Kids News - Articles for Grades 4-5

Playing video games on a handheld console is fun, but wouldn't it be even more so on the wall of a giant 29-story skyscraper with thousands of people joining in? That's exactly what Drexel University's Professor Frank Lee had in mind when he organized 'The Grandest Game of Pong on the Planet' to kick off Philadelphia's tech week, earlier this year....

While above-ground active volcanoes in the Antarctica are nothing new, finding one that is buried deep inside its thick ice layer is certainly a first. The exciting discovery was revealed in the November issue of Nature Geoscience by researchers from the Washington University in St. Louis, who stumbled upon the frozen continent's well-kept secret, accidentally....

On November 20th, 1998, a Russian rocket launched off with an unusual piece of cargo - Zarya ('sunrise' in Russian), the module that became the first piece of the largest manmade structure every built in space - The International Space Station (ISS). Designed to be the power source for the ISS, it orbited earth for two weeks, before being joined by Unity....

While the presence of rats in homes may cause anxiety and annoyance, they rarely result in driving out the residents. But that is exactly what happened to the inhabitants of the 10-square-mile Hawadax Island off the coast of Alaska, almost 230 years ago. Now thanks to a five-year effort by conservationists, the eerily silent 'Rat Island' as it had been dubbed for many years, has been returned to its rightful owners - birds!...

Stargazers all over the world are abuzz with excitement. That's because for the first time ever, comet ISON has started making its way through our inner solar system. While comets skirting by earth are nothing new, this one is being dubbed 'Comet of the Century', thanks to its orbit that takes it so close to the sun that it could result in an unprecedented cosmic scene, caused by the distinct bright tail created when the ice on the comet's body vaporizes....

A tiny clam that was dredged up from its home under the sea in 2006 and named world's oldest 'non-colonial' animal is making headlines again. That's because scientists had grossly miscalculated the age of the ancient mollusk. Turns out that Ming was not 405 years old as had been originally believed, but an astounding 507, when discovered....

A mosaic of a tea picker, a wild flower meadow and a working camera all made from sugar, were just some of the extraordinary sights in store for the thousands of people fortunate enough to attend the annual Experimental Food Society Spectacular held on November 8 & 9th, at London's Truman Brewery....

This week marks the 50th anniversary of the assassination of America's beloved President John Fitzgerald Kennedy or as he was affectionately called, JFK. The November 22nd, 1963, tragedy that occurred as the 35th leader of the United States of America and his elegant wife Jacqueline, were riding in an open motorcade through downtown Dallas, is regarded as a defining moment in American history, one that many will never forget....

We are all familiar with the rocky, red surface of present day Mars - After all, that is why it is nicknamed the 'Red Planet'. And while It's definitely not a place most of us would want to live on in its present state, what if it had been filled with huge lakes, lush green fields and giant cliffs? Just like . . . Earth?...