Tag: grade 8

Health News

Ontario Doctors Call For Strong Action To Help Children Maintain A Healthy Weight

The Ontario Medical Association (OMA) wants the government to put higher taxes on junk food.

Doctors say that higher costs would make it harder for children to buy junk food.

They also want high fat and sugary foods that have little nutritional value, to have more information and even warnings on the packaging.

And they want less junk food advertising, especially targeting children.

These are just three strong actions doctors say will help children eat less junk food, keep their weight at a healthy level and live a longer life.

The Ontario Medical Association said that over the years strong actions like extra taxes and scary pictures on cigarette packages have helped to reduce smoking from 50 per cent, in the 1960s, to as low as 20 per cent in Canada today.

Doctors say this kind of action can help in the same way with junk food.

Arts News

Japanese Mom Builds Adorable Art Around Sleeping Infant

A mom in Japan has found a way to document her daughter’s dreams.

When baby Nuno sleeps, her mom builds a fun scene around her, using everyday objects such as clothing, hangers and vegetables. Then she lovingly photographs the quirky artwork.

Mami Koise, a cartoonist, says the pictures are what she thinks her baby is dreaming about.

She started doing the artwork to send it to her husband, who often worked late at the bar he owns. She wanted him to see his daughter even when he wasn’t around.

Sports

SF Giants Win The World Series

For the second time in three years, the San Francisco Giants are baseball’s World Series Champions.

The Giants beat the Detroit Tigers 4-3 in 10 innings. They completed a four-game sweep in the best-of-seven series.

That means they won four games in a row, which gave them the championship.

Former Toronto Blue Jay Marco Scutaro singled home the go ahead run in the 10th inning with two out.

Pablo Sandoval (a.k.a. Kung Fu Panda) was awarded Most Valuable Player (MVP).

That’s because in game one of the World Series he hit an amazing three home runs and, overall, he had eight hits in 16 at-bats.

News Politics

Lincoln Alexander Was A Model For Young People

Lincoln Alexander was the lieutenant-governor of Ontario from 1985 to 1991.

He was the first black person to hold that post in the country’s history. He was also Canada’s first black Member of Parliament.

Lincoln Alexander died on Oct. 19, at the age of 90. He was given a state funeral, which is a high honour.

Alexander died in Hamilton, Ont., where he had lived for many years.

Throughout his career, Alexander supported youth leadership and he fought racism.

Alexander, born in 1922, was the child of a railway porter and a maid who came separately to Canada from the Caribbean to find a better life.

Their son, Lincoln, became one of Canada’s most inspiring leaders.

His firsts were many. He was the first black person elected to Canada’s House of Commons and the first black person to be named a lieutenant-governor.

He was the first black partner in a Canadian law firm and first black Minister in the Federal Government.

News Sports

A Giant Panda Makes His Mark On Baseball

He’s a giant among Giants, and now his name will forever be in baseball’s record books.

Wednesday night was the first game in this year’s World Series. The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball (MLB).

Since 1903, the World Series has been the big, end-of-season battle between the best teams from the American League and National League.

This year the Detroit Tigers of the American League are playing the San Francisco Giants of the National League.

In game one on Wednesday night, history was made. The Giants beat the Tigers and their impressive pitcher, Justin Verlander.

The Giants won 8-3. They took a 1-0 series lead in the best-of-seven series.

The highlight of the night, however, was made by the Giants’s heavy-hitting third baseman, Pablo Sandoval.

Sandoval was born in Venezuela. He is affectionately known to his teammates as Kung Fu Panda.

News

Roman Catholic Church Recognizes First Nations Saint

Last Sunday Kateri Tekakwitha (known as Lily of the Mowhawks) became a saint in the Roman Catholic religion. She is the first North American First Nations saint.

More than 1,000 Canadians attended the “canonization” ceremony, conducted by the Pope Benedict XVI (16th) in the Vatican City in Italy.

Many of the people at the ceremony wore feathered headdresses and beads and sang songs to Tekakwitha.

News Sports

World Renowned Cyclist Lance Armstrong Cheated, Erased From Record Books

Lance Armstrong “has no place in cycling,” the president of the governing body for cycling said this week.

And with those words, the organization took away Armstrong’s seven Tour de France victories. They also banned him for life from competing in cycling.

Even though Armstrong came in first in those races, he used banned performance enhancing drugs to help him compete and win races.

So the International Cycling Union (UCI) is erasing him from the sport’s history books.

News

Air Canada Flight Makes A Detour To Locate A Stranded Yacht

Picture this. You’re on a plane, flying from Vancouver, B.C. to Sydney, Australia.

You’re flying over the Pacific Ocean. For the last 12 hours, your flight has been perfectly uneventful.

And then suddenly the captain’s voice comes over the plane’s speakers.

There is a boat in distress, the captain explains. And the plane is going to change course in order to help look for it.

That’s exactly what happened to 270 passengers on board Air Canada flight AC033 last Monday.

The captain was told there was a “vessel in distress” somewhere in the Tasman Sea, which is between Australia and New Zealand.

A yacht with one person aboard had left Sydney, Australia, about two weeks earlier. It had lost its mast, was very low on fuel and had been drifting.

News

Rebuilding A Special Community Castle

Last March a fire all but destroyed a very special playground in Toronto.

The city’s High Park children’s castle had been lovingly built by volunteers. Its destruction resulted in an overwhelming community response–including a day-long community celebration.

Celebrity contractor, Mike Holmes, stepped in with his crew to offer to lead the rebuild–an elaborate new playground structure.

Holmes filmed the rebuild for his television show, Holmes Makes It Right. It’s scheduled to air later this month.

The description for that episode reads:

When a beloved castle playground in Toronto’s High Park is damaged by fire, “Mike Holmes is fuming.

“He leads a legion of crewmembers, engineers, architects and firefighters into battle against extreme heat and construction challenges, all while the clock is ticking.

“With help from the community, Mike and his team overcome major setbacks to rebuild a brand new castle that’s fit for any King or Queen, teaching kids that they can rise above any obstacle and build their own kingdoms.”