The Express Tribune hi five - April 5

THE

EX

IB S TR PRES

UNE

, APR

201 IL 5 ,

5

Your Proofness: Dilaira Dubash Master Storyteller: Hurmat Majid Creativity Analysts: Jamal Khurshid, Essa Malik, Talha Ahmed Khan, Omer Asim, Mohsin Alam, Aamir Khan, Eesha Azam, Maryam Rashid, Hira Fareed and Umar Waqas

Wackiest theme parks around the world PAGE 2-3

Gymnastics PAGE 4

Sibling stories PAGE 6

Tackling Math PAGE 7

THE EXPRESS TRIBUNE, APRIL 5, 2015

Hi light

2

Have you ever dreamt of having adventures in your own imaginary world?

You’d be amazed to know that there are some very strange parks around the world that let visitors have crazy experiences. Many people take holiday trips to visit theme parks of their choice and experience the thrill of being at places they could only have dreamt of before.

Theme parks evolved from amusement parks, which evolved from moving fairs that travelled from town to town through the year. The concept of amusement parks is ancient. The oldest concept came from the periodic fair during the Middle Ages. Bartholomew Fair in England was one of the first amusement parks which was established in 1133. By the 18th and 19th century, theme parks had become places of entertainment for the masses, where the public could view freak shows, acrobatics, conjuring and juggling and take part in competitions. Theme parks are different simply

because everything there is tied around a single idea. They started off as simple ideas but with time quite a few crazy theme parks have cropped up around the world.

The Republic of the Children (La Plata) in Argentina was the first theme park in the world. It started functioning in 1951, four years before the opening of Disneyland, which according to popular belief was the first theme park ever created. The park is a miniature city for children. The park has everything that a normal city has: parliament and government buildings, a theater, restaurants, an airport and more. The park was designed to teach children about exercising their rights and responsibilities in a democratic society but it’s also an opportunity for adults to feel like giants.

Children can engage in all the best parts of adulthood, from electing

What would you like to see in Hi Five? Send an email to hifive@tribune.com.pk and let us know!

THE EXPRESS TRIBUNE, APRIL 5, 2015

Hi light

3 government officials to securing loans. Once a year, on the anniversary of the founding of the Republic of Children, the city council of The Republic of Children holds a special session to consider statements made by the Youth Government of the Republic of Children. Those statements that are approved become effective laws throughout the theme park.

Diggerland is one of the most unique attractions in the UK. With four locations covering 250 acres across England, this construction-themed park is heaven for digging enthusiasts, both adults and children alike. More than 200,000 people visit the park each year, where youngsters and adults are allowed to use actual industrial digging equipment. Diggerland’s Sky Shuttle lets visitors take in some great views across the park. Spindizzy is a converted digger that spins around with riders strapped into the elevated bucket. There are even dump-truck races, where the only prerequisite is that the racers must be at least 17. The park has its own stunt team called the Dancing Diggers which performs private shows.

If looking at terrifying creatures in the eye is what keeps your blood pumping, Crocosaurus Cove is the place for you. At this reptile-themed spot, thrillseekers can ogle massive crocodiles up close from behind an acrylic barrier, submerged in a saltwater crocodile tank. Tamer offerings include good oldfashioned crocfishing, where visitors hook baby crocodiles with baited fishing poles. The park is an attraction for both young and old thrill seekers, who visit

the park in large numbers from all over the world. After bonding with these dangerous majestic creatures, stop by the shop to purchase an authentic crocodile skin.

Located on a hilltop in southern China, the park opened in September 2009.

This pint-size park is almost entirely staffed — from entertainers to janitors — by people less than four feet tall. Lots of amusement parks have a height requirement, but not many are like Dwarf Empire: every employee must be less than four feet and three inches. The 100 or so employees live in miniature domed houses and eat on site and perform in various acts including break dancing, ballet and gourd instruments for the hundreds of tourists who flood the place daily. The small town operates like an empire, complete with an empress and emperor who oversee the commune’s parliament.

This is the Danish version of the factory from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

Named after a popular line of Danish candies, this 33-acre amusement started out as a popular, candy factory that began offering tours to the public and evolved over the years to include numerous rides and attractions available. The park has an animal theme tied to candy names like “bird droppings” and “dead flies,” but the park’s rides are definitely family-friendly. If you’re into candy and crazy rides, the park is definitely the place for you as it combines both. The Hundeprut roller coaster is an 18mph ride 15 feet off the ground that makes the riders’ heads spin.

Crocosaurus Cove, Australia Diggerland, England

Republic of Children, Argentina

Dwarf Empire, China BonBon Land, Denmark

THE EXPRESS TRIBUNE, APRIL 5, 2015

4

Fun facts about Butterflies There are about 24,000 species of butterflies and 140,000 species of moths all over the world.

Q: What did one wall say to the other wall?

A: I’ll meet you at the corner.

Q: Why do bicycles fall over?

A: Because they are two-tired.

A butterfly’s life cycle is made up of four parts, egg, larva (caterpillars), pupa (chrysalis) and adult.

Fully grown caterpillars attach themselves to a suitable twig or leaf before shedding their outside layer of skin to reveal a hard skin underneath known as a chrysalis.

In the adult stage butterflies can live from anywhere between a week and a year, depending on the species.

Q: Why was the broom late?

A: It over swept.

Q: What did the stamp say to the envelope?

A: Stick with me and we will go places.

Q: Why couldn’t the pirate play cards?

A: Because he was sitting on the deck.

Butterflies taste with their feet. A female butterfly lands on different plants, drumming the leaves with her feet to make the plant release its juices.

To supplement its diet of nectar, butterflies will occasionally sip from mud puddles which are rich in minerals and salts. This behavior is called puddling.

Butterflies can’t fly if their body temperature is low. Butterflies need an ideal body temperature of about 85o F to fly. Since they’re cold-blooded animals, they can’t regulate their own body temperatures.

Butterflies employ all kinds of tricks to keep from being eaten. Some fold their wings to blend into the background, camouflaging themselves from predators. Others try the opposite strategy, flaunting their colours because bright colored insects are often toxic and predators avoid them.

Did you know?

Gymnastics Did you know gymnastics has evolved over thousands of years to become the sport it is today? It is one of the oldest sports in the world, dating back to the ancient Greeks. Gymnastics involves the use of physical strength, flexibility, balance, control, power, agility and coordination to perform a variety of exercises. The early Greeks practiced gymnastics in preparation for war. Jumping, running, discus throwing, wrestling and boxing helped produce the strong, supple muscles necessary for hand-to-hand combat.

Military training was necessary for Greek citizens because the Greeks viewed training of both body and the mind as inextricably linked. This was why gymnastics became a central component of ancient education.

Buildings with open-air courts called Gymnasia were used for training soldiers. Later, these evolved into schools where youngsters learned gymnastics, rhetoric, music and mathematics. Gymnastics also provided a way to train for the athletic festivals around Greece, the most famous of which was the Olympic Games, held every four years from 776 BC until 393 AD. With the end of the original Olympic Games, Greek-style gymnastics training declined, not to be revived until the 18th and 19th centuries in Western Europe.

Today there are gymnastics competitions in many countries and at the international level. The 19th and 20th centuries saw the powerful emergence of a strand of gymnastics, similar to gymnastic training for educational and military purposes but practiced for a different reason. The first modern Olympics in 1896 featured competitive gymnastic events for men, which have been included in every Olympics since. In the Olympic there are eight different competitive events including the Floor Exercise, Vault, Pommel Horse, Rings, Parallel Bars, Horizontal Bar, Uneven Bars and the Balance Beam. Only men compete in the Rings, Parallel Bars, Horizontal Bars and Pommel Horse and women compete in the Balance Beam and Uneven Bars. People, especially the Chinese and Japanese, start training their children for gymnastics at a very early age while their bones are still young and elastic. Gymnatics is considered to be one of the most graceful, yet strenuous sports of all times.

THE EXPRESS TRIBUNE, APRIL 5, 2015

Get your weekly dose of the unusual and funny news from across the globe!

Man’s best friend indeed Alan Spencer, 67, from Withernsea, East Yorkshire, was tucking into his dinner when the skin on the pickled vegetable blocked his windpipe. He frantically tried to clear his airway and after around three minutes he made his way to the door in a bid to get help from a passer-by. But he collapsed in his hallway and felt his “life slipping away” as he began to black out in front of his Labradors Lexi and Nancy. But 18-month-old Lexi leaped into action and jumped with all fours onto the centre of Mr Spencer’s back. The downward force pushed the onion out of his mouth, saving his life. Mr Spencer said: “People will say they are only animals and they don’t know what they were doing, but Lexi is so clever. She is very canny.

She saved my life most definitely. If it wasn’t for her I honestly don’t think I would be here. Normally I don’t speak like that, but looking back on the whole situation if it wasn’t for her actions I would be dead.” Mr Spencer’s friends now call Lexi “Little Hero” and the former club singer has been spoiling her with treats ever since the incident. TELEGRAPH.CO.UK

Giant crater in Australia While the surface crater from the strike has long disappeared, scientists from Australian National University said that by drilling more than a mile deep into the Earth, they found a 400km wide impact area deep inside the Earth’s crust. The researchers believe the meteorite broke into two halves just before it hit Earth between 300 and 600 million years ago. Analysis showed the Earth’s crust fractured at depths of more than 12 miles under the intense heat and pressure generated by the strike. Researchers say, the two asteroids must each have been over 10km across. Their impact would have sent huge clouds of ash and dust into the atmosphere, altering the planet’s temperature and possibly causing the demise of a number of different species. Despite the size of the hit, scientists have not yet connected it with a specific period of extinction on Earth. The most devastating meteorite to hit the Earth that scientists know about currently is the one that arrived 66 million years ago and led to the extinction of the dinosaur. NEWS.SKY.COM

Materials:

World wide weird

5

Unusual birthmark

Little Hanru van Niekerk, from the city of Johannesburg in South Africa, sports the number 12 as a birthmark. Dermatologist Patrice Hyde said babies can develop birthmarks before or shortly after birth. Hemangiomas are a bunch of tiny blood vessels that grow in a specific area on the skin — that’s why they usually look red or purple. No one knows what causes blood vessels to group together, but most birthmarks aren’t a sign of any kind of illness and don’t hurt. Ms Hyde said that most birthmarks usually fade or disappear completely, but there are a few tricks and remedies to remove them if they are troubling or unsightly. There are medications that usually slowsdown the growth of birthmarks and can make them shrink, in case they affect the bearer’s appearance. Other ways to remove birthmarks include laser therapy and surgical removal if they fail to fade with time. EXPRESS.CO.UK

Artistic slides in London These 50ft-high slides in the middle of London will let you relive your childhood, while pretending to like art.

The slides are actually outdoor sculptures by Belgian artist Carsten Höller. ‘Art-lovers’ will snake their way round 130ft of metal and glass from the roof of the city’s Hayward Gallery before hurtling out four floors below. All you need is a £15 ticket to the artist’s exhibition, which also includes ‘flying machines’ to suspend visitors above traffic on the city’s Waterloo Bridge. The slides represent the most dramatic choice visitors have to make during the exhibition, which is the ablility to make decisions. Not only will people have to choose how to leave the gallery — they’ll also face “doubles, twins, forking paths and mirrored reflections”. The exibition will also have many other attractions. One work called ‘The Pinocchio Effect’ will give visitors “the uncanny sensation that their nose is growing”. There will be two robotic beds which ‘roam’ the galleries by themselves.The curator at Hayward Gallery, Ralph Rugoff said: “Carsten Höller is truly one of the world’s most thought-provoking and profoundly playful artists, with a sharp and mischievous intelligence bent on turning our ‘normal’ view of things upside-down.” MIRROR.CO.UK

Directions:

• Small plastic bottle

• Take the uninflated balloon and stretch it out a few times with your hands.

What is happening:

• Small funnel

• Place the funnel in the balloon opening and pour in enough baking soda to fill it halfway. Then remove the funnel.

• 1/2 cup vinegar

• Pour the vinegar slowly into the bottle.

• Small balloon

• Carefully pull the opening of the balloon over the opening of the bottle. Try not to let any baking soda fall into the bottle.

The combination of baking soda and vinegar creates a gas called carbon dioxide. The gas expands, filling the bottle before moving into the balloon and inflating it.

• Bicarbonate or baking soda • Teaspoon

• Lift the balloon up so that the baking soda falls through the opening into the bottle and mixes with the vinegar.

• Your balloon fizz-inflator is now fully operational.

SOURCE: KIDSPOT.COM.AU

THE EXPRESS TRIBUNE, APRIL 5, 2015

Reading corner

Materials - 4 large paper rolls – Scissors – Glue – Paints – Paintbrush – Rectangular shoebox lid

6 Directions: • Cut all the rolls in half to shorten them.

• Paint the shoebox lid green to make it look like grass. You could use other paints to add details like roads and dirt.

• On two bigger rolls, the towers, draw ridges for battlements and one window. Ask an elder to help you cut them out with a paper cutter.

• Now paint your paper rolls. You can add as many details as you want. Let all the rolls dry completely.

• Apply a layer of glue on the base of the roll and attach it carefully to the shoebox lid.

• Do the same with all rolls. Let them dry well.

• Now your castle is ready to be populated bypens and pencils.

1

2

3

4

5

SOURCE: ARTISTSHELPINGCHILDREN.ORG

Sibling Stories Little Women Little Women by Louisa May Alcott is set at the time of the American Civil War. The book is about the March sisters’ home life with their mother while their father is away fighting in the army. The family’s life is depicted so clearly that you feel that you are there in the house with them. We see Meg, Jo, Beth and Amy go through different phases of life and learn valuable life lessons along with the value of family. The family, headed by their beloved Marmee, must struggle to make ends meet, with the help of their kind and wealthy neighbor, Mr. Laurence, and his high-spirited grandson Laurie. Yes, there is love and loyalty and friendship between these sisters, but this is no idealised account of sisterhood. The book tells an endearing and yet realistic tale that keeps the reader engaged through to the very end.

Ballet Shoes Set in the London of the 1930s, Ballet Shoes tells a tale of orphans Pauline, Petrova and Posy Fossil, who are adopted by an eccentric explorer, Gum and raised as sisters by his selfless niece. The story revolves around each girl’s struggle to fulfill her dreams. But when Gum disappears, the money runs out and the girls have a fight on their hands. Pauline longs to be an actress, Petrova yearns to be an aviator, and Posy seems born to be a ballerina. She also clashes with her sisters, as she is so focused on dancing that she is insensitive about anything that gets in her way. Petrova is not interested in the performing arts and has little talent for it but must keep attending classes and performing to help support the family. However, she holds onto her dream of flying airplanes. The book shows us how the girls struggle and learn to balance personal ambition with the need to survive.

The Magic Tree House The Magic Tree House is a series of children’s books written by American author Mary Pope Osborne. The series is divided into two parts. The first part consists of books 1-28, in which Jack and Annie, two children from Frog Creek, Pennsylvania, go on numerous adventures and missions with a magical tree house in order to help free a friend from an ancient spell.

The two solve four ancient riddles to become Master Librarians and save four ancient stories from being lost forever. The second part, referred to as the Magic Tree House “Merlin Missions,” begins with book 29, Christmas in Camelot. In the Merlin Missions, Jack and Annie embark on quests given to them by Merlin the Magician. These books are longer than the previous 28 and some take place in fantasy realms like Camelot. Kathleen and Teddy are two apprentices who befriend Jack and Annie during their adventures, when one of these adventures being to free Teddy from a spell. The two occasionally join Jack and Annie and when they don’t, they provide them with support.

Do you have a favourite book or movie you would like us to review? Write to us at hifive@tribune.com.pk and tell us all about it.

THE EXPRESS TRIBUNE, APRIL 5, 2015

7

Artwork

Tackling math Mathematics has given the best of us a hard time at one point or another. Not all of us are good at adding up big numbers and doing mental math. Here are some math tricks that can help you solve mathematical problems faster.

Division tricks Here is a quick way to know what numbers a number can be evenly divided by: • 10 if it ends in 0 • 9 when the digits are added together and the total is evenly divisible by 9 • 8 if the last three digits are evenly divisible by 8 or are 000 • 6 if it is an even number and when the digits are added together the answer is evenly divisible by 3 • 5 if it ends in a 0 or 5 • 4 if it ends in 00 or a two-digit number that is evenly divisible by 4 • 3 when the digits are added together and the result is evenly divisible by the number 3 • 2 if it ends in 0, 2, 4, 6, or 8

• • • • • • •

200 x 400 Step 1: Multiply the 2 times the 4 2x4=8 Step 2: Put all four of the zeros after the 8 80,000 200 x 400= 80,000 Practicing these fast math tricks can help both students and teachers become secure in their knowledge of mathematics and unafraid to work with numbers in the future.

Subtracting from 1,000 • Here’s a basic rule to subtract a large number from 1,000: just subtract every number except the last from 9 and subtract the final number from 10 For example: • 1,000 — 556 • Step 1: subtract 5 from 9 = 4 • Step 2: subtract 5 from 9 = 4 • Step 3: subtract 6 from 10 = 4 • The answer is 444.

Multiplying five times any number

Multiplying numbers that end in 0 • Multiplying numbers that end in 0 is actually quite simple. Basically, it involves multiplying the other numbers together and then adding the zeros at the end. For instance, consider:

When multiplying the number 5 by an even number, there is a quick way to find the answer.

For example, 5 x 4 = • Step 1: Take the number being multiplied by 5 and cut it in half, this makes the 4 a 2.

• Step 2: Add a 0 to the number to find the answer. In this case, the answer is 20.

5 x 4 = 20 When multiplying an odd number times 5, the formula is a bit different.

For instance, consider 5 x 3.

• Step 1: Subtract 1 from the number being multiplied by 5, in this instance the number 3 becomes the number 2.

• Step 2: Now halve the number 2, which makes it the number 1. Make 5 the last digit. The number produced is 15, which is the answer.

Multiplying by 9 • This is an easy method that is helpful for multiplying any number by nine.

For example, 3 x 9 = • Step 1: Subtract 1 from the number that is being multiplied by 9.

• 3— 1=2 • The number 2 is the first number in the answer to the equation.

• Step 2: Subtract that number from the number 9.

• 9— 2=7 • The number 7 is the second number in the answer to the equation.

• 3 x 9 = 27

THE EXPRESS TRIBUNE, APRIL 5, 2015

by Mahnaz Mir

Ingredients: Potatoes Butter Coriander Salt Crushed black pepper

cut in cubes 3 tbsp 2 tbsp, chopped to taste to taste

Method: • Ask an elder to help you half-boil the cubed potatoes and strain them.

• Once they are strained, make sure there is no moisture left before you do the next step.

• Over medium heat, melt the butter in a pan and then put in the potatoes.

• Stir them around and then sprinkle on some salt and black pepper.

• Line a bowl with some kitchen paper and spoon in the potatoes. Sprinkle on the coriander and enjoy.

Remember kids, always get permission from your parents before you start.

It’s always a good idea to have a helper nearby.

Stella and Bella were two pixies that lived deep in an ancient forest. They lived in a tiny house which they had dug up in the trunk of an old oak tree.

While Stella was homely, Bella was adventurous. Often Stella chose to read while Bella went out to have great adventurous with Mr Sparrow.

Once such day Bella came home looking a little worried, Stella asked her sister what was upsetting her. Bella answered, “Out near the edge of the forest, I saw five dirty children playing outside an old and dirty cottage.

Stella, I don’t think there was anyone to take care of those children, it worried me so much I almost cried.” Stella comforted her sister and promised her that they would go find a way to help those children the next day.

The next day, Mr Sparrow brought along Mrs Sparrow so that Stella could ride along with them. When the sisters arrived at the forest edge, they saw that the kids were still wearing dirty clothes, their school bags were lying on the porch, they looked hungry and dirty and there was no one inside to clean or feed them. The sisters stayed on the roof top, waiting to see what would happen when the sun set. In the evening the pixies saw that the kids’ father came home and they were a little relieved.

Stella and Bella saw the father bathe the children, change their clothes, give them food and put them all to bed.

Later he sat down in an armchair in front of the fire and began to slowly sew the torn hem of the kids’ clothes.

As he was sewing, he fell asleep in his chair and the candle kept burning at his side.

Bella and Stella decided to help him out a little. Stella washed all the dirty clothes and Bella folded and stacked them neatly. Stella made the dough for the morning bread and put it in a bowl, ready for the father to bake in the morning. They both swept the floor and cleaned the kitchen. As the sun was starting to rise Mr and Mrs Sparrow flew the tired sisters home. In the

morning, the father woke up to begin his chores. He was surprised to see the floor clean and the bread dough ready to be baked. A little puzzled, he baked the bread and gave it to kids with jam and butter. After that he sent them off to school in clean clothes. Still amazed at what had happened, the father dressed happily and went to work.

Bella and Stella slept through the

morning because they were tired.

When they woke up, it was almost time for the kids to come home. The sisters returned and made some soup from the vegetables they found in the cottage’s larder. They set the table and warmed water for the kids’ bath. Just moments before the kids arrived, the sisters left. When the kids came back, they expected to remain hungry till their father arrived. But they were surprised to see the table laid and warm water waiting for them in the bathtub. So all of them took a bath and wore the clean clothes that were magically left for them. They enjoyed their vegetable soup and took a nap, as the warm bath and soup had made them sleepy. In the evening the father came home and was surprised but happy to see the kids bathed and asleep. He woke them up and helped them with their homework. The pixies often returned to help around in the cottage when the family was out or away. After a while the father and his kids stopped trying to guess who was doing all their work and just resorted to believing that they had secret angels watching over them.

If you want your story to feature in Hi Five, email us at hifive@tribune.com.pk