Bear Essential News June 2021, Phoenix Edition by Bear Essential News

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June 2021 • Phoenix Edition • www.bearessentialnews.com

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November 2018 • Phoenix Edition • www.bearessentialnews.com ®

Amazing Sea Turtles!

In This Picture: Find a baseball, a Father’s Day necktie, a pizza slice, the sun, the word DAD, the U.S. flag, a butterfly, a hot dog, a pair of sunglasses and the word FUN.

FEATURE

NEWS

A mazin g S ea Turtles!

Art work Spreads Joy Chess W hiz Kid

Their survival depends on us Pages 8 & 9

& more news kids can use Scoops pages 3, 4, 6, 10 & 14

NEWS Spotlight on ocean drones News Highlights page 5

FAMILIES

TEACHERS

Next S top— FU N! Happy In AZ!

Take the Valley Metro quiz. Page 2

BoSa Donuts Profile Page 13

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June 2021

Let’s Go... VALLEY METRO! Take Valley Metro on a Journey to Fun! Now is the time to discover some of the art, history, entertainment and recreation destinations in our cities. Valley Metro is an excellent way to get you there! Connecting people and places are what we do. A transit trip can help your family save money, avoid traffic jams and be a solution to pollution. The money saved could help pay for those new adventures. Your journey could be a visit to a museum, library, splash pad, public art hunt, or the movies. Just imagine the fun!

Valley Metro is your ride to family fun, exploration and discovery! Do you recognize these fun places to explore in the Valley? Match the destination clue to its picture.

Destination #1

Here is the perfect place to spend a hot summer day. These places usually have daily events and all kinds of books to borrow. At this particular one, be sure to visit its unique low-water-use garden. Located off 59th Ave in Glendale on Transit Route 59.

Artist Wall at the Roosevelt and Central light rail station

i.d.e.a. Museum

Destination #2

These places are great ways to keep cool! This popular one involves waves and a park with a large shaded splash pad. Located in Tempe on Transit Routes 77, 108, and Orbit Saturn.

Destination #3

This type of place is fun to walk around and see some fantastic things. This one has excellent ideas and is located in Downtown Mesa. On Transit Routes BUZZ, 40, and light rail.

Kiwanis Wave Pool at Kiwanis Park

Destination #4

Start your public art adventure at any light rail station. There are 28 miles with 35 stations to explore. Check out Artsline's interactive map to start your travel plans. This stop is located on Transit Routes 0, 8, 10, and light rail. https://gisportal.valleymetro.org/artsline/

Glendale Main Library and Xeriscape Demonstration Garden

For more Valley Metro fun, go to

https://www.valleymetro.org/transiteducation/valley-metro-fun

June 2021 •

e-mail: boomer@bearessentialnews.com

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AZ Artist Spreads Joy with Murals by Reporter Abigail Hernandez Arizona Virtual Academy Recently Young Reporters had the chance to meet Arizona artist Joe Pagac. One of Pagac’s notable artworks is the Whale Mural in central Tucson. Pagac has also painted libraries, building walls, and even Instagram worthy backgrounds that you can pose with! At Kirk-Bear Canyon Library, Pagac painted a mural around the building, and changed styles. Part of it is realistic, and part is painted like how a child would. Pagac has done paintings around the U.S., including some in D.C. Some artwork that I personally like is the trompe l’oeil, which in French means “deceive the eye.” It’s an optical illusion. Pagac likes nature often paints animals. He tries to make the animals scientifically accurate but provides his own personal touch. Pagac said he really likes doing art, even since he was a kid. He used to have his mom write down his book ideas, and then he would add the illustrations. In school he liked to doodle on paper and his notes, math tests, etc. Pagac at first didn’t believe that he could make a living as an artist. One day his art teacher in college told him that he was good and that

News Stories Written by Kids— for Kids

Remembering Author Eric Carle by Reporter Aleena Rafiyath BASIS Oro Valley

he could make a living as an artist. He’s taken his teacher’s words and made a living as an artist for 16 years, which has worked out really well. Pagac says his favoirte artwork to do is making animals doing people things, especially bike riding. He said he likes to make things that make people happy. He says he likes to paint really fast—the whale mural took him nine days to paint, and it’s almost a city block long! But one with a cowboy, girl and animals riding bikes took six weeks!

MORE MURAL ARTIST, page 6 ➧

Get Ready for Monsoon Weather by Reporter Amanda Vega, Arizona Desert Elementary It’s coming soon! Lots of weather change, wind, rain, flooding and dust storms are coming our way. It’s almost monsoon season for Arizona. Meteorologist Royal Norman grew up liking weather. “My family and I would go to the garage and watch the weather,” he says. During the monsoon, our rain pattern changes and monsoons come from the south according to Norman. “There are 14 different monsoons in the world. There is a famous one in India,” says Norman. Monsoon season in Arizona is June 15 through Sept. 30. Norman says the desert heats up and there are 100 degree plus days along with wind flow changes. “That’s how we get more thunder storms,” he explains.

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As far as predicting when we will have a monsoon, Norman says, “sometimes we don’t know when it is coming until it is close to us. We know what day storms are more or less possible. First it starts in Southern Arizona and then we wait to see if a storm develops and then follow the weather pattern.” Monsoons mainly effect Mexico, New Mexico, Colorado, Utah, Texas and Southern California. Norman says, “When you are outside during the monsoon season, be careful for lightning. There are a lot of sports in the summer and we never know when or where it will strike. Be careful for flash flooding. Every year washes flood and cars try driving through them. Be aware of your surroundings and watch the weather report. If you hear thunder, get inside.” MORE MONSOON, page 4 ➧

You’ve probably read the famous books “The Very Hungry Caterpillar” and “Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?” and probably know the author who wrote these books. His art is distinctive, recognizable at the first sight of the illustrations. Eric Carle was the author and illustrator of many children’s books, including these famous ones. With his first books published in 1967 and 1969, Carle’s books are well known around the world—more than 50 million copies of his first book were printed! After “Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?” was published, his career began as an illustrator. Carle won the Regina Medal in 1959 and the Children’s Literature Legacy Award in 2003. He founded the Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art in Massachusetts in 2003. He illustrated over 70 books which sold over 170 million copies internationally. Many of these books are best sellers, most of them written by Carle, as well. Unfortunately, on May 23, Carle passed away at the age of 91. Despite his recent passing there is no doubt that his books will live on in the memories of many children. “Very Eric Carle: A Very Hungry, Quiet, Lonely, Clumsy, Busy Exhibit” is at the Children’s Museum of Phoenix through Sept. 6.

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by Reporter Zaniyah Parker Arizona Desert Elementary There’s a new show on PBS. It is hosted by Dr. Frederic Bertley, president and CEO of COSI, Center of Science and Industry in Columbus, Ohio. “I am a scientist with a PhD,” says Bertley. “I specialize in science in the medical field. I really enjoy science, but most people don’t really know about science. Science is all around us all the time. People should want to learn more. I want to show that science is fun and engaging for all.” According to Bertley, PBS wanted to use a clever title. “I came up with QED.” Famous philanthropists and mathematicians in the 1600s wanted to prove (proof) their work so they signed QED after their name. QED or “Quod Erat Demonstrandum” means what was to be shown, or quite easily demonstrated. “The show deals with cutting edge science, what is happening now,” says Bertley. Photo courtesy: WOSU.org Bertley prepares for his show by doing a lot of research on the topic. He also does interviews. “A lot of the show is through Zoom right now. If a scientist is local, we go out to the college. Every interview will be done in person where allowed”. To view QED with Dr. B, you can go to WOSU.org to view the shows. You can also Google QED with Dr. B. Dr. B’s vision for the show is to have everyone on this planet view at least one episode of QED with Dr. B. “There are 7.7 billion people on planet Earth, and 300 million people in the U.S. Bertley’s goal is to get people excited and comfortable about science. It is our PBS affiliate’s goal to get as many PBS affiliates as possible to carry the show.” “Kids love science. At about 16 to 20 years of age, they become less and less interested. I want to get them excited—and adults, too.” Adviser: Karen Golden

More Monsoon

Continued from page 3

According to Norman, the monsoon failed last year, but he is hoping that this year we have a monsoon. “Most of the state only got 20 to 30 percent of the water it needed and it did not turn off the fire season. The long range outlook seems to be positive late July or in August.” Adviser: Karen Golden

MORE SCOOPS, page 6 ➧

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News Highlights Image: shutterstock.com

You may think of drones as a cool gadget that allows you to take to the skies. While drones can certainly be a fun toy, they also have a wide range of scientific and every day uses. Later this summer, five little orang drones will set sail directly into the paths of hurricanes. Their mission? To gather data from inside the storms that will hopefully save lives and coastal properties. Hurricanes are often deadly and cost the United States an estimated $54 billion each year. Saildrone, the company behind these drones that is working with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, says the biggest challenge to hurricane forecasting is rapid intensification and that these drones will help scientists understand

shall be expressly prohibited.” Additionally, the English names of traditional yoga poses must be used. Gray is a former college football player and liOcean Drone Facts: censed yoga instructor who is also a Christian who attends a Baptist church. He argued that the amend- • Number of drones: 5 • Launching location: Florida ments were unnecessary. and US Virgin Islands “The promoting of Hinduism argument is the only • Exploring location: Atlantic Oce talking point these conservative groups have, and it makes them look very misinformed and miseducated photo by www.saildrone.com on the issue,” Gray previously said to more about how the ocean works during The Guardian. these storms. According to Johns Hopkins Medicine, yoga has The drones will monitor heat, wind speeds, been linked to a variety of benefits. These include water pressure, and other metrics. They’ll everything from managing stress and boosting energy then communicate these measurements to to improving physical health throughout the body. scientists as the storm is happening. “The biggest gap in our understanding of hurricanes are the processes by which they intensify so quickly, as well as the ability to Abhimanyu Mishra is focused on earning his third accurately predict how strong they will benorm (an international chess tournament where you come,” said Dr. Jun Zhang, a scientist in the must play at least at a 2,600 Elo rating). Players must Hurricane Research Division at NOAA/AOML. also reach a chess federation (FIDE) rating to 2,500 “We know that the exchange of heat between or more. The highest rating ever was 2,882 by current the ocean and the atmosphere is one of the world champion Magnus Carlsen in 2014. key physical processes providing energy to a The brilliant homeschooled sixth-grader from New storm, but to improve understanding, we need Jersey has been coached by Grandmaster Arun to collect in situ observations during a storm. Prasad since Abhi was 6. His coach says Abhi has a Of course, that is extremely difficult given nearly photographic memory for games and can recall the danger of these storms. We hope that key moves from those early years. data collected with saildrones will help us to If Abhi plays well enough, he could become a improve the model physics, and then, in turn, grandmaster in July, playing a tourney in Serbia where we will be able to improve hurricane intensity he will take on players from around the world. The forecasts.” field will include at least three grandmasters. By understanding more about the storms, The youngest grandmaster to date is Russian scientists believe they’ll be able to offer more Sergey Karjakin, who at 12 years, 7 months earned accurate predictions which will allow more his title in 1990. Famous American player Bobby time for people to prepare and evacuate. The Fischer was 15 when he became a grandmaster. drones will be launched in August from Florida Tucsonan Tal Shaked earned his grandmaster title and the US Virgin Islands. at age 19.

Chess Whiz Kid Could Be a Grandmaster! Since the COVID-19 lockdown began more than a year ago, the game of chess has been making a rather grand comeback. Some of the best players in the world have taken the game online and fans are flocking to watch on gaming platforms like Twitch (which is for people 13 years old and up). Also adding fuel to the chess fire is the movie and entertainment industry. But a 12-year-old is playing the old-fashioned way—with wooden pieces on a board and a chess clock—and has a real shot at becoming the youngest grandmaster the world has ever had! Already an international master, which is also a lifetime chess title Image: just a step below grandmaster, shutterstock.com

Ocean Drones Help Gather Data

Alabama Approves Yoga In Schools Alabama has ended a nearly 30-year-old ban on yoga and will now allow it to be taught in schools. Just don’t say “Namaste.” The ban first went into effect in 1993, and was one of several policies put into place involving religion, including a controversial school prayer bill that was later struck down by courts. More than a year ago, Alabama State Rep. Jeremy Gray introduced a bill to revoke the yoga ban. Governor Kay Ivey signed the bill, and local school boards will now decide whether students can be taught yoga in grades K-12. Yoga is an ancient form of exercise focusing on strength, flexibility and breathing. The practice originated in India about 5,000 years ago, and it is a spiritual practice with connections to Hinduism and Buddhism. Therein lies the source of conflict for why yoga was banned three decades ago. Some conservative Christian groups fought to keep the ban in place because they argued that allowing yoga in the classroom would expose kids to Hinduism and lead to them converting. As a compromise, before passing the state legislature, the bill was amended to include a regulation requiring parents to sign a permission slip to allow yoga. Another amendment to the bill says that “Chanting, mantras, mudras, use of mandalas, induction of hypnotic states, guided imagery, and namaste greetings

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Disneyland Reopens to Out-of-State Visitors by Reporter Brett Eymann, Transitions Delta Center After being closed for over a year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Disneyland will reopen June 15 to out-of-state visitors. Disneyland reopened on April 30, but only to California residents. The closure of the park due to the pandemic was only the third time Disneyland has ever closed. The other two times were when President John F.

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Kennedy was assassinated in 1963 and during the terror attacks in 2001. The state of California recommends that guests be fully vaccinated or test negative for the virus prior to entering the park. Guests must make an advanced reservation to enter the park. Visitors will notice that the Sleeping Beauty Castle now has a fresh and brighter look. After repairing the damaged roof, the shingles that have been in place since the park opened in 1955 have been replaced with ones that are shaped like diamonds. Bright blue and gold paint along with sprinkles of “Pixie Dust” make the castle look even more magical than it did before. The design of the castle is based on the design of the Neuschwanstein Castle in Bavaria, Germany. Visit disneyland.disney.go.com for information on how to make your reservations and to read all the new safety guidelines.

More Mural Artist

Continued from page 3

Pagac says that he wanted to be an artist because he didn’t want to sit behind a desk all day, and he likes to see what he made and is proud of it. He said with public art he likes knowing he’s making an impact on the city and making it a better place. He says, “You sleep better at night when you know your contributing to your community and not just yourself.” He has painted thousands of paintings. When he did smaller ones he could do three to five a week. He says he usually does three big ones a month, but is always doing smaller ones on the side. He says a lot of his murals don’t exist anymore because they’ve been painted over. Pagac says his favorite mural is one with animals on bikes, which can be seen in downtown Tucson. He said it’s the first mural he did by himself, and over 300 people raised money to help with it. Pagac said to all aspiring artists: “Keep drawing right now, don’t give up—a lot of people give up too early, but just keep going.” MORE SCOOPS, page 10 ➧

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Honoring Fathers—Dads Are an Important Part of Girl Scouts This month when we honor fathers, Girl Scouts are grateful for all the fathers who help them as they learn and grow. One of those dads is Jesse Ventura, who has been a Girl Scout dad for six years now. His daughters are Jacqueline, a Cadette in Troop 1688, and Jordyn, a Brownie in Troop 1688. Ventura has learned that being involved means a lot more than shuttling and supervising duties. “Honestly I thought it was just about going to meetings and doing activities at the meetings,” he says. “I didn't ever think about all the events and the work that goes into making Girl Scouts what it

is. This whole experience for me as a father to two Girl Scouts is more than I ever expected.” Dads can volunteer to lead programs like STEM, outdoors, special skills and virtual programs. They can support a daughter’s Girl Scout Cookie business by picking up and organizing boxes, taking her to booths, helping her set up booths and going on Walkabouts (door-to-door selling). They can assist Troop Leaders and fill in where support is needed. And, of course, they can act as chaffeur to get their daughters to meetings and support troops travel plans. Girl Scouting provides a way for families to

Jacqueline and Jordyn with their dad Jesse

bond, build trust, engage with each other (and with nature), and try new activities together. Ventura says camping with his daughters for the first time was says one of his favorite Girl Scouts experiences. “I've never been much of a camper but this time was a bit of a special moment that they had wanted to do with me,” he explains. “We spent two nights and three days camping.” Dads (and moms) can volunteer to become Troop Leaders or volunteers for key programs. Parents can lead programming that they’re skilled in like hiking or other outdoor skills, technology, engineering, and more. They can also help lead other seasonal programming or train to become certified in outdoor skills, first aid, and other roles that troops need. Dads play an important role in the Girl Scouts experience, and they reap the rewards by seeing girls become more independent. “I have seen them be more confident, outspoken, self aware of their surroundings,” Ventura says of his daughters. “I look forward to them being more assertive in decisions they make, continuing to help the community...and building lasting friendships.” Get involved with Girl Scouts! Learn more at:

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Join Girl Scouts today! Visit girlscoutsaz.org Call 602-452-7030 Text 844-317-9041

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Ancient, adorable and amazing, sea turtles seem to magically fly through ocean waters. Learn more about them and a recent rescue effort that saved thousands!

O Image: SeaTurtleIn

verall, sea turtle populations are struggling, and these marine reptiles are in many ways our fine flippered ocean ambassadors! Six of the seven species of sea turtle can be found in U.S. waters. But sadly, several of them are endangered species, with the Kemp’s ridley and hawksbill being listed as critically endangered. You’ve also probably heard of at least some of these other sea turtle species—olive ridley, flatback, loggerhead, green and leatherback.

Allison is one of five reptile residents at Sea Turtle Inc. An ocean predator had torn off three of her flippers, but the youngster was saved. She is wearing her fifth custom prosthesis—a rudder that enables her to swim and dive almost normally!

“They used to live in the era when the dinosaurs lived, so their ancestors swam the oceans when the dinosaurs roamed,” points out Sanjuana Zavala, marketing manager for Sea Turtles Inc., which recently helped save thousands of sea turtles caught in a massive cold stun weather event off the Texas coast. Zavala is amazed that sea turtles are still living with us today.

Bigger Than Your Box Turtle

Sea turtles are superb swimmers. The fastest sea turtles can cruise underwater at 22 mph! In 2020, biologists announced they had released and tracked Yoshi, a loggerhead turtle, swimming 22,000 miles over two years. “They go far—they are world travelers,” Zavala emphasizes. Being reptiles, they breathe air, but are incredible divers. Small sea turtles can stay underwater for 10–15 minutes, but large ones can stay (and sleep) underwater for 4–7 hours! One leatherback was measured diving almost 4,000 feet down! .

What Sea Turtles Eat

Cold Stunned Turtles

A visitor compares her height to sea turtles.

Moving a sea turtle nest into the protection of the corral where the hatchlings are watched

Swimming & Diving

Sea turtle life spans vary by species, but they tend to live about as long as humans do. What they eat also varies according to species. “Kemp’s ridleys love blue crabs, shrimp and squid. They’re more of the meat eaters,” Zavala says. “The loggerheads have strong jaw strength (to go with their large heads)—very strong in terms of crunching and munching!” Green sea turtles love to eat seaweed sea grasses. In fact, they eat a lot more vegetation than other sea turtles, so much that it may color a thin layer of fat under their shells! And the hawksbills are omnivores that eat mostly sea sponges. They can use their pointy beaks to pick out the soft coral polyps.

110 Million Years & Counting

While Kemp’s ridley hatchlings are about the size of a half dollar and weigh just a half-ounce, even the smallest fullgrown sea turtle is much larger than your pet store box turtle. “The smallest sea turtle is the Kemp’s ridley. They can be around 80 pounds—males 85 pounds,” Zavela says. Adults average about two feet long. The list of sea turtles above is roughly organized by size. “Then we have the leatherback, which is the largest sea turtle in the world,” she continues. The largest one on record weighed a whopping 2,019 pounds and was nearly 10 feet long. But Archelon, an extinct sea turtle that lived during the Late Cretaceous (75–65 million years ago), is the largest ever discovered—15 feet long and 4,900 pounds!

YOU cantect ro help to p& eir h t s e l t tur home.

Like other reptiles, sea turtles are ectotherms, meaning their body temperature depends on the ambient water temperature or external sources of heat like the sun. South Padre Island is home to 2,000– 3,000 people and Sea Turtle Inc. It is in the

aTurtleInc

Image: Se

usually warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico, near the southern tip of Texas. This is one of the nesting sites of the critically endangered Kemp’s ridleys, which used to come ashore by the thousands there and at Rancho Nuevo on Mexico’s eastern coast. The females dig holes in the beach and lay a clutch of about 100 eggs. For sea turtles, sandy nest temperature determines the sex of the hatchlings—cold temps bring about males and warmer produces females. In the wild, hatchlings make a mass scramble for the ocean. The ones not picked off by predators, like birds, still must get past basically any predators their size or larger swimming in the ocean with them, Zavala explains. Then they leave the Gulf and not much was known about where the 1- and 2-year-olds went until freezing temperatures hit the Boston and Cape Cod areas in December. Being ectotherms, when water temps drop below 55° F, the young Kemp’s ridleys became too cold to move! These “cold stunned” turtles aren’t able to raise their heads to get air and risk drowning! Rescue workers scooped up dozens of these young sea turtles, which were ﬂown hundreds of miles to Sea Turtle Inc. for care. “That was the most amazing thing because we never (usually) get to encounter a Kemp’s ridley around that age,” Zavala points out. “Those are called the ‘lost years’ in sea turtle science because there’s so little research on how they look, where they’re at, what they’re eating or what size they are.” While workers and volunteers at Sea Turtle Inc. were excited to help with these little young ones, they had no idea what was about to hit the Texas coast a few months later. In mid February, days of freezing temperatures dropped the 80° waters of

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the Gulf of Mexico down to 37°. This was a massive cold stun event, causing more than 5,000 cold stunned sea turtles near Texas. People went out on their boats to pull the stunned turtles out of the frigid waters and bring them to South Padre Island, much of which had no electricity or heating! Sea Turtle Inc.’s facilities quickly ﬁlled. Still, with the help of hundreds of South Padre volunteers and by opening the community center just a few blocks away, the thousands of sea turtles had shelter. In 48 hours, Sea Turtle Inc. took in the bulk of those turtles. “Almost all were green sea turtles and a few loggerheads,” Zavala adds. Most weighed 80–150 Plastic garbag e is an aw ful threat pounds, with the largest green coming in at 400 to sea turt les! pounds!

Image from

S e A a le’s World! Turt

June 2021

shutterstock .com

www.bearessentialnews.com

June 2021

photo courtesy of Sea Turtle Inc

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Images: shutterstock.com

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Threats to Sea Turtles These amazing creatures, some plant eaters, some mostly carnivores, are an indicator of the overall health of the ocean. The bad news is that most of the seven species of sea turtles are endangered. The good news is there are ways you and those you know can help. Pollution, especially plastic waste in their habitat, may be their biggest threat. “Sea turtles have a brain the size of a grape. They’re hungry, so they’ll eat what’s in the water. Trash is not supposed to be in the ocean, so that creates the problem,” Zavala explains. “Even though a family might not live on the

coast, all rivers lead to the ocean, one way or another,” she continues. Try eliminating or limiting single-use plastic items from your life, like plastic straws and plastic grocery sacks. Try not to buy items over-packaged in plastic! And be sure to recycle the plastic that you do use. Zavala suggests switching to other items like reusable grocery totes and those reusable water bottles. “Buy a nice water bottle that you like and then everyone in your family can get one!” she says. The massive cold stun event strained Sea Turtle Inc.’s resources, but on the positive side, the rescue organization has grown from all this exposure and is even adding a turtle research area. Visit seaturtleinc.org for more photos, news and if your family wants to donate.

Take the Sea Turtle Challenge! 1.

Word Bank 4 5.

Reptile Nesting Leatherback Carnivore Herbivore Foreﬂippers Hind ﬂippers Carapace Hatchlings

9. ACROSS: 3. Used as rudders, stabilizing and directing the sea turtle as it swims 5. Baby sea turtles 7. Used for swimming 8. Digging holes in the sand and laying eggs 9. Most sea turtles are meat eating and live on a diet of crabs, mollusks, shrimp and jellyﬁsh.

DOWN: 1. Green and black sea turtles live on a diet of sea grasses and algae. 2. Has a tough leathery skin instead of a shell 4. The thick shell that coveres the back of the sea turtle 6. Ectotherm from the sea with scales and a backbone, it breathes with lungs

Ancient, adorable and amazing, sea turtles seem to magically fly through ocean waters. Learn more about them and a recent rescue effort that saved thousands!

O Image: SeaTurtleIn

Bigger Than Your Box Turtle

What Sea Turtles Eat

Cold Stunned Turtles

A visitor compares her height to sea turtles.

Moving a sea turtle nest into the protection of the corral where the hatchlings are watched

Swimming & Diving

110 Million Years & Counting

YOU cantect ro help to p& eir h t s e l t tur home.

aTurtleInc

Image: Se

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Image from

S e A a le’s World! Turt

June 2021

shutterstock .com

www.bearessentialnews.com

June 2021

photo courtesy of Sea Turtle Inc

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Images: shutterstock.com

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Take the Sea Turtle Challenge! 1.

Word Bank 4 5.

Reptile Nesting Leatherback Carnivore Herbivore Foreﬂippers Hind ﬂippers Carapace Hatchlings

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Give Hurricane Harbor a Whirl by Reporter Madison Divijak Dove Mountain CSTEM K–8 Recently I went to Hurricane Harbor in Phoenix and I had an amazing time. Our family has season passes so we can go to the water park any time this year. There were over 30 slides at Hurricane Harbor which included a kid zone, lazy river, wave pool, rides for your family and thrill rides if you like rides that are a bit scary. Hurricane Harbor also has a food court with some delicious food. Some of the food available includes funnel cakes, fry bread, burgers, slushies and Dippin’ Dots. My favorite ride was the Tornado where you start with your group on a tube 38 feet in the air and go spinning down through a 160-foot tunnel! The lines were long for each slide, but my family enjoyed all of the slides in the park. We stopped by the gift shop too where you can buy souvenirs. So the next time you are thinking about going to a water park or need somewhere to cool off this summer, stop by Hurricane Harbor.

Boomer will send you all the reporter stuff you need to get started:

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Growing, Growing,

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June 2021 •

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Fun tips on healthy foods, fitness and well being —from our family to yours!

The Heat Is On! Living in Arizona makes physical activity challenging in the summer months. During that time, we tend to stay indoors to protect ourselves from sunburns and heat exhaustion; but activity during the summer is just as important as activity during the cooler months. It might take a little imagination, but there are ways to be active while staying cool.

Written by Candace Johnson, RDN, MPH, CDCES Pediatric Dietitian at Phoenix Children’s Hospital

phoenixchildrens.org 602-933-0935

Check out these summer activity ideas: 1. Get wet! Swimming is a great activity during the summer months but if you don’t have a pool, you can still use water to your advantage. Have a water balloon fight, purchase a slip and slide, have a water gun fight, or run through the sprinkler. 2. Video games! Use video games to your advantage; choose active video games that keep you moving for at least 30 minutes. 3. Dance: Turn off the lights, put on some music and have a family dance party. 4. Balloon volleyball: Blow up some balloons, make a barrier for a net and start hitting. 5. Get creative: Make an indoor obstacle course by using pillows, blankets and whatever else you find around the house to move, jump, and crawl through. 6. Make a maze: use some yarn and make a maze to hop over and crawl under (don’t get caught in the imaginary laser beams!).

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7. Pillowcase fun: Take out your pillow and hop in the empty case for a fun pillowcase race.

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8. Tape hopscotch – Make a hopscotch game with some tape, jump around, and enjoy the fun.

Images: sh

9. Check out your community: Many YMCAs and community centers have fun indoor activities during the summer months.

Hopefully, these ideas may spur some others. Have fun this summer while staying cool!

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June 2021

Boomer’s Boredom-Busting Activity Page

Ho w Ma n y

Tu rt le s ?

Saving a Treasure! Helping the Sea Turtles Survive

ea Turtles are one of the longest living groups of animals ever to have existed, having far outlived the dinosaurs. They are an intricate part of the ecosystem and make substantial nutrient and energy contributions to beaches.

count the hatchlings. Boomer Bear is helping the picture? How many can you see in

Do the Dot to Dot

You might see them sunning themselves on the shore of the beach, but they are deep divers, too. It is common for a green sea turtle to migrate thousands of miles in search of food and nesting grounds. These wonderful sea creatures can live up to 80 years if the conditions are right.

Find the Green Sea Turtle! START

Make Your Own Sea Turtle Friend! You will need:

• paper plates • green and brown paint • 4 legs, head and tail cut out from a paper plate, paint them green or brown and let dry • brass brads • sponge (cut into small shapes) • hole punch

Color the artwork when you’ve finished the dot to dot.

Directions:

• Dip sponge shapes in brown and green paint to make shell pattern on paper plate. • Hole punch a place on the plate for head, tail and four legs. • Attach the head, tail and legs with brass brads so they can move. • Let plate dry according to paint directions.

Have fun with your new friend!

Use the word bank below to check your knowledge about one of the sea’s most popular creatures. 1. Air breathing reptiles that live in the ocean and are able to spend hours under the water. There are 7 species and all are endangered. 2. Largest of all the hard shelled turtles. They eat meat when young and turn herbivorous as adults. Principal cause of their decline is the harvesting of their eggs and meat. 3. Smallest of the species and one of the most seriously endangered. 4. A grouping of animals and plants that are the same kind. 5. A recently hatched baby sea turtle or other animal. 6. A nest or batch of eggs. 7. Protection of wildlife and natural resources. 8. A type of animal or plant in danger of becoming extinct, mostly through human actions. 9. Where a sea turtle hatched and returns to lay its eggs.

WORD BANK: A. Sea Turtles B. Hatchling C. Natal Beach D. Endangered species E. Conservation F. Green Sea Turtle G. Clutch H. Kemp’s Ridley Sea Turtle I. Species

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nne Kemper taught a second/third grade combination class at Summit Academy this year. Kemper has taught for 12 years. She says she enjoyed having the different ages together because the older students acted as mentors to the younger kids. “I like that they are able to take on the role of teacher,” says Kemper about her third graders. She notes that the third graders could help with the challenging concepts, and second graders were encouraged to “try something harder.” She says that the hardest part of a combination class for her was managing time “so everyone gets what they need.” Kemper and her family have moved all over for her husband’s military career. She was excited to return to the classroom at Summit Academy last year, and hopes to put down roots in Arizona. Kemper was born in Florida, but moved to Iowa and then settled in Georgia during middle school. She and her famly are sports fans who cheer for the Atlanta Braves baseball team and the

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BEAR 40 YEARS

June 2021 •

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Georgia Bulldogs in college football. Student Ashlynn writes that Kemper is nice, kind and awesome, and is her “favorite teacher ever.” Kemper knew she wanted to become a teacher from the age of 7 or 8, she says, when she would play school. So she did internships in classrooms all through her own school years to make her dream a reality. One funny classroom incident Kemper recalls happened when students were allowed to dress up for school. One boy dressed as a menacing storybook character. He used a “creepy voice” to say that he would steal spirits. That was fine with everyone until he threatened to steal the spirit of the classroom pet rabbit. That created an uproar! The other students were so upset he had to reverse course and promise to give back the rabbit’s spirit. Kemper likes to remind her students that “we can do hard things... with hard work and practice, we can do anything.” Kemper says one of her hidden talents is that she can “juggle pretty well.” After juggling many moves and multiple grade levels, she has certainly proved it to be true.

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Mesa Riverview 805 N Dobson Rd, Ste 108 480-699-0066

Greenﬁeld & University 4418 E. University, Ste 101 480-448-9999 CASA GRANDE Florence Blvd. & Arizola Rd. 1659 E. Florence Blvd 520-876-9266 GILBERT Val Vista & Queen Creek 4844 S Val Vista Dr 480-699-9084 Gilbert & Williams Field Rd 155 E Williams Field Rd 480-814-1681

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June 2021

School Administrators — BEAR looks forward to bringing its newspaper and reporting program to your students this fall! To make sure you’re on our list, Please call or email us with the number of

FREE newspapers

you’d like delivered to your school. Please include: School name, address, contact name and number of papers (to the nearest 100).

480-752-2327

info@bearessentialnews

Appropriate Adult Supervision

Kool Kids

Aquatic Word Search

Continued from page 6

I Love LEGO! How About You? by Reporter Gohan Delgado Sun Valley Academy I love LEGO! LEGO is an art form to me. With your imagination, you can build whatever you want. It helps me grow and use my brain to think. I also like to draw out my ideas and then build them. I have a lot of LEGO bricks and sets and my most recent build was the LEGO® Nintendo Entertainment Center. My mom and I went to the LEGO store at the mall and bought it. The set cost over $200. It came in a huge box with lots of different bags inside that were numbered and two big booklets. One booklet was for the TV and one booklet was for the Nintendo system and remote controller. I built the Nintendo system, remote controller and the game card and my mom built the TV. I love playing with Legos with my mom and I recommend Legos for all kids. It took us several hours to build the set and we stayed up almost all night building it. We didn’t go to sleep until after it was built. This LEGO set is pretty cool and fun to play with. The TV moves from a spinner on the side and the Nintendo system opens and you are able to put in a game card and plug in the remote controller. This is the best Lego set I have ever built. I am soon going to build the LEGO Ghostbusters car soon. If you visit Lego.com you can sign up for a free magazine and there are free games to play, too.

Summer Reading is Heating Up! by Reporter Gohan Delgado Sun Valley Academy

Free swim for boys and girls 17 & under at Phoenix public pools. Call

(602) 534-6587 For locations: www.phoenix.gov/ parks/pools

Get the Scoop!

KOOL KIDS SUNSCREEN SWIM LIFEGUARD

TOWEL BUDDY DIVE SUIT

POOL SLIDE SUMMER FUN

The 2021 Summer Reading Program with Maricopa County Reads runs June 1 through Aug. 1. Every year, I participate in the program with my little sister, Story, and we like to compete on who can read the most by the end of the summer. Even my mother will read huge books and participate in the summer program. We love doing the summer reading program as a family and winning cool prizes. At the end you get to pick out a free book. The book is shipped to you once you reach a goal of 1,000 reading points. Reading for 20 minutes a day helps build a strong lifelong reading habit and develops literacy skills. Sign up online for free at maricopacountyreads.org and win cool prizes this summer! There is also a secret code to earn bonus points—the code is PAWS.

June 2021 •

e-mail: boomer@bearessentialnews.com

BEAR 40 YEARS

Teachers! Start planning your Fall 2021 Field Trips Now!

Make Wildlife World part of your classroom experience! Arizona’s largest animal collection is exhibited on over 80 acres. Discount pricing for your class and chaperones. Admission includes access to scheduled lory parrot feeding, wildlife encounters shows, children’s play area and petting zoo. Call 623-935-9453 for rates, info and to schedule your visit. School Onsite Outreach Program also available. For more information call 623-935-5692 X 106. Named Arizona’s Best Zoo! by Readers Digest Magazine—2019.

Sea Turtle Conservation Continues at Wildlife World Zoo & Aquarium

he aquarium building has about 7,000 square feet of public display area featuring marine turtles and a permanent indoor and outdoor small-clawed otter habitat, and features a 20-foot diameter display for Kemp’s ridley sea turtles—a critically endangered species native to the Gulf of Mexico and the southeast coast of the United States. Of the seven species of sea turtle, six are listed as threatened or endangered due to poaching, habitat loss, and pollution. The Kemp’s ridley turtle is the smallest of marine turtle species and is also considered the most rare. Wildlife World is providing homes to rescued Kemp’s ridleys that have been deemed nonreleasable by the federal government.

The Kemp’s Ridley Turtle The most endangered sea turtle on earth!

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Connect the dots to find the turtle.

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START

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Check out fish, mammals, birds, invertebrates, amphibians and reptiles at the Wildlife World Aquarium. Explore four aquarium buildings: The Diversity of Life in Water, The Wild and Wonderful, Predators and River Monsters as you wander through more than 75 exhibits.

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Wildlife World Zoo & Aquarium, in Litchfield Park, is open seven days a week, 365 days a year, including all holidays. Zoo exhibits are open from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. (last zoo admission is at 5 p.m.) Aquarium exhibits are open from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Daytime admission includes access to the zoo and aquarium.

n 8 acre additio rk. a P ri fa a to our S Come join us!

e l i m S

Wild

New Arrivals!

White lion cubs, and a baby leopard

BEAR 40 YEARS •

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June 2021

l a n o i t a N e t Celebra

! h t n o M y r i Da

6/4

National Cheese Day

6/1

World Milk Day

JUNE is my favorite month!

6/7

National Chocolate Ice Cream Day

6/20

Vanilla Milk Shake Day

6/20

Ice Cream Soda Day

Cookies ‘N’ Cream Rice Cereal Treats

Mini Sweet Potato Donuts with Maple Glaze

KIDS! Use the QR codes below to get to these recipes—and lots more great ideas for your family!

Mini Sweet Potato Donuts with Maple Glaze

Cookies ‘N’ Cream Rice Cereal Treats

www.arizonamilk.org

Images: shuttestock.com