Kids News - Articles for Grades 5-5

In 1996, Jan Scheuermann, a successful businesswoman and mother of two, began to notice her legs were not quite moving along with the rest of her body. A visit to the doctor revealed that she suffered from spinocerebellar degeneration, a rare genetic disease where the brain gradually loses connection to body muscles. By 2003, Jan had lost all ability to control her limbs and was paralyzed from the neck down....

It's time to tuck away those black and blues that you have been donning all winter and get some green on! That's because Tuesday March 17th is St. Patrick's Day, which means that those not sporting the color will have to endure painful pinches! Of course this fun holiday is also about searching for four-leaf clovers and leprechauns that can lead you to gold. So how did the death anniversary of a once obscure saint who was not even Irish by birth, result in all these fun traditions? Read on....

It sounds like the plot from a National Treasure movie, but this time, the discovery of an ancient city in Central America is real! On February 25th, researchers emerged from La Mosquitia, a very remote jungle area of Honduras, with some incredible news. They had been able to locate the mythical “White City,” rumors of which have persisted since the 16th Century....

Researchers have long suspected that hippos evolved from a family of plant-eating, semi-aquatic mammals called anthracotheres. The ancient animals that roamed freely all the way from North America to Asia inhabited Earth about 40 million years ago. However, scientists could never verify the theory since the only fossils of ancient hippos discovered thus far, dated back just 15 million years. Now thanks to Fabrice Lihoreau, there is finally some proof....

Pi Day that is celebrated on March 14th (3.14) annually, is always a significant occasion even for people that are not particularly fond of math. That's because while celebrations may begin with a discussion of the symbol, they invariably end with consuming different variations of Pi's yummy namesake - pie! However, this year promises to be even more special. That's because, for the first time and last time this century, the day will fall on 3/14/15, which happen to be the first five digits of Pi!...

Fifty years ago, on Sunday, March 7th, 1965, six hundred civil rights activists gathered at the Brown Chapel AME Church in Selma, Alabama to start a peaceful 54-mile trek to the state capitol in Montgomery. The activists were upset at the wrongful death of Marion resident Jimmy Lee Jackson and the denial of their constitutional right to vote and planned to take their cause directly to Alabama Governor George Wallace....

On Sunday, March 8th, thousands of people made their way to Tokyo's Mt. Takao to observe a unique tradition - watching practitioners of the Shugendo religion walk across a path of smoldering embers....

Every year, high school seniors across the country prank their teachers and principals. Some pranks are funny, others borderline cruel, but few are as heartwarming as the recent one pulled by the students of North High School in Kansas....

The idea of riding a bike almost 4,000 miles across the country seems like an impossible task for most, but not for Elizabeth Case and Rachel Woods-Robinson. That's because these young scientists have a mission. They want to educate middle school students about physics and renewable energy and also encourage young girls to pursue careers in science....