August 29

release dates: August 29-September 4
35-1 (09)
© 2009 Universal Press Syndicate
Helping the Earth
from The Mini Page © 2009 Universal Press Syndicate
Sorting Through Recycling
Do you and your family recycle? You
probably have already learned how
important it is for the environment.
Have you ever wondered what
happens after you put the newspaper,
cans or glass in the bin? The Mini
Page takes a closer look at this
important activity.
A recycling tradition
People have always recycled. Before
machines and big factories, most
things were made by hand. Materials
were so hard to get and items took so
long to make that everyone recycled.
For centuries, people have:
• melted down metal
goods to make new tools
or jewelry;
• torn down old
buildings and reused
the bricks or wood to
build something new;
• cut up old clothes and
other cloth goods to make
other clothes, quilts and
rugs;
• recycled paper to
make new paper.
art courtesy Works Projects Administration Poster Collection, Library of Congress
The first time there was
a major government
campaign to educate
people about the
importance of recycling
was during World War
II. The government
urged people to salvage,
or save, metal, paper,
rubber and other
material.
World War II
Environmental movement
During World War II, America
needed metal and other materials to
fight the war. The government started
a campaign to convince people to
recycle.
Signs urged people to pile up their
scrap metal for collection. This could
include things such as pots and pans,
rakes, irons
or birdcages.
These metal
objects might
then be
recycled as
bullets. Kids
pulled wagons
from door to
door gathering the metal.
After the war was over, materials
remained scarce, and people continued
to recycle for many years.
In the 1960s, people became more
concerned about the environment.
They started to realize we were using
up the Earth’s resources.
In the 1970s, rising energy costs and
a gasoline shortage made people pay
attention to vanishing
fuel. At the same time,
landfills got full and
there was no place to
put the waste.
People re-learned how important it
is not to waste resources. It became
clear that recycling was necessary.
In 1960, the United States recycled
around 6 percent of its waste. Today
we are recycling about 33 percent, or
one-third, of our waste.
Americans create about 254 million
tons of garbage each year. We recycle
only about 85 million tons of that.
Please include all of the appropriate registered trademark symbols and copyright lines in any publication of The Mini Page®.
®
35-2 (09); release dates: August 29-September 4
from The Mini Page © 2009 Universal Press Syndicate
Special Recycling Needs
Recycling workers
must take computers
and other electronic
products apart by hand.
They break up the
circuit boards. Circuit
board parts are then
melted down, and the
metals are separated
from each other.
Regular recyclable
materials such as
plastic or glass are
sent to businesses that
re-use those materials.
Products with mercury
Reusing recycled materials
Other types of waste, such as
fluorescent bulbs and thermometers,
also need special care. Workers wear
protective clothing when recycling
these products.
Mercury is a dangerous material used
in fluorescent bulbs and thermometers.
It is safe when it is contained in glass.
However, mercury vaporizes, or turns
to gas, easily when it is not contained.
Workers break the glass in special rooms
where the mercury gas cannot escape.
Sometimes recycled material is
turned back into what it was in the
first place. For example, recycled paper
is turned into new paper products.
from The Mini Page © 2009 Universal Press Syndicate
More to Explore
The Mini Page provides ideas for Web sites,
books or other resources that will help you learn
more about this week’s topics.
On the Web:
• www.thinkgreen.com/students-k-5
• www.recyclerunway.com/pages/Youth.html
• www.epa.gov/recyclecity
At the library:
• “Tracking Trash: Flotsam, Jetsam, and the
Science of Ocean Motion” by Loree Griffin Burns
(Houghton Mifflin Co.) is the true story of two scientists who
studied ocean currents by tracking toys and other things
that fell overboard from ships.
Other materials
are turned into
something
completely different.
For example, plastic
soda bottles might
be made into carpet
or clothing, such as
this jacket.
photo courtesy Patagonia, Inc.
Items such as
computers, TVs and
cell phones create
special recycling
problems. They are
made of so many different materials,
they must be handled extra-carefully.
Communities may have special
times or places for people to bring
electronic waste, or e-waste, for
recycling. E-waste cannot be mixed
with other recycling materials.
E-waste
recyclers
take special
care so that
nobody is
hurt. There
have been
problems
with some
e-waste facilities in China. Circuit
board metals have ended up in
Chinese rivers, polluting the water.
People have gotten sick.
photo courtesy Waste Management
Electronic waste
from The Mini Page © 2009 Universal Press Syndicate
Brown
Bassetews
The N d’s
Houn
TM
try ’n
find
Recycling
Words that remind us of recycling are hidden in the block below. Some
words are hidden backward or diagonally. See if you can find: WORLD,
WAR, ALUMINUM, CAN, NEWSPAPER, ENERGY, GAS, LANDFILL,
ENVIRONMENT, SINGLE, STREAM, GLASS, BIN, SORT, PLASTIC,
COLORED, TON, AIR, BALE, WASTE, FLUORESCENT, BULB.
B S S S A L G C I T S A L P N
Trash
L U T S C G D E R O L O C S E
can be
A
B L R O A A T E T S A W I W
treasure!
N
D
F
I
L
L
W
W
O
R
L
D
A
A
R
T
L
K
B
L
R
N
T
M
E
W
E
E
N
M
R
A
K
M
E
U
N
T
M
N
C
N
S
L
Y
O
S
I
O
M
G
R
E
M
K
N
R
I
R
U
R
B
E
V
O
L
I
I
N
N
U
A
Please include all of the appropriate registered trademark symbols and copyright lines in any publication of The Mini Page®.
A
N
E
E
L
W
N
G
L
E
F
K
S
P
A
P
E
R
®
35-3 (09); release dates: August 29-September 4
Mini Spy . . .
TM
TM
Rookie Cookie’s Recipe
Crispy Ice Cream Surprise
Mini Spy and Basset Brown are recycling their old
gaming systems. See if you can find:
• paper clip
• book
• word MINI
• net
• ladder
• comb
• kite
• cat
• letter E
• dice
• hamburger
• hat
• pencil
• carrot
• question mark
You’ll need:
• 2 tablespoons butter or margarine
• 3/4 cup flaked coconut
• 1/3 cup brown sugar
• 11/2 cups crispy rice cereal
• 11/2 quarts reduced-fat ice cream, any
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts
flavor
What to do:
1. Mix coconut, rice cereal and walnuts in a shallow baking pan. Toast at
350 degrees for 10 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, remove ice cream from container and soften for 15 minutes.
3. Next, pour cereal mixture into a medium-sized bowl and stir in butter or
margarine and brown sugar.
4. Spread half of mixture in a medium-size baking dish.
5. Slice softened ice cream and layer on top of mixture.
6. Top with remaining half of mixture and freeze overnight.
7. Cut into squares to serve. Serves 12.
You will need an adult’s help with this recipe. from The Mini Page © 2009 Universal Press Syndicate
photos © Disney Enterprises Inc.
Meet Penelope Cruz
Penelope Cruz is the voice
of Juarez in the Disney movie
“G-Force.” She has appeared in
many movies in several countries.
Penelope, 35, was born in
Madrid, Spain. She began taking
ballet lessons when she was a
child.
When she was 15, she won a talent
agency competition. This brought her roles in music videos and TV
shows in Spain. She speaks Spanish, French, Italian and English.
She has volunteered with Mother Teresa’s children’s sanctuary
in Calcutta, India, and has volunteered to help needy people in
Uganda. She helped found a charitable group to set up a home,
clinic and school for homeless girls in Calcutta.
from The Mini Page © 2009 Universal Press Syndicate
from The Mini Page © 2009 Universal Press Syndicate
!
EW
N
The Mini Page® Book
The Mini Page’s popular series of issues about each
state is collected here in a 156-page softcover book.
Conveniently spiral-bound for ease of use, this invaluable
resource contains A-to-Z facts about each state, along
with the District of Columbia. Illustrated with colorful
photographs and art, and complete with updated
information, The Mini Page Book of States will be a
favorite in classrooms and homes for years to come.
To order, send $15.99 ($19.99 Canada) plus $5 postage and
handling for each copy. Make check or money order (U.S.
funds only) payable to Universal Press Syndicate. Send to
The Mini Page Book of States, Universal Press Syndicate,
P.O. Box 6814, Leawood, KS 66206. Or call toll-free
800-591-2097 or go to www.smartwarehousing.com.
Please send ______ copies of The Mini Page Book of States
(Item #0-7407-8549-4) at $20.99 each, total cost. (Bulk discount information
available upon request.)
Name: _____________________________________________
Address: ____________________________________________
City: ______________________________________________
State: __________________________ Zip: ________________
of States
from The Mini Page © 2009 Universal Press Syndicate
TM
All the following jokes have something in common.
Can you guess the common theme or category?
Walter: What is the weather today?
Wanda: I can’t tell because it’s so
cloudy!
Wesley: What animal falls from the clouds?
Winton: A raindeer!
Wendy: If you’re broke, why should you look
up at the sky?
William: To see if there is any change in the
weather!
Please include all of the appropriate registered trademark symbols and copyright lines in any publication of The Mini Page®.
®
35-4 (09); release dates: August 29-September 4
from The Mini Page © 2009 Universal Press Syndicate
Sorting and Saving Materials
Look at ads for different items in your
newspaper. How much of the product
packaging do you think could be recycled?
Waste Management
workers stand along
the conveyor belt to pull
out anything that might
have been thrown in by
mistake, such as food.
Workers keep checking
to make sure nothing
gets in that would
contaminate, or ruin, the
mixture of the recycled
material.
Sorting through the stream
In single-stream recycling,
everything is dumped all together
onto a large moving belt, or
conveyor belt. Then:
• Rubber rollers shaped like stars
knock off the cardboard onto its own
moving belt.
• Blasts of air blow paper onto its
belt.
• Glass is pushed down into big
bins under the moving belt, where
it is smashed. The glass is pushed
under the belts so none of it flies up
and hurts workers.
• Optical* machinery sorts the
glass by color. Another optical sorter
separates plastic by color.
*Optical (AHP-ti-kul) means something
that deals with seeing. Optical machinery
uses light to “see” what it’s looking for.
• Electromagnets suck off metal
items such as steel.
• Magnets can’t pick up aluminum.
Instead, a swirling electrical flow,
or current, flips the lightweight
aluminum off the main belt.
photo courtesy Waste Management
Each community has different
ways to sort its recyclables. Different
materials might need to be kept
separate. For example, aluminum
cans might go in one bin and tin cans
in another. Colored glass might need
to be separated from clear glass.
This type of recycling is called
multi-stream. There are many
streams of different materials.
Other communities don’t require
that people sort goods at all. They
can mix different materials, such
as glass and newspapers, in the
same bin.
This type of recycling is called
single-stream. The recycled goods
are all dumped in one single stream
onto sorting machinery.
Experts say the good thing about
single-stream recycling is that people
don’t have to do much work. They
don’t have to separate magazines
from pop cans,
for example.
Since it is easier,
people are more
likely to do it.
The bad thing
is that singlestream recycling
may not get everything completely
separated. Materials may be more
likely to be contaminated, or mixed
with other materials.
photo courtesy Waste Management
Sorting the mix
A worker stacks bales of aluminum cans
before they are shipped to a plant that
works especially with aluminum. Bales
of cans can weigh from 1 to 3 tons each.
After being sorted in a single-stream
plant, different materials are baled to be
shipped to specialized recyclers.
The Mini Page thanks Latisha Petteway,
EPA, and Lynn C. Brown, Waste
Management, for help with this issue.
Next week, The Mini Page is about explorer
Henry Hudson.
The Mini Page Staff
Betty Debnam - Founding Editor and Editor at Large Lisa Tarry - Managing Editor Lucy Lien - Associate Editor Wendy Daley - Artist
Please include all of the appropriate registered trademark symbols and copyright lines in any publication of The Mini Page®.
photo courtesy Waste Management
Read all
about
­recycling
in
®
Distributed by Universal Press Syndicate
by Betty Debnam
Appearing in your
­newspaper on ______.
from The Mini Page
© 2009 Universal Press Syndicate
(Note to Editor: Above is cameraready, one column-by-31/2-inch ad
promoting Issue 35.)
release dates: August 29-September 4
35-5 (09)
®
from The Mini Page © 2009 Universal Press Syndicate
Standards Spotlight:
Sorting Through Recycling
Mini Page activities meet many state and national educational standards. Each
week we ­identify standards that relate to The Mini Page’s content and offer
activities that will help your students reach them.
This week’s standard:
• Students understand the use of science and technology in local challenges.
(Science: Personal and Social Perspectives)
Activities:
1. Make a recycling poster. Paste newspaper words and pictures for things your
family recycles on a large piece of paper.
2. Divide a piece of paper into four squares. In the squares, paste newspaper words
and pictures of things that can be recycled: metals, plastic, glass and paper.
3. Circle newspaper ads for things that claim they are made of recycled materials.
4. Which items, when they are recycled, (a) can be dangerous, (b) can pollute the
environment, or (c) are made into totally different items?
5. Make a list of five different uses for your newspaper after you have read it.
(standards by Dr. Sherrye D. Garrett, Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi)
(Note to Editor: Above is the Standards for Issue 35.)
TM
from The Mini Page © 2009 Universal Press Syndicate
Supersport: Catherine Osterman
Birthdate: 4-16-83
Hometown: Houston
Height: 6-2
Residence: Chicago
There are some softball players who would probably rather spend
a day trying to rope a wild Texas steer than batting against Houston
native Cat Osterman.
It would be less frustrating. The “Cat” has been baffling opposing
hitters for years.
Tall, talented and tenacious on the mound, Osterman won three National
Player of the Year awards in four years at the University of Texas, where she
set an NCAA record with 2,265 career strikeouts. She helped the U.S. win an
Olympic gold medal in 2004 and has contributed to three straight World Cup
titles, the most recent one this past July.
Osterman, who earned a psychology degree at Texas, is working as an assistant
softball coach at DePaul University and doing graduate work when not traveling
with the U.S. national team. She is taking taekwondo and wants to skydive and
bungee jump, too.
(Note to Editor: Above is copy block for Page 3, Issue 35, to be used in
place of ad if desired.)
Please include all of the appropriate registered trademark symbols and copyright lines in any publication of The Mini Page®.