Readable, teachable news.
Saturday, December 6, 2025
Polar bears need to be really fat in order to have healthy babies. But because of global warming, the bears aren’t as fat as they used to be, and they aren’t having as many babies.
Polar bears get fat when they can hunt a lot of seals. They can only hunt seals when there is sea ice for them to hunt from.
Global warming is making the sea ice melt. The bears don’t have as much time to hunt because the ice melts too early. Once the ice is gone for the year, the bears have to go to the shore.
During the SuperBowl, advertisers always run some really interesting or funny ads. Recently, some ads ran during the SuperBowl that have been creating some controversy.
The ads were for a company called Groupon. Groupon sells discounted tickets for events and products.
In one ad, well-known actor Timothy Hutton talks about Tibet. In Tibet, the people have faced many challenges such as lack of freedom to be an independent country.
People in Toronto are celebrating the news that Hosni Mubarak has stepped down as president of Egypt. Hundreds of anti-Mubarak protesters gathered in Toronto’s Yonge-Dundas Square last Friday to celebrate.
When Egypt’s vice-president, Omar Suleiman, told the people on Friday that the president would step down and end his 30-year ruling, everyone got very excited. Many people in Egypt had been gathering in the streets of Cairo to ask Mubarak to quit as president.
A young goalie in the minor leagues had his dream come true on Tuesday night. He got “called up.”
Joel Martin is a talented young goalie with dreams of playing in the NHL. He’s currently playing for the Bridgeport Sound Tigers. Imagine his surprise when, in the middle of a game, the coach of the New York Islanders asked him to come to New York and put on his gear—and be ready to play.
The Super Bowl last Sunday was very exciting. The Green Bay Packers won over the Pittsburgh Steelers, 31 to 25.
In the first quarter of the game, the Packers scored two touchdowns. It looked like the game might be a blow-out for the Packers. But then the Steelers scored with just seconds left in the half, putting the score at 21 to 10 at half-time. The Steelers kept the game close, but the Packers ended up winning 31 to 25.
There are 49 dog parks in Toronto where people can take off their dogs’ leashes and let them run freely.
However, not everyone is allowed to use the parks. Dog walkers walk people’s dogs when they are unable to because they are working. They often walk up to six dogs at a time. When they come to a dog park, up to six dogs may pile out of their car and run into the fenced dog park. One or two dog walkers can fill up a dog park, leaving single-dog owners feeling crowded out.
Last Wednesday, Toronto braced itself for a huge winter storm. Cities in the U.S., like Chicago, were reporting snow and high winds. That storm was headed for Toronto.
A full day before the storm was to hit Toronto, the city’s airport cancelled flights. They didn’t want planes to be in the air during bad weather because it could be very dangerous.
Kids everywhere in the city crossed their fingers. They wanted the schools to be shut down for a “snow day.” And around 6:30 a.m., they got what they wanted.
The people of Egypt have been protesting against their President, Hosni Mubarak. He has been in power for 30 years, and the people want him out. They say he hasn’t done enough for the country or the people.
Mubarak wants to stay in power. However, because so many people were angry with him, he now says he will not run for president again in September. (September is when an election is supposed to be held.)
When kids are allowed to move around and blow off steam, they are better able to focus on their schoolwork, say a growing number of researchers.
More educators are looking for ways to help kids be active, to help them learn better. For instance, one teacher in Toronto takes her Grade 7 kids outside to identify shapes or call out adjectives that describe what they see.
Or, she’ll have them walking around the class, talking about work that is pinned to the wall—as if it was an art museum. Then she’ll get them to write a poem about what they saw.
When kids move around a lot in class and on the playground, they do better on their school work.
Many teachers try to get their students moving so they learn better. One teacher in Toronto takes her Grade 7 kids outside where they move around trying to find different shapes on the playground. The teacher will also ask her kids to walk around the room to talk about all of the work on the walls – just like it was an art show. Then she will get them to write a poem about what they saw.
