www.4Kids.org - Week of May 13, 2001

Week of May 13, 2001

Music Along the Mississippi

Row down the Mississippi River of music for a River of Song at www.pbs.org/riverofsong/ Start out at Inger, Minn., and head south to Louisiana. The cold North offers Ojibwe drummers and Scandinavian fiddlers, while the Midwestern Crossroads is bluegrass country. From Kentucky to Mississippi you'll find soul and the beginnings of rock 'n' roll. And the Deep South is home to Cajun, gospel, blues and honky-tonk music. This trip down the Mississippi River will introduce you to the wide variety of music found in America's heartland. (This site is no longer available.)

Nominate a cool Web site at http://www.4Kids.org/nominations/

Mastering Math

Put on your thinking cap and head to www.mathmastery.com This math Web site will help you master all the fundamentals. Take the CyberChallenge, four Shockwave games about addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. Then figure out the math puzzle in DailyBrains. You can get the whole family involved with the FamilyFun scavenger hunts. Finally, visit Figure This Math Challenges for Families. With groovy pictures and challenging math problems, MathMastery.com is a welcome addition to Web learning. (Disclaimer: This site now contains advertisements.)

In a Galaxy Far Far Away . . .

Explore Our Universe at http://library.thinkquest.org/20632/ Ever wonder what quasars or nebulae are? At this site, you can find the answers to all your space questions. The section on Our Solar System features info about the sun and all the planets. There are informative sections about black holes, dark matter, superstrings and wormholes. If you've ever wondered how astronomical theory fits together, check out the Theory of Everything. Finally, return to our own galaxy with a brief History of the Universe. (This site is no longer available.)

Other than a lemonade stand, what's a good warm-weather business for kids?

Speak Out Here!

Dear Amy: How did the dinosaurs die? -- Daryl, Manila, Ala.

Dear Daryl: The extinction of the dinosaurs is a much debated topic, but I don't think anyone knows for sure how they died. Some info about the different dino extinction theories are available at www.cotf.edu/ete/modules/msese/dinosaur.html Perhaps the most interesting part of their extinction is that some species that lived alongside the dinosaurs survived the event or events that led to their demise. Check out the theories and decide for yourself.

Dear Amy: What is self-esteem? -- Tomeka, St. Louis

Dear Tomeka: You and everyone else have self -esteem. It involves how you feel about yourself and your actions or abilities. It is affected by the way others treat you and your feelings about that. When people talk of a person who has low self-esteem, they mean that person doesn't think highly of himself or herself. Check out www.kidshealth.org/ kid/feeling/emotion/self_esteem.html to learn more about self-esteem and developing a positive self-image.

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