mediaU.S. player Alex Morgan was high-kicked, and her tion to resolve the issues. teammate Megan Rapinoe made the penalty kick for On July 10, the women’s team was honored with a the lead. Seven minutes later, teammate Rose Lavelle rowdy ticker tape parade in New York City.

2,700-mile Arctic Fox Trot Wows Scientists! started her incredible journey, crossing sea ice and continents.

Over four months, the arctic fox trotted 2,737 miles, all the way to Canada’s Ellesmere Island, averaging 29 miles a day. Her longest travel day was 96 miles across the sea ice of Greenland!

Arctic foxes are known to travel vast distances, but this one did it in such a short time! Researchers from the Polar Institute think she may have left home because of scarce food there and to find better breeding grounds. Unfortunately, scientists lost the signal when the fox reached Canada and haven’t been able to locate her.

photo courtesy of Elise Stroemseng

A young arctic fox that was fitted with a GPS collar amazed scientists by trotting from Norway all the way to an island in Canada!

Arctic foxes are small, with the largest ones standing a foot high at the shoulder. Adults can weigh from 3 pounds for a small female up to 21 pounds for a large male. But they are hardy mammals, using their thick fur and long, fluffy tail to help them withstand freezing temperatures down to -58°F. Their habitat is often treeless and extremely cold. These predators rely on their keen hearing and sense of smell to pounce on prey beneath the snow. They also are bold enough to follow polar bears in hopes of feeding on their scraps.

Scientists from the Polar Institute fitted the female pup back in July 2017 near her den by a glacier on Norway’s Spitsbergen island. For months she stayed close to home, but on March 26, 2018, the young fox

BEAR 40 YEARS

Aldrin Gives Kids the Buzz on Space!

Originally printed in June 1996

by Valarie Potell & Erin Machac Desert Valley Elementary Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin, the second man to walk on the moon, recently met with Arizona schoolchildren at Phoenix Symphony Hall. His presentation was sponsored by the Arizona Science Center. Aldrin, who inspired the character Buzz Lightyear in the movie “Toy Story,” began an interest in space at age 3. His mother’s maiden name, Moon, also encouraged him.

Aldrin graduated from the U.S. Military Academy at age 21. One year later, he completed pilot training and flew 66 combat missions in Korea, shooting down two enemy aircraft. In 1963, at age 33, he received his doctorate degree in astronautics.

In 1966, Aldrin flew the Gemini 12 spaceflight with Jim Lovell. During his flight, he conducted a spacewalk for 5 ½ hours!

Three years later, he was on an expedition with Neil Armstrong and Michael Collins on the Apollo 11 moon mission. Aldrin said of walking on the moon, “it was radical!” He said he wished he had a room in his house where he could just go in and float around.

To train for the moon mission, he mostly had to train in what to do if something went wrong. When asked if he was envious of Neil Armstrong for being the first man on the moon, Aldrin replied, “somebody has to go first.” He explained that it would be awkward if the commander did not go first and said that the decision was made months before the mission blasted off.

In more recent times, Aldrin has been in charge of a space program for children. He is also the co-director of an upcoming TV series called “The Cape.” As you can see, Aldrin has accomplished much in his life.

Adviser: Cheryl Machac

4

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July 2019

For grades 3 thru 8

Young Reporter Nigh t Is Every Third T hursday Join Us at

Bookmans–East 6230 E. Speedway

Thursday, July 18 • 4:30–6 pm 4:30 p.m. Article Editing

Presentation: Writing up a storm—Reporting on Mother Nature For more info please call 792-9930 Proudly Sponsored by:

• Free snack & drinks for reporters!

• YR kits for new reporters • Bring in your story for editing & a chance to win a special prize!

July 2019 •

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Get the Scoop!

Chambers Shares Love of Strings

by Reporter Anastasia Bradley, Sonoran Science Academy East

My violin instructor and Master Teacher Brenda Chambers has lived her life with a love of music and has done many incredible things. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Music Education and completed studies at the New England Conservatory of Music. She has achieved high recognition for her advanced work in cello performance at Boston University which led to performances with several symphony orchestras in the Greater Boston area.

Chambers developed string programs for the Cambridge Massachusetts School System and served

as a master teacher of cello at the University of Wisconsin. Her vast knowledge in the art of music led to an invitation to join the faculty as a master teacher of the Bornoff String Teachers Association where she trained music teachers worldwide. She also served as a string consultant nationally from 1980–92. During her association with George Bornoff, which only ended with his death, she authored and edited six pioneering books of string education.

I interviewed Chambers after violin lessons in May to learn what makes her do what she does. She told me the music is part of her soul, that she sees music everywhere, and when she sees or hears the rhythms, it makes her “feel so good.” Her mother took her to a concert when she was a little girl and she then knew that is what she wanted to do. Her mother and father supported her in this, all their lives. She started playing piano when she was “little tiny, tiny,” but she discovered cello when she was 10 and that became her most beloved instrument.

Chambers played orchestra in grade school and high school, found her master teacher, Dr. Bornoff, when she was out of college, and studied with him for 10 years.

MORE MUSICIAN, page 8 ➧

New STEM School Opens in August

by Reporter Rori L. Divijak Dove Mountain CSTEM K-8 In the fall of 2019, Marana Unified School District is opening a new school. The school is Dove Mountain CSTEM K-8. CSTEM stands for Computer Science, Technology, Engineering and Math. Students will have Chromebooks to use as a learning tool at school. Students in third through eighth grade will even have the ability to take their Chromebooks home to continue learning and complete their homework or other assignments.

The school will have two zSpace labs where kids do amazing things like virtual dissections, looking at nature, going inside a volcano and designing roller coasters that function on planets in our solar system. A zSpace is where students put on a pair of glasses and can see things in virtual/augmented reality.

There will still be music, sports, reading and writing, but there will also be a lot of science. There will be three Makerspaces where kids can create and invent cool things. The classrooms will have glass walls that slide open to use the halls as learning areas. During computer science, students will learn block and text-

BEAR 40 YEARS

5

News Stories Written by Kids— for Kids Blast Off to the Space Gallery at Pima Air & Space

by Reporter Lizzy Barrett Old Vail Middle School I went to the Space Gallery at the Pima Air and Space Museum on June 17 and learned about the moon. I interviewed Will Williams, a volunteer at the Space Gallery.

Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin were astronauts from NASA. They were both successful for being the first to land on the moon.

Armstrong is famous for saying, “One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.” He also put the U.S. flag on the moon.

Frank Borman was another astronaut from NASA. He was born in Gary, Indiana, but he moved to Tucson, Arizona, where he grew up. He graduated from Tucson High School and went to the UA. After that, he went to NASA and he brought back a sample of a moon rock. The moon rock is on display at the Space Gallery.

According to Seymour Simon, author of “The Moon,” when astronauts broke rocks, sound can’t be heard. This is because air carries sound and the moon doesn’t have MORE SPACE, page 6 ➧

Sign up to be a Reporter at

Young Reporter Night!

Rori checks out sch ool construction sit e.

based coding in Scratch, LEGO Robotics, Minecraft and much more.

I think going to Dove Mountain K-8 CSTEM will be a lot of fun because of the new technology and the science focus. From the school you can see all the way from Picacho Peak to downtown Tucson! Andrea Divijak, my mom, is excited to be the new principal of Dove Mountain.

Thursday, July 18 at

Bookmans–East 6230 E. Speedway

5–6 p.m.

(Story editing at 4:30)

This month’s topic: Writing up a storm—Reporting on Mother Nature

Call 792-9930 for more information.

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Get the Scoop!

Continued from page 5

More Space Continued from page 5 any air. In addition, moon rocks have no water while most rocks on Earth have a small amount of water.

Apollo 13 was the third mission scheduled to land on the moon.

Unfortunately, they weren’t able to land.

One of the oxygen tanks exploded making the ship crippled during the flight. The crew was forced to orbit the moon and return to Earth.

One of the displays that I saw was the full-scale mockup Apollo Capsule.

It was built by North American Aviation.

The capsules were tested and flown from 1967 through 1972 when the project was cancelled. It was used by Walter Cronkite on the CBS Evening News during the Apollo program. Later, it was used as a movie prop in the movie “Apollo 13” which starred Tom Hanks.

If you are interested in the moon, then go to the Space Gallery at the Pima Air and Space Museum. 3...2...1...blast off to the moon!!

MORE SCOOPS, page 8 ➧

July 2019 •

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Answer: 56 cents

e-mail: boomer@bearessentialnews.com

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July 2019

Voted “Best Tucson Country Charter School!”

Day School

Home of the Champions!

B

Get the Scoop!

Continued from page 6

What’s Up with Fidget Spinners?

by Reporter Maximus Bradley Sonoran Science Academy

Also voted WINNER of the Macaroni Kid East Tucson’s Gold Daisy Award for our Early Childhood Program!

• K–8 and Private Preschool & Prekindergarten on a 10-acre campus • Outstanding, Caring, Dedicated Teachers • Small class sizes (1:22 K-5, 1:26 6-8) • Accelerated Classes • FREE Full-Day Kindergarten

Mention this ad when you come in for a tour and receive a free “I’m a Champion” T-shirt!

Curriculum includes: Art, PE, Spanish, Sign Language,

Multimedia/Tech, Band, Orchestra, Drama, General Music and Choir

After-School Programs include: Sports, Drama Club, Young Reporters Club, Lego Club, Dance, Garden Club, Jump Rope, Karate, KidzArt and More!

Join the Champions!

Open Enrollment Is Underway!

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A Champion is:

Collaborative Honorable Academic Motivated Persistent Inquisitive Optimistic Nurturing

FREE K-8 Public Charter School TCDCharterSchool.com • 520-296-0883 9239 E. Wrightstown Road • Tucson, AZ 85715

Fidget spinners: the good, the bad and the ugly. The good—these little gadgets may just keep kids off the electronics, because children enjoy being outside with these spinners to test what they can do. The optical illusion effect of fidget spinners keep kids’ imaginations going. As kids work to do tricks, they get different spinning color combinations and are using their imagination and creative side of the brain, which is awesome.

The bad—with the spinning action and noise, many kids distract other children. The fidget spinner can spin so fast that it can go out of control and the gadget may fly out of the kid’s hand and into the face of another child. Some of these fidget spinners are even considered collectible. It is like Pokemon cards all over again with kids desiring the uncommon to rare, which can cost parents a lot of money. This can be one expensive gadget, but there are lower cost ones in stores.

More Musician Continued from page 5 Jascha Heifetz, her favorite composer of all time, was the best in the world and Chambers’ teacher Bornoff studied with him before becoming her teacher.

Chambers plays all the string instruments, including ukulele, and also piano and the recorder. Her favorite instrument is still her cello, but she has also grown to love the violin over the last seven years because of her students.

She enjoys teaching because she loves watching what happens to me and all her students when we progress, and how happy it makes me and her other students. Her greatest joy is to see us playing well.

She likes all kinds of music, including the band Queen. Her most memorable moment from her career was the first year of teaching at Cambridge, when she and her co-teacher had 500 string students. Chambers has a student who is currently touring in Europe, and she also has a student who teaches at the UofA. She has countless students who have continued in music.

The Tucson String Choir Academy is offering string classes to children as young as 4, although students of any age will benefit from string education.

For more information, call Chambers at 520-404-1950.

MORE SCOOPS, page 14 ➧

July 2019 •

e-mail: boomer@bearessentialnews.com

Teacher Month

Making teachers smile!

Each month Dr. JAW Orthodontists honors our teachers for their commitment, hard work and dedication by sponsoring the Teacher of the Month column in Bear Essential News.

of the

BEAR 40 YEARS

James A. Weaver D.D.S., M.S. Laura Robinson-Rabe D.M.D., M.S. Kyle Rabe D.D.S., M.S.

Dr. JAW Orthodontists and Bear Essential News would like to congratulate the outstanding educators recognized as Teachers of the Month during the 2018–19 school year!

Linda Anderson Acacia Elementary

Kathleen Bowman Manzanita Elementary

Sandra Noriega White Elementary

Thank you to all the students, parents and others who nominated an outstanding teacher from Southern Arizona. Check out the August issue of Bear Essential News to find out how you can nominate a deserving educator.

Your teacher could be recognized during the upcoming school year!

Tiffany Thompson Agua Caliente Elementary

Jack Murphy Centennial Elementary

Tricia Stewart Coronado K–8

Lisa Johnson Coyote Trail Elementary

Stacy Marr Tanque Verde Elementary

Craig Culbertson Wright Elementary

Nina Jolly Howell Elementary

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July 2019

To The Moon!Years

C

elebrating

I

magine surviving as a fighter pilot and you’ve already orbited the planet. Now you’re in a 180-lb. spacesuit and getting sealed into the cramped command module atop a 363-foot-tall rocket for the most important NASA mission ever!

50

Fifty years ago, the United States faced an uncertain and at times a frightening future. Locked in the Cold War with the Soviet Union, the U.S. had fallen behind in the Space Race. But the Apollo 11 mission, watched by millions worldwide, was a giant leap forward for us. It’s time to celebrate the 50th year of our first steps on the moon!

The Space Race…

Sending humans into space is a daunting challenge. It takes strong, Collins Arm uts na tro As 11 ollo Ap imagination, innovation, and Aldrin determination, teamwork and don’t forget money—a whole lot of it!

Tensions between the United States and the Soviet Union remained high in the 1960s, with each country trying to gain the upper hand. So shows of superior technology were important. The Soviets had sent the first satellite, Sputnik 1, into space on Oct. 4, 1957, and Cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin was the first person to orbit the Earth on April 12, 1961.

The following month, President John F. Kennedy unveiled a big, seemingly impossible plan, one that would top the Soviets.

“I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to the Earth,” he proposed to a joint session of Congress. “We choose to go to the Moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard!”

Why the Moon?

For thousands of years, people have gazed at, made stories about and studied the moon. Its phases affect Earth, and the Earth affects the moon, points out Dr. Tim Swindle, director of the University of Arizona’s highly respected Lunar and Planetary Lab. Dr. Swindle grew up following NASA. He remembers his principal interrupting his kindergarten classroom to announce that Alan Shepard had become the first American in space. “All through the 1960s, I knew who all the astronauts were and followed the Mercury, Gemini and the Apollo missions,” he shares. In grad school, he jumped at the chance to analyze samples the astronauts had brought back from the moon! “That’s what I ended up spending a lot of my career doing—analyzing samples from the moon and meteorites. The Apollo Program set me up for that. One of the things that has always appealed to me about studying extraterrestrial material is the chance to hold a piece of the moon or Mars or an asteroid,” he says.

The Mission In January 1969, NASA announced that three astronauts would go up in Apollo 11—commander Neil Armstrong from Ohio, lunar module pilot Buzz Aldrin from New Jersey, and command module pilot Michael Collins, born in Rome, Italy. Their target was to land on the moon some 239,000 miles The Eagle has lande d! away!

On July 15, the three were sealed into the command module atop a super powerful Saturn V rocket at around 11 p.m. The countdown went surprisingly smoothly, and at 9:32 the next morning, Apollo 11 roared toward space from Pad A of Launch Complex 39 at the Kennedy Space Center with about a million spectators nearby to experience liftoff. Millions more watched on TV. For the astronauts and the thousands of team members behind

July 2019

them, “I understand why people want to explore—there’s an excitement about going someplace where people have never been before,” Dr. Swindle points out. “I also understand why people want to see people exploring. I think it’s part of human nature.”

The command module/service module, Columbia, and lunar module, Eagle, traveled three days before they began orbiting the moon. On July 20, Armstrong and Aldrin climbed into the lunar module and separated from the command module, leaving Collins orbiting in Columbia as the Eagle descended toward its landing spot in the Sea of Tranquility.

With TV cameras on board, over 53 million U.S. households and more than 530 million worldwide watched. “Houston, Tranquility Base here. The Eagle has landed,” Armstrong announced. It was a very soft landing, but with help from Aldrin, Armstrong had to do some of the flying manually after the onboard computer ran into data trouble.

It took the astronauts several hours to get ready for their moonwalk—which would be the first time that a human had set foot on another celestial body. But at 10:56 p.m., Armstrong climbed down the ladder. “That's one small step for (a) man, one giant leap for mankind,” Armstrong famously says before stepping onto the moon!

Armstrong also guided Aldrin down the ladder. Together they explored the surface, took breathtaking still photos and TV footage, planted the American flag, and collected almost 50 pounds of moon rocks and soil samples.

Big Benefits!

Not only did Apollo 11 win the Space Race, the rocks and soil samples the crew collected are still being studied.

The Earth and moon share their start about 4 1/2 billion years ago, and Dr. Swindle has used moon rocks to try and date lunar events and to even study particles from the sun.

“Scientifically it’s been a treasure trove because the moon has not had running water or plate tectonics and things like that (which break down rocks here on Earth). The rocks preserved are much older,” he explains.

Perhaps even more beneficial to us are innovations to computer technology from Apollo 11, something that people might miss, he points out. Computers were massive in the How BIG is Saturn V? 1960s, but the command and lunar modules needed onboard computers, which A scale required something much model of smaller. To shrink things, the Saturn V rocket NASA looked to new (and expensive) integrated circuits. These electronics enabled much smaller yet powerful essentials like home and notebook computers, tablets, and smart phones and watches!

305.1 feet tall 363 feet tall

•

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Page 11

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BEAR 40 YEARS •

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July 2019

To The Moon!Years

C

elebrating

I

magine surviving as a fighter pilot and you’ve already orbited the planet. Now you’re in a 180-lb. spacesuit and getting sealed into the cramped command module atop a 363-foot-tall rocket for the most important NASA mission ever!

50

Fifty years ago, the United States faced an uncertain and at times a frightening future. Locked in the Cold War with the Soviet Union, the U.S. had fallen behind in the Space Race. But the Apollo 11 mission, watched by millions worldwide, was a giant leap forward for us. It’s time to celebrate the 50th year of our first steps on the moon!

The Space Race…

Sending humans into space is a daunting challenge. It takes strong, Collins Arm uts na tro As 11 ollo Ap imagination, innovation, and Aldrin determination, teamwork and don’t forget money—a whole lot of it!

Tensions between the United States and the Soviet Union remained high in the 1960s, with each country trying to gain the upper hand. So shows of superior technology were important. The Soviets had sent the first satellite, Sputnik 1, into space on Oct. 4, 1957, and Cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin was the first person to orbit the Earth on April 12, 1961.

The following month, President John F. Kennedy unveiled a big, seemingly impossible plan, one that would top the Soviets.

“I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to the Earth,” he proposed to a joint session of Congress. “We choose to go to the Moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard!”

Why the Moon?

For thousands of years, people have gazed at, made stories about and studied the moon. Its phases affect Earth, and the Earth affects the moon, points out Dr. Tim Swindle, director of the University of Arizona’s highly respected Lunar and Planetary Lab. Dr. Swindle grew up following NASA. He remembers his principal interrupting his kindergarten classroom to announce that Alan Shepard had become the first American in space. “All through the 1960s, I knew who all the astronauts were and followed the Mercury, Gemini and the Apollo missions,” he shares. In grad school, he jumped at the chance to analyze samples the astronauts had brought back from the moon! “That’s what I ended up spending a lot of my career doing—analyzing samples from the moon and meteorites. The Apollo Program set me up for that. One of the things that has always appealed to me about studying extraterrestrial material is the chance to hold a piece of the moon or Mars or an asteroid,” he says.

The Mission In January 1969, NASA announced that three astronauts would go up in Apollo 11—commander Neil Armstrong from Ohio, lunar module pilot Buzz Aldrin from New Jersey, and command module pilot Michael Collins, born in Rome, Italy. Their target was to land on the moon some 239,000 miles The Eagle has lande d! away!

On July 15, the three were sealed into the command module atop a super powerful Saturn V rocket at around 11 p.m. The countdown went surprisingly smoothly, and at 9:32 the next morning, Apollo 11 roared toward space from Pad A of Launch Complex 39 at the Kennedy Space Center with about a million spectators nearby to experience liftoff. Millions more watched on TV. For the astronauts and the thousands of team members behind

July 2019

them, “I understand why people want to explore—there’s an excitement about going someplace where people have never been before,” Dr. Swindle points out. “I also understand why people want to see people exploring. I think it’s part of human nature.”

The command module/service module, Columbia, and lunar module, Eagle, traveled three days before they began orbiting the moon. On July 20, Armstrong and Aldrin climbed into the lunar module and separated from the command module, leaving Collins orbiting in Columbia as the Eagle descended toward its landing spot in the Sea of Tranquility.

With TV cameras on board, over 53 million U.S. households and more than 530 million worldwide watched. “Houston, Tranquility Base here. The Eagle has landed,” Armstrong announced. It was a very soft landing, but with help from Aldrin, Armstrong had to do some of the flying manually after the onboard computer ran into data trouble.

It took the astronauts several hours to get ready for their moonwalk—which would be the first time that a human had set foot on another celestial body. But at 10:56 p.m., Armstrong climbed down the ladder. “That's one small step for (a) man, one giant leap for mankind,” Armstrong famously says before stepping onto the moon!

Armstrong also guided Aldrin down the ladder. Together they explored the surface, took breathtaking still photos and TV footage, planted the American flag, and collected almost 50 pounds of moon rocks and soil samples.

Big Benefits!

Not only did Apollo 11 win the Space Race, the rocks and soil samples the crew collected are still being studied.

The Earth and moon share their start about 4 1/2 billion years ago, and Dr. Swindle has used moon rocks to try and date lunar events and to even study particles from the sun.

“Scientifically it’s been a treasure trove because the moon has not had running water or plate tectonics and things like that (which break down rocks here on Earth). The rocks preserved are much older,” he explains.

Perhaps even more beneficial to us are innovations to computer technology from Apollo 11, something that people might miss, he points out. Computers were massive in the How BIG is Saturn V? 1960s, but the command and lunar modules needed onboard computers, which A scale required something much model of smaller. To shrink things, the Saturn V rocket NASA looked to new (and expensive) integrated circuits. These electronics enabled much smaller yet powerful essentials like home and notebook computers, tablets, and smart phones and watches!

305.1 feet tall 363 feet tall

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To The Moon! ars e Y g n i t a r 0 b e l 5 Ce

A Brief History of Rockets & Spaceflight!

Did you know that the history of spaceflight can be traced all of the way back to the IIth century?

The Chinese combined sulfur, charcoal and saltpeter to make gunpowder for fuel in rockets for warfare. Over the next 800 years, scientists began experimenting with metal and different types of fuel while also looking upwards toward the sky.

In the 1920s, Robert Goddard, sometimes known as the “Father of Modern Rocketry,” made significant strides in spaceflight. In 1926, he launched the first successful liquid-fueled rocket. Three years later, he launched another rocket carrying the first set of scientific tools, a barometer and a camera.

However, it was Oct. 4, 1957, that marked the start of the space age in the United States. The Soviet Union successfully launched Sputnik 1, which was the world’s first artificial satellite. The 183.9-pound satellite brought on a flurry of political, military and scientific developments.

Following lots of continued pressure from the Soviet Union, the United States responded on Oct. 1, 1958, with the creation of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). It was built on the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) and other government organizations to further several objectives, including “the expansion of human knowledge of phenomena in the atmosphere and space.”

Four years later, in May 1961, President John F. Kennedy stood before Congress and announced his goal that “this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the Moon and returning him safely to the Earth.”

It was a lofty and ambitious goal and many people worried it couldn’t be done. But that didn’t stop the scientists at NASA. In 1962, John Glenn made the first U.S. manned orbital flight. In 1965, Ed White became the first American to walk in space. And on July 20, 1969, the Apollo 11 crew landed on the Moon, fulfilling President Kennedy’s promise when they successfully returned home to Earth.

Over the next 60 years, NASA continued to push boundaries and dramatically changed our understanding of the universe in which we live. NASA has completed reconnaissance of our solar system, employed the Hubble Space Telescope, sent 149 people to the International Space Station, and explored Mars—a planet that is, on average, 140 million miles from Earth!

Blue Origin. SpaceX. Virgin Galactic.

NASA has made a lot of headlines in the last 60 years, but private companies have also been making headlines in the last few years and are expected to continue doing so. With the competition between private companies, some people see the dawn of a new space race.

In January 2016, Blue Origin, founded by Amazon’s Jeff Bezos, became the first to re-launch and re-land a previously used rocket. In February 2018, the SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket launched the SpaceX CEO and founder Elon Musk’s Tesla into orbit around the sun. Just last month, NASA announced that the International Space Station will open for tourist visitors and private astronauts starting in 2020—with a hefty price tag of $35,000 per night to stay there, plus the nearly $60 million cost of the trip to reach the space station.

So what does it mean for space travel with private companies getting into the new space race? Many have expressed hope that private companies will focus on short-range missions, like returning to the moon, while NASA can focus on ambitious, longer-term projects that are not Buzz Aldrin’s moonwalk likely to be immediately profitable. One thing is certain: only time will tell where the newest space race will take us!

moonfest: The University of Arizona is celebrating the 50th anniversary of the

moon landing with special events and exhibits. Learn more at moonfest.arizona.edu

Fabulously Fun Space Facts!

Moon Trivia

Twelve men have walked on the moon. Neil Armstrong was the first in 1969 on the Apollo 11 mission. The last man to walk on the moon was Gene Cernan in 1972 on the Apollo 17 mission.

Project A119 was a top-secret plan developed by the U.S. Air Force in 1958.

It was going to detonate a nuclear bomb on the moon. The project was never carried out and was revealed in 2000 by a NASA executive, Leonard Reiffel, who was the leader of the project in 1958. Carl Sagan was also part of the team. ,000 lbs.— tal weight was 36 to s e’ ul od m r The luna ird school bus eight as a Blueb w e m sa e th t abou students! fully loaded with

Apollo 11 astronauts had a variety of 70 different dehydrated food items to eat in space. The first meal eaten on the moon was peaches, bacon, sugar cookie cubes, juice and coffee.

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Join Scouting by September & Get a Free Ticket to Scout Night at the Races!

Scout Night at the Races at Tucson Speedway

Saturday, Sept. 14. Gates open at 5 p.m. with racing starting at 7 p.m.

4 Steps to Join Scouting The Catalina Council is excited that you are interested in joining!

Cub Scouts is fun for the whole family. In Scouting, male and female troops start with their best right now selves and grow into their very best future selves. It’s fun, hands-on learning and achievement.

Scouts BSA offers something for everyone. With 137 different merit badges and countless other indoor and outdoor activities, there’s no limit to the things you can learn or the adventures you can take.

Getting the whole family involved with Scouting activities is central to opening the program to female Scouts. Here’s how to become a member!

1—Locate Your Council

Your council will be able to help you locate the right unit for your needs. Do you need a unit that meets on a certain day of the week or a unit that is chartered to your child’s school? The council can help you locate the unit pack or troop to best meet your individual needs.

2—Contact Your Unit

Once you have located your council and determined the best unit for your family, contact the unit leader to find out when their next recruitment event will be held.

3—Complete Application

Your application will take time to be approved by the unit leader. If you have any questions during the application process, contact your unit leader or local council service center.

4—Start Your Adventure in Scouting!

Welcome to Scouting! You are now part of the Boy Scouts of America, the nation’s foremost youth program of character development and values-based leadership training.

Would you like to join Scouting?

Call 520-750-0385 or find a unit near you at BeAScout.org

Scouts Step Up to Handle the Critters at KidsFest!

Over 30 Scouts and their parents volunteered in the Face Your Fears Zone scorpion. I don’t know if I would’ve been scared at the 2019 KidsFest at the Tucson Convention Center on June 22 and 23. of it!”

The Scouts were wrangling beautiful lizards, snakes, tarantulas and other But Shane was happy handling the baby often-misunderstood creatures to share them with KidsFest guests. Thousands ball python. “It looked like the adult, but pretty of kids and their families came to this fabulously fun event, which celebrated its small,” he says. “Then I held three differthird year. ent corn snakes (each of which had its own In the Face Your Fears Zone were unique color).” critters that crept, crawled, There also was a goodslithered and hissed. Cub sized gopher snake in the Scout Shane Crosland helped Face Your Fears Zone. handle the snakes. As a Shane’s favorite, though, was the adult ball python.

Young Reporter for Bear Es“I appreciated that the most. sential News, he broadcast Shane, Pack It was about 5 feet long— a story about being treated 757 a little bigger than I am.” He for a bark scorpion sting and really enjoyed having it wrapped on his neck. How is that for how active scorpions are facing your fears! now that the weather has The Scouts shared some basic information about the aniwarmed up. mals they were showing. Where the creature was from, what it The scorpion at KidsFest hunted, when it was active and how it killed its prey. wasn’t dangerous—just It was a good way to reach out to young people and famhuge! “They had scorpions, ilies about Scouting. “I think I actually heard someone say, ‘I a few different snakes and a Rhyse, Pack 100 want to join Scouts now!” Shane shares. tarantula. They also had the He also got the chance to enjoy the other KidsFest offerings like the Ninja sheds (molted skins of the animals),” Warrior course, inflatables, games and rides. He really liked the music, too.

Shane shares. “It was a big emperor Justin, Troop 120

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Can Your Kids Swim?

B

Get the Scoop!

Continued from page 8

Book Teaches About Desert Ecosystem

Keep your kids safer, sign up today!

by Reporter Aleena Rafiyath BASIS Oro Valley

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“One Day in the Desert” by Anna Keener informs you of animals that you can find in the desert that are unusual! For example, there are shrimp in the desert! If you want to know how shrimp survive here, read this awesome book!

The main characters of “One Day in the Desert” are Kupe, Ellie, Mariana, Mrs. Locke, Dr. Garza, and Grandpa. Kupe and Ellie are friends of Mariana. Kupe lives on a volcanic island surrounded by coral reefs in French Polynesia; Ellie lives in a pine forest in Washington state. Mariana is the most important character of the book, and she wants to write about what animals she sees in the desert where she lives to tell Kupe and Ellie.

Mrs. Locke is Mariana’s teacher. Dr. Garza is the nature park scientist who leads the class on the nature walk. Mariana’s Grandfather tells her about an old ranch that Mariana sees later and how it has changed.

The main idea of this book is that the desert has a lot of interesting animals like other ecosystems do. In the book, Mariana wonders if the desert where she lives has cool animals like her friends Kupe and Ellie have where they live.

Mariana finds shrimp in a small lake called a playa. The shrimp have an interesting way of survival in the desert. Mariana writes back to her friends about what is in her ecosystem after she explores about all the amazing animals she finds where she lives. There are many other animal she finds.

This book could use a little more transitioning from one scene to another, but it was a good story. I would recommend this book to people interested in animals in the desert.

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Book Stays in One Place, but Has Good Characters

by Reporter Lizzy Barrett, Old Vail Middle School The book “24 Hours in Nowhere” by Dusti Bowling is about a 13-year-old boy named Gus who is trying to buy back his friend’s dirt bike for a famous dirt bike race.

What I like about this book is that the characters are determined to do whatever it takes to buy back the dirt bike. I liked it because it teaches readers a lesson to never give up. What I don’t like is the setting mostly takes place in one area. I didn’t like it because I like books that travel to different places so it could make the story more interesting. I can relate to this story because I don’t give up when I come across a challenge, like the characters in the story.

If I were to rate this book, it would be a four-star rating because the characters have great personalities, but the setting should be in a variety of places. I would recommend this book because the characters are hilarious and they do funny things to each other.

ICNA Relief Provides for Tucson Families in Need

by Reporter Aleena Rafiyath BASIS Oro Valley ICNA Relief needs you in Tucson! They hold The ICNA Relief Mobile Food Pantry and Health Fair every third Sunday of the month, and they’re having a program called Back 2 School Giveaway on July 21.

The ICNA Relief Mobile Food Pantry and Health Fair takes place anytime from late morning to after noon at the SEMA Foundation. Refugees and families in need come here to receive items that ICNA provides. The mobile food pantry gives out a box of food with items like rice, flour, sugar, oil, etc. If a family has children that need diapers, they provide them, too.

The mobile food pantry truck comes from Phoenix to Tucson. This truck holds all the food pantry items. The people at the health fair table check blood pressure, blood glucose and cholesterol to inform the patient of any issues.

Sometimes I help with the health fair. Before anyone comes to get needs, they must register. The people at the computers ask questions mostly about their background. Each person who comes here to get something gets a card that tells them when the next event is.

The Back 2 School Giveaway is where kids in need get new backpacks and supplies for school. On this day they have free haircuts for the children and activities for fun.

If you want to volunteer for the mobile food pantry and health fair, call Sana Ali at 408-839-9229 or go to www.icnarelief.org to sign up. The address to the SEMA Foundation is 2843 N. Alvernon Way, Tucson, AZ 85712.

For the Back 2 School Giveaway, donate by going to www.icnarelief.org/ back-to-school.

BEAR 40 YEARS

2 Hour Birthday Bowling Packages!

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Bites & Stings!

Can you match the critter to its name?

Bark Scorpion Black Widow Spider Coral Snake Conenose “Kissing” Bug

It’s summer!

Rattlesnakes and other crawly creatures are out and about—look out for venomous animals.

Be careful when walking outdoors both in the desert and in your own yard and always look where you’re going. They won’t hurt you if you stay away from them.

Bite Prevention TIPS

Velvet Ant

• Leave wild animals and insects alone.

Brown Recluse Spider

• Shake out your shoes and clothes before putting them on.

Bee

• Keep your hands and feet out of holes in rocks, woodpiles and deep grass.

Tarantula

• Do not touch snakes even after they are dead. They can make reflex strikes hours after death.

Centipede Gila Monster Rattlesnake

Snakebite Snakebite First First Aid Aid

• Call 911.

• Relax and move as little as possible.

• Remove jewelry or shoes from bite area.

• Do not ice, place tight bandages, cut or suction the bite area.

For information on bites, stings, first aid and treatment, call the

ARIZONA POISON & DRUG INFORMATION CENTER 1-800-222-1222 Information provided by Arizona Poison and Drug Information Center

Sting Sting First First Aid Aid

• Clean the area with soap and water.

• Place a cool compress over sting area.

• Call the Poison Center if a small child is stung by a scorpion.

• With breathing problems or swelling of the lips, call 911.

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July 2019

Boomer’s

Summer Fun Activities Sculpting In

SAND!

Have you ever admired the colorful layered walls of an Arizona canyon?

Want to make your own?

You’ll need:

jars with lids for mixing the colored sand, sand or coarse salt, food coloring or tempera paint, spoon, clear plastic cup, bottle or clear jar with lid, aluminum foil for making lids for sand sculptures in plastic cups.

Layered Rock Sculpture Instructions: 1. Put some sand in several containers, one for each color you want to make.

Remember to leave enough room to shake the sand with the coloring.

2. Drip about 10 drops of food coloring into a container, put the lid on tight and shake to mix the sand and color. Repeat this process for each of your other colors.

3. Now, start your sculpture! Spoon a layer of colored sand into the bottom of the cup or jar. Next, add a second layer of another color, and so on until you have filled up your cup or jar with different layers of colored sand.

4. If you want your layers to gradually overlap or have ripples or motions, you can use your spoon to gently move down the inside of the jar.

Seal your sand sculpture with the jar’s lid.

The beauty of the color layers may surprise you—like the beauty of Arizona’s ancient canyon walls!

Yavapai Point, Grand Canyon

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SKATE RENTAL EXTRA Expires 8/15/2019

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