Issue 1 by First Flight

SPRING 2020

– a children's magazine

MAP OF EMBER OAKS

ENGLISH

A MESSAGE FROM THE FIRST FLIGHT TEAM

Welcome to our very first issue of First Flight! First Flight is a non-profit, educational, children’s magazine that aims to provide a free and interactive learning experience for young readers around the world. Our magazine began in the summer of 2019 as a personal project by our team member, Jinna. After many years of volunteer teaching, Jinna wanted to create a fun and educational resource that students could access beyond the classroom. Upon entering the University of Chicago, she met two friends, Nathalie and Zoe, who shared her passion for teaching children. With their support, the First Flight magazine was able to come to life. Our readers will explore the fictional town of Ember Oaks and befriend its citizens. Each member of the community has their unique experiences and areas of expertise – from English to Science, there is something to learn from everybody. With each issue, you’ll be introduced to more citizens, so keep your eyes peeled for future announcements on our website! Before signing off, the members of the First Flight Team would like to extend our sympathies to anyone who is struggling through this pandemic. While we did not anticipate our first issue to be published in these circumstances, we hope that our magazine can provide a moment of laughter and learning for young readers around the world. We also look forward to printing and distributing physical copies of our magazine in Chicago once this pandemic is over. Until then, happy reading! – The First Flight Team

OUR TOWN Howdy friends! I’m Frida the Frog. Basketball is my favorite pastime! You can catch me on the basketball court with my best friend Benny any day of the week. I don’t mean to brag, but I can dunk better than anyone else I know. I also love to paint murals around the beautiful pond I call home. Shapes, colors, hand-eye coordination – I have all of that down pat. But when it comes to words, I get a little mixed up. Good thing I have you to help me with my crosswords and mad libs!

Hey there! My name is Benny the Bookworm. In my free time, I enjoy curling up in a cozy hole and losing myself in a book. Sometimes I read a bubbly romantic comedy, other times a bone-chilling thriller. I run Ember Oak’s library from Monday to Friday, so if you’re ever looking for something to read, pop in and give us a visit! On weekends or after work, I love to exercise with my friend Frida the Frog. She might be a better basketball player (she has an excellent jump), but no one can beat me at weightlifting. You’d be surprised how much muscle it takes to shelve books everyday!

Welcome to Ember Oaks! I'm Phil the Phoenix, the mayor of this town. Come meet some of our townspeople! Do you see the grey pictures on the right? You'll be meeting those folks in our next issue, so make sure to come back and visit us!

Hi! My name is Bianca the Beaker. I love all kinds of science, whether it’s biology, chemistry, or physics. When I’m not in the laboratory, I love playing video games, surfing, and baking! My love of science comes from cooking with my family. Everyone in my family loves to cook – they’re all chefs! After a few years of cooking with my parents, aunts, and uncles, I grew interested in the chemistry of cooking. Why do we add acid? What does baking powder do? Join me in the Loopy Lab to explore these questions! I’m so excited to learn with you all!

WHO'S NEXT?

WHO'S NEXT? 5

Some of the pages have fun exercises you can work on! If you have a printer at home or at your local library, feel free to print those pages out!

CONTENTS THE POND Benny'sÂ Library

10-11

Frida's Forgotten Words

12-13

Mad Libs Word of the Week

14 15-16

THE LAB The Loopy Lab

18-19

The Loopy Experiment

Print out the page numbers in pink!

BENNY'S LIBRARY

ENTERING THE POND

BENNY'S THE MOUSE AND THE MOTORCYCLE What would life be like if you were a mouse? Beverly Cleary’s The Mouse and the Motorcycle puts you in the shoes of Ralph, a mouse living in a knothole at the Mountain View Inn. Ralph hungers for excitement and constantly seeks adventure. Sadly for him, adventures are hard to find in this sleepy Californian hotel. One day, a human boy named Keith comes to stay at the inn. Keith brings along a magical toy motorcycle that Illustration by Jacqueline Rogers sparks Ralph’s curiosity. Before long, the two connect over their shared love for the toy and get up to all sorts of trouble – from battling vacuum cleaners to hiding from adults! What happens when it’s time for Keith to leave? Look for The Mouse and the Motorcycle at your local library to find out what happens next!

I liked this book because I could relate to Ralph’s search for small thrills in his everyday life. In fact, one of the reasons I enjoy reading is because I love exploring fictional worlds and the adventures within them. If I were a character in Beverly Cleary’s story, I would tell Ralph to pick up a book to solve his boredom! I also liked how the challenges in Ralph and Keith’s friendship were similar to the ones I face in my own relationships. I feel that The Mouse and the Motorcycle is worth reading for its charming story of friendship.

N IN RI PP R TT II TT !!

LIBRARY

BOOKS YOU LOVE BOOK TITLE: _

______________ WHY YOU LOVE IT: _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ______________________ ______________________ ______________________ ______________________ ______________________ ______________________

COVER

Would you like to recommend your favorite book to us? Take a picture of this page and email it to us at firstflightchi@gmail.com with your name and age!

FRIDA'S FORGOTTEN WORDS ACROSS

DOWN

2. Someone who lives next door

1. When you're very brave, you

to you.

are _____.

4. It's Monday today. I'll call

3. The second year of the

you on Wednesday, the day

month.

after _____.

5. I didn't do it on purpose! It

6. I really enjoyed this book! I

was an _____.

want to _____ it to you.

7. A tasty treat enjoyed after a

9. Something or someone

meal.

strange.

8. Land that is surrounded by

10. A hot, dry, and sandy place.

water.

Help! *RIBBIT* I've forgotten my words!

N II N RR PP

T II T

IITT !!

PP RR IINN TT

One day, I was walking down the ______ when I saw my friend, NOUN

who loves to ______. I asked if they wanted to go _______. They VERB

VERB ENDING WITH -ING

said yes! Before we went, I had to pick up some ______ at the PLURAL NOUN

______. My friend decided to tag along, but on the way we ran PLACE

into a ______. We were so surprised! I had never seen a ______ NOUN

SAME NOUN

before. After our adventure, my friend realized they had forgotten their ______. We had to go back and grab it! By that point, we NOUN

were quite hungry. We decided to stop by at ______ and grab PLACE

______ for a snack. When we checked the time, we realized it was FOOD

too late to go ______! SAME VERB ENDING WITH -ING

Find someone to help you complete this Mad Lib! Without letting them peek at this page, ask them for words that fill in the blank spaces above. When you're done filling in all the blanks, read aloud the silly story!

N IN RI PP R

Do you ever forget a word, but it’s just on the

TT II TT

tip of your tongue? Can you help me remember my...

CLUES 1. This word is a synonym for surprised 2. This word begins with an "f." 3. This word rhymes with “ladder blasted.”

What could it be? Write down your guesses in the space below!

____________________________________ ____________________________________ ____________________________________ ____________________________________ ____________________________________ ____________________________________ ____________________________________ ____________________________________ ____________________________________ ____________________________________ ____________________________________ ____________________________________ ____________________________________ 15

IITT !! PP RR IINN TT

That’s right, I remember now! The word is "flabbergasted." Thanks for all your help!

FLABBERGASTED DEFINITION: “feeling or showing intense shock, surprise, or wonder” according to the Merriam-Webster dictionary. EXAMPLE: "Rania was flabbergasted when she saw the results of her experiment. She could change the field of genetics!" ETYMOLOGY: Flabbergasted first popped up in 1772. A magazine article listed flabbergasted as a new, popular word. The word may have come from a combination of “flabber” and “aghast.” Try to use it in a sentence of your own! YOUR SENTENCE: _

_______________________ __________________________________ Can you draw a picture of a time you felt flabbergasted? Use the space below!

ENTERING THE LAB 17

THE LOOPY LAB Hi! My name is Water. I make up the ocean, the steam coming from your tea, the ice in your cup, and even part of your body! Did you know that water makes up 71% of the earth’s surface and almost 60% of the adult human body? I have special properties that allow me to exist in many places. What could they be? Let’s look under the microscope for clues! I’m made up of H2O molecules. An H2O molecule has two hydrogen (H) atoms on one side and one oxygen (O) atom on the other. Oxygen tends to hog negatively charged particles (called electrons) more HYDROGEN BOND than hydrogen does. This hogging gives the oxygen atom a small negative charge and the hydrogen atoms a small positive charge. As a result, one side of my molecule is more negatively charged than the other. We call this polarity. Have you ever heard of the phrase, “opposites attract?” Well, at least for chemistry and physics, it’s true! As you can see under the microscope, the positively charged hydrogens and negatively charged oxygens are friends! They like holding onto each other, creating bonds called hydrogen bonds. Hydrogen bonds are a little tricky to break, which is why my molecules only move apart when you add energy to them.

GAS

LIQUID

SOLID

When you add energy to me in the form of heat and boil me above 212° F, I turn into gas. This is when my molecules 18 are most active.

When I’m at room temperature, my molecules are moderately active and I form a drinkable liquid.

When you freeze me below 32° F, I turn into ice and my molecules barely move.

I AM COHESIVE... Many of

My molecules are cohesive because the

my special

hydrogen bonds between them cause them

properties come from my

to stick together. That’s important for plants – it’s easier for tall trees to

hydrogen bonds. For example…

suck up water when the molecules are close to each other.

I HAVE A HIGH BOILING POINT... A boiling point is the highest temperature a liquid can reach without turning into gas. Because my hydrogen bonds require energy to break, my molecules won’t move apart and turn into gas until they reach 212°F – that’s pretty high! I remain a liquid over a broad range of temperatures, which is helpful for animals in different habitats.

I HAVE HIGH LATENT HEAT OF VAPORIZATION... When you add enough energy to me in the liquid form, my hydrogen bonds break, my molecules separate, and I turn into vapor. The amount of heat required for this process is called the “latent heat of vaporization.” My latent heat of vaporization is quite high, which explains why you feel a cooling effect when water or sweat evaporates from your skin – heat leaves your body as the liquid turns into vapor.

! IT T IN R

THE LOOPY EXPERIMENT MATERIALS A wide bottle, glass vase, or other container Water Food coloring (pick your favorite color!) Vegetable oil Alka seltzer tablet

STEPS

1) Fill the container about ¾ full with vegetable oil. 2) Fill the rest of the container with water, leaving 2-3 inches of space at the top. What is the water doing? What does it look like? 3) Wait a few moments for the water to settle, then add a few drops of food coloring. What does it do? Why do you think it does this? 4) Break the alka-seltzer tablet into a few pieces and drop them in one by one. What happens? Write down your observations!

_______________________________________ _______________________________________ _______________________________________ _______________________________________

EXPLANATION

This experiment relies on the polarity of water and the difference in density between water and oil. In step 2, water sinks to the bottom of the container because it is denser than oil – it has more mass within a given space. In addition, water and oil repel each other because water is polar while oil is non-polar. Psst! You can find an explanation of polarity in this issue’s Loopy Lab section!

Let’s move to step 3. Food coloring sinks to the bottom of the container, like water, because it is water-based. In step 4, the reaction between alka-seltzer and water produces carbon dioxide bubbles that stick to the water molecules. The combination of gas and water is less dense than oil, so these bubbles rise to the top of the container. When they reach the surface, the bubbles pop and release the carbon dioxide. Afterwards, the water sinks to the bottom of the container to 20 start all over again!

Whew! That was quite a journey! Did you enjoy it? Come back next time to meet more of our townsfolk!

CITATION LIST Allott, A., & Mindorff, D. (2014). IB Biology Course Book: For the IB Diploma. Oxford University Press. How Much Water Is on Earth? (2020, March 26). Retrieved September 18, 2020, from https://spaceplace.nasa.gov/water/en/ Merriam-Webster. (n.d.). Flabbergasted. In Merriam-Webster.com dictionary. Retrieved September 18, 2020, from https://www.merriamwebster.com/dictionary/flabbergasted

OUR TEAM Jinna Lee ––––––– Editor in Chief, Illustrator Nathalie Chicoine ––––––– Managing Editor Zoe Reichbach –––––––––––––– Staff Writer

Special thanks to Laurina Ye for assisting with Marketing and Outreach.