The Ginza District

A sliver of silver in Tokyo

by Alana Ringen, age 11

Tokyo, an abode to tradition and expression, is home to a “place of silver,” the Ginza District. Ginza, famous for producing silver, was once home to the state mint, hence the name. In the Ginza District there are many different places that you can visit, like the Ueno-Koen Park and the Kabukiza Theater.

The Ueno-Koen Park is filled with various museums. One of them is the Tokyo National Museum, which is filled with original Japanese paintings. Another museum is the National Science Museum, along with the Shitimachi History Museum. [Read More]

¿Que tan saludables son las bananas?

por Jojo Cortez, 11 años

¿Te gustan las bananas? ¿Por qué? ¿El sabor? ¿La fibra? Todos pensamos que bananas son saludables. ¿Pero es cierto?

Bananas tienen, mucha azúcar. Hay 14 gramos de azúcar en una sola banana. Pero no son las únicas frutas que tienen mucha azúcar. También las manzanas y fresas contienen una gran cantidad de azúcar. Las bananas verdes tienen menos azúcar que las amarillas, aunque muchas personas prefieren las amarillas. Las bananas verdes tienen 30 de 100 puntos en el índice glucémico, mientras las bananas amarillas tienen 50 puntos. [Leer Más]

More Than Eight Reasons to Love Octopuses

by Marc Reyes, age 11

Besides the obviously cool fact that they have eight arms, octopuses have some other awesome features that many people d o not know about.

Octopuses have unique physical traits. For example, the Dumbo octopus, which lives close to 13,000 feet deep in the ocean, has nearly 2,000 suckers on its tentacles. Also, a giant Pacific octopus can lift 35 pounds with each sucker when it is fully grown. [Read More]

Human Activity Continues to Threaten Sloth Species

by Yani Thoronka, age 11

Human activities have endangered the pygmy three-toed sloth. Pygmy sloths only live in tropical rainforests. Their habitat varies from Central American countries, such as Honduras, to South American countries, such as Brazil. There are many different types of sloths, but their population overall is decreasing.

The red mangrove forest of Isla Escudo de Veraguas is a remote island off the coast of Panama and home to the pygmy sloth. Pygmy sloths protect themselves by covering their coats with blue-green algae, providing camouflage as they hang on tree foliage. The pygmy sloth is very inactive. However, lack of movement actually protects it from predators. [Read More]

Black Holes Power Galaxies

by Edwin Portillo, age 10

Did you know that one type of black hole, a galactic black hole, is as big as a billion suns?

Most galaxies have tiny centers and a lot of energy. These are called active galaxies and are powered by black holes. Black holes are incredibly massive gravity wells. Powerful enough to generate the energy of the galaxy, black holes are so dense that they can swallow anything that goes near them. [Read More]